- 3 minutes ago
First broadcast 2nd December 1975.
It's more than two months since Chris and Alice Collinson have seen each other ; a long standing engagement now brings them into contact.
Tony Britton - Christopher Collinson
Ann Firbank - Alice Collinson
David Wilkinson - David Collinson
Wilfred Pickles - Bernard King
Michael Elphick - Ron Hibbert
Rhoda Lewis - Elsie
Ian McCulloch - Peter Richards
Vernon Dobtcheff - Hugh
Jon Morrison - Alan
Paul McDowell - Gordon
Nigel Havers - Clive
John Flanagan - Tony
Gerry Cowan - TV Director
Olga Grahame - Woman Neighbour
Chris Canavan - Billy
Peter Firmani - Head Waiter
It's more than two months since Chris and Alice Collinson have seen each other ; a long standing engagement now brings them into contact.
Tony Britton - Christopher Collinson
Ann Firbank - Alice Collinson
David Wilkinson - David Collinson
Wilfred Pickles - Bernard King
Michael Elphick - Ron Hibbert
Rhoda Lewis - Elsie
Ian McCulloch - Peter Richards
Vernon Dobtcheff - Hugh
Jon Morrison - Alan
Paul McDowell - Gordon
Nigel Havers - Clive
John Flanagan - Tony
Gerry Cowan - TV Director
Olga Grahame - Woman Neighbour
Chris Canavan - Billy
Peter Firmani - Head Waiter
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00.
00:00.
00:01.
01:07When was the last time you were up there?
01:09The only constituency with her.
01:12Five years.
01:13Maybe six.
01:15It was a big row.
01:17I remember that.
01:20What about?
01:22Well, he was opening one of those new ski slopes, artificial training thing to do with some new leisure centre.
01:34And I suppose he wanted to make a big impression.
01:37So he dragged me and my brother along for the benefit of the photographers.
01:41Dressed us up in all the gear.
01:44I hated it.
01:45I went and hid in the bog.
01:48Took him a week to start talking to me again.
01:52Well, you're supposed to do a lot of that sort of thing, on behalf of the party.
01:55When I was an infant.
01:58I don't remember it.
02:00There's half a museum of photographs at home.
02:03I used to be toted around like the first prize at Crofts.
02:07I think it saved him making a few speeches.
02:11How'd you get on with him, then?
02:16It'll be interesting to find out.
02:19He's got trouble up there.
02:21Behind the scenes.
02:23Going to kiss a few old ladies on her head for her.
02:37Is this your mother, David?
02:42Yes, it is.
02:44Hello!
02:46You found it!
02:49Brilliant!
02:52Hey, look, uh, shall I piss off now?
02:55Hang around for some tea if you want.
02:57Okay.
02:58I'm on my way down!
03:06You could clear this shit up for me, Alan.
03:09If you feel like it.
03:14Yeah!
03:22Look, I don't want to waste time chasing shadows.
03:25You tell me there's a story there, and maybe you're right.
03:27But I want to know whether we can get it on the screen.
03:29Now, just give me 24 hours.
03:31I don't want you weaving and ducking about there for days on end,
03:33just to finish up with a close-up saying no comment.
03:36And Tony giving us a bloody soliloquy of mild innuendo.
03:39Well, hang up.
03:40Look, I'll buy a fight from you.
03:41But I'm not interested in a voyage around Chris Collinson.
03:44Who is Chris Collinson?
03:45Well, he's two things.
03:47It's a classic case of political irony.
03:49A man gunning for a minister and a man being gunned for.
03:52Who's going to do it?
03:53Well, there's plenty here.
03:55I'm not interested in whispers from Westminster.
03:57That's somebody else's show.
03:59If you can get it full frontal, punch for punch, I'm mad about it.
04:02I don't want ten seconds of Tony's lyric tenor explaining why we haven't got the story.
04:07Well, there's already been one attempt to get a vote of censure.
04:10Did it happen?
04:11Well, no.
04:12He wriggled out of that.
04:13Yeah.
04:13But they're going to have another go.
04:15It's bound to come.
04:18What do you think, Tony?
04:21Well, let's find out exactly what his movements are over the next few days.
04:25We may be able to pin him down.
04:28It's the locals.
04:30Anger in the streets, that's where the money is.
04:35Terrific.
04:37My brother and his mate, three months in Algiers, they made a real load of bread.
04:43They set themselves up as sort of tourist houts in the casbahs.
04:48They've taken Americans by the hand and leading them through the dark alleys.
04:53If they run out of Americans, they'd settle for Germans.
04:56Of course, the English weren't any good.
04:59No money to spend.
05:01I hope you're not going to try that sort of thing where you're going.
05:04I think you might find the Greeks a bit hostile to young foreign predators.
05:09Don't worry.
05:12How long is it going to take you to reach Athens?
05:15Won't half the student population of Europe be on the road competing for the same lift?
05:19We're not much bothered.
05:21There's plenty to see on the way.
05:24Better to travel than arrive someday, sir.
05:27Or nearly.
05:28Have fun.
05:29Thanks.
05:32Let me check the logistics of this expedition, David.
05:35Yes, ma'am.
05:36Now, post-constituency, I'm required to drive you back here via the cottage where you'll pick up your clean socks
05:42and the hundredweight of anti-diarrhea pills I've bought for you
05:45and then deliver you both to Victoria for noon on Sunday.
05:49I have got the instructions right, have I?
05:51I'll drive if you like.
05:53It's just that we don't want to waste time at this end.
05:57We could have gone tomorrow if you hadn't insisted on this trek to the inhospitable north.
06:02Well, that's the deal.
06:10Sorry, love.
06:11There's always something.
06:14Oh, we're not too bad, no.
06:18Gordon, he's coming up on Friday.
06:21Who's coming up, Clive?
06:23Well, Chris Collinson.
06:24He's starting off at some kid's art exhibition in one of the primary schools.
06:28His wife goes to it every year, apparently.
06:30It's only a tiny thing, but they reckon she never misses.
06:32Oh, you might have a few minutes of that.
06:34It could be bloody great.
06:36You can't miss with kids' paintings.
06:38You want us to cover that?
06:40Well, let's know a bit more about it, Clive.
06:43Perhaps it'll make the charm spot Monday night.
06:45Yeah, but what about Collinson?
06:47Check the school, Clive.
06:48Talk to me in the morning.
06:49You don't want to drop Collinson, do you?
06:52Check the school, Clive.
07:01He's been in an impressive form.
07:03It's good to see him so busy again.
07:06Do you take some credit for that?
07:09Four months ago, I would have said we'd lost him to Henri, and its comforter.
07:18Well, he obviously felt the spur of crisis.
07:21Yes, I think that's true.
07:23Is he writing at the moment?
07:24Well, you should ask him.
07:26But no, I don't think so.
07:28Well, there's too much to do on other fronts.
07:31Someone should be writing the new appraisal,
07:34redefining the cause, locating the soul.
07:38He should do it.
07:39And the rest of the field are just pamphleteers.
07:42Yes, well, soul isn't the word that Chris uses much, in my experience.
07:46Well, politically, he's a scientist, isn't he?
07:49More than a priest.
07:50That's why this particular quest is so fascinating.
07:53He doesn't assume there is a soul.
07:55Unlike all those perfervid tribunites who think they are it.
08:01That was a striking piece of contumely
08:03that you treated them to in your column this morning.
08:06Your post-pag should be fairly abusive for the next few days.
08:09Hmm. It mostly is.
08:12Along with the Quaker spinsters and vegetarian fellwalkers
08:16who are the traditional readership of my paper,
08:18we have a surprising admixture lately of the foul-mouthed yob.
08:23The ancients in the building want to blame it
08:24on the introduction of the racing page.
08:26I think it's more to do with the rise of the polytechnics.
08:31Here he is.
08:35I'm a bit late. Sorry.
08:39Hello, Chris.
08:41Good evening, Hugh.
08:43Thank you for meeting me.
08:44I thought you'd never ask.
08:47What are you going to drink?
08:49Water.
08:50A little poly, please.
08:53You're looking very elegant, Chris.
08:55I'm singing for my supper tonight.
08:57Some American political educationists.
09:00Whither Europe.
09:01Pass the Jack Daniels, Wilbur.
09:03You do have time to talk, do you?
09:06Certainly, Hugh.
09:07What would you like to know?
09:09I said talk, Chris.
09:11I'm not the boy from Radio Rutland
09:13with the tape recorder in my saddlebag.
09:16The thought of you in bicycle clips, Hugh,
09:18is an image to treasure.
09:21How's Alice?
09:22Fine, thanks.
09:24Carol?
09:25Mm-hmm.
09:26Would you both like to talk to me about the group?
09:30You should be very happy with the way things are going.
09:32The government has paid heed.
09:34We have an incomes policy.
09:37Gratifying?
09:38Well, we hope we had some influence.
09:41It's an interesting point to ask where we made it felt.
09:45Perhaps it was always a treasury decision,
09:48and therefore inevitable.
09:49Perhaps our real function was to soften up the party
09:52and the country to swallow it.
09:54In attacking the government so much,
09:57plugging away as we did,
09:58we were actually doing their job for them.
10:00Still, what's most important is the end result.
10:04Which brings us naturally to the question
10:06of the continuing function.
10:07the usefulness of the group.
10:10There is ever the alarming left to be counted?
10:13Was that always how you saw its function, Chris?
10:16Well, let's be candid.
10:18It's often been referred to as yours.
10:21The springboard for your future.
10:24Does that still apply?
10:29I did not initiate the group.
10:31I met an invitation.
10:34There was an undertaking implied with that approach.
10:38I'm going to canvas for you.
10:40A lot of us wanted Chris in office.
10:46But we now have what may be an unexpected situation.
10:50Unexpected by you and the group, that is.
10:52An incomes policy supported by the minister you set your sights on.
10:58Does that rehabilitate him and null your claim, Chris?
11:06I have said, ever since the reshuffles, that we are only halfway there.
11:14There must be more action on the unions.
11:17There is a whole tangle of obstructive behaviour.
11:20An obdurate conservatism that is criminal.
11:23And which is creating unemployment and stifling the economy.
11:27And which that minister will never recognise.
11:30Let alone grapple with.
11:31The incomes policy is one step forward.
11:35But we are still performing a party balancing act,
11:38which we should have abandoned long ago.
11:42Do you really think the group has done its job?
11:47It's barely defined its terms.
11:52There is no cause for satisfaction.
11:57I have to say that that is not the general view.
12:01I know.
12:02I never offered to articulate the general view.
12:09Are you sure you won't have a proper drink, Chris?
12:11I'll have a whiskey, please.
12:14A large scotch and these again, please.
12:17Can we expect to hear you develop all that in public, Chris?
12:22He's written five books.
12:23Plus two collections of essays and various books of journalism.
12:28I had a tutor who used to swear by him.
12:31Towards a just society.
12:33Socialism and the individual.
12:35How old is he?
12:38Er...
12:3852.
12:41He was born in, er...
12:43Well, somewhere near Birmingham.
12:46Pretty posh family background.
12:48His grandfather had a big iron foundry.
12:51His father was a town clerk.
12:53He got a knighthood.
12:54His wife's name's Alice, right?
12:56His only marriage.
12:58Right.
13:00Collinson was public school.
13:03Charter house.
13:05He sent both his kids to a comprehensive.
13:07Quite bloody right.
13:09How long has he been the member?
13:11You did tell me.
13:12I've forgotten.
13:13It's 1958.
13:17Christ!
13:17What?
13:19Oh, he's not even at school, then.
13:21Well, don't boast about it.
13:24He was in the army in the Second World War.
13:28Give me that teacher's name again.
13:30Mrs. Chapman.
13:36Mrs. Elfell Chapman.
13:39You know, this job we're off to.
13:41It's the sort of thing I had to do on my first weekly paper.
13:45Kids' paintings.
13:46Jesus Christ.
13:48Oh, hello, Gordon.
13:55You ready?
13:56Nearly.
13:57Come in for a minute.
13:59You look ready.
14:01Is that a compliment?
14:03Do you want it to be?
14:08I don't know this place.
14:14I didn't realise Dad had so many blacks in the constituency.
14:18It's the poor whites who give him the hard time, isn't it?
14:21It's not Alabama, David.
14:24No.
14:25It's called Hell.
14:27That I do remember.
14:29Nicknames are jokes.
14:32I wonder if these people have one for him.
14:35The Top.
14:37Or Supermouth.
14:39Something like that.
14:41It sounds suspiciously like a little war dance, David.
14:44We're not going to have that sort of...
14:46Reunion?
14:46You want to see him.
14:47You know you do.
14:49You don't have to square up to him.
14:51You don't have to prove anything.
14:53He's been schooled in a pretty callous, roughhouse world over many years.
14:58You're not expected to match that.
15:01A few people can.
15:08You're fairly tensed up about seeing him again, aren't you?
15:13Yes.
15:19Not much room if you don't get on too well together.
15:26Would you just dump those bags in my room, please, Willie?
15:28Yes, sir.
15:29Certainly.
15:29It's a pleasure.
15:31Very nice to see Mrs. Collinson again, sir.
15:33That's fair kind of you, Willie.
15:42Hello, Alice.
15:44You look good.
15:47Hello, David.
15:49Hello, Dad.
15:49You look good.
15:55Oh, hey.
15:57Oh, hey.
16:12Do you want to?
16:181, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9....
16:48But why did you never tell us about it?
16:51Every year, since 1964, it's a magical television.
16:55And we never knew it was happening.
16:57I just didn't think about it, Tony.
17:00I suppose I'm not a natural publicist.
17:03Well, I thought you took to the camera as to the man of Bourne, Elsie.
17:08Oh, really, though, we've got some very nice stuff.
17:12You see, kids don't always open up when you want them to.
17:15That's what I told you. That's partly what these paintings are for.
17:18To help them to... Oh, excuse me, just for a moment.
17:22Alice.
17:24Hello, Alice.
17:26Hello, love.
17:28You look lovely. You do, really.
17:30You, too. Is someone going to make you famous?
17:33Elsie, how nice to see you.
17:35Hello, Chrissie. It was very good of you to come.
17:38And you must have dated.
17:41Last seen at about 3 foot 6 inches tall and very cuddly with it.
17:45Where, Mrs Chapman?
17:47You're pretty cuddly now.
17:49I suppose the whole world is at your feet.
17:52I was so sorry to hear about Andrew.
17:54I was glad of your letter, Elsie.
17:57Well, clearly bigger and better than ever.
18:00Someone is making a canonising film of you, I can see.
18:03You'll be sharing the bill with the kings of Kung Fu.
18:05No, no one's on television.
18:09The beautiful, ton of day has been clouded in commissary, she said.
18:13It's clearly an experience no woman should be denied.
18:17Who is this?
18:17Hello.
18:18What?
18:20Yes.
18:21Yes, it's Linda.
18:22She wants to show you her paint.
18:24Do you?
18:25No, I...
18:29Yes, well, I don't think we need the Collinsons in this piece.
18:33You know, we've got the pictures, we've got the kids, we've got lovable Elsie.
18:37If we do film them in this bit, they're only going to get cut out.
18:42It's all right, this, isn't it?
18:44It's a lot better than I thought.
18:45You know, what's our local bloke here think he's playing at?
18:48We should have heard about this before now.
18:51Elsie's a little knockout.
18:52Right, but we're still going to have a go at Collington, aren't we?
18:55Yes, sure.
18:56As long as we keep the two things entirely separate.
19:00The moving finger, yes, I know the feeling.
19:02How long, an hour?
19:03Hmm?
19:05Well, suppose we just stand him up against the shithouse wall in the playground.
19:09Oh, I think we ought to try something a little more interesting than that.
19:12Perhaps we ought to try it on one of these little side streets out here.
19:15You know, a little bit of touch of the colour of the place.
19:18I mean, if we're going to do the job, let's do something we can all bear to look at afterwards,
19:22hmm?
19:22Oh, yeah, sure.
19:23How long do you need to set up?
19:25Well, I've almost finished around here.
19:27And we'd better find out if he wants to do it.
19:29I mean, he may just say piss off.
19:31Right.
19:33Come on, let's grab it.
19:40Well, thank you, Jason.
19:41That was very interesting indeed.
19:44You see, the camera is getting bigger, and so if they need the words to explain to us,
19:50well, they can struggle to find them.
19:51Well, the clue is to tap their imagination.
19:56Oh, it looks as though you're being summoned to appear before the cameras.
19:59I'm sure you've said it all, Elsie.
20:01Mr. Conningson, I don't think we've met before.
20:03My name is Tony Day, and this is Clyde Turner.
20:07How do you do?
20:08Mrs. Conningson is the unofficial president of the Little Academy.
20:12Yes, I'm only here as consul.
20:14Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Conningson.
20:17How aware are you that there's a strong movement in your local party organisation to oust you as MP for
20:23Brackley?
20:25It is true that there is a small group of activists who would like to see me replaced as Member
20:34of Parliament for this constituency,
20:36which I have represented for the past 17 years.
20:40and these people are working quite deliberately to undermine my position.
20:46I emphasise that the group of people involved is small, very small.
20:52Some 19,000 voters returned me to Parliament at the last election.
21:01Now I am confronted with a challenge from a handful of men and women acting as an organised but undeclared
21:12faction
21:12who appear determined to manipulate the party rules and voting machinery in order to enforce my ejection.
21:23I don't think they can succeed.
21:28I believe I have the support of the majority of the party workers of my constituency.
21:35I have kept silent on this matter until now.
21:38I wanted to be certain of what's happening,
21:40but I feel the time has come to bring it into the open.
21:45This hostile faction may not welcome any public exposure.
21:50I'm sure the artist felt all the better for getting that out of his system, Elsa.
21:54I think he did it for a dare.
21:56It's probably something he had.
22:01Haven't those people brought Chris back yet?
22:05You'll stay and have a cup of tea, won't you?
22:06Of course, Elsie.
22:07We're propping in on Bernard King.
22:09He's not too well, apparently.
22:10There's no rush.
22:12There's another man who tied himself to the wheel of politics.
22:15Madness.
22:17I don't suppose you've ever heard the Elsie Chapman lecture on that subject, have you?
22:21Your father has, more than once.
22:24It starts with, politics are anti-life.
22:28He should be here now, you see.
22:31Nourishing his inner being with all this uninhibited flow of human expression.
22:39What's the interview about, you know, Alice?
22:42Oh, it doesn't matter, really.
22:44Whatever it is, it won't advance the viewer's understanding of the human condition by one single millimetre.
22:49Nothing political ever does.
22:52I told your father once, he'd chosen the wrong career.
22:55I said to him, Chris, I can see it in your face.
22:57You hate this game, really.
22:59Whenever you make one of your electioneering addresses, you look as though you're eating tin-tack sandwiches.
23:04He tells me I'm a congenital sentimentalist.
23:08He says it with irresistible charm, of course.
23:13Alice, there's a very special little creature called Angela that I'd like you to meet.
23:20And I regret having to say that I believe that personal animosities have played a significant part in producing the
23:28situation which is now developing.
23:29That is a particularly disagreeable accusation to have to make, but I don't intend to evade it.
23:35I have had many political differences, arguments, debate with fellow members of the party throughout all the years that I've
23:43been connected with it.
23:44It hardly makes me a unique member of Parliament.
23:46It is no secret.
23:48It is a commonplace to say that the party has always been a coalition of many attitudes and convictions.
23:54But now, suddenly, to a small, very small group of people, I am unacceptable.
24:00The wishes of 19,000 voters...
24:02Sorry to stop you there.
24:04We do seem to have a slight problem on film.
24:06I know.
24:06We're running a bit short, actually.
24:09Oh, look, can I put this one point to you?
24:11Now, it has been complained against you that in recent years you've frequently turned down invitations to events around the
24:20constituency.
24:22What he said, in short, is that you don't like the hurly-burly of constituency life, that, in fact, you're
24:29a bit of a snob about it.
24:32Would you like to answer that?
24:35That kind of accusation seems to be part of the new personal hostility which is being systematically built up against
24:42me.
24:43My wife and I have many, many good friends in this town.
24:45We have never willingly refused any invitation, but it's no secret that there are heavy demands on a Member of
24:52Parliament's time.
24:54It's this petty and dismissible kind of attack which I find exasperating after 17 years' representation of the people of
25:02this constituency.
25:04I think that most of them will be disgusted by it.
25:07Do you think that an MP should live in his constituency?
25:11That's a very hoary, old Chester.
25:13Not a film.
25:17End of reel, I gather.
25:20Yes, sir. Thank you very much indeed.
25:22Hard-hitting stuff.
25:25I'm not surprised you never wanted to live around here, by the way.
25:28A man would need to be in safe.
25:33So I think Clyde's got one or two questions he'd like to ask you.
25:36Background stuff, you know, that sort of thing.
25:39Thank you, Tony.
25:40Yes, I have, actually.
25:41I wondered if you could tell us a bit more about your agent, Ron Hibbert.
25:46I mean, can you pinpoint the first time that you knew you'd antagonised him?
25:53Hmm.
25:55I see.
25:57Well, I don't think I'm going to congratulate you, Chris.
26:01A lot of people are going to be caught thinking that they've got both legs down one trail as a
26:06whole.
26:07People don't like being made to look foolish.
26:11Well, I don't think it was a reckless decision, Berners.
26:13I made it on the spur at the moment, yes.
26:15But I wasn't to know they were going to tackle me at the school, ready to point the camera.
26:20But I had been thinking about taking the initiative, forcing the issue.
26:25And, if necessary, a showdown and a vote.
26:29I am not going to let Hibbert and his friends quietly work their way through the management committee
26:33until they've got me by the throat.
26:36But, secrecy is their ally, not mine.
26:40There were better ways open to you.
26:42They take time.
26:43Yes, everything does if you want a proper job.
26:49I'm backing my intuition.
26:51Yes.
26:52Or panic in a bit.
26:55You know me better than that, Bernard.
26:58Aye.
27:00Aye, you've got a lot on your plate, lad.
27:03Well, I'm sorry about this.
27:08It's not good for you.
27:09You ought to be taking it easy.
27:10But, obviously, I had to let you know.
27:12Oh, don't you worry about me.
27:14The quack's just been a bit cautious.
27:18I'm not answering the angels' chorus just yet.
27:22Did you think I was finished, did you?
27:25Suddenly felt a bit lonely, yeah, yeah.
27:28With the thought there was nobody up here to do the running round for you, like...
27:33smoothing down a few ruffled feathers or apologizing for the...
27:36odd slight.
27:37Aye.
27:38Aye, well...
27:40Haven't it all my own fault?
27:45Have I spoiled you, Chris?
27:48Aye.
27:50Haven't it would have been better if I'd let you do some of your own dirty work?
27:53Like the little, irritating, bread-and-butter dirty work.
27:58Like saying sorry.
28:01After you've choked off some stammering old war chairman or turned your back on his wife.
28:09Ah.
28:10It's happened, Chris.
28:14Bernard, I think I ought to let you get some rest.
28:16Aye.
28:18You're going to need me later.
28:23You know,
28:24I was glad to see Alice and the boy up here with you again.
28:29We've missed Alice these last few months.
28:32Aye.
28:34Thanks for bringing them to see me.
28:36Yes, well, they're both very well, aren't they, sir?
28:38Hey, just a minute, Chris.
28:40Before you go,
28:41there's something I want to deck up with you.
28:43It's, uh,
28:45unavoidable
28:46now that you've started the flack flying round the constituency.
28:51I've never
28:52hoped to have to bring this up.
28:56Have you got yourself a
28:57local girlfriend?
29:00It's been talked about, you know.
29:03You know,
29:04when you're going to Bottle Lod,
29:05you've got to check your armour.
29:08It was very helpful to you
29:11when you had Alice by your side.
29:13And there's some very old-fashioned people
29:16live round here.
29:32Hey!
29:33They're not in, love.
29:34I went to Southport for a day.
29:36Not be back just yet.
29:38Oh, I see.
29:41If it's anything to do with his work,
29:43I mean,
29:43up at labour rooms,
29:45I can take a message for Miss Ribbet.
29:47We're old hands at that.
29:49Yes, well,
29:50I'll leave my name.
29:51Do you want him to phone you?
29:53No, I'll, uh,
29:54I'll keep trying him.
29:56Are you what they call a cub reporter?
29:59You can always tell reporters.
30:12Would you like to see the wine list?
30:13Yes, please.
30:18Now,
30:20Carrot?
30:21We leave it to you.
30:22All right.
30:25We leave it to you.
30:26how are you financing this trip, David?
30:29I've sold the car.
30:32Have you, by God?
30:35It's a bit drastic, isn't it?
30:37I'm banking half the money.
30:39There'll be enough to put something down on one when I get back.
30:42Hmm.
30:45Why didn't you ask me?
30:48I think I might have been able to help out.
30:54I should have thought
30:55that the pair of you
30:57would have been better off
30:58to share the cost of driving.
31:00This student's steerage to Amsterdam.
31:04It sounds pretty squalid.
31:06Alan hasn't got the money.
31:08His father's been made redundant.
31:11He was some kind of sales wizard.
31:14Furniture.
31:16Casualty of your government's
31:17mishandling of the economy.
31:20Sorry.
31:21Don't worry.
31:22You're not to blame, are you?
31:25They haven't let you be.
31:26Again.
31:30Quite so, David.
31:41How's the spirit of Westminster?
31:45Supine?
31:46Febrile?
31:48Abject?
31:52Generally, I would say bloodshot.
31:56How's it look from where you are?
32:00What do you think is the state of the nation?
32:02In a word, that is.
32:04Poorly.
32:06It's the best I can offer.
32:08I haven't been taking a very close interest lately.
32:11I do not believe, David,
32:12that you have suddenly become a don't know.
32:16You just don't seem to have had the time
32:17to think about politics.
32:19I envy you.
32:21You think you could get out of politics?
32:24Voluntarily?
32:26Now you're not playing fair.
32:27You have introduced a serious note.
32:30Sorry.
32:33Shall I get another round of these?
32:36Not for me, David.
32:38Hmm.
32:39I'll join you.
32:47I'll join you.
32:49Well?
32:53We can sustain conversation.
32:55You're both doing very well.
33:11What about a nightcap?
33:13Oh, I think not, David.
33:14You've had enough.
33:15Don't spoil it.
33:16Mr. Collinson.
33:17Yes, please.
33:18The gentleman waiting to see you, sir.
33:21Mr. Hibbert?
33:23I'm sorry.
33:24I can never remember his name.
33:27Seems I have some work to do.
33:31I'll get the key.
33:52I'll get the key.
33:54Thank you, sir.
34:06Personal.
34:07You think all you've got to do
34:09is to keep saying you're under personal attack
34:12and that deals with it?
34:14You think that discredits me?
34:16Eh?
34:17You think that ought to make me feel guilty?
34:20I'm letting personal feelings dictate my politics.
34:23All right, by Christ, I bloody well am.
34:26Politics to me are personal.
34:29I know exactly who I'm working for
34:32and what I'm working for.
34:34I'm working for my kind, my class,
34:38the kind of people I belong to,
34:40the people with the shit of life
34:42dealt out to us as our share.
34:45And what I want is more power for us
34:48so we can have a government
34:49that runs the bloody country for us,
34:52first and foremost,
34:53because we are the country.
34:56You've never understood that, have you?
34:59I don't suppose you ever will.
35:01I mean, what are you doing up here
35:03pretending to represent people like us?
35:07You couldn't hate this place more
35:08if it were the bloody Calari Desert.
35:12It's not where power is, is it?
35:14Not for you.
35:15This is where local people live.
35:18And they plague you with their local problems.
35:21And sometimes they have the impertinence
35:23to actually disagree with you
35:25about things which are not their concern.
35:28You hold me, my friends, my class,
35:32my town in contempt.
35:35Some people say you've served this place.
35:38Helped people, fought their battles for them.
35:41You know who you've served.
35:43Or should it be what?
35:44Because you're not activated
35:46by the needs of people, are you?
35:49Influence, authority, responsibility, power.
35:53You assume your right to all those things.
35:56You assume your right of rule
35:58because of your class
36:00and your sense of difference.
36:03And that's what you've served in politics, privilege.
36:06And I don't approve a privilege.
36:11I don't think you've earned your keep in this party.
36:14Or in this town.
36:16I don't think you ever can.
36:18You've survived here on looks,
36:21charm, eloquent,
36:23eloquence,
36:23family image.
36:26It's a bloody confidence trick
36:27because it's hidden your basic indifference to us.
36:31Yes, Chris.
36:33The attack is personal.
36:40It's quite clear
36:41that nothing I or anybody else might say to you
36:45could ever corrupt your immaculate prejudice.
37:11You didn't expect such an immediate, violent reaction from him.
37:15Oh, I hadn't realised how long it would take
37:20for the television people to get to him.
37:25I would have warned you
37:27if I'd thought that he was going to come rushing around here tonight.
37:36I always suspected an explosive nature.
37:40And I hadn't realised just how short the fuse is.
37:45I'm glad I know it's a help.
37:46Can you win?
37:48Oh, I think so.
37:53People dislike plots.
37:55I've discovered one.
37:58That's how I present the situation.
38:04Even all the wheeling and dealing that Bernard kept going.
38:09Secrecy
38:10in the interests of party image
38:13isn't going to be laid at my door.
38:15Couldn't Bernard have handled this this time?
38:19I felt I couldn't take the chance.
38:21Instead, you took another.
38:24I couldn't face the alternative.
38:27All that time I should have to waste up here.
38:31Cultivating, ingratiating, defending.
38:35Things are not going as you hoped elsewhere, are they?
38:45We shouldn't be talking about my political life.
38:49I want to talk about you.
38:53What do you want to know about me?
38:59What do you want to do?
39:01About our life.
39:12When we parted,
39:15you had a...
39:18you had a lot of uncertainty in your mind.
39:31Why are we here in this room, Alice?
39:34In your constituency, we can't have separate rooms.
39:37You didn't have to meet me.
39:38I couldn't refuse Elsie.
39:41And I wanted you and David to talk to each other again.
39:46Are you saying
39:49that you found an excuse?
39:52Hmm?
39:55Is this a kind of inspection?
40:00I saw, I thought,
40:03a lot more than curiosity in your eyes earlier today.
40:16I want you to come back to me.
40:21I want to make love to you again.
40:25I felt earlier
40:27that we were creating much the same air,
40:32the same special sense of being,
40:37like we used to have between each other.
40:39A long time ago.
40:43I thought I sensed it today.
40:47Remarkable moment.
40:52But in the...
40:54in the time I've been in this room,
40:55just these past few minutes,
40:58I feel
41:00you've withdrawn from me again.
41:06You've put up that cold guardedness
41:09which I remember feeling was so
41:12painful
41:14in the few days before you went away.
41:20You can't have come up here
41:22deliberately to reject me.
41:26No.
41:30I needed to see you.
41:33Don't misunderstand me.
41:35I'm not saying I was
41:36panting for the marriage bed again.
41:38I simply felt
41:40it was time.
41:42a particular point
41:43had been reached.
41:45I knew I had to
41:47look at you
41:48to
41:48hear your voice
41:49very close,
41:50to
41:51touch you.
41:53Because your presence
41:54has been so much
41:55part of my life
41:56for so long.
42:01No, please, Chris,
42:02there's more to say.
42:02I felt...
42:03I felt that if
42:06I saw you at home
42:07it wouldn't be fair
42:08to myself.
42:10Memories, Andrew,
42:12David, you, me,
42:13the house.
42:14They would have held me.
42:15I would have
42:16just
42:17accepted,
42:18surrendered.
42:19So I had to see you
42:20away from there.
42:27Perversely, I suppose,
42:27I chose the place
42:28I knew you'd least want
42:29for this meeting.
42:34I'm sorry
42:34if that sounds
42:36calculated.
42:36I really don't think
42:37it was.
42:38I think it was just
42:40an intuitive,
42:41defensive thing.
42:43I wanted us to meet,
42:45not for me,
42:45to be overwhelmed.
42:54Alice.
42:55I was glad
42:56we were here.
42:58You reminded me
42:59of you.
43:00A younger you.
43:06until you came
43:07into this room
43:09after you're set to
43:10with that bitter,
43:13honest young man
43:14who hates you.
43:16Why?
43:17Right or wrong?
43:20It doesn't matter now.
43:23It's the fact of hatred.
43:25You came into this room
43:26and you brought it all
43:27with you.
43:28The plotting,
43:29the cunning,
43:31the vengefulness,
43:32the spite,
43:34the brutality,
43:36the frustration,
43:36the deceit.
43:37I felt all of that
43:39here with us again
43:40and I shivered.
43:42It frightens me.
43:43I know what it can do
43:44to you,
43:45to us,
43:46what it has done
43:47in the past.
44:04You need some sleep.
44:41She is not,
44:42in fact,
44:43local,
44:44as it seems
44:45gossip has it.
44:47She is a lecturer
44:48from Manchester.
44:50Regional.
44:55We have kept out
44:56of the constituency,
44:57but, um...
44:58A glimpse here,
44:59a word there,
45:00a man can't call
45:00his life his own.
45:03I had to tell you.
45:05Of course.
45:05I couldn't just let you
45:07hear it by chance.
45:09It could happen.
45:10Quite probable.
45:35Are you going to say
45:36anything about it?
45:37Are you hurt,
45:39angry,
45:40surprised,
45:41indifferent?
45:44You did leave me.
45:46You know my nature.
45:52Didn't you expect
45:53that something might happen?
45:56That's the right word,
45:57as a matter of fact.
45:58It did.
46:00Just happen.
46:02I didn't go looking.
46:04I don't pretend
46:05the young hellraiser
46:06anymore.
46:07You make it sound
46:08quite serious.
46:08Did you fall in love?
46:14She's an unusual girl.
46:17Well done.
46:22It's something
46:23quite different
46:24from you and me.
46:26What?
46:27More athletic.
46:29Experimental.
46:32You know I didn't
46:33mean that.
46:34I mean the
46:37nature,
46:37the basis
46:37of the relationship.
46:38Which do you prefer?
46:41Why didn't you
46:42tell me this last night?
46:46There were a lot of
46:47things we had to
46:47talk about last night.
46:48If we'd made love,
46:49would you have told me
46:49during or after?
46:51Alice.
46:56I suppose you and
46:57Bernard want me
46:57to serve the cause.
46:59appear on your arm.
47:01Secure the
47:01respectability vote.
47:04Is there anything
47:04you want David
47:05to do for you
47:06while he's around?
47:07Pity he grew
47:07out of his pushchair.
47:13Are you going
47:14to tell him
47:15about this
47:17girl
47:17or am I?
47:19Is that
47:20necessary?
47:21It would seem
47:22to go with
47:22a new
47:23adult
47:24mutually
47:24respecting
47:25candor
47:25that we're
47:26trying to
47:26establish.
47:28He's an
47:29experience
47:29he wouldn't
47:29understand.
47:30You mean
47:30he may not
47:31sympathize?
47:32I'm sure
47:33he wouldn't
47:33be surprised.
47:37Does that
47:38really shock you?
47:39Don't be ridiculous.
47:40He is your son
47:42and he has
47:43an imagination.
47:47Does his
47:48generation care
47:49about marriage
47:49anyway?
47:50He needs to know
47:51where ours
47:52stands.
48:06Well.
48:08You have a
48:09mistress.
48:12And if I
48:13had not?
48:15You had a
48:16mistress.
48:18Yes.
48:18Yes.
48:20Yes.
48:30I know
48:31very well
48:31that my
48:32support
48:32of
48:32Britain's
48:33membership
48:33in the
48:33common
48:34market
48:35was a
48:36major
48:36irritant
48:36to some
48:38local
48:38party
48:39workers.
48:40But like
48:41all the
48:42political
48:42complaints
48:43made against
48:43me,
48:43this one.
48:45Oh,
48:45he does
48:46go on a
48:46bit like
48:47that,
48:47doesn't
48:47it?
48:56An
48:56assassination
48:56has been
48:57planned.
48:58I'm
48:58apparently
48:59expected to
48:59be its
48:59compliant
49:00victim.
49:01That sort
49:02of stuff's
49:02all right,
49:02though.
49:03All right,
49:04Clyde,
49:04press on
49:05with it.
49:06You've
49:06got to get
49:06this agent
49:07guy,
49:07though.
49:07We must
49:08have him.
49:08Well,
49:09he'll have
49:09to speak
49:09soon.
49:10Collinson
49:11was going
49:11to spend
49:11the weekend
49:12briefing
49:12the local
49:12paper,
49:13lads.
49:14Okay,
49:14Clyde,
49:15make it
49:16happen.
49:22Let me
49:24explain the
49:25exact position
49:27as I understand
49:28it.
49:28You may
49:29get other
49:29versions
49:29from other
49:30quarters.
49:31Well,
49:31the truth
49:31is often
49:32elusive
49:32in politics.
49:33Let's hope
49:33it is not
49:34going to be
49:34in my
49:35constituency.
50:01Fair
50:16is a
50:17can
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