- 7/7/2025
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Thank you so much for being part of this community!
👉 https://ko-fi.com/timelesstvandfilm
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TVTranscript
00:30It came in there,
00:52hit that old tin trunk we used to go on holidays with,
00:56and Robert and Tony put it out.
00:58An incendiary bomb.
01:02If they hadn't put it out,
01:04I wouldn't be sitting here now,
01:06and all this would have gone up in smoke, I suppose.
01:10Spain.
01:12Now, what caught my eye sitting in this old attic in Liverpool
01:16that suddenly said Spain?
01:18Spain.
01:25Your breakfast under the grill.
01:27Is Johnny still asleep?
01:29No, he's reading a comic.
01:31Not one of those dreadful things that Tony brought him.
01:33No, I managed to get those off him last night.
01:35Well, then, are you going to hang up your Christmas stocking tonight?
01:40Well, there's not much point.
01:41They've all got...
01:42Holes?
01:44It's just a joke.
01:45I didn't mean...
01:46It's all right.
01:46I haven't done much mending lately.
01:48I will get round to it.
01:50Well, when are your mother and father coming, then?
01:53Well, the first train that you manage after he finishes work,
01:55and she'll be around nine, I suppose.
01:56Is Dad dressed yet?
01:58Yes, he went up to the attic a few minutes ago.
02:00The attic?
02:01Vic, what's he doing up there?
02:02He'll be late.
02:07Hey, you.
02:08Oh, hello, love.
02:09Do you know what time it is?
02:10Nope.
02:10It's time you were cracking.
02:12What are you doing up here, anyway?
02:14The home guard's been disbanded, Dad.
02:16He wanted the real thing.
02:17We thought he'd go head up the heels for it.
02:19We wanted the real thing.
02:20Real bullets.
02:21It's only a cork, he said.
02:22Yes, well, the real thing came later, didn't it?
02:24Is this where it starts, I wonder?
02:26Spain wasn't cowboys and Indians, Dad.
02:29Not to Phil.
02:30It could have been part of it.
02:31Just pull the trigger and the bogeyman drops dead.
02:35Don't you ever wonder why we are what we are?
02:38No, I'm too busy being what I am,
02:39and if you don't get a move on, you'll be late.
02:41Have you got what you came for, anyway?
02:43I've forgotten what it was.
02:50Oh, still here, I see.
02:52Hmm?
02:53I said you're still here.
02:54Yes, it's a quarter of an hour to the bus.
02:56Oh.
02:56Well, I suppose you'd be wanting the racing parade,
02:59or don't you follow the horses these days?
03:01Horses?
03:01Stocks and shares, Father.
03:03Oh.
03:04You know, we shall miss you, Aunt Helen.
03:05She does a first-class breakfast.
03:08I can't think of a nicer obituary.
03:12Well, you don't seem to take very much interest in the shop these days.
03:15Oh, I've sold it.
03:16You've sold this shop.
03:19You sound surprised.
03:20I am surprised.
03:22Part of this post-war reinvestment scheme, is it, of sale on me?
03:25Yes, that was a general idea.
03:28Well, it obviously means a lot to you.
03:29I can't see why you bother myself.
03:31You're perfectly well off.
03:32You don't have to prove you're a financial genius, certainly not to me.
03:35Maybe I wanted to prove something to myself.
03:37Well, what, for him and sakes?
03:38It doesn't matter.
03:39Oh, I think I'm a shave.
03:41I've got some news for you, by the way.
03:44Oh?
03:45Yes, I found a flat.
03:48A flat?
03:49Yes, it's a pokey little place, but it's big enough for a bachelor.
03:52You can fit it all into this room.
03:53I didn't know you were even looking.
03:55No, no, well, I wasn't really.
03:57A friend of mine put me onto it,
03:59and I just thought it'd be an ideal opportunity to get out from under your feet.
04:03Have I ever suggested you were anything but welcome to stay here as long as you wish?
04:06I just thought that it'd be, well, best for us both.
04:09You mean you want to go?
04:10I mean, I think it's time I did.
04:13It didn't do much for us, this war, did it?
04:16Was it supposed to?
04:17It brought some people closer together.
04:19Oh, did it?
04:20For how long?
04:23For as long as it takes them to get back to the old routine, if you ask me.
04:27You're a cynic these days, are you?
04:28It's called facing facts these days, rather.
04:32We're different people, you and I.
04:33Yes, well, that's all right.
04:35You don't have to wait for the bus, by the way.
04:36There's a can of petrol in the garage.
04:38Oh, well, if you're sure you can spare it.
04:40I can spare it.
04:41Well, my coupon has run out the first week.
04:43I'm glad you didn't have to move till after Christmas.
04:46Yes, well, I left it till after on purpose, as a matter of fact.
04:49Yes, well, that's why I didn't go and stay with Fray.
04:52Oh, I see.
04:54Thank you, Tony.
04:58Mum, who's that in your bed?
04:59Where are your slippers?
05:01Come on, and that nice dressing gown I'm made for you.
05:03Oh, is he?
05:04Yes.
05:05What time is it?
05:06Dad!
05:06Hello, Chuck!
05:08Hey, of course I've come.
05:11David.
05:11Hello.
05:12Would you tell her to put her slippers on, please?
05:14She'll listen to you.
05:16Oh, go on, do as your mum says, eh?
05:22Ready for your breakfast?
05:25Yeah.
05:26Well, where did you sleep then?
05:28Oh, I went in with Janet.
05:29Didn't want to disturb you.
05:31Oh, you still look tired.
05:35Yes, I had a rough day yesterday.
05:38Clearing up before I got the train in the office, you know.
05:40Yes, sir.
05:41Brought a lot of things back with you.
05:43Yes, sir.
05:45When are you going back?
05:47It's like coming on leave again.
05:48First question, when do I go back?
05:50Well, you said that the children were asking if you were coming for Christmas.
05:55You managed all right, then.
05:57With the money I sent, the mortgage, I mean.
05:59Yeah, well, they haven't thrown us out yet, have they?
06:01How far behind are we?
06:03We're not, David.
06:04Your dad's seen through it that we're six months in advance.
06:07Oh, good old dad.
06:10Cuts a fortune living in London, you know, Sheila.
06:12Even on your own.
06:14I sent what I could manage.
06:15Yeah, well, we all manage, don't we?
06:17Between us.
06:18Why don't you go back to bed?
06:22Go on.
06:22I'll bring this up.
06:24Breakfast in bed?
06:26You're spoiling me already.
06:30Why do you do it, Sheila?
06:33You know why.
06:36Finished?
06:37Uh-huh.
06:37Yes, I found that on the mat.
06:39They've been offered another 50 pounds.
06:41Oh, no, the house.
06:42Yes, well, we're not going to top that, so we'd better start looking again.
06:47If you'd put the deposit on it.
06:49I offered to.
06:50Yes, well, offering isn't the same as doing, is it?
06:53Did you hand in your resignation yesterday?
06:55Yesterday?
06:56I thought you were going to do it yesterday.
06:59It's the last day that I can do it to leave me free to start at training college.
07:03I did explain.
07:04And you had to leave it to the last day, of course.
07:06I couldn't see any point in doing otherwise.
07:09Another day to change your mind.
07:12Oh, Margaret, stop it, stop it.
07:14Please stop throwing bricks at me.
07:16I'm not throwing bricks at you.
07:18I'm just making sure you don't drop a whole ton of bricks on me.
07:23Oh, whatever happened to trust?
07:25Yes, what happened to it, John?
07:28Marjorie was round here yesterday.
07:30Oh?
07:31She wanted to see me.
07:32She left a message, would I go round and see her.
07:35And what, you've seen her?
07:37No.
07:39Now I'm like you with your resignation, aren't I?
07:41Putting off the evil day.
07:42I suppose she is going to ask me to leave you.
07:45Oh, whatever makes you say that.
07:47I don't know why she wants to see her.
07:48I haven't talked to her for some months now.
07:50Seeing if you can manage to live without each other.
07:52Seeing if life with me is bare of...
07:53Oh, Margaret.
07:54There's Dad in the attic searching for something that he can't even remember, looking like a lost soul.
08:00And there's you wandering round the house looking as if you're searching for the lost cord.
08:03And me, I'm supposed to have found my vocation.
08:06It's serving your bodily needs.
08:09Oh, look, Harry...
08:10When did anyone ever stop to think that there might...
08:12You know, there just might be a great big empty hole in my life, too.
08:16And a real hole.
08:19Oh, there you are.
08:21I thought you'd emigrated.
08:22That's not a bad idea.
08:24At least there'd be some sunshine.
08:25Well, it's time I was off.
08:28Oh, I don't go your way, do I?
08:31Oh, I shouldn't think so.
08:32I wouldn't advise it if you did.
08:34Well, well, well.
08:40Yes, well, if you will arrive at this time of the morning.
08:43I managed to catch some petrol.
08:44A father came to give his nibs a lift.
08:46Oh, that's just as well.
08:46He's just missed one bus.
08:48The story of his life.
08:50Yeah, well, there's another disaster that came out of marriage.
08:54And a wartime marriage at that.
08:56Mm.
08:58Two wars in his lifetime.
09:00Only one in ours.
09:02Touch wood.
09:03No, no, no.
09:04I'm an optimist in spite of the atom bomb.
09:06Maybe because of it.
09:07Stay single and you might be proved right.
09:10I thought we were talking about war.
09:12Yes, well, they're both progenitors of a great deal of human suffering, aren't they?
09:16Now, look here.
09:17Big words only make me feel inferior.
09:18Oh, go on.
09:19And you've got more sense than the rest of us put together.
09:22Oh, do you know how many times I've proposed?
09:25Three times.
09:25Do you know how many times I've been turned out?
09:27Three times.
09:28More good luck than the sense, then, haven't you?
09:31Have you ever wondered why?
09:34Well, I look in the mirror.
09:35I tell myself it's because I'm too beautiful.
09:37Why we bother?
09:38Why do we bother?
09:40Ah, well, we're egotists, aren't we?
09:43We want to perpetuate the species, meaning ourselves.
09:47We get a certain amount of fun in the process.
09:48The rest of it's bad luck and bad management, isn't it?
09:51Well, you'd better ask Dad.
09:52He's the expert.
09:53Expert on bad management.
09:56The car's outside.
09:57Free lift on father.
09:58You may think it a bit odd, the hood being down in December.
10:01It's stuck, actually.
10:02Oh, I'll get a scar.
10:03And a hat.
10:03It'll blow off.
10:04A hat or you go on the bus.
10:06Yes, yes, yes.
10:06All right, then, fussy.
10:20Isn't your sister coming, then?
10:22No, she came twice when he had that false alarm.
10:25She'll not come again.
10:27Well, I'm off duty now, but I'll try and come back this afternoon.
10:30Hey, look, you work here and it's Christmas.
10:32Don't worry, I'll be all right.
10:34They're sending me out on Monday.
10:36Your sisters?
10:37Where else?
10:39I felt like asking if I could stop him when they told me.
10:42I bet they don't get many like that.
10:43I wish I had my SRN.
10:48Well, you could have.
10:50Look, Doris, you still can.
10:52Oh, don't be funny, Frida.
10:53What am I writing?
10:54That rotten spelling I have.
10:56They only took me on because there was a war on and they were short.
11:00I'm here.
11:01Are you ready?
11:02Yes, I'll just go and get my coat.
11:03You stay and talk to Doris.
11:04It's up in men's surgical.
11:07You don't have to, you know.
11:09No, no, no, no.
11:09I was meaning to drop in.
11:12Frida told me how you were, of course.
11:14Yeah, she told me about you too.
11:17About not being able to have any children.
11:19Yes.
11:20Had my test here, as a matter of fact.
11:22My fault, it seems.
11:24Oh, not fault.
11:25It's just bad luck.
11:27Not like him, nor having a father.
11:30My fault, that.
11:32Anyway, she doesn't seem too down about it.
11:34No, we've talked it through, I suppose.
11:37A different kind of life, that's all.
11:39No schooling kids.
11:41I should have suspected sooner.
11:42Good God, it's my trade, so to speak.
11:44And twice married.
11:45How stupid can you get?
11:47Kids hold a marriage together.
11:49Well, I hope other things do too.
11:53What do you think of him, then?
11:55Oh, he's...
11:56He's fine.
11:57Fine, strong boy.
11:59I wonder what he'll say when he finds out all the other kids have fathers.
12:03I wonder he'll blame.
12:04Oh, you mustn't think of it like that.
12:06Why not?
12:07It's true.
12:09It's true, so I've got to.
12:11It's like you and Frieda.
12:13Can't kid yourselves forever, can you?
12:17Who am I going to blame it on?
12:18Hitler?
12:19Hitler?
12:19All right now?
12:33Yeah, it's just a bit of vertigo.
12:35When I was a lad, I had something wrong with my ears.
12:38Oh, Titus Media, I think it said in the doctor's certificate.
12:42Fancy me remembering that?
12:44Well, I'm ready if you are.
12:46Well, it's no hurry.
12:49Want a cigarette?
12:50No, thanks.
12:51It's warmer when we're stopped.
12:53Yeah, it makes a damn cold wind.
12:56You've got apples in your cheeks.
12:58My mother used to say that.
12:59So did mine.
13:01Oh.
13:02I proposed to your Aunt Jean somewhere along here.
13:06Really?
13:07We'd been for a walk.
13:10The family knew we were seeing each other, but they were hoping it would fizzle out.
13:14I hadn't two apenies to rub together.
13:18A lot of things were different in those days.
13:20Me, for a start.
13:22I had a lot of ideals, youthful ideals, perhaps.
13:26But if you have any left, you hang on to them.
13:28They don't last forever, but while they do, they keep you alive in the year.
13:35Did you and Father never hit it off?
13:37My father was a miner, as you know.
13:39There were us, and there were them.
13:42When I first met your grandfather and your father, I practically stood to attention from habit.
13:48And I resented it at the same time.
13:51But I loved your Aunt Jean.
13:54Not a very happy situation.
13:56I'm not a very strong-minded man, you know.
13:59Soft as butter, really.
14:00Rubbish.
14:02You stood up to father more than once.
14:04I've never gone the full ten rounds, though.
14:08The odd thing is that we know each other better than neither of us knows anyone else, families apart.
14:13We're very close, in a way, I suppose.
14:16Or should be.
14:17It's an odd thing to say.
14:20Yes, I suppose it is.
14:22I think it's true, though.
14:24Has he come much of a cropper with Howells?
14:27Howells?
14:28It was in last night's paper about the arrest.
14:31Whose arrest?
14:32Howells.
14:33The fraud.
14:34Hasn't your father talked to you about it?
14:35No, he hasn't.
14:37Oh.
14:39He's put every cent he's gotten to Howells' Little Enterprises.
14:42Except the shop, of course.
14:44He sold the shop a few weeks ago.
14:47He told me for the first time this morning.
15:02Dad?
15:02Hello.
15:05Were you miles away?
15:07Not so much miles, more years.
15:09What brings you over here on Christmas Eve?
15:11Well, David has come home.
15:14Oh.
15:14Well, come and sit down.
15:17Put your feet up, if you like.
15:18He turned up last night.
15:20Out of the blue.
15:21Are you pleased or sorry?
15:23Oh, what do you think?
15:25I think you're either a saint or a fool.
15:27A bit of both, maybe.
15:29I don't know.
15:29Maybe I'm just somebody who's only got one life to live and is stuck with a man for better or worse.
15:35You wouldn't have said that if you'd gone through with that divorce and this is his father talking.
15:39I remember saying to him in this very office, when are you going to grow up or worse to that effect?
15:45I think perhaps he has now, actually.
15:49Maybe it's too late.
15:50I don't know.
15:51Anyway, that's why I've come.
15:54How'd he get on in London?
15:55Oh, Dad, I haven't dared ask.
15:57I suppose that means you don't need to.
15:59Look, he's right down there, Dad.
16:01All dressed up and nowhere to go.
16:05No, he's not even that now.
16:06He looks as if he slept in his suit for a week when I opened the door to him.
16:10He's got piles of dirty washing in his bag.
16:11Weeks old by the smell of it.
16:13I was thinking of him just now, you know.
16:15Were you?
16:16The time he came to this office and asked me for a job.
16:19My God, times haven't changed, have they?
16:22Well, not for me, they haven't.
16:23No, I still can't afford to live.
16:26Ah, I'll see what I can do.
16:29Would you like me to try and wangle you a cup of tea?
16:31No, thanks, no.
16:32I'm supposed to be out shopping.
16:33I'd better get back.
16:35Um, you won't let him know I came here, will you?
16:39Don't you think he ought to be made to realise what he's owed to you all these years?
16:42Oh, Dad, come on.
16:43I don't want to rub his nose in it.
16:45Anyway, what do I do, huh?
16:47Come round here bothering you for help.
16:49That's about all I do.
16:51Yes, well, I'll come round this evening on the way home.
16:54I'll find some excuse.
16:57How are the kids?
16:58Oh, they're fine.
16:59They keep asking when they can go back to Wales.
17:01They don't like Liverpool anymore.
17:03I'll see you tonight, then.
17:08Oh, thanks, Dad.
17:09The first man that drops dead, you can have his shoes.
17:23You want that?
17:23Is that what you want?
17:24I've got a firm promise on that.
17:26Is that what you want?
17:36Yeah, yeah, all right, then, if that's all there is.
17:38Yeah!
17:39Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you?
17:41For nearly 30 years, I've served...
17:43You know that word, David, don't you?
17:46Served.
17:46For nearly 30 years, I've served a man...
17:49I wouldn't want to be the equal, not a villain, not even a fool,
17:52just a man that I consider in my terms to be a second-rate human being.
17:58What does that make me?
18:02I don't care.
18:04Well, it's time you started to bloody well care!
18:07Feeling better?
18:21I'm nearly 60.
18:23Do you know that?
18:25I started with 17 years of poverty, then five years of war,
18:30and then 20 years of peace crawling on my knees to keep a job to bring up five kids,
18:34and losing their respect and your aunt Jean's in the process.
18:40And then another war, six years of it,
18:45my wife and two of my boys lost.
18:50Lost.
18:51My God, you'd think I'd have had enough of it, wouldn't you?
18:56Wouldn't you?
18:56You'd think I'd had enough of it?
18:59You'd think I'd be ready to let go?
19:04What one?
19:06No, thanks.
19:08What'd you come back for?
19:10I'd have to bring you those and Oscar's Christmas present.
19:12Oh, stop calling him Oscar.
19:14You don't like it, do you, Jack?
19:17Do you want him?
19:19Want him?
19:20Too old.
19:22No, I don't think he likes me.
19:24Yeah, well, I don't think he likes anybody right now.
19:27Perhaps he knows.
19:27Knows what?
19:28Where a grand start in life is, Gerrin.
19:30Oh, darling, she's got you.
19:31Oh, I thought you'd say something like that, Frida.
19:34Or something about it not really mattering.
19:36Does it?
19:38Well, people that think that wasn't born where I was,
19:40else they go out through being lucky and like to kid themselves,
19:43it's because they were smart.
19:45The only way out for a woman is to marry out of it.
19:48Are you going to stay with Ian?
19:50Yes, of course.
19:51What makes you think I wouldn't?
19:55Scared to hold him, aren't you?
19:57Scared?
19:58Remind you that you can't have any.
20:03That's cruel, Doris.
20:05Oh, Luke, Frida, you were a good friend to me, mostly.
20:07Don't do what I did.
20:09Face facts and bugger the dreams.
20:11Oh, it's too many American films.
20:14I mean, look what happened to me from fancying Robert Taylor.
20:17Remember when I used to do my hair like Vivian Leigh?
20:20And sit in the sluice room pretending I was in a fog on Waterloo Bridge.
20:23Go on, pick him up.
20:29Feel him.
20:30He's real.
20:34Come on.
20:37Hello.
20:37Three.
20:38Hello.
20:39Yeah, that's three.
20:39I need one over there.
20:41One of yours.
20:43Oh, Queen.
20:45Where's Margaret?
20:46Well, she didn't say where she was going.
20:48I'm supposed to be looking after you and this young man.
20:50Yeah, that was mine.
20:52Hey, I think it was where?
20:53Well, she didn't say when she'd be back.
20:55Well, she said before dark, but it's that now, isn't it?
20:58Yes.
21:00She'll have loads of visitors tomorrow, though, won't she?
21:03Well, she's only had her sisters and she had the baby.
21:05Her sister and me.
21:07What is it, then?
21:07Is it a boy or a girl?
21:08Oh, boy.
21:09Image of his father.
21:10What?
21:12Two women talking about a newborn babe.
21:15I know baby talk when I heard it.
21:16He hasn't got a father, actually.
21:18His father was a yank who turned out to be married, but didn't tell her to laughter.
21:22Happens to women, David.
21:24Yes, I do know Fred.
21:28Oh, I'm sorry.
21:29Is there anybody I know?
21:30Doris.
21:31Remember Doris?
21:32Yes, I'm sorry.
21:33I'll go.
21:33Oh, look, I'm sorry I should have said that from the shoe.
21:39It wasn't intentional.
21:40I wasn't meaning to be nasty or anything.
21:42I didn't think it were.
21:45You going to Dad's tomorrow?
21:46Yes, yes, we are.
21:47You?
21:48Yes.
21:49Probably the last time, I should think.
21:51Why?
21:52Well, John and Mags are looking for a house of their own so they can shout at each other in private.
21:56Dad will move, too, if he's got any sense.
21:58I hope so.
22:00I don't like to think of him, though, on his own.
22:02Well, I don't much like going there anymore, as a matter of fact.
22:06Not since Mum died.
22:07Come on, Fred, it was a good house once.
22:10Yes, it was.
22:11When we were children.
22:14And we thought we were badly off, remember?
22:16There's always somebody worse off than you are.
22:19That's a very original remark you just made, David.
22:22It's Dad.
22:24Oh.
22:25David.
22:25Hello, Dad.
22:26I was coming to see you on my way home to ask Mags if she'd mind having the dinner an hour earlier.
22:31Yeah, because Ian's got to do his bit at the hospital.
22:33Oh, I dare say she can manage that.
22:34Freda, come upstairs.
22:35I've been doing some distempering.
22:37Looks much better.
22:38The car's ready when you are, Dad.
22:41I said that what old Fred Thompson did.
22:43Bought a car and chalked it up in the garage for the duration.
22:46They're worth a small fortune now.
22:47Any old junk.
22:49So, how did you know it was back then, Dad?
22:51It's Christmas.
22:52I assumed you would be.
22:53Yeah, well, you were nearly damn wrong.
22:55Was I?
22:56Yes, it was a toss-up.
22:58Was it?
22:59I never did like coming home with me tail between me legs, you know.
23:02Well, who does?
23:04The job was no good, Dad.
23:06No?
23:08No.
23:08All the gas about prospects and so on.
23:12There weren't any.
23:13Oh, I stuck it out, you know, for a week or two.
23:15I mean, I'll give anything a try.
23:19Oh, Dad, don't look at me like that.
23:22Have you told Sheila?
23:24I must have opened my mouth a dozen times, too, since last night.
23:27The words just won't come out.
23:29Oh, I know I'm all right.
23:30I mean, I bloody well should do, shouldn't I?
23:32I just can't play that old record anymore, Dad.
23:36That's why I nearly didn't come.
23:39I was living in one mucky little room halfway below ground level.
23:44I used to get back to this room at about six at night.
23:48I'd take my coat off, I'd sit down and I'd look at it and I'd think,
23:51supposing this was all there was?
23:53Just me in this mucky little room for the rest of me life.
23:57That's why I'm here.
24:01Oh, it's a pretty good reason for being here, isn't it?
24:03Is it?
24:04Oh, what's wrong with me, Dad?
24:06Was I born like it or something?
24:08Like what, David?
24:09Like nothing ever going right for me.
24:12Or is it me?
24:13Maybe it's because you always felt you could put that record on.
24:16The one that says, I tried when you didn't try.
24:19You're sorry when you don't really mean it.
24:20Maybe it's because there's always been somebody who'd listen.
24:23Like I'm listening now.
24:24And if this was an empty chair, and it will be one day, what would you do then?
24:29I'll tell you one thing you could do.
24:30You could try sitting in it.
24:31Try listening to Sheila for a start.
24:33Try looking at the world through somebody else's eyes instead of just your own.
24:36You think I haven't?
24:37Then try a bit damned harder, eh, son?
24:42If you feel you can't face Sheila, that's a start.
24:44Now, look here, Dad, I...
24:45Let me finish.
24:46I've earned the right to speak my mind to you.
24:48All right.
24:50He said you wanted something more practical.
24:52All right, I'll give it to you.
24:55The best chance you ever had.
24:56And that's it.
24:58That's my last effort.
24:59After that, there's nothing.
25:01After that, you're going to be on your own, my son.
25:06A man came round this morning, said he was Mrs. Foster's brother,
25:10and would I ask if you were all right for it?
25:14Said you'd know what he meant.
25:15Oh, they...
25:16Black Market.
25:18I shared a pig with him once.
25:19He's a crook.
25:20He told me the Ministry had confiscated it
25:22and then sold it back to me a piece at a time.
25:24It may seem funny to you, Helen,
25:26but I could have gone to jail for that.
25:27He's a crook.
25:28The pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me.
25:31There's a very considerable difference, Helen.
25:33If I hadn't had it, somebody else would have.
25:35I expect he's telling himself exactly the same thing.
25:38Anyway, I always had five inches of water
25:40in the bath as he asked us to.
25:41I bet there's not many can say that.
25:43Your war effort, Sefton.
25:44I don't believe in war.
25:46I was always a Chamberlain man.
25:47Even now.
25:48What do you want?
25:49Hitler?
25:49We could have joined him against the Russians
25:51without towing his line.
25:53Belsen, Auschwitz.
25:54Oh, they'd have thrown him out eventually, the Jerrys.
25:56The rank and file thought he was God.
25:58The masters didn't.
25:59They wanted things to go on as they were, that's all,
26:01and so did I.
26:02And so did a lot of people with a bank balance
26:04and a fair share of the good things of life.
26:07And now you've lost them all.
26:10How do you feel about it now, Sefton?
26:12Who told you that I'd lost them all?
26:13Has George asked who I've been talking?
26:14I read about Howells in the paper.
26:17Oh, I see.
26:19I'm not exactly pennilish, you know.
26:22Will this house have to go?
26:23Yes, it will.
26:25I'm sorry.
26:27Well, perhaps it's just as well I'm going to.
26:29Has Tony seen it in the papers?
26:31I don't know Sefton if he has.
26:34He hasn't said anything about it to me.
26:37Will you manage?
26:38Oh, what a pinch.
26:39I'm not complaining because the game's gone against me.
26:42I still believe in the same things, Helen.
26:44I've been a fool, that's all, by judgment.
26:47Oh, it's all a gamble.
26:49Some of us are better at it than others.
26:50Some of us run out of luck.
26:52Well, I don't approve of gambling.
26:53Being alive, living, that's gambling all the time.
26:56Well, let's just say I like to keep my money for other things
26:59and play with matches.
27:01Oh, hello.
27:02Hello.
27:03Locked the shop up for Christmas, have you?
27:05Yes.
27:06Would you like it now or later?
27:07Eh?
27:08Your Christmas present.
27:09Well, I, uh, I hope it fits a bill.
27:14I noticed you're out.
27:15You've heard, haven't you?
27:16Heard what, Father?
27:17Talking to me as if nothing had happened.
27:19Why didn't you tell me?
27:25I thought things might turn out a little better than they have, that's all.
27:28You should have told me, Father.
27:30I had to hear about it from somebody else.
27:33It's possible I might have been able to do something to help.
27:35George Asker's been working on it for me.
27:37I see.
27:39To be perfectly frank,
27:40it didn't occur to me that you might want to help.
27:42Oh, hello.
27:49Is Helen still here?
27:50No, she went ages ago.
27:51It's all right.
27:52I put him to bed.
27:54You'd better go and say goodnight.
27:55Oh, he can wait a minute.
27:57Do him good.
27:58Is Dad back yet?
27:59Helen said he rang,
28:01he said he was going to Sheila's.
28:02David's come home.
28:03Oh, come to bring his dirty washing home
28:05and have a good feed, has he?
28:07Oh, you've been a fair old time.
28:08Shopping?
28:09No, no.
28:10Who's that in the kitchen?
28:11Oh, happy man.
28:12Dad, he's come on his own.
28:13Well, where's your mother?
28:15Aunt Hilda's.
28:16By mutual agreement, apparently.
28:17She didn't want to come and he did,
28:18so that's one worry off your mind, isn't it?
28:22I bet he's going to be up all night
28:24waiting for Santa Claus.
28:25Don't you think it's time we told him there isn't one?
28:27I'll go.
28:28I gave Temple my resignation, by the way.
28:31Oh, and what did he say?
28:33He said, if I change my mind over Christmas,
28:35their job will still be there.
28:37Oh, that's all right, then, isn't it?
28:38I won't be, though.
28:39Oh, well, you never know.
28:41Anyway, I'm glad it wasn't too final.
28:43Gives you the option, doesn't it?
28:48Oh, there you are.
28:49He was beginning to pace up and down a bit.
28:51Good.
28:52He needs the exercise.
28:54Oh, um, Celia won't be covered, by the way.
28:57I know.
28:57John told me.
28:59It's the first time we haven't been together
29:00at Christmas since we were married.
29:02How does it feel?
29:04A bit unusual.
29:05A bit, um...
29:07Tell you the truth,
29:07I haven't got used to the idea yet.
29:09Did she mind?
29:10Well, she didn't seem to.
29:12She should be there by now.
29:14They're very much alike, as a matter of fact.
29:17You mean they don't get on?
29:18Well, they didn't used to.
29:20Perhaps it'll be all right now they're older.
29:22Oh, it gets better, does it?
29:24Yes, for some people.
29:26Well, that's a comfort.
29:29Now, you make the effort now, Margaret.
29:31Me?
29:32Now, what makes you assume that the effort has to come from me?
29:35Because I assume you're the injured party.
29:36Then you're prejudiced, aren't you?
29:38Prejudiced?
29:39Well, as far as I'm concerned, you always seem to be, anyway.
29:41Did I?
29:42Perhaps I am, then.
29:43Oh, I don't know.
29:46All those things you feel, or you have felt, were there,
29:50and one day you'd enjoy them to the full,
29:52and suddenly the time comes that you realise you won't.
29:55Does that get better as you grow older?
29:58No, no, it doesn't.
30:00Not that.
30:01Except perhaps you learn to live with regret.
30:04Is that how it is with you?
30:06Well, the life I wanted started in 1939,
30:09and then John went away, and that was it.
30:11That's all I had, those few months.
30:14It's not much out of a lifetime, is it?
30:16My generation, too, Margaret.
30:18Make the best of it.
30:20Is that all we can do?
30:22Oh, go on learning.
30:24Ah, but it's not enough, is it?
30:26One life we get, that's all.
30:29Just one.
30:50So late at the clock.
30:52So late at the clock.
30:55Well, it's a wonder the rest of the road aren't awake.
30:57Couldn't we have given him something else?
30:59Well, it's what he wanted.
31:01He's lucky to get one to weigh things out with toys today,
31:03even if they are the only thing that aren't rationed.
31:07Your father's up.
31:09Eh?
31:09I don't think he slept very well.
31:12Is he worrying about being away from Bob?
31:14Yes, as a matter of fact, I think he is.
31:17Oh, fiddlesticks.
31:20It's the first time he's thrown the chains off since he got married.
31:22You know, I felt a bit of a lesser being, in a way, if you like, when you started to get involved in politics.
31:34But it hasn't taught you much about people, has it?
31:36Oh, well, I suppose Marjorie was right.
31:41That was something that you had to find out for yourself, wasn't it?
31:45You went to see her, didn't you, yesterday?
31:46Yes.
31:50Yes, I saw her.
31:53Well, have the neighbours round.
31:59Hey!
32:00Hey!
32:04I've tried to be a father, a husband.
32:09You've tried too hard.
32:12Taken it all on yourself.
32:14Shut me out.
32:15Decided things without consulting me.
32:18You've tried too hard.
32:21You've tried too hard.
32:23Hadn't you better try a bit damned harder, son?
32:26I've tried, Dad.
32:28Honestly, I've tried.
32:30You've tried too hard.
32:33I don't know where I am, Gene.
32:36I'm lost.
32:38I want to comfort you,
32:41and you turn your back on me.
32:43We've no comfort in each other.
32:46We should mourn him together.
32:53Because I mourn him.
32:57I mourn him.
33:00Oh, God, I do.
33:02I do.
33:06Help me.
33:08Help me.
33:09I'm lost.
33:10I'm lost.
33:10Confiscate it.
33:26I got him interested in your compendium.
33:30Oh, good.
33:30Merry Christmas to you.
33:31And to you.
33:32Oh, I've poured you a cup.
33:33I hope it hasn't gone cold.
33:34It's lovely.
33:40Did you sleep well?
33:42No, not really.
33:44I don't, on the whole.
33:46It's not often I miss seeing the dawn break.
33:48First job I ever had.
33:50It was just a lad in the office in a firm near the docks.
33:52It's gone now.
33:53It was dark.
33:54Mother saw me out of the front door.
33:57You walked mostly in those days,
33:59and as I walked,
34:00on my way to being a man for the first time,
34:02the sun came up.
34:05I seemed to have been caught all my life in that moment,
34:08walking towards something that never happened.
34:10Didn't you like it?
34:11The job?
34:12Oh, it didn't stand a chance
34:13compared with what I thought it was going to be like.
34:15But you know what Stevenson said?
34:18It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive.
34:20Or something like that.
34:21You can't even travel hopefully.
34:23Oh, there's always something to hope for.
34:26Is there?
34:28Well, if I can say there is at my great age,
34:30surely you can too.
34:34Beckel?
34:35I thought they weren't out today.
34:37They're yesterdays.
34:38We're 24 hours behind the times.
34:40Has the empire crumbled, I wonder?
34:42It's well on the way to it.
34:43They'll give it away before they finish this,
34:45but I've never really thought of it
34:47as being ours to give.
34:48When are we leaving for Edwin's?
34:50As soon as Helen's ready, I suppose.
34:52That should give us a good hour at least.
34:53I suppose we've got to go.
34:55It's a bit late to be thinking otherwise, isn't it?
35:00He did.
35:00Does he know about me?
35:02It's he who told me about Howells.
35:04He said he hoped things wouldn't turn out too badly.
35:07It's an embarrassment for me.
35:09Yes, I can see that.
35:12He's too well accustomed to embarrassment
35:14to want to make capital out of other people's.
35:18Anyway, I think he's got other things on his mind.
35:21What other things?
35:23I don't know.
35:23He seems to be feeling this need to tidy things up,
35:28put his house in order.
35:30Taking him 30-odd years to find the time, I suppose.
35:32Um, he's asked me to give David a job, by the way.
35:37Young David?
35:38I thought he was in London.
35:39All turned to ashes, apparently.
35:40Oh, he's a bright young lad.
35:42Give him the opportunity.
35:43You think so?
35:44Don't you?
35:46Edwin's given him half his shares in the works.
35:49He told me on the phone.
35:51Well, it doesn't mean we could take him on a trainee basis
35:53at the lower salary.
35:55You agreed?
35:56I didn't feel able to disagree.
35:59I think the business owes it to him, don't you?
36:00I certainly don't.
36:01Offer to sell me the other half.
36:03Oh, after control, are you?
36:05I can see it might not be a bad idea, if it were possible.
36:08There's a bit of a bridging you after all, is there?
36:10Oh, just to chip off the old block, father.
36:14I've kept a few shares back, actually.
36:17Yes, I know.
36:19Interested in selling?
36:20Oh, they'll come to you in the course of time.
36:24About all there will be if I manage to live for another ten years.
36:27You've realised that, of course, that I have lost your inheritance.
36:30My inheritance.
36:33A man likes to leave his family provided for.
36:35I'll provide for myself.
36:36It's a hard world, Tony.
36:39I'll take my chance with the others.
36:41You've given me a two-head start, as it is.
36:43Is that a sin?
36:44A sin?
36:45I, um, you know, I used to read poetry when I was at sea.
36:53A lot of us did.
36:54Ah, your generation used to pay lip service to poetry.
36:56We actually read it.
36:58Well, a lot of it probably wasn't very good, but it was about us, the world we were living in.
37:03Anyway, there was this, um, there was this line.
37:08No, no, I can't, I can't quote it exactly.
37:10It was, um, it was something about the right deed for the wrong reason.
37:14Oh, sorry, love, I've done it again.
37:25I did not...
37:27It's just that John's still, um, what was it you wanted, anyway?
37:30Has John got any spare studs?
37:31You'd better ask him, and he's in the bath.
37:33Right.
37:33Hold on a minute.
37:36What is this, then, eh?
37:37Oh, thanks, love.
37:39Well, they've all arrived, except the Briggs contingent.
37:42Um, Shira and David have just come, and, uh...
37:43It's a lot of work for you.
37:45Still, it's the last time.
37:46Is it?
37:47I just think so, wouldn't you?
37:52Hey.
37:53What's this?
37:54I'll bet you thought you weren't gonna get one.
37:57What?
37:57A Christmas present.
37:59Oh, thanks for the stud, John.
38:01Hmm?
38:02Yes?
38:03Oh, um, this, this is my shirt.
38:05Hmm?
38:05The shirt, the one you want me to wear.
38:06Yes, yes, sir.
38:08What's that?
38:09It's a dad's Christmas present.
38:10Hmm?
38:14Good heavens.
38:16What is it?
38:18It's the deeds of this house.
38:24Is that Angle's often?
38:25Yes.
38:26So I've put them all in there, and I've sent the kids' items to the garden.
38:33God, it looks just like the foyer of that hotel I used to work in.
38:38Are you going to see Doris this afternoon?
38:39Yes, yes.
38:40Are you coming?
38:41She offered me her baby yesterday.
38:44Her baby?
38:45Yes.
38:46She asked me if Ian and I would like to adopt it.
38:50Unbelievable, isn't it?
38:51Oh, I don't know.
38:52Is it?
38:54Look, we used to work in the same office at Chalfons together.
38:58Remember that time we went to Southport and we met all the soldiers on the train?
39:02She was always laughing in those days, never taking anything seriously.
39:05She's going to have it, Freda, the baby.
39:08Why'd she ever let it happen?
39:10Well, perhaps she was desperate for somebody to care about her.
39:13I don't think anybody ever has done much, have they?
39:17Well, Ian's putting her in touch with the society.
39:19Oh.
39:23Well, we couldn't somehow.
39:25Why?
39:25Because it's Doris.
39:27It's just better if you don't know.
39:30Oh, is it?
39:31Look, I don't know what happened to Doris.
39:33I mean, she went out with such awful people.
39:36She's always giggling and noise in the middle of the blackout.
39:38I mean, it just wasn't my sort of thing, was it?
39:41It was once.
39:42Yes.
39:50It was, wasn't it?
39:53Yeah.
39:54I met all sorts of types in the ref, of course.
39:57It teaches you to mix, if nothing else, I think.
40:02Tony, you'll be wanting me to go out quite a bit, I suppose.
40:05Go out?
40:07Yes, I mean, I won't be chained to the office all the time.
40:09Oh, no, I shouldn't think so.
40:11There's quite a few clients to visit, that sort of thing.
40:13I'm the only one who seems to get himself tied to the office.
40:16Wife not with you?
40:17No, no, she's staying with her sister.
40:19Damned unwelcome at our age, isn't it, Christmas?
40:22I don't like milestones.
40:24Prefer to be like Felix, I suppose.
40:26Just keep on walking.
40:28Travelling, hopefully.
40:30Hopefully?
40:32Yes, I suppose that's it, really.
40:39Dad, why?
40:41Does it help to solve anything?
40:43I don't know.
40:43It might.
40:44That's why, then.
40:45But what are you going to do?
40:46Oh, we'll talk about that some other time, shall we?
40:49Oh, thank you.
40:50I think I'll push off after dinner.
41:13Well, I thought you'd stay tonight.
41:16Yes, but, you know, your mother and Auntie Hilda may not get on, and...
41:21Well, you know.
41:23Yes, I know.
41:28Hey, wake up, Dolly Daydream.
41:31I said, wake up?
41:32There's the work of the world to be done.
41:33Well, it works when nobody's looking.
42:01Yes, it always does.
42:03Is it all in the body?
42:05Hey, where do you get those from?
42:06Mind your own damn business, and you needn't go looking.
42:10There aren't any more where these came from.
42:12It's real do.
42:17It's only you, me and Dad, without, isn't it?
42:19I don't know who breaks them all.
42:22It certainly isn't me.
42:23Well, don't look at me.
42:25Margaret...
42:26If he makes a speech, I shall be very rude.
42:29A speech and a glass of sherry, that's all he's getting here.
42:32Not bad, sir.
42:33Yes, I've had them tucked away for a bit, but they're none the worse for their age.
42:36There was a chap at the last mess I was at, you know, who used to smoke them this size.
42:40Trying to impress us, I suppose.
42:43Well, what is it that's supposed to be impressive about a cigar, eh?
42:45Right.
42:46It's not exactly a working man's habit, is it?
42:50Well, three more glasses to fill, and then we're ready.
42:53You're not going to make a speech, are you, Father?
42:55Why shouldn't I make a speech?
42:56I always do.
42:57You're not the host.
42:58Has the host any objection?
42:59I have no objection.
43:01Very well, then.
43:02To those we have known, in Christmases past, no longer with us.
43:14It's all right, Dad, I'll go.
43:16He's gone already.
43:20I said the wrong thing, didn't I?
43:23No, Zefton, not the wrong thing.
43:25You all right now?
43:33Yes, yes, I'm all right.
43:35Oh, you're a fool.
43:36When's he going to learn?
43:37Well, it was sincere, John.
43:40What, raking up the pus out of the people?
43:42Well, it hurt me in the right way.
43:45It reminded me that in me, other people live.
43:49You know, not just you and the others down there, but...
43:51Philip, Robert, Mum?
43:57I'm rather like a piece in one of those jigsaws that Mum was always doing, aren't I?
44:00A missing piece.
44:03One day I'll be dead and join all the other pieces and...
44:07Well, maybe it'll fit together and make some sort of sense somehow.
44:11Well, it only hurt because I'd forgotten that when I turned in on myself.
44:19It's when you think that you're the only piece on the board that it hurts most.
44:24I'd been turned in on my own pain.
44:27Because of me?
44:28Oh, because I wouldn't accept the fact that we're not the same two people
44:33who got married all those years and years ago.
44:38Are we?
44:38It's not that long ago, Margaret.
44:41No.
44:43You think about it.
44:46Oh, that's another thing the war did for us, isn't it?
44:49Separation.
44:52Uncertainties.
44:53Not even to know the worst.
44:54You know, to fear it without knowing fears, worries...
44:58and life-wasting emptiness that some people don't go through in a lifetime.
45:03All packed into these few years.
45:05Until the time comes when you just want to stop trying to smile through it,
45:12or you just scream for it to end.
45:19Waste upon waste upon waste.
45:24Well, how long ago does it seem to you, eh?
45:26How long ago, that Christmas, before you went to France?
45:33Yes, well, wouldn't you put it like that, I suppose.
45:35Time living, time passing.
45:38No, they aren't the same.
45:39You never came back to me, John.
45:44Some of me did.
45:45Only when I came, you weren't here.
45:52You were in love with Marjorie, weren't you?
45:55In love, as they say.
45:57You were in love with Michael, as they say, weren't you?
45:59Well, maybe.
46:00It's only a feeling, and it passes.
46:02And later, it's difficult to make up your mind whether it was real or not.
46:06You're trying to comfort me now.
46:09She won't take you unless I let go.
46:15You want to let go?
46:19No.
46:19You told her that?
46:21Yes, yes, I told her that.
46:24You see, I'm being selfish about it.
46:27Although I don't want you to go through the rest of your life
46:29thinking that you've missed something important because of me,
46:33I'm afraid the other thing is stronger.
46:37You're important, Margaret.
46:39Mum's important to Dad for all the ways she treats him.
46:42That's why he's gone home today.
46:43It's the only real thing in his life.
46:45Well, that's a lovely comparison.
46:47Me and your mum.
46:49I only meant it in as much as he cares for her.
46:54I didn't want to see it until you made me.
46:57But that's what love is, caring.
46:58Not being...
47:00Yeah, the only piece on the board.
47:05You care for me?
47:07Of course, for you, for Johnny.
47:09And you stay on those terms?
47:11Oh, this is bad terms.
47:14Don't you care for Marjorie?
47:16Oh, I care that she'll be alone.
47:17You can feel that about a dog, can't you?
47:19Aren't you rather debasing the coinage?
47:21I don't think so.
47:22What are you smiling for?
47:23Well, you know, it's only a shadow that passed over my grave.
47:26Something someone said to me once.
47:29At the moment you start to care about anything, a dog even, there's pain somewhere at the end of it.
47:35Well, Ian's taking David and Sheila home on his way to work.
47:42Work on Christmas Day.
47:43It's an emergency, isn't it?
47:45Oh, I do know.
47:45I never ask.
47:46We're just ships that pass the night.
47:48I'm not a cruise.
47:49Well, I could drop Helen at home and take you on.
47:51You could come with me.
47:52Oh, do you want to go home?
47:53David.
47:53Might even offer me a drink.
47:55Oh, that's very good.
47:56No, who's going with me?
47:57Oh, we are.
47:58I think I'm supposed to be going with Tony, aren't I?
48:00Yes, that's correct.
48:01I've been going.
48:02Oh, me too.
48:03Well, I'll see you at home then later.
48:04Yes, yes, why not?
48:05All right.
48:07A happy new year.
48:08Happy new year.
48:12We should listen to the king, I suppose.
48:15First Christmas of peace, Edwin.
48:16Historic occasion.
48:18We didn't think of it like that six years ago, did we?
48:20What Christmas?
48:21A peace and historic occasion.
48:22We took it for granted, didn't we?
48:24We'd had the war to end all wars, we thought.
48:28I was out in the garden with Philip just before Chamberlain said his bit.
48:32It was a lovely day.
48:35He never got over Spain, you know.
48:37It's a good job we can't read the future.
48:39I don't think about the future very much these days.
48:42Has it turned out very bad for you, this business with Howells?
48:45Bad enough, bad enough.
48:47The best we've had, you and I, it's in the past now, isn't it?
48:50With that in common, I suppose, we share the same memories.
48:52I doubt it, Sufton.
48:53We've been through the same bad times.
48:55We've both made a bit of a mark on life, one way or the other.
48:59Not much of it, though.
49:01I wish I could think so.
49:02I went wrong some word unaware.
49:04Jean knew, or seemed to.
49:08I've been trying to tie up the loose ends, tidy up a bit.
49:10Is that why you wanted to pay off the mortgage?
49:13Give Margaret and John a chance.
49:15I'll have to look for a little place for myself, I suppose.
49:18Yes, I'll be doing the same thing myself.
49:21I suppose you wouldn't, I mean...
49:25You and me sharing, Sufton.
49:28Yes, yes, I dare say you're right.
49:31I'm not sure how I shall manage on my own.
49:33Jean would have liked the idea.
49:34She always spoke very highly of you to me, did Jean?
49:37You make it sound like a testimonial, Sufton.
49:39I burned all our old letters the other day.
49:42Old letters?
49:43They don't mean anything.
49:44I thought perhaps there might be something of me as there might have been.
49:48It was like reading something written by a stranger.
49:51I took a couple of days off work, went back home when I was brought up.
49:55Nothing of me there.
49:57Nothing.
49:57Then the other day, up in the attic, I found a letter I wrote to you and never gave you.
50:01To me?
50:02Twenty-five years ago I wrote it, my resignation.
50:04Why didn't you give it to me?
50:05Hard time, Sufton.
50:07My only excuse, not a bad excuse, but it's hardly adequate.
50:11Pity you didn't, perhaps.
50:12It might have been good for both of us.
50:14It wasn't only myself I resigned for.
50:17The chap called Edwards.
50:20You fired him because he answered back.
50:22I don't remember.
50:23I do.
50:25But I see he does if he's still alive.
50:26You've always disapproved of my way of doing things, haven't you, Edwin?
50:30And my own.
50:32I'm the man I was brought up to be.
50:33Well, I wish I could say that, Sufton.
50:36By God, I do.
50:37You blame me that you can't?
50:39Partly.
50:40Myself, mostly.
50:43But that's all over and done with.
50:45It's the future that counts.
50:47This is ours.
50:48We set it up years ago.
50:50And here it is.
50:51Better make them boast of it, hadn't we?
50:53To the younger of you, I would say a special word.
51:07You have grown up in a world at war, in which your fine spirit of service has been devoted
51:19to a single purpose, the overthrow and destruction of our enemies.
51:28You have known the world only as a world of strife and fear.
51:36Bring now all that fine spirit to make it one of joyous adventure, a home where men and women
51:51can live in mutual trust and walk together as friends.
51:59Do not judge my...
52:02Do not judge my...
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52:10
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