World on Fire (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 7 - Episode #1.7 - full transcript

We could use
a man of your talents, Chase.

Going back to France and Poland.
How do you feel about that?

That would suit me.

I know real strength when I see it.

And you have it in abundance.

I don't feel very strong right now.

What will you tell the child
when they ask where their dad is?

There's a war.
I'll tell them you're dead.

I would look after you and the baby.

Papa!

She will stay here, where she is safe.



[HE CRIES]

I get out of here,
it'll be somewhere worse.

So don't stir things up.

You shouldn't be here!

If I have to die for my country, I will.

First contact, local resistance.

And if I fail to make contact?

Improvise.

With the Germans firmly in control
of much of mainland Europe,

there is no doubt Hitler's attention now

is focused toward Great Britain.

As yet, Churchill's forces have
held at bay the Nazi threat

which has so ruthlessly
advanced across the continent.

Nation after nation falling
to the sheer force



of the Blitzkrieg campaign.

For how much longer Britain
can defy its momentum

seems soon to be proven.

Their army much depleted,
they look to their Navy

and the Royal Air Force
to defend their island.

These are the darkest of times
for Britain, for Europe,

and indeed the rest of the world.

How are you finding the training?

I'm improving.

I'm only theoretically dead
three times a day now.

- Maybe some of the...
- Three times a day is better than most.

I've called you in
because you leave tomorrow night.

The drop is radio equipment
and light explosives.

The return journey will be on land,

getting a group of key
resistance fighters out.

This kind of operation
carries the highest risk.

So I'd think about getting
your affairs in order

before you leave.

Five minutes.

I'm going away. There's a good
chance I won't make it back.

I want you to know I've made a will.

You will be the sole beneficiary.

How many times? I don't want your money!

It isn't for you.

If something does happen, then
you won't get my war pension...

...because you're not my wife.

Well, good.

I'm glad we sorted that out.

Thanks for telling me.

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

Are we ready?

Klaus?

We're ready, Frau Campbell. Thank you.

[DOOR CLOSES]

I'm sorry.

Your father didn't want you to know.

He wanted you to think it was
an accident.

Why should I believe you?

I have proof

of their whole euthanasia programme
if you want it.

No.

No. I don't need proof.

I know what they're capable of,
and I'm part of it.

I'm fighting for them.

I'm on their side.

Whether I like it or not,
I'm fighting for their cause.

You have no choice.

Yes, I do have a choice, Frau Campbell.

I'm just too weak to make it.

No.

[HE SOBS]

Mm-hm.

Thank you, Nancy.

I do not know what you've
said to him, but thank you.

If I lose Klaus, I've lost everything,

and if a parent can't
look after their child,

then what use are they on God's Earth?

Children never stop needing you.

Their pain is like our pain,
isn't it? Always.

You have children too, Miss Campbell?

You didn't say.

I have a child.

A son.

He's grown-up now, my son.

There's a lot of musicians
in here, Webster.

Jazz guys mainly,
but a fair few classical musicians.

Wait till those German bastards
hear us play Beethoven.

How's that for inferior race,
you Nazi pigs?

The main thing is we get you out.

I will find a way.

I've got an orchestra
waiting for me, Webster.

Wait... Please...

I don't understand,
why are you being like this?

I know it's hard.

No, you don't. That's just it.

You don't know. You can't know.

The queers in here with me, they know.

The blacks in here, they know.

The Jews, the scum,

that's me, that's us.

I'm the one in the fucking cage here.

You can walk out whenever you like.

And I'm telling you,

don't ever come back, Webster.

Albert...

Albert!

Tomasz!

Chodz.

Let's go this way. I know somewhere.

It's quieter down here.

No, I know a house. Come with me.

Easy, soldier! You're hurting me.

- Tomasz!
- [THEY SHOUT]

[SHE SCREAMS]

Lois!

Come on, Lois!
Come on, love. You can do it.

I can't, I can't, I can't!

I hate to tell you, love,
but you've got no choice.

Don't make me laugh.

The baby'll come too soon
and grow up to be a ventriloquist.

Now you're making me laugh!

[LOIS SCREAMS]

[SHE SCREAMS]

Come on, push. Brilliant. Come on,
now. Push. That's it. Nearly there.

[SHE SCREAMS]

You don't want to go in there,
Douglas. Believe me.

I don't want to go in,
I just want to know how she is.

[BABY CRIES]

She is beautiful!

She is.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

You've got a grand-daughter, Douglas!

And she's beautiful.

Right.

You all right, love?

Yeah.

Just your regular Saturday night,
you know.

Hello, you.

RADIO NEWS: Despite suffering
heavy losses in France,

Britain's stand against the Nazis
continues in earnest.

Mr Churchill has made very clear
that Britain still counts

France amongst our closest allies,

and that our great country
will do all it can

to fight on against their common enemy.

[SHE GASPS]

Mother? Is everything all right?

Is it Jan?

The baby's been born.

YOUR baby's been born.

A girl.

Oh!

- A girl?
- Yes!

I see.

Douglas came round to tell me,
flushed with excitement.

I think he was hoping I would reciprocate

and dash to the little bastard's
manger, bearing gifts.

Don't use that word.

Why not? Does it insult your sense
of decency?

- Yes. It does.
- In what way?

The fact that I said what is true or
the fact that you believe it too?

I do not believe it.
It's a disgusting word.

And it's what the child is.

What YOUR child will always be called!

Perhaps in your world.

And not in Lois's?

Where the warm-hearted poor will
take an under-the-stairs child

and hold it to their collective
bosom in their socialist utopia?

I've seen the warm-hearted poor

at that wretched school that Jan attends.

I've seen the way they treat outsiders.

Why are you even telling me this?

Lois wants nothing to do with me.

And she wants me to have nothing
to do with the baby!

- You have a choice.
- I am respecting her wishes!

Which conveniently coincide
with your own?

I am committed to providing
for that child.

For my child!

Have you promised money?
Are you going to see the baby?

No, of course not!

Well, why not? Now you're displaying
this sudden concern.

Because it would break my heart,
you foolish boy!

When did you grow a heart?

[DOOR SHUTS]

[BABY CRIES SOFTLY]

[DOOR OPENS]

I'm sorry.

I just wanted to, um...

I gave you the benefit of the doubt

when our Lois started first
knocking about with you.

Let's just say you wouldn't
have been my first pick.

You made that very clear at the time.

But a lad from your background
getting stuck in on the politics,

the decisions you made, the stand
you took, can't have been easy.

I've met your mother, remember.

But this...

[HE CHUCKLES]

...this...

...you got this so wrong.

You will miss out on her loving you
and on you loving her.

So, in the end, I feel sorry for you.

What do I do?

You carry your pain.

You live with it.

That's what you bloody well do.

Is that you pretending to be a grown-up?

Auntie Nancy?
What are you doing in Paris?

So good to see you!

Who have you spoken to
in the authorities?

Nobody. Just the dumb-ass guards
at St Denis.

Do you have any friends
in the officer class?

A guy called Sieber.

But he doesn't have very much say.
Have you?

I have plenty.

And this friend of yours,
is he a political activist?

- A trade unionist?
- No.

He's French-African.

Ah! All right.

I suspect that was enough.

I can't make any promises,
but my censor is with us

in Paris with the press corps.

- I will talk to him.
- That would be great.

- And, er, I'll keep making a noise here.
- No.

If you want them
to leave the hospital alone,

leave the noisemaking to me.

Monsieur?

And this Albert,

he clearly means a great deal to you.

Yes.

I thought so.

I'm leaving the country tomorrow.

Of course you are.

And I don't want us to part like this.

I'm sorry for what I said.

About my heart?

Well, it was witty, at least.

I don't know what to do about
gestures like that.

A lot of people did that
when your father died.

I mean, does one take the hand
and squeeze it back?

And what does that mean?

That you are now comforting
the comforter?

That you're reassuring
the comforter that you're fine?

That you got over
the embarrassment of your grief?

Is that how you see grief?
As an embarrassment?

No, not generally.

But for our particular circumstances.

Father was sick.

He came back from the war a sick man.

And I know how that can happen now.

What he did was unforgivable.

Would you feel the same way
if he had been killed in action?

No, of course not.

His death wouldn't have
been his responsibility.

And bad luck. But not by his own hand.

- And planned.
- He was destroyed...

...every bit as completely as if
he'd been blown to smithereens.

No, other men suffered,
other men saw bad things.

But they came back
and they got on with it.

Perhaps he just wasn't strong enough.

Well, that's a polite way of saying
he was weak.

And you can't forgive him for that?

No, I'm afraid I cannot.

And it's an indescribably sad feeling.

But I can't.

We're going to have to do
something about this.

Here.

Ta.

You and her should have my
room, and I'll stay in here.

What about Tom? When he comes back?

He's not coming back.

You don't believe he's dead?

I've got more than myself
to think about now, haven't I?

Well, I'm glad I gave you something
to take your mind off things.

That was the plan all along.

Harry knows. Come round last night.

I, er, sent him away.

Hope I did right.

You did.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

Oh, no, no, no!

Oh, no!

No, no, no! No!

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

Dad? Aren't you going to answer it?

If we don't open the door,
they can't tell us.

And if they can't tell us,
then it won't be true.

Dad, we have to open the door.

[KNOCK ON DOOR]

Hello?

Hello? I'm looking for Lois Bennett.

I was told she lives here.

It's nothing to do with Tom.
I promise you.

I don't understand, Vernon.

Why would you do this? Look at me.

A girl who got into trouble
with another man's child.

No money, no prospects.

I have no prospects either.

Well, death, I suppose,
is a prospect of sorts.

But I can provide for you and your child,

and I can't think of anything
I'd rather do.

What if you were to just marry me
on impulse and think about it later?

We've only been in the same room
for about two hours in total.

And how have you liked it so far?

Stop! You have to stop this!

I have no expectations.

I have no assumptions...

...about this marriage.

The world is wrong right now.

It's so wrong.

And if I'm risking my life
every day to go

and kill someone, then why not
take a risk to love someone?

And by someone, I mean me, by the way.

Not just anyone.

That would have a comic tragedy
in keeping with my love life

so far, and I'm probably not selling
myself very well right now.

Vernon...

...I am tired and I am lonely
and I am weak just now.

And it would be so easy
to say yes to you.

So easy.

But I can't.

You are a dear, sweet man,
but I can't just say yes.

All I ask of you is that you consider it.

You don't have to love me.

You just have to let me love you.

I could come with you.

I've been to Stanford Grove
Elementary School.

I'm not afraid of anything.

I don't believe you.

But it's nice that you say it.

You sound just like your sister
when you say things like that.

Just like her.

[SHE MOUTHS]

[SCREAMING]

[HE SHOUTS]

[GUNSHOTS]

[BABY CRIES]

[GUNSHOT]

Thank you for coming, Douglas.

Yes, I came as soon as I could.

So I see.

Recent experience has inured me
to the power of surprise,

- so no need to apologise, Douglas.
- Right.

Jan is registered here as a refugee,
so they knew where to find him,

and with Harry away,
I didn't know who to contact.

You haven't told him? He doesn't know?

What, that his brother's in
the local lunatic asylum?

Why would I tell him that?

It says here he's being
treated for shellshock.

The main thing is Jan's brother's alive,

and Jan needs to know.

Well, what if he wants to go
and see him? What then?

I can't possibly go to a place like that.

No-one's asking you to.

What is this place?

It's a hospital.

A kind of hospital.

You know what, Jan,

I shouldn't have, er,
I shouldn't have brought you.

I want to go inside, Douglas.

Well, there'll be people here
who are very upset

and I'm worried it'll upset you.

How do you know where to go?

Because this is where I came...

...when I was ill...

...like this man.

Hey.

It's all right, mate.

It's all right. I know.

I know. I know how this feels.

I know what you're going through, mate.

Can I help you?

Um...

Well, you didn't help me last time,
so I doubt it.

Do I know you?

Have we met?

Yeah, we've met all right.

I was treated here after 1916.

And your name is...?

Scrimshanker.

Yeah.

Least that's what you used to call me.

Coward, it means, doesn't it?

Do you still want to call me
a scrimshanker now I'm well?

Mr Bennett!

Mr Bennett! Mr Bennett! It's my brother!

It's Grzegorz! It's Grzegorz!

Shh.

If you want to eat, you are going
to have to put this gun down.

How many Germans did you kill?

I don't know.

When you go back and fight,
you must take me.

I will kill more.

No, I may not go back and fight.

I may stay here.

But you'll get better...

...and then you can fight.

I have my arms and my legs...

...and I get through the day,

but when I close my eyes...

When I close my eyes, all I see is...

...bad and black and...

...I cannot shake it.

It's... It's like...

...something got in.

It's like a...

...stranger in my head.

It will get better.

It will.

He thinks I can look after him
right now...

...but I can't, Mr Bennett.

Not yet.

I'll explain.

We will go back.

We will go back when Gregor is well

and ready to come out.

Harry promised me it would be happy.

When he came back...

...we would be happy.

Well, I don't know what gives Harry
the right to promise that.

It's not something that you can promise.

It's just something that you hope for.

Harry was wrong?

To promise or to break his promise?

Both.

Harry's, er, got a habit of being wrong.

- What?
- Nothing, son.

Nothing. Just forget it.

When we get in,

we could play chess.

Yeah, we could, son,

if that's what you'd like.

We could.

I'm never sure what one is
supposed to say.

It's not as though there's much
that is remarkable

at this stage, is it?

Is that what you thought,
after you had Harry?

I thought he was remarkable to have
survived my mothering from day one.

I still feel it now.

Do you want to hold her?

What for?

It doesn't matter.

Jan would miss you.

He'd miss Douglas, too,

if you stopped visiting.

Why would I stop visiting?

Well, because you'd have to provide
an explanation for the baby.

You're worried I'll
tell him she's Harry's.

Yes.

Not for Harry's sake, but for Jan's.

The boy worships Harry...

...and he's already lost everything
that he ever believed in,

and we've no idea
when we'll see Harry again.

I'll keep Harry's secret.

I wanted you to have this

towards the upkeep of the child.

- In exchange for my not telling Jan.
- No.

No, that was an appeal
to your conscience.

This is an appeal to your common sense.

Please take it.

Harry's not cut out for fatherhood.

You've done the right thing.

Robina!

Ah.

I just felt I should...

How was the hospital?

Not nice,

but, er, Jan met his brother,
so I think that helped them both.

Well, that IS good...

...and I know it must have been
hard for you.

And this for you.

It had to be done...

...and I am a great believer in doing
what has to be done.

Yeah.

Goodbye.

Rob...

What is amusing?

I don't know
if amusing is the right word,

but I see you all here

and it is as though you always knew
you would end up here,

that this is what the war
is really about.

You needed Paris for a boy's
holiday destination.

- I think we are fulfilling our destiny.
- Is that why you went easy

on the French? Compared to
the Poles, I mean?

Because you didn't want to damage
all the good hotels and restaurants.

I think you have a bit of an
inferiority complex

when it comes to Paris.

Are we flirting?

No.

- Then why did you ask me to dinner?
- I didn't.

I asked you about an interned French
musician and you invited me here.

Well, if he has been interned,
there must have been a reason.

We have to protect our people.

His flat was requisitioned by
some of your guys, he objected,

and now he's been arrested
and interned as a subversive.

He's French-North African.

Then he isn't French.

So, you're not going to help me.

Is this musician your lover?

I've never met him.

He's a friend of my nephew's.

But do you have a lover in Paris?

If you're not going to help me,

I'm not playing games with you.

It's a simple enough question.

Do you have a lover?

No. I do not have a lover.

So...

[HE CLEARS THROAT]

...perhaps there's a path opening up...

...which would give me a reason to help.

As flattered as I am by your offer
of prostitution,

I'm going to decline.

You might want to let go of my hand now.

I have protected you
more than I have needed to.

And what, you'd like me to show my
gratitude by going to bed with you?

Schmidt, you're such
a disappointment to me.

I had you down for intellectually
confused, morally conflicted

and a political coward,

but somehow I thought, I imagined...

...you were above this kind of thing.

I'm a patient man...

...but I don't think you are in
a position to negotiate.

No, but I'm in a position to stick
a steak knife in your balls

and make you squeal like a girl
in front of your comrades.

That's not me flirting.

Just so you're not confused.

Jesus Christ! I thought you had some
influence with these people.

I'll do a report, broadcast,

on the internment policy.

I can do it in the studio here in Paris

and maybe make it round the censors.

Yeah. How about we organise
a bake sale and I pray?

For God's sakes! I tried!

The guy just wanted to fuck me.

So, don't talk to me like I didn't try.

Don't talk to me like I did nothing!

Auntie Nancy?

Auntie Nancy?

- You're never like that.
- No.

- You just don't...
- React...

...to bad things. I know.

It's how you are, how you've always been.

There's a reason for that.

So...?

Are you...? I mean, are you...?

I was attacked...

...my first time in Europe.

I was raped.

Some civil servant in Portugal.

I was covering the uprising...

...and it happened.

And women get raped in conflicts
all the time,

and it happened to me.

And that's all you need to know.

I love you, and all that,

and you are a kind and gentle man,

but that's not how I deal

with this kind of thing.

I never have, and I'm not going
to start now.

I should go.

Will you go back to Berlin?

For now.

I don't know how long I'll be
able to work there.

And you?

Are you going to stay in Paris?

I'll stay as long as I'm needed,
if I can help.

Be careful.

These people don't need
an excuse to hurt you,

and I don't want to see you hurt.

Goodbye.

ARCHIVE: Britain battles on
alone while the Luftwaffe

wages its now daily assault
on the Royal Air Force.

Here, we see our boys returning
safely home,

only to prepare for battle
once more and return to the skies.

Their time back on solid ground
is often very short lived,

and just as often, fraught with anxiety

about those comrades yet to return.

They're due back any minute now.
We can wait over there.

I hope Vernon's all right.

Maybe we should just go.

Maybe you should write him a letter.

No, he came to me
and asked me to marry him.

I owe him an answer in person,
even if it is a no.

He won't be listening to an explanation.

He'll just hear no.

Lois, have you ever met a man
that wanted to hear you explain

just why you're turning him down?

But I'd like to know why.

I know what it's like to love somebody

and not have them love you in return.

I know what it's like to torture
yourself trying to guess

what's in somebody's heart.

Vernon deserves an explanation,

and he deserves it in person.

Randy, isn't it?

Lois.

I see you had the baby.

That's usually how it works, yes.

Is Vernon back?

- I mean, the squadron leader.
- Erm, no.

We, erm...

It got sticky and...

Saw him take down two Junkers
but lost him after that.

He got shot down?

We don't know.

His radio went down,
but radios go down all the time.

He's not back.

That's all we know.

This can't be happening.

This can't really be happening.

Hey, there he is.

Top man.

Touch-and-go for a moment.

I didn't doubt it.

We thought you were a goner.
It's good to see you.

Good job.

Got into a spin over Hull,

dropped 6,000 feet and had to limp
home with a battered fuselage.

Managed to glide into
a field about 20 miles away.

It was all a damned sight easier
than riding a ladies' bicycle.

You're alive! You're alive!

Of course I am. I'm indestructible.

Do you have an answer?

Yes, I do. Yes!

I want to marry you.

Huh! Good.

Don't look at me, please.

I can't think of anything I'd rather do.

I thought I'd never see you again.

Now you have.

Now I have.

There's you.

There's Kasia.

No.

That Kasia has gone, Harry.

I know you must have been through
so much, but if we can just...

Things I have done. Bad things I've done.

That's what war is.

No, Harry, we choose.

We choose...

...and I chose to kill.

You had to survive.

I still had a choice.

And for my country,
for the people, for my family,

that was the right thing to do,

but there was a price...

...and the price was the old Kasia.

The girl you fell in love with,
she isn't there any more.

I tried to find her and she isn't there.

You still love me...

...and I love you.

And that counts for so little.
Really, it does.

It is all that matters.

No. I think the world just proved
you wrong, Harry,

and it is dangerous to think like this.

You are such a romantic. I think...

You think we can get back
to England and be like we were.

I'm here to get you out.

I'm here because you are in danger...

What happens after that,
I have no idea...

...but I'm here to get you out.

We have survived...

...and neither of us are the same,

but you must come,

even if it is only to honour
who we used to be,

and if not that, then Jan.

It's him.

Raise a glass to us
once you get to Yugoslavia.

Good luck.

Idziemy.

Harry!

I'll find you at the top of the hill. Go!