New Worlds (2014) s01e01 Episode Script

1 Mr Hawkins, how can we pay our rents while we are rebuilding our homes and trying to defend ourselves? Their corn is ruined again, Ned.
Their livestock stolen.
The Hawkins Bay Company hears you.
Your father should be here! He is the Hawkins Bay Company! Where is John Hawkins?! Sitting in Boston getting rich on our rents! And making merry with his new wife! Like Charles the Voluptuous and Nell Gwynn! My father sent me here to tell you this - continue to fall behind with your rents, for whatever reason, and the Company may have to find new ways of making its land return a profit.
New settlers are arriving every week, desperate to escape the tyranny of Charles Stuart.
Boston is full of them.
Your father's company may own the land that Hadley stands on but we have built this town with our own hands, and our love.
How can you do this, Ned? Please, go back and tell your father his old friend John Russell begs for his understanding.
I promise I will tell him but I fear he will not be moved.
Father! I'm unharmed.
O, Lord, send us a champion to defend thy people.
Hold firm and trust in God! Secure the gate until my command.
Make two lines.
Make ready.
Open the gate.
Present.
Fire! Take aim! Fire! May God have mercy on their souls.
Colonel Blood.
You know me, my Lord.
You were known all along.
You were betrayed.
One of your confederates sold you for a few sovereigns.
He is hanged.
As you will be.
The plot was mine, my Lord.
My father urged against it, but I brought him in for love of me.
Do not expect to die quickly, sir.
You tried to steal the Crown Jewels.
Spare him.
Let your wrath fall on me.
You are a daring boy.
Can you play parts? Can you smile? Ca My Lord? Smile! Can you smile into a face you mean to betray, Master Blood? If it would keep my father from the hangman.
There is a house in Oxfordshire.
A nest of vipers.
A "commonwealth".
Where republican fanatics go about their work.
Where sedition spreads like dung across the fields.
And at the middle of this Levellers' paradise, Angelica Fanshawe, now Countess of Seacourt.
Mother.
'She has a Papist husband' who dotes on her and on the Roman Catholic religion.
A traitor 'that has sold his soul to Rome and the Pope.
'In her Garden of Eden, the sinner plays saint.
'But we have not forgotten the Devil's Whore.
' 'Do you think Angelica Fanshawe is at the centre of this web?' She masquerades as a loyal subject, Majesty, but I am convinced she conspires with your enemies, as she once did with Cromwell.
I believe her letters will lead us to William Goffe, one of the last of your father's murderers now hiding in Massachusetts.
The last of the regicides.
Bring him back alive, I'll have his heart cut out at Tyburn.
Yet another petition.
16,000 signatures got up by Shaftesbury and the Whigs asking for me to recall Parliament.
None of us shall ever want for arse cloths again.
Arrest Angelica Fanshawe.
I need more proof, Majesty, a spy in her household.
Ah, yes, this rogue, erm, Will Blood.
Does Your Majesty permit me to spare him and his father from the hangman's noose for now? At least until he brings us Colonel William Goffe.
And my Lady Fanshawe.
Come, my Lady.
Bathe your hands.
Barbara, where? Come, Beth.
Before the blood cools.
Its magic will make your hands white and fair.
Beth! Be quick, Abe.
Wait! No more blood! Wash that blood away! You trespass here, sir.
Leave the beast and be gone.
This will feed six families for a week.
Edward Sexby would not have denied food to the hungry.
Come away, Abe.
Let us take it, my Lady.
Someday I shall help you in return.
We shall have no need of your help, sir.
We are complete.
We shall have need of each other.
The chaos will envelop us all.
Who is Edward Sexby? The sun shines on you on your birthday.
May it always shine on you, Beth.
Come on! Tell the Countess Sir George Hardwick is here to see her.
New men are hacking out new fortunes in the metropolis.
A grand new square in Soho fields.
Houses for rich men.
Exactly.
And houses need bricks.
And bricks need clay.
No.
My Lady? No.
I will not sell you my land for more clay pits.
There's your answer, Sir George.
You have not heard my price.
I have heard the distress of the poor souls whose livings were ruined when you enclosed the common land to make your bricks.
Whose children now work day and night digging clay to make you rich and themselves wretched.
The King wants a new capital to replace the one burned down by the Catholics! Who are up to their old tricks - hatching plots to kill the King and overrun the Kingdom.
That "plot" was got up by wicked men to discredit all Catholics.
Husband.
You must tread carefully, my Lord.
It's high treason to deny the Popish Plot was real.
I will never sell you my land.
Then consider this.
To stand in my way is to refuse the King's desire to build a new London.
You wouldn't wish to seem disloyal.
As indeed you might when the King hears that you entertain his bastard son, Monmouth, tonight.
It is not disloyal to give hospitality to travellers.
No ordinary travellers, my Lord.
A Royal Progress in all but name.
Monmouth has no rightful claim to the throne.
The King has no legitimate child, therefore his only heir can be his brother James.
A very loyal speech.
Will you say the same to my lord Shaftesbury? Indeed I shall.
Nevertheless, as magistrate it is my duty to inform of Monmouth's visit.
To your brother-in-law Judge Jeffreys? You've had your answer, Hardwick.
We care not for your threats nor indeed for your abominable clay pits.
Indeed, I could wish them blown to Kingdom come, and you with them! 'Dear Wife.
Beloved Angelica.
' Wife? 'If you read this, 'then the bells have rung out for King Oliver and I am no more.
'Do not think on what might have been for us.
'Think on the dreams we all fought for - 'an England free of Kings and tyrants.
'I think now on you and our child you carry.
'Call him Edward for me.
'Or if she be a girl, then let her be Elizabeth, 'for our dear friend, Beth Lilburne.
' 'Farewell for ever.
'Remember - in the final account, there is love.
'Your loving husband, Edward Sexby.
' I promise I will save you from the hangman, whatever the cost.
Ah, Will Gore.
Your new life begins.
If I am to be your eyes and ears at Fanshawe House, what shall I see and hear there, my Lord? The Duke of Monmouth parades through the country from great house to great house, drumming up support for his claim to the throne.
Using his vulgar play actors to inflame the crowd.
And always by his side is Little Sincerity, the Earl of Shaftesbury, that would exclude the King's brother and put this puppet on the throne.
Look here! Now this be the English Channel.
The young King Charles - Prince Charles as was then - has to cross to flee from the mighty Oliver Cromwell that sliced off the head of his own father.
Ah! That'll be Lucy Walters.
She's a baggage.
All honest folk know Charles married Lucy Walters that day in France.
There they are, signing the pledge.
And there it is going into the black box.
The trouble is, Agnes, nobody can find that black box, nor that marriage contract.
That piece of paper is the proof, Agnes, that the Protestant Duke, here tonight, is the rightful heir to the throne of England! The rightful heir to the throne of England! Is he not the very mirror of his father? He does not look like him.
But in all other aspects does he not resemble His Majesty? In his appetites, perhaps.
Would you be kingmaker, then, my Lord Shaftesbury? Oh, it is not I, but the people, who cry out for Monmouth.
They grow weary of the King's excesses.
You know Mr Wren builds him a palace in Winchester to outshine Versailles? And there he means to rule, absolute and arbitrary, like the Sun King.
You seek to divide the country.
The country is already divided.
Between those that would have a King that would be accountable to Parliament, and those who believe a King is accountable only to God.
Like the present King and his brother James.
The Stuarts believe their bloodline is unchallengeable by mere mortals like us.
But they are mistook, are they not? My Lord, I live quietly now.
Away from the Court and its politics.
The woman who shared the ideals of Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Rainsborough is now content to grow roses in Oxfordshire? Do not mock me, my Lord.
Think where your ambition will lead.
The King will never make Monmouth his heir.
Persist with this and you will bring us all to another civil war.
The land soaked in blood.
And for what this time? A different Stuart on the throne? I will not support that.
Well, then, you are happy to live under the heel of Charles Stuart? I would have a world free of tyrants.
Mark my words, my Lady.
unless we exclude the King's Catholic brother from the throne, we shall have tyranny and bloodshed.
And then every house in England will have to take a side.
To my most precious daughter.
To Beth! ALL: To Beth! Let our Midsummer revels begin! Who is this woman? I am the Necessary woman, your Royal Highness.
I carry the night soil out to the cesspit.
She suffers the King's Evil.
Which can only be cured by the touch of the King .
.
or his true heir.
God bless you, your Royal Highness.
Remember me.
Shall we? Names.
Give me names.
Who wrote this pamphlet? Who dared imagine that Parliament could put our divinely ordained King off his throne? I have heard a man's ears crack like a whip.
I have seen a man's eyes bleed and his brains fall through his nose like a custard.
What if I find no proof of the Countess's treachery? Look for seditious pamphlets and letters from William Goffe.
If you find none, then bring me something to ensnare the old Papist.
Once the rabbit is snared, it squeals.
Tell him you are a Catholic in fear of your life.
He will take you into the household.
Do this, Will Gore and your father will be spared.
Praise the Lord.
You sent us an angel wielding the sword of righteousness in your name.
Stop, Ned.
Do you not trust me? With all my heart.
But if you enter this room you will be an enemy of the English King.
I am Colonel William Goffe.
That fought alongside Oliver Cromwell and signed Charles Stuart's death warrant.
I'd heard that you were hiding in these parts.
William, you must go.
Now! Yes! The King's agents were in town only yesterday looking for him.
When they hear what happened today, they'll be back.
Where are you going? To the caves above Brogden's Belt.
Farewell, William.
And you.
Your turn.
God go with you.
Wait.
Let me go with you.
Bring her back safe.
God speed.
Old comrades in England would suffer if these letters were discovered.
If I should, er, die here .
.
return this to my wife in England.
Tell her .
.
I loved her with all my heart.
And tell my son to remember the words of Colonel Sidney.
"Let this hand be an enemy to tyrants.
" I promise.
You're a brave lad, Ned.
Tell your father William Goffe remembers him.
You know my father? Yes.
He helped me when I first fled here.
Long before he became a land pirate.
Why do you call him a land pirate? He buys land, he does not steal it.
Look at what the Indians did, then ask yourself why.
John Hawkins came to these shores to build a city on the hill in the name of equality, liberty, brotherhood.
Yet all of this New World is built on land stolen from the red man.
My father is an honest man.
He would not take land that he isn't entitled to.
And who entitled him to enclose the Indians' land, hmm? The English King.
And what Charles Stuart has given, so he shall take away.
And on that day, young Americans like you must seize true liberty.
Men in England seized liberty for a season .
.
then the Stuarts were restored.
But Englishmen will rise up again and strike down the lewd and godless parasites that infect their nation.
Fill the bowl with rosy wine, rosy wine And round our temples roses twine And let us cheerfully awhile, like the wine and roses smile Today is ours, what do we fear? Today is ours, we have it here.
You mistake, sir.
Today is ours and so must your jewels be.
You shall not touch her.
Step aside.
Do you know who I am? Yes, I do.
How dare you do this?! We do it not for ourselves.
It is your birthday.
You shall keep your gems.
And now? Will you cut my throat? Very pretty baubles, sir, did you have it from your Molly? You! No! He's dying! Help me lift him.
Leave him! No, no, no, no! What are you doing?! Don't! If any of you follow, she will die.
Separate! Surrender the regicide in the name of His Majesty Charles Second.
If you do not, you will be traitors all.
Every one of you will be dragged to Boston to stand trial! Torch the meeting house.
Will the angel come again, Father? Hold.
So, little man.
Tell me about this "angel".
God sent an angel to save us, sir.
Did he? And where did this "angel" come from? Did he come down from heaven? I don't know, sir.
But he went back to Pastor Russell's house.
They will not find him there.
By the grace of God, you will never find him.
What did Goffe mean about my father stealing Indian land? He's old and weary, Ned.
But he thinks you are brave and good and so do I.
The Indians sold their land.
Now they should go away.
Move north or west.
There's still plenty of wilderness.
The king's agent is back already.
That's his tracker.
I'll go back and warn Goffe.
Leave this to me.
It must look like he was killed by one of his own kind.
They killed my mother.
Tell me all that you know about Edward Sexby.
Edward Sexby would have made England a true republic had he lived.
And what became of him? You should go home and ask these questions of your mother.
She played her part in those times.
My mother has had a lifetime to tell me the truth.
My father fought with Sexby alongside Oliver Cromwell, that as good as made himself king.
But what became of Sexby? His mind became fevered.
He died trying to kill Oliver Cromwell.
Edward Sexby was my father.
Come to bed.
I never knew my father.
When the second Charles Stuart came back to put England in chains again In chains? Aye, in chains.
Charles Stuart is a man of blood like his father, his court filled with pimps and whores.
My father fought for a true republic.
For that, they would have him butchered on the scaffold.
He escaped to America to fight another day.
He's a hero, like Edward Sexby.
They tried to make a better world for us to live in.
My world is a fairy tale.
Your world is this wild wood.
It wasn't always so.
I studied medicine at Leiden and came home to work in the pest houses.
I was starved out of London - forbidden to heal the sick for being the son of a regicide.
So I live here with nothing.
I will have nothing while others have nothing.
And others still sing that the day is theirs.
Go back to your friends, my Lady, and tell them that I will be avenged for the death of my friend.
Farewell.
I cannot go home yet.
What is your name? Why do you ask my name? Is it for the magistrate? Abe.
How many are here in the forest? Many.
Why? They have no other place to go.
Rich landowners build houses for their dogs and their horses, but the godly poor must lodge where they can.
My mother treats her land as a commonwealth.
All that work on it are cared for.
They sleep on hard beds while she sleeps on a soft one.
As do you.
Where would you have me sleep? Madam, what do you want here? To sleep on the hard ground a night, that your bed may seem the softer? To have a tale to tell your friends? "Lord-have-Mercy, I met with Robin Hood and his Merry Men".
Sir.
I am here because you stole me.
Now what shall you do with me? Make a jest of me? Ravish me? Would you have me ravish you? "Lord-have-Mercy, Robin Hood was a wicked fellow".
I see you think me nothing but a fool.
Where is the Lady Elizabeth? Outlaws are wolves in the eyes of the law.
Caput gerat lupinum.
Hang him.
I must leave the woods as I entered them.
I think you shall not.
How not? For you are already altered, are you not? Are you? Will you ever have a life beyond these woods? Life in the soft bed in the arms of a woman? And shall I put out my eyes that I may not see the suffering of the poor? Close up my ears that I may not hear the cries of the oppressed? Forget who I am? Show me my way.
Your path lies another way.
There is but one path, Beth.
Open your eyes and ears.
I have eyes to see as well as you.
And ears? As sharp as any.
Fare you well.
Then listen.
What is it? It is the sound of the chaos.
Once this land fed them, as it did their fathers.
But now it feeds one man.
Hardwick.
They have nothing but the meagre wages he pays them, while he profits from their toil, making bricks to build mansions in London.
What world is this? This is the world we live in, Beth.
But men and women were not born with saddles on their backs.
Nor were a favoured few born booted and spurred to ride them.
Come, I will put you on the path home.
I will not be butchered on the scaffold.
Surrender in the name of the King.
What shall I do? How shall I live? Your heart will tell you how to live.
Goffe is dead.
God rest his soul.
My father is charged with treason.
Go before they arrest you too.
I won't leave you.
Get to Boston before us - ask your father to help.
Goffe spoke of a woman in England.
She sent money to him all the years of his exile.
Her name is Angelica Fanshawe.
Send Goffe's ring to her.
Tell her Goffe's papers are seized and she is discovered.
Where shall I send it? Where shall I send it?! There is a house in Oxfordshire.
Madam? Madam! I mean you no harm.
I seek the road to Fanshawe House.
You put us all at risk.
Her Catholic husband did this.
Then bring him down.
You didn't stand by while others suffered and nor will I.
And God wants this for you.
My next will send a man to meet his maker.
There was no Catholic plot to kill the King! Tell me how you got that ring.
You shall not take him! Let your hand be an enemy to tyrants.
That I shall before the day is out.