Jonathan Creek. S02 E02. Time Waits for Norman.

deaddogsdam

First broadcast 31st January 1998.  A friend of Maddy's asks Jonathan and her to discover what her husband has been up to after reliable independent witnesses place him on both sides of the Atlantic only minutes apart.  Dermot Crowley - Norman Stangerson Caroline Quentin - Maddy Magellan Deborah Grant - Antonia Stangerson Geoffrey McGivern - Barry Opper Alan Davies - Jonathan Creek Zoë Hart - Rebecca Knape (as Zoe Hart) Graham Bryan - Lewis French Diane Witter - Bernice Lorelei King - Justine Bailey Suzannah Heath - Maxine Nicky Ladanowski - Brenda Rob Jarvis - Wino Steve Nallon - Rupert Edward Halsted - Mel Porthropp Sandy Johnson - Man in Washroom Damien Patten - Gillian's son Rachael Remington - Gillian

Transcript

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01:14Barry!

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01:38What is it? Some kind of original?

01:39The old village hall at Chepsford a few miles from here.

01:42Just managed to save it from the wrecking ball.

01:45Amazing.

01:47Isn't there, um, something missing?

01:48Yes.

01:49One of life's ironies, I'm afraid.

01:52I should spend my life collecting old clocks,

01:54then marry a man who's temporaphobic.

01:56Right.

01:56Tempora what?

01:57Fear of time, I think you'll find.

01:59More accurately, fear of time passing.

02:02That feeling we all get, the years are hurtling past.

02:05With Norman, it's an almost clinical neurosis.

02:09He can't relax at all.

02:12With minutes, seconds, visibly ticking by around him.

02:16A morbid reminder that his life is slowly ebbing away.

02:20Yes, I get that, watching televised snooker.

02:35But listen, I hope Barry's passed on our excitement at your manuscript.

02:46I mean, generically, it's a whole new ballgame

02:48that could revitalise the true crime market.

02:51Magic and mystery.

02:52Houdini meets whodunits.

02:54Can't we just feed you a few ideas from our art department

02:57that's got our juices going?

02:59There.

03:02Who's this?

03:03Well, that's just one idea.

03:05Or he could be black,

03:07to give it a more ethnic tone.

03:09Who could be?

03:10The magician, Jonathan Cree.

03:12He's not a magician.

03:14He works for a magician.

03:15And he's not black,

03:17and he doesn't look like that.

03:19I'm sorry, I don't quite know.

03:20There may be some confusion here.

03:24You're saying there's actually a real person

03:26called Jonathan Cree?

03:29He's not just a narrative conceit for storytelling purposes.

03:32All that stuff.

03:34He invents all those tricks.

03:36And he lives in a windmill.

03:37It's all for real.

03:40Right.

03:42Isn't that funny?

03:44What?

03:45Suddenly I find him less believable.

03:50I'm not sure we can allow this

03:59as a business expense, Mr. Cree.

04:012nd of April, 95.

04:03Billed for emergency plumber.

04:06I know, that was a routine I was working on.

04:08Put a rabbit into a washing machine,

04:10turns into an Angora sweater.

04:12Slightly ballsed up the timing.

04:135 to 5 and I'm barely halfway.

04:21Which would you prefer?

04:23I come back tomorrow,

04:24or shall we keep at it?

04:31OK.

04:33Where will I find the invoice for this one?

04:36You tried the previous tax year.

04:38It's in that case, I think.

04:39Well, there we are, man.

05:09And that's why I'll never be a great publisher.

05:12Because I can't say things like,

05:14his existence poses a credibility hurdle.

05:17Or roughly translated,

05:19Jonathan Creek is beyond belief.

05:22Things on the turn with you two?

05:24Oh, I don't know, Barry.

05:26It's a stupid situation of us

05:27never actually doing anything,

05:29but still not feeling single.

05:31As a result of which,

05:32we're both denying ourselves sex

05:34with other partners.

05:36I'm not that fast,

05:37but I just don't think

05:39it's fair on Jonathan

05:40to feel he has to keep

05:42saving his body for me.

05:49Tell me to stop now.

05:50Who'd have thought that was going to happen?

06:15Life's full of surprises.

06:16If you don't have Lindsay,

06:17if you don't have a ship to

06:34the vacuum for a night push,

06:35you're not that urban.

06:36I thought you got to be

06:36the divine's용 is you're not that

06:37I was small of a girl.

06:39That's fine.

06:39You're a lovely wife.

06:40I said you're 15 years ago.

06:41You're the van.

06:42We're both toddlers,

06:43I went up to school.

06:44Sweetheart, succession of that new Tom Clancy, said it wouldn't be on sale this side of

07:14one for another three months.

07:18Antonia?

07:21What's wrong?

07:23Nothing, I hope.

07:26I got some chilli in my eyes.

07:29How is New York?

07:31Yes, usual round of lunches, meetings, yellow cabs.

07:35What's going on?

07:37Mr...

07:38Louis.

07:39Louis French.

07:40Mr French works in a burger restaurant in Bishop's Stortford.

07:44He's brought your wallet back.

07:47Found it lying under one of the tables.

07:49I could have posted it, but then you don't know, do you?

07:51What can happen, sir?

07:53Right.

07:54No.

07:55Gosh, that's really, really splendid of you.

07:59If you lose something like this, you never know if you'll ever see it again.

08:03The biggest mystery is how it got there.

08:06Oh, Norman.

08:08That is not the biggest mystery.

08:10I'm sorry?

08:11You dropped it there, Mr Stangerson.

08:14Yesterday morning when you came in for breakfast.

08:16About 9.15.

08:18You had a quarter pounder with cheese and fries to eat in.

08:21And you sat by the window just inside the door.

08:24I, er...

08:25I think that's a little unlikely, Mr French.

08:28At 9.15 yesterday, I was asleep in bed in a hotel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

08:34Now, whoever found this wallet or stole it before I left five days ago...

08:41I don't know, maybe they looked a bit like me or...

08:44Yeah, maybe I should get myself a new guy dog or something.

08:47It was you, Mr Stangerson.

08:49Don't try and freak me.

08:50I saw you then.

08:51There's plans.

08:52Yes, all right, Mr French.

08:54We thank you at any rate for your honesty.

08:56And for coming all this way.

09:08Don't forget faces.

09:09And I'm not going to forget a guy who knocks a cup of coffee off the table all over his foot.

09:13I like to clean it up.

09:17Check it out, Miss Stangerson.

09:19Unless your husband's got a twin brother.

09:21That way he was in New York Thursday morning.

09:23Just a minute.

09:24Just in Bailey's office.

09:25Well, she's in a meeting right now.

09:26Can I take a mess?

09:27Sorry?

09:28Okay.

09:29Relax.

09:30Relax.

09:31Relax.

09:32I'll go check.

09:33Yeah.

09:34Hi.

09:35Come on, what's it.

10:00Mr. Stangerson's wife. In England? It sounds like her colon's just exploded.

10:09Thank you, Bernice.

10:19Mrs. Stangerson, how are you?

10:22Pardon me?

10:25Oh no, of course he's been here all week. What a strange question.

10:29Did this man's voice sound kind of muffled, like it was coming from another orifice?

10:37Listen, Thursday 9.15 would have been 4.15 here, right?

10:42Wednesday night, Jack and Ted and I had dinner with Norman at his hotel, until quite late, about 1.30.

10:48Next morning, he showed up here bright as a button when we opened the store at 9.

10:52What can I tell you? He was sitting right where Carol is now, eating a cinnamon bagel.

10:58Right beneath the clock, same as always, so he doesn't have to look at the hands.

11:02No problem. Just give him our love and we'll see him again Tuesday. Bye-bye.

11:12Is that a weird one or what?

11:15What?

11:16Is that a weird one?

11:17She says it so once on one and it might have.

11:18Well she says that someone's on one and it might have.

11:20Are you okay?

11:46Yes, I'm fine.

11:50What's happened to your foot?

11:58Looks like it's been scalded.

12:01Right.

12:02You know, I miss you at that hotel.

12:05Their showers are a death trap.

12:13So what are we actually saying here?

12:16Now, your husband's managed to leave his hotel in New York in the middle of the night, fly

12:23all the way to England to buy a hamburger, then fly back again in time for a breakfast

12:31meeting, all in the space of seven hours.

12:34Who was the pilot?

12:35Father Christmas?

12:36Well, there's no way it's humanly possible.

12:39Unless, of course, he somehow managed to defy the laws of time.

12:43I don't see a problem.

12:44So you've got a bunch of people he's known for years who were with him right up to the

12:50minute he went to bed, and then again first thing next morning.

12:52There was just, I don't know, such certainty in his voice.

12:58When Norman dared suggest he was mistaken, he nearly went for his throat.

13:02And that story about spilling the coffee on his foot, how could he possibly have known

13:05about that scald mark?

13:07So, how often does he go on these business trips in New York?

13:12Two or three times a month would be about average.

13:15What with my work taking me away, our moments together are very precious.

13:20We've only been married 18 months.

13:22You're kidding.

13:23We met late in life.

13:25We've both been through our share of everlasting relationships.

13:29And, I've got to ask it, no brothers who are the spitting image or anything?

13:35Norman was an only child the same as me.

13:37Hmm.

13:38Let me do some digging, see what I can turn up.

13:41In fact, I wouldn't mind a quick shifty round his room if that's okay.

13:45While he, um, get our lunch on.

13:50You don't have to worry,commit.

13:52I can't do some things.

13:55Can he do some things?

13:59How much time can we go home?

14:00No one loves to perform it, no one.

14:03We can't reach them early.

14:17June gets late.

14:19You won't get it to stand up.

14:36Sorry?

14:37This man's story.

14:39Didn't my wife tell you?

14:41I don't even eat red meat.

14:42Why on earth would I be buying a hamburger?

14:49Norman and I have no secrets from each other.

14:52It was his suggestion I called you in to try and make sense of it all.

14:55I mean, what do you think?

14:56It was an innocent mistake or someone deliberately impersonating me for some reason?

15:02Only time will tell, I suppose.

15:03Time?

15:05Slipping through our fingers, Madeleine.

15:07With every heartbeat.

15:09Even as we stand here doing absolutely nothing,

15:12our lives, existence, everything is being voraciously consumed.

15:17Time can never be reclaimed.

15:22Where is it?

15:24Where does the past go and it's no longer the present?

15:28Yes, if we could skip the metaphysical discourse and strain the carrots.

15:32This wallet you brought back, do you reckon you lost it at the airport or it could have been stolen?

15:44And yet, when it turned up at that burger joint, nothing had been taken from it.

15:49Well, my major credit cards I keep at my passport.

15:53The rest was pretty much supplementary stuff.

15:56Nothing of value.

15:58Stangerson and Porthrop.

16:00Is that your company?

16:01Was my company.

16:02Our company.

16:03Computer graphic design.

16:04The two of us, Mel Porthrop and I, spent nine years carving out our own little share of the market

16:11until the recession drew blood and we had to fold.

16:16There weren't too many openings in established firms for people with our experience.

16:20I was lucky to get the position I did.

16:22Anglo-American sales liaison for a junior software manufacturer by coming back from the dead.

16:27And when, a year later, I met Antonia, you think, well, the best things in life are worth waiting for.

16:39So what became of your former partner, Mr Porthrop?

16:42Oh, you know what it's like.

16:44You move on, form new alliances.

16:48I'm afraid we've rather lost touch.

16:50Well, I think this is going to take a...

16:52Hello.

16:57Where did that come from?

17:03It would have been slipped inside.

17:05Between two cards.

17:10What the hell do you think it means?

17:12I don't know.

17:15But if there's one man who can tell us...

17:18At first I thought it was some sort of cryptic threat, you know,

17:21like in that Sherlock Holmes story, the pictures of Matt Stickman.

17:25The problem of the dancing men.

17:27What's it?

17:29Pictures of Matt Stickman was a song by status quo.

17:32Thing is, the words themselves appear meaningless.

17:36But look what you get if you take all the initial letters and put them together.

17:39Oh, Wick Foots, no.

17:42Exactly.

17:43Total gibberish.

17:44No wonder I'm getting a me-grain.

17:46I don't know, Jonathan.

17:47What do you make of it?

17:50Jonathan?

17:51Jonathan?

17:53I'm sorry?

17:56Shirty?

17:56Who's getting shirty?

17:58I'm just not sure it's legal, is it?

18:01Making love to a vat inspector.

18:03I think you'll find that's classed as an unnatural act.

18:05Excuse me, please.

18:07It was just one of those stupid, irresistible moments.

18:12And on the kitchen table.

18:14What did you use as a contraceptive?

18:16A set of napkin rings?

18:17She made all the moves.

18:20Now I'm boxed in.

18:21We've got nothing whatsoever in common.

18:24And if I try and break it off, she'll think it's because of you-know-what, which she's

18:29obviously very sensitive about.

18:31I'm not surprised.

18:32Didn't you get suspicious when you were running your fingers through her hair and she wasn't

18:35even in the room?

18:36I don't know why I expected a grain of sympathy from you.

18:43Look, do you want to go over this Stangerson thing tonight, or what?

18:46Well, what's to go over?

18:48I've told you all there is to tell.

18:50If we're on for that other tomorrow, I'd as soon get an early night, actually.

18:54Oh.

18:55I'll meet you there, then.

18:57What time?

18:57Nine o'clock too early?

18:58Not for me.

18:59Let's say eight, then.

19:02Twenty past ten.

19:03Thanks.

19:04It's a bad time of the month.

19:05You said that 13 days ago.

19:06Yes, all right, then.

19:07I overslept.

19:08Trust you to keep count.

19:14Do you know what?

19:15I'm going to have to be straight with you guys.

19:19I couldn't be that sure now, you know.

19:21You excuse me.

19:23I couldn't be sure.

19:24Hang about.

19:25Lewis.

19:26Lewis.

19:28Lewis.

19:28Yes, can I help you?

19:37It's like, I don't know, I had a bad day.

19:40I just wanted to fight for someone.

19:42I mean, it stands to reason.

19:43The guy's just got off a plane.

19:46I was full of crap.

19:47I realise that now.

19:48Yeah, but you said that...

19:49Now, think about it.

19:50This guy was probably taller.

19:53Yeah, and older.

19:55You see this Mr. Stangerson again?

19:57Tell him I'm sorry, OK?

20:00For giving him a hard time.

20:02I'm sorry.

20:03OK, Lewis, what's happened here?

20:05Someone pays you off or threatens you because you can't just...

20:08Yes, all right.

20:10Never see a transvestite before.

20:13Don't believe this.

20:15No question.

20:16Thursday morning.

20:17This is the guy.

20:18He sent that cup of coffee flying.

20:20I mean, you can't go wrong.

20:21It's him.

20:22Definitely.

20:24You're absolutely positive.

20:25Hmm.

20:27What, he robbed a bank or something?

20:29Chopped up an old lady.

20:30Look at those eyes.

20:32Well, I had my doubts when he first came in.

20:35Interesting.

20:36This is a photo of Newt Gingrich,

20:39the Speaker of the American House of Representatives.

20:41Brilliant.

20:45In our wimpy.

20:48How about this man?

20:54Yep.

20:55He was here as well.

20:56With this first bloke.

20:59What was it just on his own?

21:02You know you've got me wondering now.

21:04I think that proves my point.

21:10You go about it scientifically,

21:12the results are meaningless.

21:13I don't know.

21:15This all gets dodgier by the minute.

21:17Something happened in there,

21:18and that guy saw it.

21:20I mean, now someone's got to him

21:21to keep his mouth shut.

21:24Why?

21:32Middle-aged with glasses.

21:34I see plenty of them.

21:36What's it worth?

21:43He might have been, I don't know,

21:46limping or something when he came out,

21:48like his foot was playing up.

21:51Oh, yeah, you mean the fellow in the window?

21:53Knocked his coffee over.

21:56Does this ring any bells?

21:58It certainly does.

22:01Though I think Newt Gingrich

22:02would be an unlikely customer

22:03at that time on a Thursday.

22:07Now you're talking.

22:09Spot on.

22:11Thanks.

22:12Been really helpful.

22:14Okay, but listen,

22:15you want to be certain.

22:16There's always a photograph.

22:17Yeah, I suppose.

22:19Photograph?

22:21See that place next door?

22:23Thursday morning, first thing,

22:25there's a guy here from the letting agency,

22:26standing right where you are,

22:27with his camera.

22:29See, what happens is,

22:30every time he tries to take a picture

22:31of the property,

22:31people keep walking through,

22:33wasting his film.

22:34come to hell if your guy

22:37wasn't one of them.

22:49Thursday morning,

22:50the photographer was in no doubt

22:52between 9.30 and 10.

22:54the kind of evidence

22:56it's hard to argue with.

22:59Hmm.

23:01I'll have a close look

23:01at that one for a sec.

23:03That none of the wide one.

23:11Is that right?

23:11You said you're an only child,

23:12Mrs Staggs,

23:13the same as your husband.

23:14What on earth

23:15has that got to do

23:15with anything?

23:17Just furious.

23:26Yes, like I told his wife,

23:27I saw him last week.

23:30Yes, he was here always.

23:36The whole week?

23:40Positive.

23:40Thanks for your help.

24:03Jonathan Creek.

24:04Hi.

24:05Sorry to ring in the evening.

24:07You're probably enjoying

24:08an intimate moment with Rebecca.

24:09spraying her head

24:11with beeswax or something.

24:14And I can't talk long.

24:16I've got someone coming round.

24:19So, lots to prepare.

24:22He's rather special.

24:25I, um,

24:26just thought I'd fill you in

24:27on New York.

24:30I've done a pretty thorough

24:31ring round.

24:32Apparently the meal broke up

24:33at around 1.30.

24:35They all said their good nights.

24:37Norman went up to his room.

24:39And he's in his office

24:40the next morning

24:40at nine o'clock.

24:42What, my view?

24:43The whole thing's the work

24:44of some wind-up merchant.

24:46I think I've wasted enough time

24:47on it now.

24:48I'm going to drop it.

24:49Really?

24:51Right, good decision.

25:02Jonathan Creek.

25:03What kind of condescending toss is that?

25:05You've got something to say to me.

25:06Say it.

25:07Suppose Norman Stankson

25:09was planning to kill his wife.

25:12He flies out to New York

25:14as per his usual business trip.

25:17He's going to be gone five days.

25:20It'll be one hell of an alibi.

25:22Somehow he manages to fool everyone,

25:24pulls off this trip with the Times.

25:26Only while he's back here

25:29something goes wrong

25:31and the murder never takes place.

25:35So, what?

25:36He gives up and drives 35 miles

25:38to Bishop's Stauffer

25:39to buy a cheeseburger?

25:40I thought you said

25:41it was a quarter pounder.

25:43Yes, all right then.

25:44A quarter pounder with cheese.

25:46I suppose that's

25:47of vital significance, is it?

25:49Depends.

25:50You said he didn't eat red meat.

25:52I mean, I'm sorry.

25:55It would tax anyone's ingenuity,

25:56even yours,

25:57to cross the Atlantic twice

25:58between the time

25:59everyone else had gone to bed

26:00and the time they got up.

26:01The guy's not Superman.

26:04God, they're adverse.

26:05I'd ask myself how I'd react

26:07if someone swore up a line

26:09they'd seen me

26:10on Fifth Avenue, New York

26:11at 9.30 yesterday morning

26:13and then produced a photo

26:14of me walking past Macy's window.

26:17What do you think?

26:19Could be some sort of

26:20creepy mind game.

26:22to screw up his brain.

26:26Jonathan?

26:28You still there?

26:41Who's doing this to me?

26:45Why aren't they

26:46doing this to me?

26:47God knows we've

26:51little enough

26:52to cling on to

26:52in this life.

26:56But we'll fight it.

26:59Together.

26:59Yes?

27:13Yes?

27:27Jonathan, how are you doing? Look, I know it's late, I just wanted to set...

27:31Oh, yes! Rupert, that's incredible! You beast! What are you doing to me?

27:39Oh, go on. Take me. I'm powerless to resist.

27:46How many men are you down to? Four pawns and a bishop. Resign.

27:52All right. Stangerson's former business partner and that firm they ran together before it collapsed

27:59is the one link we still haven't checked out. How are you fix tomorrow? Right now? Not a clue.

28:07But how many Melvin Porthrops can there be in the phone book?

28:12I feel I've run out of things to say. There's only one thing I can say that matters.

28:19I love you. I just beg that you'll trust me.

28:26If I thought you were keeping something back from me...

28:28Would that be so terrible? If it was something I knew would harm you?

28:33What we have is so valuable. What we have is so valuable. Our time together. It's so short.

28:40Now you're frightening me. I must go. Check-ins are too late.

28:42me. I thought you were keeping something back from me. Would that be so terrible if it was

28:53something I knew would harm you? What we have is so valuable. Our time together. So short.

29:04Now you're frightening me. I must go. Check-ins at two. I'll ring you tonight.

29:34Birchview. Now then. Which one is Birchview do we think? What's it gonna be this time? The

29:40old mind if I use your lavatory and at the same time ransack the premises ploy. Right

29:45then it's your turn. What? I wouldn't have a clue what I'm looking for. Well of course

29:50you wouldn't until you find it. Use some initiative Jonathan for goodness sake. Oh

29:53excuse me. You don't happen to know which house Mr Porthrop lives in by any chance? Hi Mr

29:58Porthrop. Can I help you? I'm wondering if you can. My name's Madeline Magellan. I'm writing

30:06a book for a publisher named Antonia Stangerson whose husband I believe was your former business

30:13partner. The thing is a few days ago something very strange happened which none of us can

30:19explain. Hello? Yes. Nine years. Nearly ten. The rolls and rice. Sadie's and Ben's. We had I don't know what you'd

30:49call it. Commercial chemistry that was very rare. Till it all went tits up and you both had to find new jobs.

30:56Mr Porthrop this might be a long shot but there's something I'd like you to take a look at.

31:07Mr Porthrop. No sorry. I can't help you on that.

31:14Mr Porthrop. Oh Mrs Loxley. All finished to the best of my ability. I'll do the back few next week if I get time.

31:22Thank you very much. Well better dash. Sorry I wasn't much help. Good luck with it anyway.

31:29Oh stop whimpering. What's the worst that can happen? You get rabies.

31:36Yes. You know what? I swear to God he knew what that meant.

31:43He acted as if he was baffled but his eyes were definitely saying something else.

31:50Jonathan Creek.

32:05Jonathan Creek. Rebecca. Hi. Sorry? No no it's not a question of a voice.

32:11Jonathan Crete.

32:14Rebecca, hi.

32:16Sorry?

32:18No, no, it's not a question of avoiding you.

32:20I've just had a lot on.

32:21Oh, give it here, I'll tell her.

32:24Tomorrow, I can't.

32:28Sorry?

32:32OK.

32:33That'd be great.

32:36See you then.

32:37Bye.

32:41Wednesday afternoon, taking me to meet her parents.

32:47Look, all in good time, I'll tell her.

32:59This is where you grew up.

33:02It's great.

33:04My sister and two brothers.

33:06Derry had, of course.

33:07How anyone can eat those creatures is beyond my comprehension.

33:11All right.

33:15I miss they had a good reason.

33:18Beg your pardon?

33:25Who makes all the chutney and mayonnaise around here?

33:28Your mother?

33:29Yes.

33:30All homegrown produce.

33:33I'd leave that one.

33:34It's bull semen.

33:35Mrs. Stangerson.

34:03Mrs. Stangerson.

34:03It's just you.

34:16That's Lucy.

34:22And this is Marilyn.

34:24She's a dreamboat, I tell you.

34:25Um, Rebecca, I know your folks will be back soon, so...

34:29I know.

34:30Talk about a long lunch.

34:32Still, it is their anniversary.

34:34We should be honoured.

34:35They want to spend it with you.

34:36They can be funny about my boyfriends.

34:39Right.

34:41Um...

34:41July the 5th.

34:43Do you know how my father always remembers it?

34:45The day before was July the 4th, Independence Day.

34:49The day after, he was a married man.

34:51It's a terrible memory he's got for dates and figures.

34:56Do you understand?

34:59I think I'm beginning to.

35:01Oh, no.

35:02This is Georgina, who I helped deliver myself.

35:06I think of her sometimes as the product of my own womb.

35:09Does that sound silly?

35:10Poor Thropp still hates him for severing the link.

35:20But he wants to free himself of that hate.

35:26Do you know what always made this message so incredibly hard to work out?

35:30The fact that it's so incredibly easy.

35:33You know what a mnemonic is?

35:35Something that helps you remember something.

35:38All the hours I spent wrestling with this thing,

35:41I never did the one thing that would have solved it in a second.

35:46I never read it out loud.

35:49What kind of thing's hard to remember that you might not want someone else to see?

35:55It's a phone number.

35:56Oh, when I know.

36:02Oh, one, nine, oh.

36:04To free hate.

36:06Two, three, eight.

36:08Two, seven, oh, one.

36:09Two, seven, oh, one.

36:12That's bleeding brilliant.

36:14You've rung it yet?

36:15Because I know he'll be at the other end.

36:21Because I can see it now.

36:23The whole thing.

36:25The guy's not Superman.

36:27He doesn't eat red meat.

36:29He's terrified of the past tense.

36:31He's terrified of the past tense.

36:32He's terrified of the past tense.

36:33He's terrified of the past tense.

36:34He's terrified of the past tense.

36:35He's terrified of the past tense.

36:36He's terrified of the past tense.

36:37PHONE RINGS

36:38Hello?

36:41Antonia!

36:42I was just about to...

36:44Oh, my God.

36:51When?

36:53How?

36:54They were holding...

36:56I don't know, some big party or other.

37:00July the 4th.

37:01One of the pyrotechnics hadn't been secured properly or something.

37:07It just went off in his face.

37:12He was rushed to hospital, but by the time they got...

37:16Norman Stankerson.

37:29He's dead.

37:31I think we'd better ring this number.

37:40I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:41I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:42But...

37:43I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:44But...

37:45We have managed to pick our way to the hospital.

37:46I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:47But...

37:48We have managed to pick our way through it all now.

37:49And I'm afraid it's not what you're going to want to have.

37:50I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:52I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:53I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

37:59I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

38:06I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

38:07I know this seems like totally the wrong moment, Antonia.

38:10But...

38:12We have managed to pick our way through it all now.

38:15And I'm afraid it's not what you're going to want to hear.

38:18A man who can't bear the thought of time slipping away.

38:22Desperate to claw back the past and still cling to the present.

38:26I guess we should have seen it coming.

38:28The...

38:29Funny message on this piece of paper.

38:33It was actually a phone number.

38:36Written phonetically.

38:37By your husband.

38:39A few hours ago, just after we spoke, I checked it out and...

38:44How about I, erm...

38:49Pour you a drink?

38:51Oh!

38:52Oh!

38:53Oh!

38:54Oh!

38:55Oh!

38:56Nicole, help me.

38:58What have I put you through?

39:00Oh!

39:01Oh!

39:02Oh!

39:03Oh!

39:04Oh!

39:05Oh!

39:06Oh!

39:07Oh!

39:08Oh!

39:09Oh!

39:10Nicole, help me.

39:11What have I put you through?

39:13They told me you were dead.

39:16They were lying all along, those people.

39:20The people in New York had no reason to lie.

39:23About Norman's death or anything else.

39:26What was it you said to me on the phone?

39:29The guy's not Superman?

39:32Which some loop of logic told me was exactly the point.

39:37If we weren't looking at a man with two identities, how about two men with one identity?

39:44Two men?

39:45Who for the past three years were both Norman Stangerson?

39:50When Mel and I went bust, it was like the sky fell in for both of us.

40:09In the end, I landed on my feet.

40:13Mel couldn't get arrested.

40:16But maybe we didn't need two jobs between us.

40:20The way mine was structured, there was enough money and more than enough pressure to split down the middle.

40:26So, erm, we arrived at a dream solution.

40:31I'd worked the UK end and he'd be me in New York.

40:37We'd collaborated so closely for so long.

40:41Lived and breathed the same instincts.

40:44So long as we each kept the other posted and covered our tracks, then no one upstairs would ever know.

40:53And, of course, the upshot of it all was more time.

40:58While Porthrop was stepping for you in the States, you were free to pursue other interests.

41:05You want to tell your wife about Gillian Black Seal, Mr Stangerson?

41:10Or should we just ring her up and let her hear it for herself?

41:19Gillian was, erm, was the first girl I ever...

41:23Go on.

41:27When I was 19, she was 17.

41:31We'd grown up in the same part of the world, near Shrewsbury.

41:35We hadn't seen each other for...

41:3825 years.

41:41And then one day...

41:44It doesn't matter how...

41:46Our lives suddenly collided again.

41:49She'd been through a pretty desperate marriage and I was still single.

41:54It was just like we'd both...

41:56Turned the clock back?

41:58Yeah.

42:00And then a year after that, you met Antonia, fell emphatically in love, and this time got married.

42:06Only there was one small snag wasn't there.

42:10We couldn't let go of Gillian.

42:13Tell me this isn't true.

42:15I'm afraid.

42:17The old double life with another woman routine.

42:20With the neat twist that every time he was away, feathering his other nest,

42:24there were half a dozen witnesses who'd swear he'd been with them in New York.

42:29Well, they weren't to know their Norman Stangerson was really Melvin Porthrop.

42:32If it sounds like a complex enterprise, then it wasn't.

42:46It didn't take long with our graphics contacts to sort the passport out.

42:51The rest became quite routine.

42:54I'd park at the airport, hand over to Mel, and then complete my journey in a rented car.

43:06And from that moment on, he became me.

43:10He'd learn to copy my signature.

43:13If anyone phoned up from England, he had my voice pretty well off pad.

43:17Usually, I'd phone Antonia in the evenings, but if she ever got through to Mel,

43:21he'd ask to call back and then tip me off at Jill's.

43:27Personality traits like, er, my problem with clocks.

43:32He began to weave into his performance.

43:35I think he got quite a kick from those little details.

43:38And then, er, when he got back, I'd be there, waiting, to debrief.

43:54I never realised till now how close we were.

43:57And now it's like I've sent him over there.

44:04To his death.

44:07Next to which, dropping your wallet in that hamburger joint,

44:12slipping Lewis' wrench the necessary to keep his mouth shut is pretty incidental.

44:15And usually I, er, I had a lot of work to catch up on, so I left a day early and checked into a hotel.

44:26I'd had an early start and an empty stomach, and by the time I got near the airport, er,

44:32I was ready for some breakfast.

44:35You never finished that hamburger, but then you never intended to.

44:39You'd already got the coupon, which is all you ordered it for in the first place.

44:44Coupon?

44:46Collect five and get a free soccer wall chart.

44:50Somewhere at the back of where this was a young football fan.

44:54But you had no children of your own.

44:57No brothers and sisters, so no nephews.

45:00So whose child would he go to that much trouble for?

45:03It was one of the reasons I couldn't stop it.

45:11I couldn't end it.

45:14And nothing had changed as far as they knew.

45:17Why did they need to know?

45:21And then, when your call came this afternoon.

45:26Norman.

45:28I messed up so many lives.

45:30This is my crime.

45:35I've tried to love too many people.

45:40Maybe your crime is you don't know who to love.

45:45If you ever decide, Norman, let me know.

45:50Because time's running out faster than you think.

46:09By the way, I meant to say, did you see Kojak last night?

46:13You never give it a rest, do you?

46:17I said I'd end it, and I ended it.

46:20When we were all sitting there, finally, having dinner,

46:24I told him I thought Rebecca was a lovely girl,

46:27but that one misguided act of passion on a kitchen table

46:29didn't mean we were romantically suited to each other.

46:32It all ended very amicably when her father propelled me out the front door

46:36in a waitress trolley.

46:37I was just asking if you saw Kojak last night.

46:44It was a really old one.

46:47About some bloke in Utah with three wives.

46:51Oh.

46:53Right.

46:55Well, I just...

46:59What the hell's this?

47:01What's what?

47:02There are absolutely no debts you won't sink to, are there?

47:06Oh, that's just some stupid thing their art department came back with.

47:11There's some sort of ballpark cover design.

47:15Ballpark cover design?

47:17Where did you get this photo from?

47:19I'm sorry, if you think I'm going to let this loose across the country.

47:22Well, of course not!

47:24I don't think I'd ever give my approval to a thing like that.

47:27Thank you for giving us your approval on the enclosed mayor.

47:29Yes, you're right.

47:30Consider it spiked.

47:34Jonathan.

47:36Seriously.

47:38You and me.

47:40We're a team.

47:42We don't need that kind of friction.

47:46A little friction can be quite nice.

47:50Hey.

47:52Seen the time.

47:54You've missed your last train.

47:58We both know what this means.

48:03Do we?

48:05A six hour wait at that sodding station.

48:09Oh well.

48:10Find yourself a nice bench.

48:11Try not to sit in any vomit.

48:12It'll soon go.

48:18Isn't that what they say, Jonathan?

48:19Time flies.

48:20Time flies.

48:21Time flies.

48:22Time flies.

48:23Happy Love.

48:25My darling.

48:27I just hope a little bit, I love you.

48:28I love you.

48:30I love you.

48:31I love you too.

48:33You are so happy.

48:34I love you too.

48:35I love you too.

48:37You are so happy.

48:39You are so happy.

48:41Time flies.

48:43And you can be the family, too.

48:46I love you too.

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