"Did you start that fire?" "We missed all that, didn't we?" "We was lucky." "Mal, please don't." "I think we all need to not see each other any more." "Oh, no." "What have I got now, eh?" "!" "What've I got?" "!" "It's really hard to come into a group of people who've worked together as long as we have." "But he's one of our family now." "I want you to put a transfer request in for me." "Being here with you, it's changed his life." "Dennis will be safe with me." "I'm looking out for him." "We want you to see a counsellor." "Pauline Pynchon." "You can call me Pauline." "It's the anniversary of the fire next week, but seeing as I've rung him every day and he won't pick up..." "I don't know what I can do about that." "'We're talking today, folks about the hot weather, 'how long can it last?" "How do you cool down?" "'Sian in Chigwell called to say she has taken a leaf 'out of Marilyn Monroe's book and keeps her knickers in the freezer!" "'" "Jimmy Stewart played the accordion." "John Wayne." "That was an actor." "Man was a phony." "Had plastic surgery to get rid of his jowls." "Can't call yourself the Duke, be ashamed of the jowls God gave you, that's not a man." "'Hello, can I speak to Mr Robert Flusky, please?" "'" "Oh, is he?" "Well, hello, Mrs Flusky." "I'm calling from the sexual health clinic at Mile End Hospital." "We were concerned because Mr Flusky didn't show up for his appointment today." "So?" "Where am I going?" "'There's a vacancy opened up near Ongar.'" "Ongar?" "That's basically the countryside innit?" "'It's got a nice castle.'" "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Mrs Flusky, it's just with rectal sores of this type..." "Yeah." "Yeah, it is, yeah." "Hi, Karen." "How many shouts on average?" "'Apparently...'" "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was written there." "Hello?" "I know, I know you're busy." "It's just..." "Well, it's a bit slow today, so..." "OK, bye now." "I told you you should've got Asbo to do it!" "I know." "God I'm sweating like a fat bird in a bin bag." "You seen Guv since breakfast?" "It's today isn't..." "The anniversary." "Kev." "Can I talk to you?" "Bloody thing!" "Just letting you know you don't have to transfer." "I'm going." "What?" "I told you, I'm transferring." "OK." "When?" "It's been a week, and you haven't even spoken to Nick yet." "I was going to do it today." "Well, I've saved you the bother then, didn't I?" "No, mate, you haven't saved me anything!" "Come on, Kev, I wasn't..." "How definite is it?" "Mate, the wheels are already in motion" "Come on, then." "Let's get it over with." "What is he doing?" "Well, it's for the barbecue later." "All right, listen up, everyone, gather round." "All of you." "Take a seat." "Come on." "Right, erm, Mal and me, we've got something we want to tell you." "You want to?" "Er..." "I'm..." "I'm transferring." "We can still... you know?" "You got my number." "Give us a call, or..." "Can he still come to the barbecue?" "That's up to Mal." "I'll bring a potato salad." "Excuse me." "How did the test go?" "Yeah." "Fine." "They're going to call us later with the results." "How was your breathing?" "Yeah, it was fine, I just said." "A good time was had by all, just leave it now." "Oi, 2.30, in the mess, I want you all there." "They're showing The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance." "That's a good film, that." "It isn't a good film, Snip." "It's a great film." "Did you tell him about Mal?" "He's leaving, mate." "Transferring, they told us while you were out." "Seriously." "I'm Batman!" "Hiya, Li, you all right, mate?" "What you doing here?" "He's out of control, Al." "They've got him on suspension from school, I can't cope, I can't do it." "They can't do that, what did he do?" "He's playing up, lying all the time, playing all these pranks." "So?" "Pranks?" "So what?" "He's a kid!" "He sharpened a pencil and held it under a kid, when he sat down, it went right into his..." "Yeah, exactly." "God knows where he's getting ideas like that." "I've got this interview, it's a big step up, I thought he'd be in school, now I can't get a sitter, my mum's on holiday," "I just don't know what to do, Al!" "It's all right, babe, it's all right, calm down, we can work it out." "Thanks." "You are a life-saver." "Oi, Teen, where you going?" "I'm at work!" "I'm at work, Teen!" "You can't just..." "What are you..." "Tina!" "Do not walk away from me!" "that's an order!" "Do not..." "It's my turn!" "Tina!" "She can't hear me." "TINA!" "Here, Liam, stick a bit of this over the door for us." "This is..." "It's daft, mate, you don't have to do this." "So what was you aiming for when you stuck chicken nuggets all over my car?" "I never!" "So there's two geniuses in the world who think that's hilarious, are there?" "Genii, mate." "What?" "Plural of genius." "Not geniuses." "Genii." "I saw it on Eggheads." "So who looks like the pillock now?" "You do." "It's always you." "See, this is it, you don't get it do you?" "Even now." "What you talking about?" "You!" "Walking round like your face is made of treacle and everybody wants a lick!" "It pisses people off." "All you've got to do is eat a bit of shit, but you won't do it, just apologise, mate " "S'none of your business." "It is!" "Course it is." "You're going aren't, you?" "You're ruining everything." "Do you know how good we've got it here?" "Do you have any idea how toilet the rest of my life is?" "You want to ruin the only good bit?" "You're leaving us and you don't even seem to care." "Of course I care." "Well, give us a bloody sign of it then, do you know what I mean?" "!" "All right." "If you say you want me to stay." "Don't push it, mate." "Just say it." "Liam!" "Come back here, mate!" "Arrgghh!" "Liam!" "Liam!" "Kev?" "You got a visitor." "Listen, it's the mother of that kiddy, died in the Churchill Estate fire." "You sure you want to?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "Fine." "Thank you for the flowers." "It's the least I could do." "Doesn't matter what anyone says." "You did your best and..." "I'm so grateful." "I'm planting a tree for her." "Sunday, 10am." "Cherry tree." "Blossom in the Spring." "Maybe if you..." "No." "Course." "Yeah." "Yeah, I'll be there." "Does that..." "Does that help?" "Dunno." "Belong to this group, sad women in cardigans, we just sit around crying, praying, eating biscuits." "And they say you have to forgive, it sets you free, you have to forgive and I just..." "I want to smack them." "I just think about Gog." "I've been carrying this round for ages, in case I ran into him." "Police couldn't do a bloody thing." "Can I ask, I heard Dennis Severs worked here?" "All right to say hello?" "He's a good soul, be a good Dad one day, that one." "He was a big help that night, won't forget that." "Dennis was there?" "Yeah." "Him and his mum took the kids while me and Dan spoke to the police." "If your mum asks, I didn't give you them, yeah?" "In fact, who did give you them?" "The man." "What man?" "The fireman." "Who give him sweets?" "You gotta stop telling fibs, mate, all right?" "I'm serious, and all this stuff with the pencil at school?" "Not cool." "Not cool is it, Uncle Asbo?" "No." "Not cool." "Now, go and pour this where I showed you." "The man." "What did he look like?" "A fireman." "Yeah, but was he tall, short?" "Fat, thin?" "He had a big scar going down the side of his face." "Yeah?" "And he was Chinese." "What?" "And he had fangs." "Ah, shit!" "Yeah!" "That was you, wasn't it?" "No, it was him." "It was you." "Oi, what you grassing on me for?" "What you grassing on me for?" "Ah, yeah!" "Ziggy texted us." "Said you're transferring." "Just thought I'd do the noble thing." "You're about as noble as an ashtray, Mal." "How'd he take it?" "With the anniversary and all?" "Dunno." "You know how he got really calm and quiet, the day before he..." "Don't." "Don't want to think about it." "Hello, chubs." "What you doin' in here?" "I brought you some Jelly Babies, but I had to give them away." "Take the tunic off." "Tunic?" "!" "Listen to it, where are we, ancient bloody Rome?" "Take it off!" "I'll call the police!" "Oh, that's nice." "That's lovely, Chubs, not a cheap out of you for three years, and this the welcome I get." "I don't know who you are!" "That's the game, is it?" "You always had a lot of anger in you son, a lot of rage." "And your mother, I mean, God bless her but she..." "She was always pretty quick to try to pin that one on me." "What's that supposed to mean?" "I don't know what she told you son, but she's the one who couldn't handle it." "No, it's not..." "That's not true." "It was me who took you for the long walks up in Epping Forest, me!" "It was me who held you when you started screaming and biting." "That was me." "I was a good father." "You're a murderer." "Oh, don't!" "That was just..." "That was an accident." "Not my fault that some kid wanted to be a have-a-go-hero, do you know how much he was on?" "!" "4.50 an hour, fuckin'..." "It was just bad luck, son." "Asbo?" "Guv?" "I just saw Rosa Paknadel." "She said you was a real help, the night of the fire." "Which is just, well, it's weird, cos your mum said you were..." "What was it, up North?" "Visiting your dad?" "Guv, I can explain." "I bet you can." "Bet you've got all sorts of answers up your sleeve, you seem like a very talented liar." "Kev." "Trish is here." "She's in your office." "You stay where I can find you." "Hi." "What are you doing here?" "No, it was just your message, you sounded a bit..." "Well, it's today, isn't it, so I thought..." "Listen I'm not being..." "Just it sets a bad example, me, having a visitor so..." "Yeah, I just thought you might need a bit of, you know, support, but I can go." "You've got yourself in a right state, Den." "S'alright." "Dad's here." "I've got you." "You know, it would probably be all right if you stayed in here, out the way?" "Just give me a minute, yeah?" "Yeah, course." "Only I've to go by two." "I'm going out with Grace and her mum." "First time, football, she's mad for the Hammers." "You ever had the off-side rule explained to you by a seven-year-old?" "Kev, seriously, you all right?" "Yeah." "Great." "With you in a minute." "Asbo!" "Asbo!" "Asbo!" "He's only a kid." "Yeah well, some of them you can just tell, can't you?" "Like Mal said, stamped on the arse from birth." "Asbo!" "Why're you here, Dad?" "I'm going to Spain." "I want you to come with me, son." "Do you good." "Spain?" "You've only just got out of prison." "You could be a bombardiero." "What's that?" "It's Spanish for fireman." "You and me, son." "We're peas in a pod." "It'd be a right laugh." "I knew you'd be excited." "I want to see a bull run before I die." "A beast like that, charging at you, horns, be a thrill, eh?" "That would be a thrill." "'I went to the animal fair, 'the birds and the bees were there, 'the big baboon by the light of the moon 'was combing his auburn hair." "'The monkey fell out of his bunk, 'slid down the elephant's trunk." "'The elephant sneezed 'and fell on his knees, 'and what become of the monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey?" "'" "Where's Kev?" "Pop off and go and find your dad, sweetheart." "Dennis, what's the matter?" "It's not." "I can't..." "I need to speak to Kev." "No, no, come in." "What is it?" "The fire." "The fire, it was..." "What fire?" "On Churchill Estate, the fire." "What about it?" "You?" "The two boys?" "What are you..." "Get out." "You have to leave, you can't, you can't be here!" "I can't..." "I can't breathe." "It was our life!" "How could you do that to a person, to someone?" "!" "He thinks he can trust you!" "He trusts you and, and you betrayed him, it's disgusting!" "I know." "I know, I'm so..." "I'm so..." "It's er, just hay-fever, he's suffering a bit." "Right, what you need is a spoonful of honey..." "Snip, piss off." "I can't." "It was an accident." "Gog started it, I can't." "What will he do?" "I don't know." "I don't want to go prison." "You have to tell him." "I know." "I know." "I want my mum." "Yeah, I know the feeling." "Take a minute." "Pull yourself together." "Then we'll go and find him." "That Nina's all right, isn't she?" "No, wouldn't have said she's your type, mate, really." "Oh, well, mate." "I'm a broad church, Mince." "It's 1994." "Billy's first day in Mile End." "And there she is." "Nina the cleaner." "And that's it." "Billy's done for." "And?" "Months he waited, till finally, he decided to ask her out and then he got glandular fever." "Six months off." "Meantime this wanker from Green Watch, name of Badgers, moves in." "Nina comes back from honeymoon with a black eye and a bun in the oven." "20 years, Billy's never looked at another woman." "Well, he's looked, but he's not touched." "Well, he has touched, but you could always tell, his heart wasn't in it." "So what's she doing here now?" "Badgers fell off his speed-boat." "Lived like a twat, died like a twat." "Ready?" "'Had an accident at work that wasn't your fault?" "'" "Hurry up!" "It's on!" "It's on!" "'I was told to climb a ladder at work, 'despite the fact I hadn't been given specialist training." "'I slipped and fell." "'Argh!" "'" "'The injuries I sustained stopped me working for six months." "'Spitfire told me I could claim from my employer.'" "Yeah, well it were 300 quid for a day's work so laugh away." "'I received £5,000." "Thanks, Spitfire!" "'" "You were like a young Al Pacino." "You know, the one where he doesn't know how to climb a ladder?" "Oh, yeah, that one." "Where's your son?" "Ah, sh..." "Dennis needs to talk to you." "What's he said?" "Rosa Paknadel was here, she said he was there, did he..." "I think... you need to hear it from him." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I know." "Is it weird, after all this, I don't want to know?" "No." "Promise you'll call after?" "Yeah." "Where you going?" "It's gone two, I told you." "Rachel's waiting out front." "But can't you wait?" "I have been waiting." "But I can't miss this, Kev." "I just can't." "I know why you did it." "I know why that was, I just..." "I dunno how to... put that to bed." "But maybe that's OK?" "I mean, it's gotta be better than this." "Kev, what are you..." "It's just..." "There's enough bits of me missing already." "Yeah." "I know." "I know." "I'll call you." "Hiya." "Guv?" "!" "Help!" "Help!" "What you doing in there?" "Sorry, Uncle Asbo." "I didn't mean it." "Liam!" "It's all right, mate." "You're going to be all right." "Liam!" "Liam!" "Liam!" "Liam!" "Are you all right?" "You all right?" "Is he all right?" "Asbo!" "Li, you'll get pneumonia." "Give us your shirt!" "Well, he ain't talking to me." "Take your tights off, and your pants." "Liam, don't tell her what happened." "Cos you'll be in as much trouble as me, all right?" "I had Jelly Babies and I fell in the water!" "OK." "Come on, we're getting in the car." "Thanks." "I owe you one." "You're bang out of order!" "Yeah, I know." "I'm sorry." "Teen, you can't do this on your own." "S'daft." "I miss you so much, don't you miss me?" "I do, I just..." "All the girls at the office, they used to be so jealous of me, being with a fireman, you know." "But I hated it, Allie." "I just..." "I worried about you all the time." "Every time you were out on duty, my stomach would be churning." "I can't handle that right now." "She looked beautiful." "Excuse me!" "Public entrance is round the other side." "Hello there." "Hello there." "Erm, we're very interesting... interested in joining the fires brigade, is it all right if we come in?" "Just to have a look around and see, we'll be very good." "Who's this?" "Hamish." "Pleasure to meet you, mate." "Asbo, who is this?" "And why is he wearing my tunic?" "This is my dad, Guv." "And what Rosa said, that's right." "It was me and Gog, we started the fire..." "You don't need to say anything else, son." "Don't say..." "Shut up, Dad!" "I come home from training for the weekend," "I was going to have an early night, but he showed up about eight." "He was steaming, he kept saying, "she's taking the piss," ""she's taking the piss"." "He said he wanted to give her a scare, I thought he meant go in there, make a bit of mess, but..." "Anyway, we get up there and he says they're on their holidays, and I should have known then cos the chain wasn't on the door, but I'm just a lookout so" "I'm waiting outside, and it's a few minutes before I notice the pram... and that's when I realise they're still in there." "So I leg it." "I bolt for the stairwell and I wait there." "I thought I'll wait for him, and my heart's going like the clappers, and then I smell the smoke." "That won't work, love." "Why?" "Well, for one you've a witness sat there, and for another it takes loads longer than it does in the films." "And he's a strong lad." "You could, but then there's be your fingerprints in his neck." "The things they can do nowadays." "He says there was a heater on, one of them gas things, and maybe he knocked it over, only I don't know, Guv, I still don't know cos later, after..." "..I thought I could smell it on him." "The paraffin." "And I knew the baby was upstairs and I just, I couldn't..." "But by the time I got upstairs, the downstairs was alight, we couldn't get down, Gog was freaking out and..." "And then you lot come in and the baby's screaming like anything, and Gog..." "Well, you know what happened after, but it's just..." "I'm sorry, Guv." "I'm so sorry." "I wish I just had the guts to kill myself." "'OK, he's coming up, but first we've just had an e-mail 'from Jodie in Wanstead who says she's just been arrested 'for sunbathing topless!" "'Cheer up, Britain she says, it's only a pair of...'" "Ooh!" "That's all of it." "Yeah?" "Mate, thanks." "You got all this just from two days work with that racist plumber?" "He's not racist." "He offered me a full-time job." "What you chatting about?" "Winter's coming." "Lot of pipes freezing." "Could clean up." "What I owed you, that's only half of it, still got Maybrick on my back, and Tina's going to go..." "Where's this come from?" "It's her, isn't it?" "She's playing you, she's getting in your head, don't let her!" "Leave it off, will you?" "!" "I'm not joking!" "This is a shit city to be poor in." "And Mal's leaving, Gaffer's all over the place, and then there's you." "What about me?" "I don't know how long you're going to be here, do I?" "Mate, your chest." "I heard you come up the stairs last night." "I thought Darth Vader was coming to tuck us in." "The bleep test went fine." "Yeah, you say that but maybe you want to prepare yourself in case the results aren't..." "Snip!" "Come on, don't..." "Mate!" "Ah, shit." "Oi!" "Genii." "Got something for you." "Just wanted to come in for a few minutes." "Get a clearer idea of what life was like in the service." "Thought you might be able to give it to them." "Plenty more poisson in the mer, eh?" "I'm going to miss this place." "I'm getting married!" "Down it, down it, down it!" "God, I'm sorry." "People never used to come in here." "It's all right." "You scared the shit out of me." "What you reading?" "Any good?" "It's not his best." "You all right?" "No, I'm not as it happens." "Mal's leaving, and Kev didn't even wait for me to get back to tell us, I mean, it just makes you feel like that..." "Your breathing sounds bad." "Should go to the doctor." "It's been getting worse." "I did this bleep test thing this morning, almost killed me." "I'm 29." "I've got four kids, and I don't know how to do anything else." "I, erm..." "I thought you were really good in that advert." "You know, you could do that." "Really?" "Do you think so?" "When you fell off that ladder." "I really believed it." "Thanks." "Right, that's enough, ladies, come on, sling your hook." "No, no, you're lovely, you're all lovely, but I'm serious." "It's time to go." "What are you doing?" "No!" "I can't drink on duty!" "Get off!" "Off!" "Get off!" "Help!" "Help!" "Oi!" "Get off him!" "Get off him!" "Just get off him!" "What is going on today!" "?" "Let's go." "You left me." "You left me there." "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." "I was a different person then, I wasn't..." "You made me look a fucking idiot!" "What do I say to them out there, the Watch, what do I say?" "!" "You know how much I've..." "The battles that I've fought for you, am I s'posed to turn round, and say that I got it wrong?" "I was so bloody desperate to believe in you, it's a joke." "You!" "I put them in danger, so that you..." "Danger?" "I'm not a danger, Guv!" "Get my tunic off." "Take the fucking tunic off!" "There's clearly a lot of emotions here for you pal, you don't even know me." "I've heard all about you." "Apple don't fall far from the tree, does it?" "No need to get nasty." "Anyway, me and Den, we're off to Spain." "So you don't need to see him any more." "I dunno if I'm going yet, Guv " "What?" "Aye, you're going, he's going." "Be good for both of you, eh?" "Oh, yeah!" "Let's go to fucking Spain, how nice!" "Come on, son." "Come on." "Goodbye!" "Yeah, Adios!" "Go on!" "I can't run away from this." "I fucking live in this!" "But you, yeah, you go on, piss off!" "Look at me." "Look at me!" "S'alright." "Just do it." "Just do it." "Finish it." "Oh, Guv, stop it!" "Get off him!" "Guv, get off him!" "What's going on?" "Kev, what's he'd done?" "Please, Guv, let him go!" "He put Viagra in my coffee." "OK." "So that was a bit silly, Asbo." "But... it's a prank, Guv." "This is a bit much for a prank." "Let him go." "Yeah." "Yeah, sorry about that." "Woo-hoo!" "Nine point mothercocking eight!" "The bleep test!" "They just rang." "What's going on?" "Right, the show's over." "Everyone back in the mess, the film's about to start, come on!" "Who are you?" "Mal let them in." "They took my trousers off... and they touched me." "What?" "Were do you get off?" "!" "We were just having a laugh." "Oh, right." "Look at him." "Go on, look at him!" "Look at his little face, he's not a piece of meat!" "That's a man!" "That's a man!" "Do you know what, piss off!" "This is a working fire station!" "Go on." "You all right?" "No. no, I'm not all right." "Of course you're not, come here." "'Mobilise." "Mobilise.'" "Yes!" "Finally!" "That's us!" "Finally!" "Get in Come on!" "S'alright." "It's nearly the end of the shift." "Yeah, and then what?" "!" "She's gone, you're gone." "Thought you'd be made up to see me go." "Yeah, well, then you're a bloody idiot, aren't you?" "!" "There he is!" "Had to make myself scarce there, son." "All sorted now?" "Look, we'll kip at Stevie's tonight, eh?" "Sort the tickets in the morning." "How are you for cash?" "Hi, this is Mile End fire station, we've had a break in." "What you doing, son?" "Don't fuck about." "About 5'7", short white hair, looks like he might be using." "You know the type." "Yeah, it's Dennis Severs." "I'll be waiting." "You could just have said no, you know?" "No need for a pantomime." "I thought..." "I get excited." "I love you." "You're my boy." "I love you too, Dad." "I just think you're a pathetic piece of shit." "I'll send you a postcard." "Whoa, Nina isn't it?" "Yeah." "Here, let me give you a hand." "Just here is fine." "Yeah, yeah." "Mal." "Think there was a call for you." "No, I don't think so." "So, Nina..." "Mate?" "I swear to God you don't make yourself scarce right now," "I'll take that cleaver and chop off your balls... ..fry them in butter and feed them to you with fucking mashed potatoes." "What you doing?" "Oh, I'm just..." "butchering this lamb." "I'm a vegetarian." "My daddy was a butcher." "I'm a carnivore." "My daddy was a vegetable." "That's funny." "That's funny!" "Nina." "Nina?" "What?" "I think..." "I think you're really lovely." "And I was wondering..." "I wondered..." "I wondered if..." "Maybe you'd come out for a drink with me sometime?" "Yeah." "All right." "Smashing." "'Mobilise, mobilise, mobilise, zero four papa two, mobilise.'" "It's Bow Road." "Get your gear on." "You're coming with me." "I want you where I can see you."