Platform 7 (2023) s01e02 Episode Script

1
LOUDSPEAKER CHIMES
ANNOUNCER: 'The 08:30
Great Central Rail service
'is ready to depart
from Platform'
Think.
Remember!
SHE EXHALES
LOUDSPEAKER CHIMES
'The 09:35 Great Central Rail
service to Penderham'
SHE GASPS
WHISTLE BLOWS
LOUDSPEAKER CHIMES
'Please keep an eye on
any personal belongings or bags.
'Any personal belongings
found unattended
'are to be dealt with by security.'
This the one, is it?
Yeah.
TICKET READER
BEEPS
HE GRUNTS
WHISPERS: Fucking puzzle
Edward, I can explain!
Leave me alone!
Look, Edward, wait, please.
Your mendacity is as breath-taking
as it's inexplicable.
And I thought I'd found someone
to make this Godforsaken place
half-way bearable!
No fool like an old fool!
Well, at least hear me out
before you rush to judgement!
It only just happened.
Someone I was close to came
into the station with my parents,
and before I knew it, I was out.
I remembered how I died!
I was climbing the fence
by Platform 7.
I was trying to get over to it,
but someone was there
grabbing me and
Someone you know?
I didn't see their face,
but I know it wasn't a suicide.
I wouldn't place
too much store in it.
Slippery buggers, memories,
they play tricks on you.
They're all that I have.
How else am I supposed to find out
why I died?
Well, does it really matter?
We are where we are.
The past can't be changed or erased.
My memory is real. I know it.
Keep going down this road,
you might find you don't like
what's at the end of it.
TELEPHONE RINGS
Doctor Richard Shale.
Neurology department.
Is Doctor Shale available?
When does his shift start?
No, no message.
What is it?
Did you see something?
I saw something.
Someone was chasing me.
Taking a tour
round the station, yeah.
BUZZER
Now a better time?
As our investigation team
on the Evans case no doubt told you,
in fatality cases,
it's our responsibility to
I didn't speak to any investigators.
Why would I?
I barely saw her
after Matt moved in
well, Doctor Goodson,
moved in with her. He's lying!
Ask him what he was doing
hanging round my flat at night.
But you did attend
her birthday party?
Matt suggested I went. So what?
The coroner determined
the cause of death
was due to
Miss Evans' mental health issues.
Did you ever witness
any episode of that?
Given my meagre contact with her,
it's unlikely, wouldn't you say?
During the weeks prior to her death,
she told a work colleague
that she saw you outside her flat
on several occasions.
Now we're getting there.
I run that way sometimes.
So, when was it
that you last saw her?
No, stick with the running!
Why always at night,
when Matt was at work?
I don't remember.
I've been out of the country
for most of the year,
I only got back last week.
Columbia Vale University.
Research fellowship, mitochondrial
dysfunction and cognitive defects.
Sounds impressive.
Can you recall the date
you left for the US?
September 2nd, 22:30, Luton Airport,
seat 22A. Very specific.
It was a specific question.
Er September 2nd
was the day after Evans' death.
Yeah, I-I didn't know about it then.
He's lying again!
Doctor Goodson didn't tell you?
Well, why should he?
You used to be flatmates,
work in the same hospital.
I'm not his fucking keeper!
I only found out about it
in the States,
on her memorial page on social
media. Now you should go. Now!
You should be talking to someone
who actually knew her.
You're wasting your time
talking to me. And wasting mine.
Oh, Jesus
HE SCREAMS
Argh!
CHURCH BELL RINGS
I'm so sorry.
HE GRUNTS
BIRD CAWS
BIRDSONG
TELEPHONE RINGS
DOG BARKS
Hello. Hiya!
TELEPHONE RINGS
Hi, Rosie.
I was thinking about you
on Lisa's anniversary the other day.
And me you. So many times I meant
to call you, but, you know?
Get this. A constable
from the Transport Police
contacted me about Lisa's case.
Tying up some loose ends
in her file, he said.
'I don't know,
something didn't sit right.
'If there's some doubt
about her case,
'why send someone so junior,
you know?'
Did he say
there were doubts about it?
'Why else would he be sniffing
around, asking questions about her?'
Because he doesn't buy it was
a suicide and neither should you!
'Hey, why don't we meet
for a drink?'
Time we have a catch up, hm?
I'm free tonight.
'Domino at six o'clock?'
Yeah. Yeah, why not?
Oh, I ran into Matt
a couple of weeks ago.
'He's still punishing himself
over it.
'Poor bastard barely spoke about
anything else.'
I've got a customer.
See you later, then.
BELL RINGS
Why did you do that, Izzy?
She was just trying to reach out
to you.
The 11:35 to Birmingham
always leaves from Platform 6.
That was one thing
that one could rely on.
And now suddenly, poof!
It's vanished
from the departure board! Ergo
Yeah, sir, if you'd just
I'm still talking!
Sir, if you just
Passengers can't find it,
customer numbers plummet,
and your powers-that-be
have the excuse they need
to cancel the service altogether.
Am I right?
If you check
the departure board, sir,
you'll see
the 11:35 Birmingham service
has been temporarily relocated
to Platform 4.
My point still stands.
LOUDSPEAKER CHIMES
ANNOUNCER: 'The 11:35 Great Central
Rail service to Birmingham'
How you have the patience!
Practice.
Er I have news.
Why check her out on social media
if he barely knew her?
And taking off to the US
the day after she died!
Coincidence?
Mm. Or convenience.
Three reasons
someone goes under a train.
They jump
it was an accident, and they fell
or they were pushed.
Check this out.
OK. Lisa's flat is on Victoria Road.
The station.
The direct route from her flat
is south, down King Street,
right onto The Crescent
and over the footbridge.
Wait, do do we know for sure
she was coming from her flat?
Her partner confirmed it at the
inquest, I checked the transcripts.
They, er, they went to bed
about 11:00
he, er, woke in the morning to find
her gone.
He tried calling her,
but she left her phone behind.
Now from the CCTV,
what there is of it,
instead of going south
down King Street,
she took a left,
went into Queen's Alley,
then all the way down Dawes Road,
before entering the car park
and reaching the security fence.
If it was the station
she was trying to get to,
why not go directly there?
Er, maybe she
It explains her circuitous route
she was trying to shake them off.
Why didn't CID pick up on it?
Well, maybe
they weren't looking hard enough.
Someone goes under a train,
the assumption is
it's probably suicide.
They look for
the facts that fit the theory.
You're really into this, aren't you?
I know it's only one tragedy among
thousands that happen in the world.
But we can't do anything
about those, can we?
Maybe this is one
I could do something about.
Plus, I'm into puzzles.
Well Wordle, sudoku.
Yeah.
Plays to my strengths.
Well, you're not short of those.
Does Inspector Barker know
you're doing all this?
Oh, you Be careful, Kash.
HE CLEARS THROA
I was wondering if, er
TELEPHONE RINGS
Shit. Oh, erm
I've really gotta get this, sorry.
What genius came up
with all these new shift patterns?
Yeah, well,
all the chopping and changing,
I'm the one who has to try and sell
it to my staff.
SHE PANTS
SHE GROANS
IN FLASHBACK
SHE INHALES
SHARPLY
Barker clocked
you weren't at the briefing.
It's OK, I told him about
your hospital appointment.
Hospital appointment?
I heard you on the blower
asking for that urology doctor.
Is it prostate?
Ha.
Been there, mate.
Turned out OK but it was scary shit
for a while. Just, can I?
It was neurology,
not not urology.
And, erm
I wasn't calling about me.
The woman who went on the tracks
last year? Yeah.
I've been looking into her case.
There's definitely something
Wait What?
Platform 7, the teacher
who climbed over the fence.
Hold it.
Let me get my head round this.
I go over the line to cover for you,
while you're going AWOL
on a year-old case
over some bird who topped herself?
I didn't ask you to, did I? Fine.
Next time, you're on your own.
TELEPHONE RINGS
OMINOUS MUSIC
HE CHUCKLES
MUSIC DROWNS OU
DIALOGUE
WOMAN: Hey!
MAN: Got you a coffee.
Oh, thank you.
Oh. You came. I was afraid
that you'd change your mind.
Let's get it over with before I do.
LOUDSPEAKER CHIMES
'The 16:36 South Rail service
to Knatty Hill has been delayed.'
How'd you know it was this one
where Dad did it? Social media.
It was the same platform
as another suicide last year.
I'm done. I'll see you in the cafe.
Remind me why
you thought this was a good idea.
I don't know. Closure?
The only people who get closure
are the dead. You think?!
It's never a good idea,
revisiting the scene of the crime.
Look, I've been thinking about you.
And, erm, there's this guy at work,
and his wife is a therapist, and she
specialises in cases like yours.
"Cases like mine"?
Yeah, you need talk through what
happened to you, Ella, with someone.
Someone neutral,
who can help you process it and
I don't need a bloody therapist,
I'm fine.
Open your bag.
SHE SCOFFS
It's crap what they say,
that you can't smell vodka
on people's breath.
Yeah, well,
I'm really not in the mood
for one of your brotherly
pep talks right now, Luke.
OK.
I know that I've been judgmental.
But all those years, watching you
lose yourself in pills and booze
and God knows what
You thought
I was weak and self-indulgent.
In fact, you actually told me
that more than once.
And I'm sorry.
Erm, you have no idea how sorry,
but I didn't know then,
Ella, I didn't know.
But this is your chance to get your
shit together, don't you see that?
To take control of your life,
to be the person
that you were always meant to be.
But you have to find out
who she is.
And you can't do that on your own.
She's expecting your call.
And that's how it works, apparently.
You have to take the initiative.
It's not about me, though, is it?
It's about you.
Because if I clean up my act,
then, hey, presto,
your conscience over Dad
is clean too.
And you get to go back
to your little family,
knowing that
you put the world to rights.
Trust me, my conscience on Dad
is beyond clean!
Killing himself was
the only decent thing he ever did
in his whole rank, miserable life.
I just fucking wish
he'd done it years ago!
Finally, something we can agree on.
Ella.
Particular kind of torture,
isn't it?
How they take it for granted,
the freedom to come and go
as they please.
I was looking for you earlier.
Your son and daughter were here.
Ella was here?
Did you talk to her?
No, of course you didn't.
How was she? How did she seem?
They wanted to see where you
Where it happened.
She called it, "Returning
to the scene of the crime."
Why would she say something
like that?
Cliches are a common coping
mechanism in stressful situations.
Your son didn't seem stressed,
more royally pissed off with you.
He and I never bonded
in the way I did with Ella.
They're complicated things,
families.
Then why did you do it?
Why did you kill yourself?
I had my reasons.
I must ask you to respect that.
Actually, it's not the first time
I've seen her here.
It was a day or so
after you did it.
Of course,
I didn't know who she was then.
She was in the station caff, crying.
She was?
You've no idea
how gratifying that is,
to know she felt my loss so deeply.
You're her father.
Why wouldn't she?
Not my business.
Good. We're on the same page.
Weirdest thing.
Seeing her crying that day
was when
my memory started coming back.
Somebody said, Jung probably,
coincidence is
just destiny in disguise.
Who knows? Perhaps our lives
are destined to be entwined.
IZZY:
'What kind of inconsistencies?'
In the weeks prior to her death,
did Lisa ever mention
Doctor Richard Shale to you?
Why?
His name came up.
Apparently, he attended
a surprise birthday party
Doctor Goodson held for Lisa.
Did you also attend it?
And he was around
when Matt moved into Lisa's flat.
What did you make of him?
Dunno. I just He didn't seem
comfortable in his own skin.
It's on record
that Lisa became depressed
during the school summer holidays
but resisted getting treatment.
Did she discuss her reasons
for that with you at all?
No. We weren't in contact then.
We had a a bit of a falling out.
A personal issue.
And I never bought
the whole depression thing.
By definition,
it means the absence of hope.
That just doesn't happen
over a few weeks.
It corrodes over months,
years, even.
Until you get to a place
you hope for something,
but you know it'll never happen
just cos you want it to.
If you've a theory about what
might have been troubling her..
..I'd like to hear it.
Someone you love
chooses to end their life
it doesn't end your relationship.
It just leaves
it hanging with questions
you know you're never gonna get
the answers to.
I'm sorry, I just.. I can't wrestle
with the whys of it any more.
I'm sorry, I can't go there again.
Perhaps I can go there for you.
MELLOW DANCE
MUSIC PLAYS
BARMAID: There you go.
MAN: Cheers. Thank you.
MAN CLEARS THROA
WOMAN LAUGHS
MUFFLED CONVERSATION
ALL: Happy birthday!
CHEERING
WHOOPING
Oh, happy birthday, gorgeous!
I hope you don't mind,
I've brought my cousin Jasmin,
I think you met her at my Christmas
do. Yeah, that's fine, course.
Hey, babe.
Hey, birthday girl!
FLASHBACK LISA: Was this your idea?
100% his.
Ha!
Happy birthday. Ha-ha.
You look amazing.
Thank you.
And I suppose you was in on it too?
He swore me to secrecy.
THEY CHUCKLE
I can't stand you (!) Thank you.
Er Many happy returns.
I'm never sure what that means.
Returns of what?
Well, just that
you'll live to celebrate
more birthdays in the future.
SONG: 'Valerie'
# And I think of all the things
What you do
# And in my head
I paint a picture #
Come on, then!
# Cos since I've come on home
Well, my body's been a mess #
MUFFLED CONVERSATION
LAUGHTER
FLASHBACK LISA:
'What's going on, Izzy?'
What, did someone upset you?
Tell me who and
I'll go fucking sort 'em out, babe.
What is it, Izzy?
You feel it too, don't you?
Something happened here.
ROSIE: Hi.
Rosie!
Mm!
God, this place
brings back memories.
Yeah. First time I've been back here
since her birthday.
Yeah, me too. Seems like
a lifetime ago, doesn't it?
Not to me, feels like yesterday.
Same again?
Great. Thanks.
What the fuck happened here
that night, Izzy?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well To Lisa.
Lisa.
Transport Police Constable showed
up at the shop this afternoon.
Said the same as he said to you,
about there being inconsistencies
in her file.
I thought he seemed pretty genuine.
Empathetic.
What did he ask you?
Wanted to know
more about her "depression".
Oh, come on, Rosie. When did you
ever see Lisa depressed?
Why else would she do what she did?
She had no other reason.
Yeah. That we know of.
Matt was with her, he should know.
Why is it that people think
that doctors walk on bloody water?
I knew Lisa
since we were 11 years old.
We went to the same school,
we shared the same flat
while she was at uni.
There was nothing that
we didn't know about each other.
In all those years, she
never showed one sign of depression.
Not once, ever.
Matt explained that at the inquest.
It was
the sudden-onset bipolar thing
IZZY SCOFFS
Bipolar?
What the fuck happened
with you and Matt?
You saw the state he was in
at the funeral.
He could barely hold it together,
yet you hardly said two words
to him.
He loved her, Izzy.
I know that for a fact.
Yeah, well, maybe you don't have
all the facts. Meaning?
Stop fucking about, Izzy,
if you know something, then say it!
You were jealous of him.
Yeah, all that stuff you shared with
her, when she hooked up with Matt,
suddenly, she wasn't available to
you any more. Yeah, fine. Whatever.
Well
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Yeah, maybe not.
Hm. OK, then.
You know, we can all feel guilt
that we weren't there for Lisa
in those last weeks. But blaming
the one person who was
it's more than unjust
it's fucking callous, Izzy.
ANNOUNCER: 'The 17:05 Great Central
Railway service to Birmingham
'will depart from Platform 3.
This train will'
You called me back, so talk to me.
Er, OK. Erm, when you ran out on me,
where did you go?
I, erm
..I went across the road.
And I sat on a bench
and finished this.
And then I went around the corner
to a pub, and I had another.
Others, plural.
It was all I could think about
whilst we were here talking.
"When can I have a bloody drink?"
It's all I ever think about, really.
I drink before work,
I drink at work, in the toilets.
And on my way home from work,
I'll stop off at the pub.
And at home on the weekends,
I do the exact same thing.
When I, when I fancy
a change of scenery,
then I will go to a bar.
And I'll wait for
a random man to buy me a drink.
Sometimes,
they even tell me their name.
But I've forgotten it
by the morning.
Because when I'm sober
..when I'm sober he's in here
fucking with me, like he always has.
Do you remember this?
I was gonna show it you yesterday.
It was when I was home
after my first year at uni,
and I think you were, what, 11, 12?
And I took you to the park.
Got someone to take our photo.
Dad was doing it to you, then,
wasn't he?
Edward. Oh, my God!
And I remember thinking at the time,
"What a little ingrate!"
I go to the trouble of taking you
to the park
to feed the bloody ducks,
and you barely open your mouth.
Told Dad the same thing
when I got home
and he said
that it was just a phase,
that you'd grow out of it.
And I swanned back off to uni, and
I didn't give it a second thought.
I'm your brother, Ella. I should
have protected you from him.
That night when when I
I told you what he had done to me
and you went to confront him
..what exactly did you say?
I told you what I said
when I came back.
I was drunk, remember?
HE CLEARS THROA
Yeah.
Erm, I told him
that I was gonna expose him.
That I was calling the papers
the next day.
That I'd put it
all over social media.
And if I had to, I'd put
posters on every street corner,
so the whole fucking world knew
what kind of man
the hallowed academic
Edward Warren CBE really was.
You know, when they called,
and they said that he was dead
I thought that I was free of him.
And I thought that it was over.
But it's but it's not.
Say it, Ella, whatever it is,
tell him!
When I was in a pub,
a group of girls came in,
celebrating something.
And they were about my age.
And one of them kept looking over
at me.
And suddenly,
I saw myself through her eyes.
A 21-year-old, drunk,
in a pub in the middle of the day
..deciding whether
if she has another drink,
she'll even be capable
of walking home.
SHAKILY: It doesn't work any more,
Luke. Why doesn't it work?!
SOBBING: Even when I'm drunk now,
he's still in there,
he's still here fucking with me!
So, are you saying
that you'll do it the therapy?
Ella
Will you come with me?
Every step of the way.
Let's get the car,
I'll take you home.
Or better yet,
why don't you come to mine?
Tess would love to see you. It's
about time you saw the kids again.
SHE QUIVERS
SHE GASPS
LOUDSPEAKER
ANNOUNCER: 'The 12:06 Western Cross
service to Pelhamvale
'has been cancelled.
'Passengers looking to travel
to Pelhamvale, Revington, Raserhill,
'should take the 12:44
to Raserhill.'
They were here again just now
Ella and Luke.
They were? So soon. Why?
They had things to talk about.
Concerning you.
Is Ella all right?
What was that thing
you said about coincidence?
Years ago, when I was
on my teacher training placement,
the behaviour of a girl in
my Year 7 class really worried me.
Touching herself
and talking about sex.
Things no child her age
should know about.
Classic signs
she'd been sexually abused.
Fascinating, though
this sojourn down memory lane is
Anyway, I reported it
to the safeguarding leader,
and he said he'd look into it.
A week or so later, I checked in
with him. And he said
he said that
he'd spoken with her father,
who was adamant that she
didn't behave like that at home,
and that she must have learnt it
from one of the older students.
Apparently,
he was on the Board of Governors
and was a major donor to the school,
so his word was never questioned.
Even so,
I should have stood my ground.
But I didn't. I let it go.
I failed her.
But you didn't kill yourself out
of shame, or even guilt, did you?
You did it out of cowardice because
your son was going to expose you.
SHE SCOFFS
What, nothing to say?
That's not like you.
You're usually full of it.
Then again, there is nothing
you could possibly say
that I'll ever want to hear.
Before you get vertigo
on your fucking moral high horse,
you should know
that everything I shared with Ella
was entirely consensual!
I was always scrupulous about that.
Luke was right.
It's a damn shame you didn't jump
under that train years ago.
Oh, I'm not the coward here!
At least I know why I did it!
You're the one
on some deluded quest,
trying to find someone to blame
because you can't face the fact
that your life was
an abject, pointless failure!
You know nothing about my life.
You ended up under a train.
Hardly a success story, was it?
Ella!
Ella!
Ella!
I'm trying to imagine
if you were here,
what your side of
this conversation would be, Dad.
But when I think about it,
I know what you'd say.
You'd say, "Make Daddy happy, Ella!
"Show me you love me, Ella!"
I was a child.
And I trusted you!
And all these years after,
of feeling dirty
and feeling worthless
..and all my fucked-up relationships
because you, you told me sex was
just about love, and I believed you!
Well, fuck you, Dad! Fuck you!
I survived!
SHAKILY: And I want others to know
that they can survive too
..and that they're not alone and
that it's not their fault either.
SHE SOBS
I'm gonna finish what Luke started.
And I am I am gonna drag
your name through so much shit,
that's all
you'll ever be remembered for.
And then I'm gonna wipe you
from my mind
like you never fucking existed.
You don't get to haunt me any more!
You won't even be
a ghost in my memory.
CHURCH BELL RINGS
TELEPHONE RINGS
Go on,
give me your simmering, sexy look.
Ha! Oh, my God, that would make
a great Christmas card!
SHE GIGGLES
If you if you dare! If you dared!
SHE CHUCKLES
Lockhart requesting the file
on that fatality last year from CID,
did you know about it?
Did you know?
No sir.
Find him. Tell him I want him
in my office by close of play,
or don't bother coming back at all!
LOUDSPEAKER:
'Dr Beardmore, Resus Bay 2.'
MOBILE RINGS
Lockhart.
'You're in deep shit, man.'
CID's file on the fatality case
you requested,
Barker's onto it.
He's gone fucking ape.
'He wants you
back in his office ASAP.'
'Kash?'
AKASH HANGS UP
Prize one fucking idiot!
If you hadn't come to me,
I'd have come to you.
Please.
Do you mind if I record this?
I want you to.
I don't know where to begin.
KEYS JANGLE
FOOTSTEPS
DOG BARKS
IN DISTANCE
WOMAN: Great flat.
MATT: Glad you approve.
Who's this?
Lisa.
It's my ex. I was having
a clear-out of some things and
She died. Suicide.
My God For the first few months
after she moved in,
I-I really thought
we were heading somewhere.
Then suddenly, she changed
into a completely different person.
Interrogating me over every
single text, every phone call.
Even turning up at work
to check on me.
You know, who was I talking to?
What was her name?
I'd come back
from a day of mayhem at work,
and she'd start it all again.
God knows
the hours I spent trying to
trying to help her,
trying to reassure her
Someone gets
into that kind of paranoid mindset,
nothing you can say or do
Eventually, I I ended it,
for her sanity as much as mine.
And a week later,
she threw herself under a train.
If it was to punish me it worked.
You mustn't blame yourself
you tried to help her.
It wasn't enough, though, was it?
SHE QUIVERS
SHE GASPS
It was him.
FLASHBACK LISA
WHIMPERS
SHE GASPS
It was Matty.
HE PANTS