Traitors (2019) s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
1 No.
No, no, no.
I have I have very serious reservat I have very serious reservations about meeting again.
Yeah.
Fine.
All right.
Lunchtime.
St James's Park.
The, erm, the, uh, the bench by the Horse Guards Parade.
- Mm-hm.
Then that is the end of it.
Do you have chilblains? - Er, yes.
Well, blame underfeeding.
Poor clothing and poor circulation play a part.
Tight boots and warming the hands and feet at the fire when they are cold encourage them.
There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land Oh, the rich man boasts and brags While the poor man goes in rags There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land Too much cotton in our socks So we have none on our backs There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land.
Oh, let's just stop.
That didn't go very well, did it? You're very clearly rattled.
Well, one would be rattled, wouldn't one? You're flinching from me like I'm an actual Nazi about to cut off your fingers.
I was flinching because you have very bad breath.
Hold out your hand.
This was my first time.
I get to have another try, don't I? Telephone call for you, Brigadier.
What are you smiling about? Hey, Feef, you OK? You did good.
Hm? The war is over? I can't believe it.
And how long do you think it will take before I have an American accent? What? After I get to Iowa.
I don't think my wife will like you very much.
I don't want the war to be over.
Me neither.
Oh, we're the worst two people in the world.
Was I going to be an agent? Probably.
Mm, I'm not terribly good at being interrogated.
Most people aren't good at it the first time.
That's why they call it training.
Now I won't be parachuting into France.
Can't hide messages in bicycles and operate a secret radio, blow up bridges.
And I'll have to leave this land of umbrella stands and knitted little hats for teapots.
What will you miss most? The bad food or the bad weather? Say I'm going with you.
Just lie.
You're coming with me.
To America.
Come on, Peter! No, you first.
Come on.
Drop her off, then I'll go on.
Can I see a picture of your wife? It'll be easier for me if I understand you're back where you're supposed to be.
Tell Jackson.
Jackson, the war is over.
You can go home.
We can have the lights on now.
Whatever it takes! Wanted to talk to you about someone, a girl.
Clever, keen, still interested in adrenalising work.
Mm, for who? For us? Maybe.
Maybe? Haven't approached her.
Thought I'd talk to you, see if you have a spot for her.
She's intelligent, pretty, talks perfect French.
Oh, yeah? That fight's over.
Does she talk Russian? Not as far as I know, but she loves America.
Loves, uh, Americans.
Trained? Mostly.
Disappointed she never got to serve.
A mostly trained French speaker you're fucking.
Thanks for the tip.
Seems a waste just to let her be a bureaucrat in the civil service or whatever.
The civil service? That's perfect.
Yes.
The SOE suggested she apply.
Imagine, if you will, an island through which a terrible storm has passed.
Prior to the storm there were huts made from the plentiful supply of palm trees that grow at the edge of the shore.
The island's canoes, also made from palms, have been destroyed.
The island's church and schoolhouse, established by unpopular Christian missionaries, have also been destroyed.
There are only enough surviving palm trees to house 30 families.
There is another island, uninhabited, approximately a seven-hour canoe ride away.
Yet a third island which is inhabited, approximately a 12-hour canoe ride away.
One canoe can take two adults and requires a single palm tree.
All three islands are British protectorates.
Another storm is due to batter the island in three days' time and may be worse than the last.
You are in charge.
What do you do? How significant is the language barrier? I need a translator.
There's the missionaries.
If everyone hates the missionaries, they're the last people we should use.
How did I get there and did it involve an aeroplane? Because I think an aeroplane would be quite useful.
On your original application, you wrote you were particularly drawn to the civil service for the possibility of travel, which I took to be a not-so-subtle hint that your real area of interest is simply the Foreign Office and the opportunity it affords for Well, for gadding about.
Well, I do like the idea of travel.
It's actually an incredibly exciting time to be at home.
The country has been flattened, rather.
Now we rebuild.
Exciting.
Would you have any moral compunction if you were to be serving under a socialist government? No.
But you yourself are You do not need to state your political allegiance.
I'm a Tory.
But, if Mr Attlee comes to power, it will be our duty to serve his government.
He won't come to power.
Elected on the basis that the poor in this country have had to put up with a damn lot.
Language.
And won't take any more.
And we must serve them with alacrity.
The point is we are neutral.
Of course.
If you aren't accepted here, what will you do? Anything but go home again.
How's the family? Yeah, good.
The girl you like.
The other girl.
She's in.
I want to know more about her.
Money? Her family need it, uh, but she has a complicated relationship with them, so Ideology? Basically a Tory.
Not a zealot.
Compromise? Coercion? Her brother's probably a homosexual.
Ego? Adventure.
That's the ticket with her.
Let her settle in.
Then we make our move.
The civil service? Sorry, I don't understand.
You're going to be a secretary? Why can't you just meet someone? Even Freddie has managed to meet someone.
Well, he had to, otherwise people would talk.
Shut up, Feef.
Honestly, she doesn't know anything about anything and then tries to hide it by talking too much.
Something wrong with the meat? I'm vegetarian.
What?! I'm sorry, I'm vegetarian.
I don't eat meat.
Hugh is a very fine solicitor and I think will be instrumental as you make decisions about the house.
Fucking army used the east wing as a barracks and treated it appallingly.
You will seek compensation and then fix the bloody roof.
We'll present you with a variety of options.
Including a tax haven.
Always wise.
A little wiser if the socialists get in.
Not that there's a chance of that.
Freddie's going to replace me in the Commons.
I shall take my seat in the Lords.
Good luck in the election.
Thank you.
I'm also running - for the Labour Party.
Mm.
You're running for Labour? They've got no hope.
Congratulations.
What for? For irritating my father and brother.
Seems fairly easily done.
If you're a socialist, why are you fiddling my father's taxes anyway? Don't you want all his money to go to the poor? Uh, well, I can only afford my principles on my day off, unfortunately.
Actually, there is no fiddling your father's taxes.
So, what will you tell Daddy tomorrow? The cheapest option is to demolish the house.
Gosh.
When someone says something like that you expect the sky to fall down or something, don't you? I'm sorry.
Want to go swimming? It's not that hot.
But I always swim when I'm home.
Come on.
Let's just celebrate the end of the war.
You swim, I'll wait.
Don't bother.
And when do you leave us for London? This afternoon.
Oh, how terribly exciting.
Oh, good morning, Mrs Herbert.
Lovely to see you.
And you've arranged accommodation? Yes, staying with a college friend initially.
Mm.
I think we're about done here.
But it's only 11, Freddie.
Yes, I know, but I'm hungry.
There's some meat at the butcher's.
I bought it up.
We can have it for lunch.
Can I induce you to wear one of these, Vicar? Ah, no.
Are you sure this is all right? Plenty of room for all of us.
What's going on?! I don't know.
Keep it down, would you?! What's going on? The election results are in.
Who won? The bloody socialists! The people's flag is deepest red It shrouded oft our martyred dead And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its shade we'll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the flag red flying here It waved above our infant might When all ahead seemed dark as night It witnessed many a deed and vow We must not change its colour now Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds we live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the red flag flying here.
Hello! First day? Quite a day, good luck.
I can't believe they won.
Remember your interview.
We are neutral.
We are neutral This is all the data collected so far about wood.
Wood? Wood.
From trees.
Wood builds houses.
There is, you may have noticed, a lack of housing in the United Kingdom as a result of the last six years.
Questions that will need to be answered.
What type of wood would be most cost-effective? Do weather conditions affect the type of wood required and, if so, do we need to make logistically specific decisions? Perhaps you should be writing some of this down? From whence should we access the wood? East Germany? Scotland? Consider political as well as practical ramifications.
How much wood should be used in comparison to other building materials? Is there a different type of information we need to follow up on? What kind of things do we think is important? Tonight, Peter.
Make it romantic.
You got it.
Thank you.
I heard you made it to London.
I wanted to say hello.
That's very kind of you.
I got the distinct impression the last time we met that you didn't really like me.
Not at all.
I like you very much, very much.
I just, erm, my situation is Oh, no, I was being silly.
And I'd had too much to drink, so Anyway, congratulations.
I assume you won your seat, unlike my brother.
A socialist, eh? It's going to be impossible to get good service.
Excuse me? You know I'm happy for you and everything but I don't think it says very much for the country.
Churchill single-handedly held off the Nazis.
Voting him out of office is a rather peculiar way of showing our appreciation.
Churchill ran the war, Attlee ran England, he deserves credit too.
He just doesn't have quite the same genius for self-promotion.
Oh, and what a wonderful job Attlee did on the home front.
"Keep things going at home?" Look, the lamb's off! And the beef's off.
All Churchill wants for peacetime is to go back to business as usual.
Well, that's what we all want, isn't it? With meat.
Business as usual before the war was mass unemployment and the worst slums in Europe.
Obviously some lucky people could afford meat but not as many as you might think.
Depends on the circles you travel in and how limited they are.
Well, it doesn't give me much faith in democracy, anyway.
People don't know what they need.
I mean, it hardly makes a difference who's at Number Ten.
Although, I heard Attlee knows nothing about foreign policy, so God knows what the consequences will be from that.
The beef's off and the lamb's off.
What a repellently overprivileged universe you come from if you really believe a vote is something to be thrown away over a misguided sense of politeness.
Erm, can you excuse me for a second, please? I'm going to continue being impolite and ask if you wouldn't mind if we skip dinner.
This is a special night for the Labour Party, for the country.
I'm sorry.
I thought you were different.
How was your first day? Unbelievably boring.
Lie on me.
Stay on top.
You deserve to do great things.
I can make that happen.
I want you to meet someone.
Peter tells me you had all the makings of an excellent agent but that your career was cut short.
Well, the war ended.
Wars don't end.
Really? Because I definitely attended a couple of victory parties.
Why did you want to be a special agent? It seemed insane to sit around and wait to see if we were going to be invaded or not.
I hate passivity.
So do I.
So does Peter.
Why sit on your ass when you can save the world? Plus, it's fun.
It's fun being an agent.
So, if wars don't end, who are we fighting now? I would phrase that question differently.
Who's attacking us now? From whom must we defend ourselves? Russia's why Attlee won the election.
Did you know that? Not really.
Hm, doesn't it strike you as odd that Churchill, the most heroic man of the age and, by the way, extremely alert to the Russian threat, is ousted and suddenly socialists rule England? Odd.
Terrible.
Baffling.
Stupid.
It was inevitable.
The war left England very weak.
Economically, structurally, psychologically.
Weakness is always exploited.
We see that in nature.
Right now, Britain is absolutely at war and the scary thing is .
.
she doesn't know it.
We believe Whitehall has been infiltrated by Communists.
That's why I need an agent in the civil service.
But, spy on my own government? Well, there's a name for that.
Peter told me you were prepared to jump out of a plane to save your country.
Yes, but, what about MI5? 6? Right now we're standing by a statue of Lenin.
England's way too slow to recognise her enemies.
People around here still call Stalin "Uncle Joe".
Let me tell you something, "Uncle Joe"'s army raped so many women on their way to Berlin that the orphanages have agreed to take children in whose mothers are still alive but can't stand to see their progeny.
He's another psychopath in charge of another army of psychopaths and I'd like to stop this one a little more effectively.
Plus, if the Commies are infiltrating the British government, we'd like to know about it.
England still needs you, it just doesn't know it.
Are you in or out? Should we shake hands or something? You have to consider moisture and movement.
Great Britain is moist.
It is.
Moisture content has got to match the proposed environment or there'll be splitting and warping.
And what about a species? You've got to consider fungal decay.
You have to.
Fungal decay? Yes.
Hurry up, Feef! Camilla?! Do you want to see National Velvet this week? Harry won't come.
Uh, yes, all right.
Any night but Wednesday.
I know you love Elizabeth Taylor.
I do love her hair.
Did you like the book? I did, actually.
I tore through it.
Then, according to my mother, you shouldn't see the film.
Elizabeth Taylor's the only English thing in it.
She said the Americans just about destroyed it.
She said it would've been better if they'd just stolen the story and reset it in California or something.
Well, I think we'll see for ourselves, Harry.
Your mother is hardly a noted critic.
My mother, Feef, is a very intelligent woman.
Yes, Camilla raves about her.
I don't think I can do this.
So, what? Now you're out? I got news for you, Bug.
If you work for the president you're not going to agree with every decision he makes.
This one is particularly egregious.
War is whatever that word was.
Egregious.
No-one can sign off on half the shit their country does.
You guys scooped up India and Africa just cos you wanted them.
We took out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This is the world.
It's fucking ugly.
The question isn't, "Are you proud of your country?" The question is, "Are you proud of yourself?" "Are you doing everything you can to make the world a better place?" I'd like to.
Then do this job.
Because you're intelligent .
.
and intelligence saves lives.
The military rely on Neanderthal tactics but what we do, what I do, and what I have invited you to do is use your brain.
And, do what you want, but opportunities like this don't come along very often.
Thank God I met you.
I want my life to matter.
Now that the war with Japan is over, whatever you're working on is to be aborted.
What the fuck? President Truman is of the opinion that there is no need for field agents outside of Berlin.
Uh, has anyone been reading my reports? What I'm working on is a matter of international security.
All reports have been read.
And the president has determined that a skeletal crew will remain in the UK but to receive intelligence from MI6 only.
As of eleven hundred hours next Tuesday, we will commence returning you to the United States.
Hey, I'm on your side.
Meaning? This will not stand.
Truman's saying this now but the men with money disagree.
Oh, since when do the men with money share their thinking with junior diplomats, Jimmy? Whose chief responsibility is making sure the right swing band is booked for the right BS event.
Let me add a few details to my biography.
Dalton Prep.
Then Yale.
My family is in shipping and has been since 1759.
Hm.
And you're imparting this to me because? Disbanding is dangerous.
Clearly you agree with me.
You walked out of the meeting.
Not using our own intelligence? Is he out of his mind? So, fuck that.
Let's go talk somewhere more private.
Let's drink to a job almost well done.
We could still do it.
They're keeping a skeletal crew.
Ah.
We sign up, we run our girl.
I'm not doing that.
That's insane.
An order's been given.
By who? A draper's son thrust on to the podium by nothing but chance? Try as he might, the president cannot relocate us to an imaginary universe where differences are settled by handshakes and jousts.
Let's let the Brits handle this.
They can't! They're not capable.
They're not capable of winning their own wars.
At the moment, they're not even capable of putting food on the table.
Come on, Peter! Whatever it takes! The war is over.
No, that war is over.
Now there's a new one.
And it's our duty to fight it.
We're fighting for the same goals, the same dreams.
It's another iteration of the same fucking enemy! If we don't fight, we won't win.
If we don't win, we won't survive.
But if we do win, we could tell the president all about it and we won't get our wrists slapped.
I guarantee it.
We'll get medals.
I mean, what are you thinking? Just you and her against the Russians? And Jimmy.
Jimmy's a sleaze.
I'm not going to tell anyone about this conversation and I'm not gonna mention that you suggested insurrection and that Jimmy should lose his job.
What I am going to do is call Feef and tell her that it's off.
And then I'm going to get on a plane.
Don't call her.
She's in place.
She's in Whitehall.
Let me run her.
No.
OK.
OK.
It was worth a shot, right? Whatever it takes, right? You look nice.
New dress? Um, they gave it to me.
What are you doing here? What are you doing here? Well, it's a party to celebrate the new government, so what are you doing here? Family friend invited me.
If the purpose of these evening was to prove you can carry off silver then mission accomplished.
Oh, I'll take that as an apology for dinner.
It wasn't.
Isn't he getting married this year? To a lovely girl.
A Quaker.
Nice.
That's Feef.
It was really nice to see you.
Excuse me.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
And that's on behalf of the president.
This is Jimmy Derby.
We're going to be working together, so may I have the pleasure? Wildcat Kelley, lookin' mighty pale, Was standin' By the sheriff's side And when the sheriff said I'm sending you to jail Wildcat raised his head and cried Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above Don't fence me in Let me ride through the wide open country that I love Don't fence me in Let me be by myself when the evening Ooh! Drive.
Where was Peter? He's working.
You can catch up with him later.
That politician you were dancing with.
A friend? Not really.
Well, make him one.
What else? I'm in the civil service.
Now what? Well, you're in the Ministry of Housing, correct? Mm-hm.
I need you to find a way to move to the Cabinet Office.
Why? You need to be where the power is.
It's the heart of government.
Don't you want to be at the centre of it all? Drop me here.
Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker! Order! We now have a maiden .
.
Mr Hugh Fenton.
Come on, Hugh! Come on.
Come on! Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me my first opportunity to speak.
I have the privilege and the pleasure of representing some of the poorest constituents in Derbyshire.
In the village where I grew up, we lost 68% of the men of fighting age to this war.
And that means 32% of them are coming home.
32% of the fellows I went to school with and climbed trees with and played Knock Down Ginger with and played war with using sticks are coming home with a lot more than scraped knees and black eyes.
And I'm here in Parliament to make sure my friends, my family, my community, the working people of Britain are not betrayed by the men in power.
Rubbish! Rubbish! Only 27 years ago the Last Great War, the war to end all wars, ended.
And Lloyd George promised that we would build in peacetime a land fit for heroes.
The heroes that came home.
And what did Westminster do? What did the Tory party do? They presided over economic deprivation! From their comfortable houses and back rooms warmed by fires and whisky, hard-faced man slapped each other on the back and talked about the Great British Empire, that encompassed India, Africa, Australia, Canada .
.
and slums in Manchester, Liverpool and London so squalid that, for those of us who had the courage to walk through them and not look away, they seemed like a very picture of hell.
We of the Labour Party have our eyes wide open and know full well that the disease and squalor and poverty of education and employment that we face are not the result of acts of God or blind forces but are the sure and certain result of the concentration of too much economic power in the hands of too few men! Order! Order! It was the common man who fought the war.
Yes! It was the common man that won the war.
Yes! And it is the common man that now, as this last election has shown, will define the terms of the peace.
Health care for all.
Yes! Housing for all.
Yes! Culture for all.
Yes! Someone said to me recently it makes no difference who's in Number Ten.
What a shock they have coming.
We know the Russians accessed information shared at two private Cabinet Office meetings.
When the Russians embed someone they keep him undercover for years, meaning their spy is still posing as a civil servant.
I get what you do.
I get why you use that girl.
If I get you money there have to be results.
Please don't ask me anymore about Hugh.
I have to be able to get up in the morning.
Peter knows what this job requires from a woman.
Do what you have to do.
Don't worry, I'll get you into a lot of trouble.
I want trouble.
What's the matter with you? You British are deliberately causing conflict between the Jews and the Arabs to prolong your rule in the Middle East.
- That's right! I just wanted to ask you about Fiona Symonds, the new girl.
She's not who she seems.
I'm trying to keep you safe.
I don't feel safe.
Only idiots feel safe.
It's nothing for you to worry about, comrade.
Hey! Where do you think you're gonna go!?
No, no, no.
I have I have very serious reservat I have very serious reservations about meeting again.
Yeah.
Fine.
All right.
Lunchtime.
St James's Park.
The, erm, the, uh, the bench by the Horse Guards Parade.
- Mm-hm.
Then that is the end of it.
Do you have chilblains? - Er, yes.
Well, blame underfeeding.
Poor clothing and poor circulation play a part.
Tight boots and warming the hands and feet at the fire when they are cold encourage them.
There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land Oh, the rich man boasts and brags While the poor man goes in rags There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land Too much cotton in our socks So we have none on our backs There is mean things happening in this land There is mean things happening in this land.
Oh, let's just stop.
That didn't go very well, did it? You're very clearly rattled.
Well, one would be rattled, wouldn't one? You're flinching from me like I'm an actual Nazi about to cut off your fingers.
I was flinching because you have very bad breath.
Hold out your hand.
This was my first time.
I get to have another try, don't I? Telephone call for you, Brigadier.
What are you smiling about? Hey, Feef, you OK? You did good.
Hm? The war is over? I can't believe it.
And how long do you think it will take before I have an American accent? What? After I get to Iowa.
I don't think my wife will like you very much.
I don't want the war to be over.
Me neither.
Oh, we're the worst two people in the world.
Was I going to be an agent? Probably.
Mm, I'm not terribly good at being interrogated.
Most people aren't good at it the first time.
That's why they call it training.
Now I won't be parachuting into France.
Can't hide messages in bicycles and operate a secret radio, blow up bridges.
And I'll have to leave this land of umbrella stands and knitted little hats for teapots.
What will you miss most? The bad food or the bad weather? Say I'm going with you.
Just lie.
You're coming with me.
To America.
Come on, Peter! No, you first.
Come on.
Drop her off, then I'll go on.
Can I see a picture of your wife? It'll be easier for me if I understand you're back where you're supposed to be.
Tell Jackson.
Jackson, the war is over.
You can go home.
We can have the lights on now.
Whatever it takes! Wanted to talk to you about someone, a girl.
Clever, keen, still interested in adrenalising work.
Mm, for who? For us? Maybe.
Maybe? Haven't approached her.
Thought I'd talk to you, see if you have a spot for her.
She's intelligent, pretty, talks perfect French.
Oh, yeah? That fight's over.
Does she talk Russian? Not as far as I know, but she loves America.
Loves, uh, Americans.
Trained? Mostly.
Disappointed she never got to serve.
A mostly trained French speaker you're fucking.
Thanks for the tip.
Seems a waste just to let her be a bureaucrat in the civil service or whatever.
The civil service? That's perfect.
Yes.
The SOE suggested she apply.
Imagine, if you will, an island through which a terrible storm has passed.
Prior to the storm there were huts made from the plentiful supply of palm trees that grow at the edge of the shore.
The island's canoes, also made from palms, have been destroyed.
The island's church and schoolhouse, established by unpopular Christian missionaries, have also been destroyed.
There are only enough surviving palm trees to house 30 families.
There is another island, uninhabited, approximately a seven-hour canoe ride away.
Yet a third island which is inhabited, approximately a 12-hour canoe ride away.
One canoe can take two adults and requires a single palm tree.
All three islands are British protectorates.
Another storm is due to batter the island in three days' time and may be worse than the last.
You are in charge.
What do you do? How significant is the language barrier? I need a translator.
There's the missionaries.
If everyone hates the missionaries, they're the last people we should use.
How did I get there and did it involve an aeroplane? Because I think an aeroplane would be quite useful.
On your original application, you wrote you were particularly drawn to the civil service for the possibility of travel, which I took to be a not-so-subtle hint that your real area of interest is simply the Foreign Office and the opportunity it affords for Well, for gadding about.
Well, I do like the idea of travel.
It's actually an incredibly exciting time to be at home.
The country has been flattened, rather.
Now we rebuild.
Exciting.
Would you have any moral compunction if you were to be serving under a socialist government? No.
But you yourself are You do not need to state your political allegiance.
I'm a Tory.
But, if Mr Attlee comes to power, it will be our duty to serve his government.
He won't come to power.
Elected on the basis that the poor in this country have had to put up with a damn lot.
Language.
And won't take any more.
And we must serve them with alacrity.
The point is we are neutral.
Of course.
If you aren't accepted here, what will you do? Anything but go home again.
How's the family? Yeah, good.
The girl you like.
The other girl.
She's in.
I want to know more about her.
Money? Her family need it, uh, but she has a complicated relationship with them, so Ideology? Basically a Tory.
Not a zealot.
Compromise? Coercion? Her brother's probably a homosexual.
Ego? Adventure.
That's the ticket with her.
Let her settle in.
Then we make our move.
The civil service? Sorry, I don't understand.
You're going to be a secretary? Why can't you just meet someone? Even Freddie has managed to meet someone.
Well, he had to, otherwise people would talk.
Shut up, Feef.
Honestly, she doesn't know anything about anything and then tries to hide it by talking too much.
Something wrong with the meat? I'm vegetarian.
What?! I'm sorry, I'm vegetarian.
I don't eat meat.
Hugh is a very fine solicitor and I think will be instrumental as you make decisions about the house.
Fucking army used the east wing as a barracks and treated it appallingly.
You will seek compensation and then fix the bloody roof.
We'll present you with a variety of options.
Including a tax haven.
Always wise.
A little wiser if the socialists get in.
Not that there's a chance of that.
Freddie's going to replace me in the Commons.
I shall take my seat in the Lords.
Good luck in the election.
Thank you.
I'm also running - for the Labour Party.
Mm.
You're running for Labour? They've got no hope.
Congratulations.
What for? For irritating my father and brother.
Seems fairly easily done.
If you're a socialist, why are you fiddling my father's taxes anyway? Don't you want all his money to go to the poor? Uh, well, I can only afford my principles on my day off, unfortunately.
Actually, there is no fiddling your father's taxes.
So, what will you tell Daddy tomorrow? The cheapest option is to demolish the house.
Gosh.
When someone says something like that you expect the sky to fall down or something, don't you? I'm sorry.
Want to go swimming? It's not that hot.
But I always swim when I'm home.
Come on.
Let's just celebrate the end of the war.
You swim, I'll wait.
Don't bother.
And when do you leave us for London? This afternoon.
Oh, how terribly exciting.
Oh, good morning, Mrs Herbert.
Lovely to see you.
And you've arranged accommodation? Yes, staying with a college friend initially.
Mm.
I think we're about done here.
But it's only 11, Freddie.
Yes, I know, but I'm hungry.
There's some meat at the butcher's.
I bought it up.
We can have it for lunch.
Can I induce you to wear one of these, Vicar? Ah, no.
Are you sure this is all right? Plenty of room for all of us.
What's going on?! I don't know.
Keep it down, would you?! What's going on? The election results are in.
Who won? The bloody socialists! The people's flag is deepest red It shrouded oft our martyred dead And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its shade we'll live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the flag red flying here It waved above our infant might When all ahead seemed dark as night It witnessed many a deed and vow We must not change its colour now Then raise the scarlet standard high Beneath its folds we live and die Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer We'll keep the red flag flying here.
Hello! First day? Quite a day, good luck.
I can't believe they won.
Remember your interview.
We are neutral.
We are neutral This is all the data collected so far about wood.
Wood? Wood.
From trees.
Wood builds houses.
There is, you may have noticed, a lack of housing in the United Kingdom as a result of the last six years.
Questions that will need to be answered.
What type of wood would be most cost-effective? Do weather conditions affect the type of wood required and, if so, do we need to make logistically specific decisions? Perhaps you should be writing some of this down? From whence should we access the wood? East Germany? Scotland? Consider political as well as practical ramifications.
How much wood should be used in comparison to other building materials? Is there a different type of information we need to follow up on? What kind of things do we think is important? Tonight, Peter.
Make it romantic.
You got it.
Thank you.
I heard you made it to London.
I wanted to say hello.
That's very kind of you.
I got the distinct impression the last time we met that you didn't really like me.
Not at all.
I like you very much, very much.
I just, erm, my situation is Oh, no, I was being silly.
And I'd had too much to drink, so Anyway, congratulations.
I assume you won your seat, unlike my brother.
A socialist, eh? It's going to be impossible to get good service.
Excuse me? You know I'm happy for you and everything but I don't think it says very much for the country.
Churchill single-handedly held off the Nazis.
Voting him out of office is a rather peculiar way of showing our appreciation.
Churchill ran the war, Attlee ran England, he deserves credit too.
He just doesn't have quite the same genius for self-promotion.
Oh, and what a wonderful job Attlee did on the home front.
"Keep things going at home?" Look, the lamb's off! And the beef's off.
All Churchill wants for peacetime is to go back to business as usual.
Well, that's what we all want, isn't it? With meat.
Business as usual before the war was mass unemployment and the worst slums in Europe.
Obviously some lucky people could afford meat but not as many as you might think.
Depends on the circles you travel in and how limited they are.
Well, it doesn't give me much faith in democracy, anyway.
People don't know what they need.
I mean, it hardly makes a difference who's at Number Ten.
Although, I heard Attlee knows nothing about foreign policy, so God knows what the consequences will be from that.
The beef's off and the lamb's off.
What a repellently overprivileged universe you come from if you really believe a vote is something to be thrown away over a misguided sense of politeness.
Erm, can you excuse me for a second, please? I'm going to continue being impolite and ask if you wouldn't mind if we skip dinner.
This is a special night for the Labour Party, for the country.
I'm sorry.
I thought you were different.
How was your first day? Unbelievably boring.
Lie on me.
Stay on top.
You deserve to do great things.
I can make that happen.
I want you to meet someone.
Peter tells me you had all the makings of an excellent agent but that your career was cut short.
Well, the war ended.
Wars don't end.
Really? Because I definitely attended a couple of victory parties.
Why did you want to be a special agent? It seemed insane to sit around and wait to see if we were going to be invaded or not.
I hate passivity.
So do I.
So does Peter.
Why sit on your ass when you can save the world? Plus, it's fun.
It's fun being an agent.
So, if wars don't end, who are we fighting now? I would phrase that question differently.
Who's attacking us now? From whom must we defend ourselves? Russia's why Attlee won the election.
Did you know that? Not really.
Hm, doesn't it strike you as odd that Churchill, the most heroic man of the age and, by the way, extremely alert to the Russian threat, is ousted and suddenly socialists rule England? Odd.
Terrible.
Baffling.
Stupid.
It was inevitable.
The war left England very weak.
Economically, structurally, psychologically.
Weakness is always exploited.
We see that in nature.
Right now, Britain is absolutely at war and the scary thing is .
.
she doesn't know it.
We believe Whitehall has been infiltrated by Communists.
That's why I need an agent in the civil service.
But, spy on my own government? Well, there's a name for that.
Peter told me you were prepared to jump out of a plane to save your country.
Yes, but, what about MI5? 6? Right now we're standing by a statue of Lenin.
England's way too slow to recognise her enemies.
People around here still call Stalin "Uncle Joe".
Let me tell you something, "Uncle Joe"'s army raped so many women on their way to Berlin that the orphanages have agreed to take children in whose mothers are still alive but can't stand to see their progeny.
He's another psychopath in charge of another army of psychopaths and I'd like to stop this one a little more effectively.
Plus, if the Commies are infiltrating the British government, we'd like to know about it.
England still needs you, it just doesn't know it.
Are you in or out? Should we shake hands or something? You have to consider moisture and movement.
Great Britain is moist.
It is.
Moisture content has got to match the proposed environment or there'll be splitting and warping.
And what about a species? You've got to consider fungal decay.
You have to.
Fungal decay? Yes.
Hurry up, Feef! Camilla?! Do you want to see National Velvet this week? Harry won't come.
Uh, yes, all right.
Any night but Wednesday.
I know you love Elizabeth Taylor.
I do love her hair.
Did you like the book? I did, actually.
I tore through it.
Then, according to my mother, you shouldn't see the film.
Elizabeth Taylor's the only English thing in it.
She said the Americans just about destroyed it.
She said it would've been better if they'd just stolen the story and reset it in California or something.
Well, I think we'll see for ourselves, Harry.
Your mother is hardly a noted critic.
My mother, Feef, is a very intelligent woman.
Yes, Camilla raves about her.
I don't think I can do this.
So, what? Now you're out? I got news for you, Bug.
If you work for the president you're not going to agree with every decision he makes.
This one is particularly egregious.
War is whatever that word was.
Egregious.
No-one can sign off on half the shit their country does.
You guys scooped up India and Africa just cos you wanted them.
We took out Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This is the world.
It's fucking ugly.
The question isn't, "Are you proud of your country?" The question is, "Are you proud of yourself?" "Are you doing everything you can to make the world a better place?" I'd like to.
Then do this job.
Because you're intelligent .
.
and intelligence saves lives.
The military rely on Neanderthal tactics but what we do, what I do, and what I have invited you to do is use your brain.
And, do what you want, but opportunities like this don't come along very often.
Thank God I met you.
I want my life to matter.
Now that the war with Japan is over, whatever you're working on is to be aborted.
What the fuck? President Truman is of the opinion that there is no need for field agents outside of Berlin.
Uh, has anyone been reading my reports? What I'm working on is a matter of international security.
All reports have been read.
And the president has determined that a skeletal crew will remain in the UK but to receive intelligence from MI6 only.
As of eleven hundred hours next Tuesday, we will commence returning you to the United States.
Hey, I'm on your side.
Meaning? This will not stand.
Truman's saying this now but the men with money disagree.
Oh, since when do the men with money share their thinking with junior diplomats, Jimmy? Whose chief responsibility is making sure the right swing band is booked for the right BS event.
Let me add a few details to my biography.
Dalton Prep.
Then Yale.
My family is in shipping and has been since 1759.
Hm.
And you're imparting this to me because? Disbanding is dangerous.
Clearly you agree with me.
You walked out of the meeting.
Not using our own intelligence? Is he out of his mind? So, fuck that.
Let's go talk somewhere more private.
Let's drink to a job almost well done.
We could still do it.
They're keeping a skeletal crew.
Ah.
We sign up, we run our girl.
I'm not doing that.
That's insane.
An order's been given.
By who? A draper's son thrust on to the podium by nothing but chance? Try as he might, the president cannot relocate us to an imaginary universe where differences are settled by handshakes and jousts.
Let's let the Brits handle this.
They can't! They're not capable.
They're not capable of winning their own wars.
At the moment, they're not even capable of putting food on the table.
Come on, Peter! Whatever it takes! The war is over.
No, that war is over.
Now there's a new one.
And it's our duty to fight it.
We're fighting for the same goals, the same dreams.
It's another iteration of the same fucking enemy! If we don't fight, we won't win.
If we don't win, we won't survive.
But if we do win, we could tell the president all about it and we won't get our wrists slapped.
I guarantee it.
We'll get medals.
I mean, what are you thinking? Just you and her against the Russians? And Jimmy.
Jimmy's a sleaze.
I'm not going to tell anyone about this conversation and I'm not gonna mention that you suggested insurrection and that Jimmy should lose his job.
What I am going to do is call Feef and tell her that it's off.
And then I'm going to get on a plane.
Don't call her.
She's in place.
She's in Whitehall.
Let me run her.
No.
OK.
OK.
It was worth a shot, right? Whatever it takes, right? You look nice.
New dress? Um, they gave it to me.
What are you doing here? What are you doing here? Well, it's a party to celebrate the new government, so what are you doing here? Family friend invited me.
If the purpose of these evening was to prove you can carry off silver then mission accomplished.
Oh, I'll take that as an apology for dinner.
It wasn't.
Isn't he getting married this year? To a lovely girl.
A Quaker.
Nice.
That's Feef.
It was really nice to see you.
Excuse me.
Thank you.
No, thank you.
And that's on behalf of the president.
This is Jimmy Derby.
We're going to be working together, so may I have the pleasure? Wildcat Kelley, lookin' mighty pale, Was standin' By the sheriff's side And when the sheriff said I'm sending you to jail Wildcat raised his head and cried Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above Don't fence me in Let me ride through the wide open country that I love Don't fence me in Let me be by myself when the evening Ooh! Drive.
Where was Peter? He's working.
You can catch up with him later.
That politician you were dancing with.
A friend? Not really.
Well, make him one.
What else? I'm in the civil service.
Now what? Well, you're in the Ministry of Housing, correct? Mm-hm.
I need you to find a way to move to the Cabinet Office.
Why? You need to be where the power is.
It's the heart of government.
Don't you want to be at the centre of it all? Drop me here.
Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker! Mr Speaker! Order! We now have a maiden .
.
Mr Hugh Fenton.
Come on, Hugh! Come on.
Come on! Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me my first opportunity to speak.
I have the privilege and the pleasure of representing some of the poorest constituents in Derbyshire.
In the village where I grew up, we lost 68% of the men of fighting age to this war.
And that means 32% of them are coming home.
32% of the fellows I went to school with and climbed trees with and played Knock Down Ginger with and played war with using sticks are coming home with a lot more than scraped knees and black eyes.
And I'm here in Parliament to make sure my friends, my family, my community, the working people of Britain are not betrayed by the men in power.
Rubbish! Rubbish! Only 27 years ago the Last Great War, the war to end all wars, ended.
And Lloyd George promised that we would build in peacetime a land fit for heroes.
The heroes that came home.
And what did Westminster do? What did the Tory party do? They presided over economic deprivation! From their comfortable houses and back rooms warmed by fires and whisky, hard-faced man slapped each other on the back and talked about the Great British Empire, that encompassed India, Africa, Australia, Canada .
.
and slums in Manchester, Liverpool and London so squalid that, for those of us who had the courage to walk through them and not look away, they seemed like a very picture of hell.
We of the Labour Party have our eyes wide open and know full well that the disease and squalor and poverty of education and employment that we face are not the result of acts of God or blind forces but are the sure and certain result of the concentration of too much economic power in the hands of too few men! Order! Order! It was the common man who fought the war.
Yes! It was the common man that won the war.
Yes! And it is the common man that now, as this last election has shown, will define the terms of the peace.
Health care for all.
Yes! Housing for all.
Yes! Culture for all.
Yes! Someone said to me recently it makes no difference who's in Number Ten.
What a shock they have coming.
We know the Russians accessed information shared at two private Cabinet Office meetings.
When the Russians embed someone they keep him undercover for years, meaning their spy is still posing as a civil servant.
I get what you do.
I get why you use that girl.
If I get you money there have to be results.
Please don't ask me anymore about Hugh.
I have to be able to get up in the morning.
Peter knows what this job requires from a woman.
Do what you have to do.
Don't worry, I'll get you into a lot of trouble.
I want trouble.
What's the matter with you? You British are deliberately causing conflict between the Jews and the Arabs to prolong your rule in the Middle East.
- That's right! I just wanted to ask you about Fiona Symonds, the new girl.
She's not who she seems.
I'm trying to keep you safe.
I don't feel safe.
Only idiots feel safe.
It's nothing for you to worry about, comrade.
Hey! Where do you think you're gonna go!?