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02:27THE TAS
02:37These bandages come off.
02:42Roll on.
02:45Roll on, seven o'clock.
02:52So.
02:55I'm taking the opportunity of this waiting time
03:00to reply to your cassette.
03:03Dear Walter, any thanks for your cassette.
03:07There we are.
03:15I've been doing a lot of thinking while I've been lying here, Wal.
03:19And I've come to a decision.
03:22I've had enough.
03:24I'm chucking the job. I'm fed up with Triffids.
03:28I want to be loved.
03:31I want to breed puppies and plant potatoes.
03:35So, as you are going to write your book about Triffs, and on condition that I never have to mention them again,
03:40I'll use this waiting time.
03:48It's not that I'm worried about this morning.
03:51It's just that I'm scared stiff.
03:53I'll use this time to do as you ask, and give you some of my theories about the early days.
04:02Some of it's more than theories, too.
04:05The stories about Palanguis I got from a very good source.
04:09In 1961, he turned up at the Office of European Oils.
04:13We've had it analyzed, Mr Palanguis.
04:15Our experts confirm that it is a vegetable oil.
04:18But with extraordinary properties.
04:21To be honest, I've never seen anything quite like it.
04:22You will be seeing a very great deal of it, Mr Grant.
04:26It will, I think, come on the market in maybe seven or eight years' time.
04:30Possibly.
04:32You have experimented with it as an additive to petroleum?
04:34Oh, yes.
04:36There is an energy saving of more than 30%.
04:39Do you intend to market it yourself, Mr Palanguis?
04:44Would I be showing it to you if I did?
04:47Well, I suppose you have a proposition.
04:49Shall we come to it?
04:50The plant from which this oil is obtained is a completely new species.
04:56I might be able to provide you with the seeds of this plant.
05:00If you commence cultivation at once, you could begin production of the oil in five years' time.
05:06Or it might be six for full yield.
05:09You would still be in advance of your competitors.
05:12On the other hand, I could always come to an arrangement with the competitors.
05:15I think you will find they are not approachable.
05:20Or suppressable.
05:22You mean they are behind the Iron Curtain?
05:27Seeds, you said.
05:29Have you heard of a Russian professor of biology called Lysenko?
05:32There are rumors he has made some very strange experiments.
05:36I have heard these rumors.
05:38What figure did you have in mind for getting us the seeds of this thing?
05:43Ten million pounds.
05:45And a percentage of the profits.
05:49It is a very dangerous business, Mr. Grant.
05:53There are many people I must pay.
05:55For you, the choice is between ruin or a monopoly in the Western world.
06:00I will not lower my price.
06:01And he didn't, Larry.
06:04And they paid it.
06:05Or part of it.
06:06The company couldn't pay the rest because Mr. Palengros was never seen again.
06:11Of course, in the end, the company got their seeds.
06:16But by the time they did, they weren't the only ones.
06:20What they...
06:31Sorry about the sound effects, what?
06:54I think somewhere in the night a window smashed.
06:57Won't be deafened with police sirens any minute.
07:02Meanwhile, I'm back to the Triffids.
07:07My first experience of them was when I still lived at home with mum and dad and hold your eyes.
07:15It was a year or so after Palengros disappeared.
07:18Not that I'd ever heard of him then, of course.
07:20But we know from the Russian who got out later on that a plane had been landed and the seeds taken away.
07:26I always thought that Russian fighters got on his tail and shot him up somewhere out over the ocean.
07:32Those seeds are like vapour.
07:35If they got out of that hide, they'd drift almost anywhere.
07:38Funny, isn't it, Dad?
07:40Yes. Yes, it is a little curious.
07:43Rather curious.
07:45Any idea of what it is?
07:48No, no, not really.
07:50It's blown in from somewhere, I suppose.
07:52Either that or a foreign import of some sort I know not what of.
07:56Or else some new strain of some sort that someone's been rearing.
08:00Here.
08:02What are these stumps at the bottom?
08:04Search me.
08:06Fairly peculiar.
08:10Come on, Bill. Have a look inside.
08:12Come on. Come on.
08:13Come on, Bill. That's nature.
08:16I've grown rather fond of it myself.
08:21I shall take care of you, old chap.
08:25There's no need to fret.
08:28Not long after this, I went to the cinema with a pal.
08:32In those days, they still showed newsreels before the big film.
08:35Well, now, folks, get a load of what's going on in Ecuador.
08:39Vegetables on vacation.
08:41You've only seen this kind of thing after a party, but down in sunny Ecuador, they see it any time.
08:46And no hangover to follow.
08:48Monster plants on the march.
08:50Seeing this gives me a big idea.
08:52Maybe if we educate our potatoes right, we can fix it so they walk straight in the pot.
08:56How'd that be, Mama?
08:58They were the same as the plant in our garden.
09:01I was sure they were.
09:04And if they could walk...
09:10I was the first person in England to have been stung by a triffid.
09:25Our plant was too young for its poison to be fully effective, and the doctors managed to save my life.
09:33We were beginning to learn about the tri-feds, or triffids as they came to be called.
09:41They couldn't only walk.
09:43They could kill.
09:46Triffids began to appear all over the world, and something else was learned about them that sickened everything.
09:51Triffids were also carnivores.
09:54They stung their victims, then stood over them, waiting for the flesh to decompose,
09:58because not until then could they use it for food.
10:03Triffids were hacked down by the thousand, and the new plant was very nearly eliminated from Earth.
10:07Very nearly.
10:10But not quite.
10:12Because suddenly the scientists realised that the nasty old triffid was the same plant from Russia that produced the wonderful oil.
10:19Triffids were...
10:20That meant that triffids were very lovely and very big business.
10:29And as I felt I had a bond with them, I went to work on a triffid farm, and so did you, and you know the rest.
10:34And meanwhile, we pause for the time.
10:38What the hell is going on?
10:42It s eight o'clock. They should have been in at seven. They can't be late. Not today.
10:47They've got to take these bloody bandages off!
10:50Oh.
10:54I'm sorry about that. You get like a kid when you're as hopeless as this.
10:56What the hell's going on?
10:58It's 8 o'clock. They should have been in at 7. They can't be late. Not today.
11:02They've got to take these bloody bandages off!
11:12I'm sorry about that.
11:14You get like a kid when you're as hopeless as this.
11:19There must be some emergency on and there's no point in me getting into a paddy
11:23because there's nothing at all that I could...
11:29That's fine.
11:30Where's all the traffic got?
11:35The worst thing about living in this blackness
11:38is that there's no certainty of knowing anything at all.
11:42And for all I know, there's three nurses and a doctor in this room
11:45all playing Blyman's buff with me.
11:48Or they might have moved me somewhere else while I was asleep.
11:51I don't know. I've never seen this room.
11:56Anyway...
11:59There's obviously some explanation.
12:04Apart from the fact I've gone bananas.
12:06It reminds me of that conversation we were having the other week.
12:18Do you remember when we were talking about Triffids?
12:22That evening we were working there.
12:24They can start tapping number three field tomorrow.
12:28Yep.
12:32For now?
12:34That's it.
12:35I've had enough.
12:37I'm going home.
12:39Time for more geese.
12:41No new start.
12:43What?
12:44Did you talk about Triffids?
12:45Oh, no.
12:46Well, you could fall in heaven.
12:50Jack Richards tells me he's planted a Triffid in his garden
12:53so his daughter can have it for a pet.
12:56Ah, he wouldn't be the first.
12:59Perfectly safe if he keeps it on some sort of chain
13:01and cuts a sting out every couple of years.
13:04Quite fun for a kid in lots of ways.
13:06Fun!
13:10Have a night, Cap.
13:11Yeah, tell.
13:21We know very little about them, you know.
13:25For example, what do you think that is?
13:28When they rattle their sticks against their stem?
13:31Well, I thought we'd decided.
13:32It was a sort of primitive mating call.
13:36Cheers.
13:37Cheers.
13:42I think they're talking.
13:45Talking?
13:47I've been thinking that for some time.
13:49Now I'm prepared to say so.
13:52Well, to you, anyway.
13:54Walter, a Triffid is a plant.
13:56Now, a talking plant is ridiculous.
13:57A walking plant is ridiculous.
13:59But a Triffid walks?
14:01Well, it moves about.
14:03Well, that's quibbling. It walks.
14:04And if I'm right and it talks, or if you want a quibble, communicates.
14:09That means somewhere inside it is intelligence.
14:12But we've dissected them and we know there's no brain.
14:14That doesn't prove there isn't something that does a brain's job.
14:17Look at when they attack.
14:19They almost always go for the head.
14:21Now, a great number of people who have been stung but not killed
14:24have been blinded.
14:26That's significant.
14:28Of what?
14:29Of the fact they know the shortest way of putting a man out of action.
14:32If it were a choice of survival between a blind man and a Triffid,
14:37I know which I'd put my money on.
14:39But you're assuming equal intelligence.
14:41I know I'm not.
14:43They don't need their intelligence to equal ours.
14:45What do you mean?
14:55Look how complicated it is for us to feed ourselves.
14:59Even to just grow things and eat them raw.
15:02They live off the soil or from insects or bits of rotten meat.
15:07And look at the complex process we have to go through to make use of them.
15:11To get oil from them.
15:13Put that in reverse.
15:15How would they make use of us?
15:17Just give us a sting, wait a few days,
15:20and they've got everything they need to live.
15:23That doesn't take very much intelligence.
15:29You don't like them very much, do you?
15:31Fascinating.
15:32I shall write a book about them one day.
15:36Look, if they do have this intelligence,
15:40are you afraid of it?
15:43Why should I be?
15:45They're under control.
15:47There's only one thing there.
15:49I don't know what they're nattering about.
15:54Come in.
16:02What's going on?
16:14What's going on?
16:32What's going on?
16:46Hey!
16:48Do you think I could possibly have some breakfast?
16:50Room 22.
17:02Association?
17:04Excuse me!
17:07What are you doing?
17:09What are you doing?
17:11What's going on?
17:13I'm scared of being functional.
17:15.
17:20Leo!
17:22You're in an ancient language.
17:24I'm scared of them for the
17:29I think I'm going mad.
17:37I must be.
17:40Or something's happened and God only knows what it is.
17:44Oh, Christ.
17:49The sweat's running down my neck.
17:54It's Wednesday, May the 12th.
17:57Yesterday was Tuesday, May the 11th.
17:59And only one night's passed since then.
18:01And everything was normal then.
18:03The sky's just full of shooting stars.
18:08Is it to do with last night?
18:12You saw it, I suppose.
18:15I must have been the only person that didn't see you.
18:18We've drawn back all the curtains in the ward
18:20so the patients can look out.
18:22What did the radio say it was?
18:24Comet what?
18:25Debra.
18:26It's amazing, Mr. Mason.
18:30Look, I think before we get the rest of this down my front,
18:33we'd better call it a day.
18:35Oh, I'm sorry.
18:37Have I been...
18:37No, it's all right.
18:38I'm only joking.
18:39It's just jealousy missing all the fun.
18:42You sure you've had enough?
18:43Yes.
18:44Yes, thank you.
18:44Good evening, nurse.
18:53Good evening, doctor.
18:55Good evening, Mr. Mason.
18:56I'm Dr. Soames.
18:58Mr. Carter, your specialist, asked me to look in and see you.
19:00Oh, good evening, Dr. Soames.
19:03Will you be needing me for anything, doctor?
19:05No, thank you, nurse.
19:07Good night, Mr. Mason.
19:09Good night, Barbara.
19:09Enjoy the free stroll.
19:13I will.
19:16Yes, it's quite something you're missing tonight, Mr. Mason.
19:19So I'm told.
19:22I'm sorry.
19:23Must be very boring for you.
19:25Anyway, Mr. Carter asked me to tell you that he'll begin to see you immediately after breakfast,
19:28but he doesn't want you to be tempted to peep before then.
19:31These things have to be handled carefully.
19:34Exactly the right amount of light.
19:35That sort of thing.
19:39Otherwise, some very expert work and ten days' patience on your part
19:43could be ruined in a couple of seconds.
19:45You understand that?
19:47Yes, of course.
19:48Good.
19:50Triffid sting, wasn't it?
19:52Yes, that's right.
19:53I work on a triffid farm.
19:55I thought they all had their stings docked these days.
19:57Not the ones we tap for oil.
20:00We discovered that the oil's a much better quality if we don't.
20:04I see.
20:05I presume you wear some sort of protective clothing, don't you?
20:08Oh, yes.
20:10But some of those stings are ten feet long,
20:13and they can catch you at any angle.
20:15This one gave me a vicious swipe on the side of the mask,
20:17and some of the poison got inside.
20:19You're rather lucky to be alive, aren't you?
20:21Yes.
20:23I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for my friend.
20:26He took me inside and gave me the antidote.
20:29Added to it, I must have built up a certain amount of resistance.
20:32That's the second time they got me.
20:36I'm surprised you haven't had enough of them.
20:38I've decided.
20:39I have.
20:41Well, good luck for tomorrow.
20:43If you'll excuse me, I'm going to join the gawkers on the roof.
20:46Good night, Mr. Mason.
20:47Good night, Doctor.
20:48And they have no record of such a brilliant display of astronomical pyrotechnics ever taking place before.
21:14There seems to have been no country in the world that has not been able to have a look at this unique phenomenon.
21:21As night has moved across the earth, the wonderful display has moved with it.
21:26And although the spectacle is just beginning to lose its strength,
21:29the streets and parks and rooftops of London are jammed with people,
21:33excitedly watching one of the greatest free entertainments the world has ever seen.
23:44Hello?
23:48Who's there?
23:50My name's Mason.
23:52Bill Mason.
23:54I'm in room 22.
23:55Mason!
23:56I'm Dr. Soames.
23:59Oh, yes, of course, Doctor.
24:00I should have recognised your voice.
24:03What's the matter?
24:05You can see?
24:07Well, nobody came to unbandage my eyes, so I did it myself.
24:10I don't think any harm's been done.
24:12I can see as well as ever.
24:13I must telephone at once.
24:17Where are we now?
24:19What do you mean?
24:20Where are we now?
24:22You've got eyes, Derek Houston.
24:24Can't you see I'm blind?
24:43I'll take you see.
24:49I'll be back.
24:51ORCHESTRA PLAYS
25:21ORCHESTRA PLAYS
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25:56ORCHESTRA PLAYS
25:58ORCHESTRA PLAYS
26:03ORCHESTRA PLAYS
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