A Thousand Blows (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[woman breathing deeply]
[groaning]
[grunts] Oh, no.
[groaning]
- [bystander] What's going on?
- [all clamouring]
[woman screaming]
- Make space. Please. I'm a midwife.
- [woman] Help me.
My baby's coming. [groans]
- Can you walk, my love?
- Not another step.
[midwife] Oh, this
lady's set to open.
Gentlemen, I ask you to
close or avert your eyes
whilst I make an examination.
Breathe, now.
- Breathe. Deep breaths, my love.
- [woman screams]
- Hezekiah.
- Hmm?
I know you tell me to
expect the unexpected
in this country,
but this is madness.
The woman is about to give birth,
so it's not unexpected for her.
But she's doing
it in the street.
[woman groaning]
- [midwife] Breaths. That's it, my dear.
- [Hezekiah] Perhaps.
- Lots of breaths. Lots of breaths.
- [woman screams]
- [midwife] Breathe now. Breathe.
- Perhaps not.
- [midwife] That's it. That's it, my dear.
- [breathing deeply]
I think she's going to have the
baby right here on the pavement.
- Yo, wait
- Yo, Alec.
We just arrived.
Let's see how the river
run in this country.
Can one of you gentlemen find a carriage
and get her to St Bartholomew's?
It's all right, ma'am, I found a
copper. He said he'd take care of her.
[crowd murmuring]
So this is how the rivers run?
If you don't have
it, you take it.
- So let's take it.
- [chuckles]
[shouting, indistinct]
[vendor 1] Do I
have a ten anywhere?
[vendor 2] Nine lots of four
bales. Four bales a lot.
[vendors shouting]
- Sold to you for 11.
- Very good.
[vendor 1] The next lot is from
the Peel plantation in Jamaica.
Six lots of raw cane.
Starting the bidding at nine.
Alec. Come, come.
Excuse me, sir?
Sir?
My friend Alec and I
just get off the packet ship Endeavour
from from Kingston, Jamaica.
We are looking for the East London
Aquarium and, uh, Zoological Garden.
[pedestrian] Excuse me.
[officer] A long way
to come for a zoo?
Sir, I dream of this
since I was a boy.
That true.
[Hezekiah] Been offered
a position there.
That way. East.
- And there will be a hotel there?
- [scoffs] How much money you got?
Five shilling, me have.
Five shill [chuckles] Then you
really, really are heading east.
How far east you say?
You keep heading east until you get to
where you can barely breathe the air,
where the sun don't shine,
and the birds don't sing.
When you get there, you may
find a hotel you can afford.
Welcome to London, gentlemen.
This position you
got, what is it?
I've come to London to
become a lion tamer!
[seagulls squawking]
[pedestrians chattering]
[sheep bleating]
[Hezekiah chuckles] Hello.
[both chuckle]
[sighs] Yo.
[sighs] Come.
Here.
- Excuse me, sir? Sorry.
- [pedestrian] All right.
We are looking for lodging.
- Sorry, we're full.
- Look, we need only one room, alright?
- And we can share.
- You can't 'cause we're full.
Then can you point me to another
place that maybe has room
They're full too.
Listen
I've been there.
I'm Irish.
But I've got neighbours.
I ain't gonna rock the boat.
[Alec sucks teeth]
Good luck, boys.
[bartender] Morning, ladies.
- Morning, Punch.
- Morning.
Can you put this on Sugar's
slate? He knows I'm good for it.
- Successful outing?
- Rudely curtailed.
There was a time all a
copper asked was two bob.
These young ones
don't know the rules.
Tell Sugar I'll see him
at the fight tonight.
Come on, boy.
[dog panting]
Come on.
All right, ladies. Shell out.
Anne, take that to Max Miller.
We'll divvy up in the Blue
Coat Boy tomorrow night.
You each take that with ya, I will
put the rest in the rocking horse.
We'll all work the fight tonight.
Tourists and new faces, yes?
Now,
business is good.
We're doing well, but
real money ain't found
at the bottom of a man's pocket.
In the coming weeks, I'm gonna
need you all to be on your toes.
Plans are forming.
For that reason, me and Esme will
lodge in the Drum until further notice.
Belle, go back to the Elephant and
Castle, bring Sharkey Devenish here.
We've only got one room.
Okay.
With your ladies' permission,
I will spend two bob of our takings
on an extra room for tonight.
I badly need a fuck.
It's only two bob.
- All those in favour, say "Aye".
- [all] Aye.
- Good.
- All right. Well, in that case,
send Dickie Summerville
up here as well.
If I'm listening to it through a wall,
Mary, I might as well be doing it.
So Sharkey and Dickie delivered to
The Green Dolphin boarding house.
- Do you want 'em wrapped?
- Just sober.
Mmm, you'd better be
fucking quick then.
- What's this plan of yours, Mary?
- You'll know when you need to.
But anyone can steal
from the bottom.
It's time we stole from the top.
It's either them say no,
or them ask treble the price.
[landlord] You owe rent.
For last night and tonight
and one extra room with a
soft bed for this evening.
So was it a boy or a girl?
What?
When you left this
morning, you were pregnant.
Yeah. Uh, it was a
little boy actually. Mmm.
He had four arms
for stealing with,
two mouths for sucking with,
six legs for running away
from the police with.
Mmm, yes.
Species do tend to
adapt to their calling.
Mr Lao, I have instincts that
come trickling down my spine.
You're on the run from someone.
A man is found reading a
science book in East London
and that means he's on the run?
It means he's found himself
in the wrong place, yeah.
And there is always a reason.
That is not instinct.
- That is logical deduction.
- [Mary scoffs]
Well, I believe in
luck and chance,
and even though we're
only recently acquainted,
I have made a note in my little
notebook about you, Mr Lao.
[Esme] Queen of the Elephants
likes mysteries, Mr Lao.
And who are the Elephants?
We ladies are the Elephants.
The Forty Elephants.
And as the Queen of the Elephants,
I travel around this beautiful city
offering poor, lost
souls opportunities.
Opportunities that will
change their lives.
And I may may have one
such opportunity for you,
Mr Lao.
Madam.
I know your line of work.
I know you live in the shadows.
Yeah, shadows can't
hold us, Mr Lao.
What the Queen has planned is
so daring, the whole of London
- and the world will know
- Esme.
Expect two men.
Rough coves, have them hosed
down, sent to our rooms.
And what would I need
with opportunities?
[Hezekiah] You don't have to say
the words for me to hear them.
What words, Hezekiah?
- Coming here to London was my idea.
- Mmm.
You're saying, "You got us
into this. You get us out."
Me never say that.
[horse whinnies]
- [enforcer] I said pick it up and read it!
- [villagers screaming]
- You're being evicted!
- [villager] Please, stop. Stop! [cries]
[sighs]
Yo. You believe in fate, right?
What?
You could earn some money
in the ring tonight.
No, no. Hezekiah, no.
- You were good.
- You were better.
Them call you the
Morant Bay Whirlwind!
Only you who call me that.
And every time we
fight, you win.
Hey, my position already
filled, right? And now,
so is yours.
Look, I'm going to fight lions.
All you have to do is
box that white man.
[sucks teeth]
[Hezekiah] Our luck has changed.
Yo.
Leave this to me.
Soon come.
Right.
[tenants shouting, clamouring]
Good day, sir.
So I hope you can help me.
I'm looking for a room.
The last room has
just been taken.
[stammers] You see, sir.
The truth is [sighs]
the colour of my skin is
making it very difficult for me
to find lodging in this city.
Don't care about your skin.
It is a question of mathematics.
[in English] What the
fuck just happened?
A lot of Chinese workers
came to my country.
My grandmother
was Hakka Chinese.
So I spoke it when I
was a child, you know.
And so when I speak it,
it reminds me of her.
[chuckles]
An African man who
speaks Chinese.
Actually, I'm not from
Africa. I'm from Jamaica.
Ah.
You are just one?
[chuckles] Yeah,
man. Me just one.
[banging on window]
[chuckles]
Yo.
[chuckling]
So where now? Which
room we're going to?
Hey. [shushes]
But wha'?
Well, it's a room.
What the bumba, Hez?
Bumba that's free.
Now keep ya voice down. I
tell him it's just me one.
Yeah, but why is it free?
[sighs] You know, I think in London,
everybody different to each other
- you know?
- [sucks teeth]
So when you meet somebody
even half the same as you,
you come like
they're your brother.
Now to survive in
London, my friend,
we must believe ourselves to be
bigger than the place we are in,
- and believe that all misfortune
- Mmm.
is temporary.
It used to sound so
much better in Chinese.
Chinaman.
Room 7 and 8.
Queen in room 8.
Have you got any dope?
I don't like to be summonsed.
What have you been at, Sharkey?
Gin? Rum?
Laughing gas? Opium?
[chuckles] Okay.
I've been at the
fucking races, Mare.
Fuck, that's a lot of
bars. Let me count it.
There's, uh
There's little marks
on this money, Sharkey.
Oh, yeah, what marks?
There's, uh, little hearts
drawn on every note. Look.
So there is.
What?
You took this money out of my
box inside the rocking horse
in my private room.
Little hearts I put on every note I
steal to signify my love for improvement.
So you take my money
and wave it in my face.
I just don't like to
be summonsed, Mare.
You don't like to be summoned
even if it's for a purpose?
Just give me it back, all
right. I won it at the races.
- Which races?
- Lingfield.
All right. You went
to Lingfield races.
You beat up enough bookies
to spring 100 bars,
each one of them with a heart drawn
on it? You talk some sense to me.
[sighs] Mare, with you, it's
like dealing with a fucking man.
[sighs]
I am beyond men.
You talk sense to me.
All right, I lost.
I lost at Lingfield.
- So you gambled like a fucking gadje?
- [sighs]
Like a mug punter?
- A civilian?
- Mare
Did you gamble any money
that had hearts on it?
- No.
- No?
No, no. I swear not.
All right. That was after
Look. I got your message.
I was coming here, and
I had not a penny, okay?
I saw the rocking horse and stuck
me hand up its arse. That's it.
Look, I just
- I don't like to be summonsed, Mare
- [gun cocks]
Fuck.
[gulps]
No, it's fine. Just
keep the money.
I brought you here for a reason, to
do a job, and I expect you to do it.
- So take off your clothes.
- Mare?
Look, you ain't right.
It's meant to be the man
with a gun. This ain't right!
Yeah, well, I've turned it the other way
around. Take off your clothes and fuck me.
- I can't.
- Why not?
Well, the gun don't
fucking help, does it?
Look.
I've been at the gas.
All right? I'm sorry.
[chokes] Mare
Then what use are ya?
You touch that
rocking horse again,
- I will kill you.
- [coughs]
Fucking hell.
Get out of my fucking sight.
[grunts]
[coughing]
[spits]
I love ya, Mare.
I don't care how black
your heart is, I
I love you, Mary Carr.
Yeah, I'm going, yeah
[door opens, closes]
- [Esme moaning]
- Some queen I am.
[Esme moaning]
Jesus, Esme!
[Punch] Roll up! Roll up!
It's Friday night boxing
- at the Blue Coat Boy!
- [Hezekiah] You ready?
[Alec] Hmm? Yeah, I don't know.
[Hezekiah] Wha' ya
mean ya don't know?
Listen, man. I tell you already.
All you have to do is get in the
ring and do what you have to do.
[spectators chattering]
The fights start already.
We have reached the
right place. Come on.
Let's make some money.
[patrons chattering]
[patron] I won't tell you
again. You owe me the money!
[bell rings]
[Punch] Ten minutes
till showtime!
[folk music playing]
[exclaims]
[laughs]
Number four? It's 3-to-1.
Out of the way here.
Now, here we go.
[spectators cheer]
Ladies and gentlemen,
welcome to another famous,
that is to say, world-famous,
- Blue Coat Boy boxing night!
- [spectators cheer]
First of two. Friday
night, Saturday night.
Now, tonight's entertainment will
feature Edward "Treacle" Goodson.
[spectators] Ooh!
A Professor of Boxing,
Beast of Hoxton,
brother to the more famous
Henry "Sugar" Goodson,
but no less terrifying.
[spectators laughing]
Someone of you,
some man in here,
might see this as an opportunity
to spread Treacle on my floor.
Any man who goes one round
with him and ends it vertical
will get his shilling back
and get one shilling more.
- [spectators clamouring]
- [Punch] And listen, you fuckers.
Listen!
Any man who pays
his three shillings
and then leaves Edward "Treacle" Goodson
prone on the deck and unconscious,
that man will win the
entire amount of money!
- [spectators cheering]
- Hello, sir.
Looking well. [indistinct]
Have you come to watch
As you can see, my son, the
educated one who has not shamed me,
has set up a desk
in the usual place.
Go now and register your name
and be a part of another
world-famous night
of bare-fist fighting
in the world-famous ring
in the world-famous Blue Coat
Boy Inn and fucking restaurant!
You all right?
Oi, oi!
And may the good Lord
have mercy on your soul.
[spectators laugh, jeer]
[folk music playing]
Little jig, eh?
Here we go.
All right.
- Hezekiah.
- What?
It's all the money in
the world we have that.
And when you knock
this Treacle man out,
- it'll be spare change.
- We not even know how strong him is.
Alec, you're hungry, you're
trained and you're Black.
- Hmm?
- [chuckles]
[Hezekiah] So that's it.
Go pay your three shillings and
get your name on the list, man
Ya do this for us,
and for the pride of
the whole of Jamaica.
- All right? Go on. Go on.
- [sucks teeth]
[spectators chattering]
- [teller] You fancy your chances, fella?
- Maybe.
If you can take that man down, you
get everything that's in this box.
- Winner takes all.
- All of this?
[teller] All in the box, mate.
Where you from, mate? Don't
look like you're from London.
I'm from Jamaica.
Jamaica? [laughs]
[teller] Here's your
number. You're number seven.
So when the sixth man goes
down, you'll be seventh man in.
Oh, you're not drinking, love?
Off a ship, are ya?
Most sailors off a ship, first
thing they do is buy a drink.
You two ladies are
from London, yes?
Well, I was born in Windsor
Castle, and I'm a Virgo.
- You were born in Kensington Palace
- [Esme] Kensington Palace.
and is a Capricorn.
All right, swell. Tomorrow, I'm going
to the East London Zoological Gardens.
Have you ever been there?
Actually, yes. We
go there often,
especially when we know
there'll be a crowd.
- Have you seen the lions there?
- What do you wanna see a lion for?
I don't want to see a lion.
I want to tame one.
[Mary] You're a lion tamer?
Not yet, but I will be.
[Esme] You're not serious.
I'm not from London.
So when I say something,
that is what I mean.
Mary, there are a lot of
very drunk men in here
who are in need of
urgent subtraction.
I'll see you later.
Not here for the boxing then?
My friend is here
for the boxing.
He is the one going
to fight tonight.
He's gonna fight Treacle?
Why? You know him?
You'd be better off with a lion.
The only creature in London worse
than Treacle Goodson is Sugar Goodson.
If I was you, I would run on over and
tell your friend to save his money.
Good luck with them lions.
On the subject of,
um, money, madam.
Before you go,
I'd like you to give back the two
shillings you just thief from my pocket.
What was that, sorry?
I It's quite loud.
Ah. The two shillings you
just stole from my pocket.
Just like your ladies
did this morning
while you did have your baby.
- Mr Lion Tamer.
- Mmm.
You are one of two in a
strange part of a strange city.
A part of that city where bodies
tend to gravitate toward the river,
and the river takes them not suited
and escorts them out to the ocean
like a gentle doorman.
I have many friends in here,
including Treacle and Sugar
- Mmm.
- and many men like 'em.
- Ah. Yeah?
- Mmm. Yes.
You have many friends.
Many, many friends.
You'd be better off with a lion.
You know what?
Just 'cause you're pretty.
[exclaims]
What's your name?
- [bell dings]
- [spectators cheering]
[Punch] Ladies and gentlemen
I'm contender number seven.
Introducing, from Hoxton,
the legend,
- Edward "Treacle" Goodson!
- [spectators cheering]
Let's hear ya.
Here he is. Go on.
Yeah, it's all right.
Come on. Come on.
- [spectators chanting] Treacle! Treacle!
- Come on!
All right, son.
There he stands, hey?
The wounded bull
damaged by the black mountain
gypsies in their mountain lair.
- But still standing tall.
- [spectators cheering]
That-a-boy!
- The man there in the queue
- Hmm?
they say him
always make that joke.
Him always say him injured so
people think them have a chance.
- Well, everything here is a blasted joke.
- Mmm.
[Punch] Our first contender,
Mr Alexander Fitzroy
"Tiger" Hall!
- Keep it straight.
- [corner man] Show us your hands.
Enjoy it, son.
Now, let's go!
- Come on!
- [spectators cheering]
- [spectator] Come on!
- [grunts]
Go. Go!
- Go! Go!
- Finish him!
Give it him!
[spectators clamour, cheers]
- Yeah, boy!
- [chuckles]
- [grunts]
- [Punch] Go on!
Yeah!
[spectators cheering]
- Treacle!
- Yeah!
Yes! Go on, bash him!
- Yeah! Yes!
- [cheering continues]
Who's next?
[pedestrians
laughing, chattering]
[sniffles]
I've come to see the Queen.
She went out.
- Went out where?
- No.
Where?
[bell dings in distance]
[spectators clamouring]
- [spectators chanting] Treacle! Treacle!
- [choking]
- [corner man] He's swallowed his tongue.
- [coughs]
[corner man] It's all right,
you'll be right as rain.
[Treacle] Come on!
Close fight, son.
Close fight.
[bell dings]
Right, listen. Oh,
hey! [chuckles]
Who put that there? [chuckles]
All right, all right,
all right. It's time.
You got this. Ready?
- Feel good?
- [Punch] Now, ladies and gentleman
- Yeah, man. I'm feeling good.
- contender number seven!
All the way from Jamaica
- [Alec] Hezekiah.
- [Hezekiah] Yeah?
Nobody lay one
hand 'pon him yet.
- You're gonna be the first.
- a young man
who just washed up this morning.
Do we have an Alec Munroe?
What's, he done a runner?
Yeah, me there, me there!
Here we go. Come
on. Don't be shy.
Alec Munroe!
[spectators cheer]
Show me your hands.
Tougher than the
last one, he'll be.
Here, shoes, shoes.
- Take his fucking head off.
- [chuckles]
- Here we go, gentlemen. Ready?
- [bell dings]
- Come on!
- Come on, son!
Let's go.
- All right, come on then. Come on.
- Come on!
- Come on!
- He's fast, man.
We got a runner!
You can't just run!
- Yes! Come on!
- [Punch] That's one blow!
Go on!
Oh.
Come on.
You're good. You're good.
[inhales sharply]
Hit him!
Yes! Go on!
Come on, one more.
[spectators] Hit him!
Touch me.
Ah, wha' this?
You can't do that!
What the
Stay down, mate.
He's done. He's done.
[shouting, indistinct]
[chanting] Treacle!
Treacle! Treacle!
We got a victor!
- Don't forget your shoes.
- Thank you.
- You did good. You did good.
- Good, my raas.
You didn't see him elbow me?
- Why him don't stop the fight?
- All right, sit by the bar.
Get you a drink, all right?
And get a drink
with what, Hezekiah?
We only have two shillings,
and we have to eat.
So we have a drink.
What you're gonna do, Hezekiah?
I should have never come
to this fucking country.
You is bad luck, Hezekiah.
Ever since you was a
pickney, you just
[Punch] Hold it
there! Hold it there!
- Here we go.
- [bell dings]
There's no such
thing as luck, Alec.
Everyone have him
destiny in his own hands.
Bet that sound better
in Chinese too.
Nah, I'm not talking about
my grandmother, right?
It's me. That's what I believe.
[spectators clamour]
Beer and rum for the gallant
loser and his friend.
Come on!
That poster on that
wall invites all comers.
Beer and fucking rum, Johnny.
He did okay.
[sucks teeth]
My friend nuh like "okay".
[contender grunts]
Why that woman buy us a drink?
You know,
I actually have no idea.
My name is Mary Carr,
and I'm Queen of
the Forty Elephants.
The biggest, fastest, most
independent gang of female thieves
- in the whole of London.
- [scoffs]
- Hezekiah.
- [Hezekiah] Hmm?
[Alec] How you do this, man?
You go into a place with a thousand people
and the one person you get to know is
Is what?
What's the end of that sentence?
Apologies, madam,
but my friend, Hezekiah,
has a way of attracting
trouble.
Right.
Well, you know what, I have a way
of attracting trouble as well.
[spectators clamouring]
- Mary!
- A friend of yours?
A disappointment.
You pretend these two men
around you are shadows.
Black like fucking shadows, ain't
they? So that's what they are.
- Bacra jancro d'ya say?
- Just
Calm down, Sharkey.
Sit down. Sit down.
You're coming with me. I'm gonna
do the job you summonsed me for.
Now.
Come on.
Mary, you're mine. You
know you're mine, don't ya?
Everyone else is just
fucking shadows, Mare!
[Mary] What are you gonna
do with that, Sharkey?
What are you gonna do with that?
- You gonna shoot me?
- I might do, yeah.
You're gonna shoot me in front
of all these people, are ya?
- Okay.
- Don't fucking tempt me, Mary.
Go on. Do it.
Do it!
Otherwise, get out of my sight, and
don't you ever fucking come back.
[scoffs]
[Sharkey grunts]
[bell dings]
[Mary] Morning.
I want you to take our
rooms off your register.
We're moving in for a bit.
Mmm. They say you have friends
in Holland Park who are artists
who can recreate
almost anything.
The note is real.
Consider it a down payment
on what I'm gonna owe you
when we've carried out our
little enterprise together.
Oh, well, I'll take that as
an indicator of interest.
I learned something yesterday.
Your friend, Sharkey,
paid me a visit.
It would seem that being your acquaintance
carries risk as well as opportunity,
and you do not care much
for the consequences.
Risk, opportunity, they all sort
of go hand in hand, don't they?
What is this little enterprise?
Even as we speak, aboard
the Trans-Siberian Express,
there is a trade delegation
sent by Emperor Qing of China,
and they are bound
for Westminster
[sniffs]
where her Majesty will give them
gifts of silver and shortbread biscuits
- in a presentation
- [sniffs]
at the home of
the Earl of Lonsdale.
Me and my ladies have a plan
to intercept those gifts
and have them away in our underwear
before anyone knows they're missing.
You're going to steal
from the Queen of England?
I know you are
resourceful, Mary.
But how will you do that?
Hmm, well. Okay.
That's, uh
That's my business.
All you have to do is turn some
English words into Chinese,
Chinese words into
English and hand me a key.
Now I've given you £5. There
are a further 195 on offer.
[Mr Lao] Hmm.
Are you in, or are you out?
Find someone else for
your schemes, Mary Carr.
It's closed.
Good day to you, sir.
I am here to see Mr Harkness.
If you wanna come in,
it'll cost you a shilling.
Ah, but but I am
here on business.
Shilling, or fuck off.
[Hezekiah sighs]
Left here. Left
again at the turtles.
[dogs barking]
[zookeeper grunts, sighs]
[water trickling]
- Uh Uh, Mr Mr Harkness?
- [zookeeper coughs]
[grunts] Oh.
[sighs]
Lavatory's bust. [sighs]
Who are you?
Sir, uh
My name is Hezekiah Moscow.
You wrote to me some months
ago offering me employment.
Mr Moscow. All the way
from Jamaica. Welcome.
Look, I would be happy
to work in any capacity,
of course, since I
love all animals,
but my ambition is
to be a lion tamer.
Well, my friend, our lions
are on a ship from Africa.
Due to dock in
London next month.
- So, no time to lose.
- All right.
- Let's start your training today.
- All right.
Stay there. [sighs]
[breathes deeply]
- [glasses clinking]
- [Mr Harkness] Oh. [chuckles]
[grunts]
Come with me, Mr Moscow.
Hmm.
Come with me.
[door creaking]
[Mr Harkness chuckles]
[squawking]
Mr Harkness?
Huh?
Where are all the other animals?
Oh. [chuckles] Sleeping.
They're all sleeping.
[sighs] We keep 'em locked
up until the punters arrive.
They love to feed them. It's a,
uh, highlight of their visit.
[grunts, stammers] Well, then.
I've been looking for a
a replacement for some time.
You can step in for a while.
Uh, just till the, uh
Till the lions get here.
Now
[grunts, groans]
It's five bob a day.
Six on Sundays.
[whimpers, grunts]
Ple Please.
Cages are for animals.
[keys clatter]
[sighs]
[folk music playing]
[patrons chattering]
All alone now, Mary?
More and more, Treacle, to
be alone is to be in heaven.
An empty chair has no complications
and asks nothing from me.
Well, I heard a gentleman in your company
brought a firearm in here last night.
You know Sugar's rules.
Even you can't get
away with that.
Well, that gentleman in question will
not be seen in here again, Treacle.
Yeah?
I spoke firmly with him.
He understood.
Things are finished.
And he's gone for a stroll, I'd imagine,
along the river to think about his future
if indeed he had one.
[scoffs]
Yeah.
[Sugar] You warn Mary about
bringing in drunks with firearms?
[chuckles] Yeah.
Sounds like she shot the man
from a cannon into the river.
Full house?
Yeah.
Always a full fucking house.
[Sugar clears throat]
Six pound over last night
already and sign-ups rolling in.
[scoffs]
Not a man in East
London earning more.
[Sugar] Go tell Punch I'm ready.
Introducing from Hoxton,
the King of the River,
all the way from
Windsor to the marshes,
the East London Gladiator.
[spectators clamour]
The legend continues to be told
- in the old East End of the almighty
- [spectators whistle]
Henry "Sugar" Goodson!
- [spectators cheer]
- Let's hear ya!
Bang the fucking drum!
- Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!
- [drum banging]
[cheering continues]
Sugar! Sugar!
[spectators chanting]
Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!
Let's have contender number one!
[spectators cheering]
Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!
[bell dings]
Oooh!
[spectator] Finish
him! Finish him!
[bell dings]
Come on!
Savage that, son. Savage.
[Punch] So now, ladies and gentlemen,
do we have our next contender?
Here he comes here,
out of the shadows.
[spectators jeering]
And he is himself
a living shadow.
It says here on my card that this man
is from our precious colony of Jamaica
where the ruby red rum is born.
And also born there, a boy by
the name of Moscow who reports
you're gonna like this one
that he is a lion tamer!
[laughs]
Please welcome
Hezekiah "The Lion" Moscow!
Are you really a lion tamer?
Best of luck.
Pull the other one.