Litvinenko (2022) s01e04 Episode Script
Episode 4
2
(copier beeps)
(copier whirring)
(keyboard clacking)
(printer whirring)
(people chattering)
(tape tearing)
Right.
Time to hand in your own work.
(bright music)
If you're wondering why
we're not emailing this
or pressing a button to make
some sort of computer submission,
it's because I want this
physically handed in.
200 people on this
job. 40,000 man hours.
Two strong suspects.
There's a weight of evidence here,
and I want 'em to feel that weight.
I want 'em to hold all your
hard work in their hands
before they make their decision.
It's the biggest job
of my career, this,
and I know it's the same for
many of you, so well done.
Now, we just need a volunteer
to take it round to CPS, please.
(bright music continues)
Marina?
It's in.
Now all we can do is wait.
(dosimeter clicking)
Improved by Sailor420
Hope you enjoy the sub-show
(car rumbling)
(brakes squeaking)
(birds twittering)
(door slams)
(birds twittering)
(vacuum cleaner whining)
(intercom ringing)
Anatoly:
.
.
Marina:
.
.
(console beeps)
(gate buzzes)
(footsteps approaching)
Marina:
.
.
Boris:
.
.
Boris:
.
.
Marina:
.
.
(brooding music)
Well, somebody
can't stay away. Look.
(telephone ringing)
What?
CPS have agreed to press charges,
and request extradition.
But you knew that already.
No.
Then, then why are you here?
Because Marina wants a meeting,
and she wants it at
her lawyer's place.
Why would Marina need a lawyer?
What my client would like
while the CPS considers its options
is a public inquest into
her husband's death.
She believes that an inquest
will maintain public awareness.
She believes it will
expedite matters.
She believes that
it will give us all,
and we include you in this,
a far better chance of
establishing Russian culpability.
Sorry.
She believes this or you do?
Louise Christian is
a human rights lawyer.
Very experienced.
She explained what we- To be clear,
my client does not need your
permission for any of this.
She's just making you aware.
Marina, we were going
to call you about this,
but given you wanted a meeting,
we agreed that it will be
better coming in person.
The CPS has decided to
press murder charges,
and to request extradition.
It's fantastic notes.
Yes, but it won't change anything.
Extradition won't follow.
Extradition will be requested
by the British Embassy directly.
Fine, but they're
not gonna get anywhere.
(scoffs) We don't know that.
Peter: No.
How did your detectives get
on when they were in Moscow?
I'm in the process
of finding a barrister
to represent my client.
Clive: You don't need to do that.
If by a miracle-
It confuses things.
extradition is granted-
It gets in the way.
then we can all reconvene.
Louise: That way we
will waste no more time.
What do you mean, more time?
Is that fair?
I address that to you, you
being the most senior, yes?
Look, you either trust in
the British justice system,
or you don't.
Honestly, I could trust in it more.
I'm not talking about you,
I'm talking about your client,
or Marina, as we tend to call her.
She asked us to do
a job. We did it.
We put colleagues' lives in danger,
and now we need to let it play out.
Stop!
It's like cats and dogs.
Here's an idea.
Whatever the decision
over extradition,
it shouldn't take more
than a few days to arrive.
The second it does,
we let Marina know.
From that moment on,
everyone around this table
agrees to support Marina
with an inquest or whatever
you choose to do next.
How does that sound
Thank you.
Clive: Peter?
Peter: You near a television?
Um
Yes.
Peter: It's called Russia TV.
Russia TV?
Right the way up.
If you get to the dirty
ones, you've gone too far.
Yeah.
(ominous music)
"Putin on Litvinenko:
'An insignificant target who the FSB
would not have
bothered murdering.'"
When are the embassy
asking for extradition?
Peter: This afternoon.
Pff. Talk about bad timing.
No, this, this isn't timing, Clive.
This is him giving
his answer in advance.
All you're watching
is televised fuck you.
(ominous music continues)
The Russians are not
going to allow extradition.
We heard about an hour ago.
I wanted to be the one to
tell you, face to face.
This is why we ask for a meeting.
We knew this would happen.
And
police work is finished.
A murder case is never closed.
You're working on this now?
Personally?
Clive working on this now?
Brent,
I
trust you
very much.
From beginning, all of you,
you try to catch this man,
but now it is
done.
If want to continue fighting-
Marina, I'm always
here if you need someone-
If?
to talk to.
If I want to continue fighting,
I fight on my own, yes?
(Brent exhales)
(Marina sobbing)
(door closes)
(streetlamps buzzing)
(ominous music)
(engine revving)
(dog barks)
(people yelling)
(ominous music continues)
Uh, Louise, I don't understand.
You are my lawyer.
I'm your solicitor.
But if there's an inquest,
we'll need a barrister, too.
There are a lot of
good ones in London.
He is one of the very best.
(intercom ringing)
(receptionist) Matrix.
Louise: Hello. Here
to see Ben Emmerson.
(receptionist)
One moment, please.
So, the question for
you is never gonna be,
is he good enough,
but, do I trust him,
and does this feel right?
(door lock buzzes)
(siren wailing)
Well, they'd have been
placed with the teapot.
That's excellent, but here's
the one that seals it for me,
the U-bend from Lugovoy's
sink, because I'm sorry,
polonium might do many things,
but it doesn't
cross-contaminate its way
into the U-bend of your sink.
You have to pour it there.
Now, this shows that these
are the men responsible.
Yes?
Well, when you factor
in all the rest of it,
unquestionably.
But, you know,
it is very important to say, Mrs. Litvinenko,
that if you and I are to
work together on this,
now, push for this inquest,
then our objective cannot be to show
these are the men that
killed your husband.
But I need to show this.
That's not our brief.
It is brief.
It's not the one I've been given.
May I show you?
Not that you won't
have seen it already.
This may be the time
to say one or two things
to the person responsible.
You may succeed in silencing me,
but the howl of protest
from around the world
will reverberate, Mr. Putin,
in your ears for the
rest of your life.
It's not what your
husband's asking us.
He wants us to lay this at
the door of Vladimir Putin.
That is the brief.
(bright music)
So if we do this,
and even though it might take
a considerable amount of time,
then that is what I
suggest we try and do.
(door shuts)
(bright music continues)
Before any inquest can begin,
the rules of the game
need to be established,
what is or or is not
admissible, and so on,
but none of what happens
here is gonna be a trial.
It's not us versus them.
It's a lot of stuffy
old lawyers like me
putting a lot of
things before a judge,
and it's for the
judge alone to decide.
To judge the judge.
Precisely. But first we need
to jump through some hoops.
Our preliminary assessment
does establish a prima facie case
as to the culpability
of the Russian state
in the death of
Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr. Emmerson.
Sir, may I thank the inquest team
for their preliminary report.
That there is a case for
Russian state responsibility
in the death of Mr. Litvinenko
is of course something
that my client has
been hoping to explore
since her husband made
clear to her whilst dying
that that was his own belief.
In which case, I will
look to confirm the date
on which we can begin
the substantive hearings.
(cheerful Christmas music)
Ben is very happy, very positive.
Everything take time, of course,
but Ben says there is good chance
to prove Russian responsibility
at highest level.
He keeps fighting.
You keep fighting.
Ben and I, well, we keep fighting.
What?
Oh,
nothing.
You said the name Ben three
times in the last minute.
(chuckles) What is wrong with that?
Alex: Nothing, nothing.
Stop.
This is very dangerous
situation for me.
Do you not see?
Yes.
I put all my hope
in this one man, in this one place.
(bright music)
(bright music continues)
Right.
Sorry.
Ready?
(door clacks)
Oscar:
.
.
(keys clattering)
Boss?
(ominous music)
Boss?
(ominous music continues)
Boss?
Boris!
Boss?
Boss?
(ominous music continues)
(Oscar grunts)
(door shatters)
(Oscar gasping)
(people chattering)
The, uh, the judge is going
to invite the government
to hold a public inquiry.
Now, that would mean
that the materials
they wanted hidden
will remain hidden,
but that he, crucial,
will get to see them,
and not just see them, take
them into consideration.
This is good?
Oh, it's a hell of a lot
better than it was at lunchtime.
Put it that way. All right.
You're Temple, I'm
Chancery Lane, so.
How long will this take?
Too long, probably, but then,
yeah, we knew that
it would, didn't we?
My knowing's half the battle.
(carillon tolling)
(rain pouring)
"Evening Standard."
(ominous music)
"Standard."
(ominous music continues)
(ominous music continues)
Taxi!
(ominous music continues)
He makes a series of
anti-Putin remarks, like Sasha,
and the next thing
you know, like Sasha,
he's found dead in
unexplained circumstances.
But not like Sasha in that
he had a scarf around his neck.
Bruising all on there.
Yeah, I'm not saying
that it's not suicide.
And the door was
locked from the inside.
I'm saying it's worth investigating.
You know what, Brent?
It's a simple job.
You get a brief, you get to work,
you make your submission
at CPS, or not, depending,
and you move on to the next one.
Staying emotionally attached-
Oh, you mean caring?
is not a strength.
Not in a way you think it is.
(cellphone ringing)
Sorry.
Oh, I, I've
I'm sorry.
(cellphone ringing continues)
(door opens)
Hi.
Okay.
Tell me.
(somber music)
I'm coming right now.
(somber music continues)
Just I (sighs)
feel like we keep running
into the same brick wall.
Yeah, but at least we get
to run into it together.
(somber music continues)
Thank you.
The UK has refused a request
to set up a public inquiry
to replace the
inquest into the death
of the former Russian
spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned
with radioactive polonium
in London in 2006.
A disappointing decision
then for the family today.
Six reasons from the home secretary
for why a public inquiry
is being refused,
including, risibly,
the admission that international
relations are a factor,
which, to translate into English
from the original bullshit,
means that trade opportunities
are more important to this
country than the life of,
of, of one of its citizens.
Maybe government knows
it was not actually Putin.
But it was actually Putin.
(Marina sobbing)
What Russian citizen would
dare do something like this
without his blessing?
But you know, Putin's
not the problem.
Well, he's not the only problem.
What today proves more than anything
is that we are taking on
an entire regime here,
one that is immoral, cowardly,
one that, yeah, it
answers to Putin's drum,
one that deludes
itself into believing
that it has an
international relevance
that it lost long ago.
But as of today, the
regime we are up against
isn't the Russian regime.
(ominous music)
It's the United Kingdom.
(garbage truck beeping)
(wind howling)
(leaves rustling)
(Marina humming)
(birds twittering)
He would. He definitely
would, if you can see it.
It's real, to be honest.
Oh, mate, your mum's here.
See ya, mate.
You smoke?
What?
Do not smoke, Anatoly.
Your sports like your father.
Well, sport's not exactly my thing.
How about helping your
mother with shopping?
Is this your thing?
Alex is coming later.
I was gonna take this to the
cemetery, but maybe tomorrow.
I can do it now.
Hmm. Okay.
(bright music)
(bright music continues)
(bright music continues)
Anatoly's school fees are settled.
The apartment is secured,
but there can be no more
money taken from the estate.
We certainly cannot afford
barristers like Ben Emmerson.
So,
that's it?
I just tell him it's
over, everything stop?
Sorry.
Okay, so, uh,
no more money.
We think of new way.
(clock ticking)
Marina,
it's been seven years.
Seven years.
(door shuts)
I think it's time for you to
ask yourself the question,
"What more can I do?"
(somber music)
The grave was covered in
moss and leaves and stuff,
but I took care of it.
You should never let
it get like that.
Thank you.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
There are three things
we could be doing.
One, keep this in the public eye,
two, keep the police on side,
and three, wait.
Crucial.
Every time Putin does something,
influences an election,
annexes Georgia,
the pressure mounts,
and there'll come a point when
even the British government
can't be seen to look the other way.
And when that day comes,
that's when we strike.
You haven't touched your sandwich.
This morning, I, um,
visit Louise Christian.
I explain her,
I'm very scared.
From now on,
no more money.
Expensive barrister,
not possible.
So now you've come to see me?
You bought a sandwich
you don't even want,
and you wanna know what I think?
I think,
I think we're just gonna
have to carry on anyway,
is what I think.
You and I, we've
started something, and,
well, I'm afraid that I'm
just gonna have to insist
we see it right towards the end.
I also think you need to put
that sandwich back in your bag.
Take it home for Anatoly.
Yes.
Before I eat it for him.
Thank you, Ben.
(printer whirring)
(bright music)
(keyboard clacking)
(printer whirring)
(bright music continues)
(printer whirring)
(bright music continues)
(Marina sighs)
(bright music continues)
(keyboard clacking)
Dear Mr. Putin,
my name is Marina Litvinenko.
I believe you to be responsible
for the murder of my husband.
I have shared this belief
with the British media,
and I have asked my prime minister
to authorize a public inquiry
so that you may be held to account.
In the words of my husband,
may God forgive you.
(dog barks)
(car approaches)
(cat growls)
(cat growls)
(footsteps tapping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(people chattering)
(clears throat)
Sorry, everybody.
(somber music continues)
Forgive me.
Thanks.
What are we doing this afternoon?
No, don't, don't answer that.
I'll tell you exactly
what we're doing.
I cannot understand why
the British government
needs to cover for
the people in Kremlin
responsible for the
murder of my husband.
After all, the government
is supposed to be interested
in finding out who is
responsible for the murder
of a British citizen in
the streets of London.
Now the decision is
up to Theresa May.
Jenny: Brent.
I call on her to
begin an investigation.
I want to ask her as
one woman to another,
how would she feel in my place
if her husband were
murdered in such a way?
Would she not want
to know the truth?
(newsreader) Our
correspondent, Julia Kremer,
is in Westminster.
(birds twittering)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps approaching)
(floorboards creaking)
Mum.
Mum!
(Anatoly sighs)
It's in the Ukraine.
They think it was
shot down by Russia.
Isn't that the kind of thing
we've been waiting for?
The thing they can't ignore?
(telephone ringing)
Hello?
(bright music)
So what, she's just coming over?
It's that like a,
like a Russian thing,
like with Australians?
You know, just invite
yourself round?
You don't need to tidy up.
She's not that sort
of person. She's nice.
(taxi rumbling)
(engine revving)
This morning,
Theresa May,
she decided.
yes,
we have inquiry.
I wanted to tell you, Brent,
before anyone else.
Straight away, I know
Brent needs to know this,
because Brent was the first
person at the hospital.
Yes.
Late at night.
Yes.
How many years ago now?
Eight years this year.
The first person to believe
my husband, to listen to us.
This is very big moment.
And you'll need everyone
on the police side
to take part in the
inquiry, I'm presuming?
Then that's what we'll do.
We're about to have some
food, Marina. Will you stay?
(water running)
(plates clanking)
Everything okay?
Brent,
for me and Anatoly,
this inquiry is easy.
We stand in public and we say
Vladimir Putin is murderer.
Because it is family.
For other people, this is
big risk.
You must think about the
things closest to you.
Marina
The people you love.
We're giving evidence,
we're giving it everything,
and we're doing it for you.
End of.
You will?
You just try and stop him.
(Marina laughs)
Marina, how are you feeling?
All right now.
Excuse us.
(reporters shouting)
All right, come on now.
That's enough. Excuse us.
(reporters shouting)
(somber music)
Bailiff: Rise.
(somber music continues)
Sir, my
client,
Mrs. Litvinenko,
as you know, has fought
long and hard to reach this,
the opening day of a public inquiry
into the assassination
of her husband in 2006.
That murder
was an act of unspeakable barbarism.
The significance of this
dreadful murder, though,
resonates far beyond those
immediately involved.
It is a matter of grave national
and international concern.
On his deathbed, Mr. Litvinenko
accused Vladimir Putin
of having ordered his assassination,
and we, sir, so on hearing all
the evidence out before you
that you will conclude
he was right about that.
(people murmuring)
(elevator dings)
(cellphone ringing)
Brent.
Hello, Jim.
Um, sorry to do this
out of the blue.
The original interview transcripts,
how do I get those?
It'll be summaries on the
database of Operation Wimble.
No, not the summaries.
The whole lot.
Jim: How soon d'you need it?
How soon can you get them?
(solicitor) Whenever
you're ready, I think.
(people chattering)
Mrs. Litvinenko, when
you first met your husband,
what did you understand
his job to be?
He was, uh, Special Unit,
FSB.
But he had concerns over
corruption within the FSB,
did he not,
to the point where
he submitted a report
to the head of the FSB?
That is correct.
Who was the head of
the FSB at that time?
Vladimir Putin.
Robin: Thank you
Mrs. Litvinenko, when he
reported those concerns,
did he think Mr. Putin
would act on them at all?
No.
Very soon Sasha realized that
Putin will not act
against these people.
No?
Why?
Because Putin knows these people.
He protect them, protect himself.
Putin was involved in these plots.
That was your husband's view.
Yes.
Sir Robert: Thank
you very much indeed.
(bright music)
Ben: Sir, the next witnesses
will be from the
Metropolitan Police,
members of SO15 Counter Terrorism,
and the detective who led the
murder investigation itself.
The polonium was found
in the Itsu restaurant,
where Lugovoy and Kovtun ate,
in the Millennium Hotel,
where they stayed,
in the Pine Bar, which they visited,
at the table where they sat,
in the teapot that they ordered,
in the spout of the
teapot that they ordered,
that was on the
table where they sat,
in both their hotel rooms,
in the U-bend of the basin
in Mr. Lugovoy's room,
and, um, oh, several
other sites across London,
too long to commit to memory.
Thank you-
Including the seats they sat in
on the flight they
flew in on from Moscow.
Thank you Mr. Timmons.
(brooding music)
Lugovoy was career KGB.
Mr. Litvinenko mentioned
that in his statement,
but we, of course, carried
out our own investigations,
and were able to verify that.
And if I may, it's worth
saying that, just this week,
Mr. Lugovoy was given a medal
for services to the motherland.
And you mention that
We just all thought it was
curious timing, that's all.
Robin: You interviewed
Mr. Lugovoy in December 2006?
Yes, that is correct.
Am I right in saying
there is no tape recording
of that interview?
I'm afraid that is also correct.
Robin: That is
unfortunate, is it not?
That would be an understatement.
Now, since you paused Mr. Tam,
may I ask
Mr. Tarpey,
is it right to say
that it's not the case
that there was no tape?
Yes, there was a physical tape.
There was a tape
provided by the Russians
that purported to
be of Mr. Lugovoy,
but which was later found to
be blank, or wiped, perhaps.
Yes, that is correct.
An important clarification, I think.
Mr. Hyatt, the interviews
that you conducted
with Mr. Litvinenko in hospital,
do you have the
transcripts with you there?
Now, for this section,
sir, unusually,
we will be educing evidence
relating to the death
of Mr. Litvinenko
from Mr. Litvinenko himself.
The suggestion is
that Mr. Hyatt read
some of his questions
aloud for the court
and that I shall read the
answers given by Mr. Litvinenko.
Starting then, Mr. Hyatt.
Um. (clears throat)
At the bottom of page 078,
I'm asking Sasha about the work
he was asked to do by the FSB.
"Your job was to kill.
That's what you're saying. Who?"
"Enemies of the Russian state.
They give me names.
They must be killed.
That is why I am here today."
"Because you killed?"
"Because I refuse.
This job is not human.
FSB is corrupt.
I want to tell
this to the world."
Then further on at 085,
I say to him,
"You became a target.
They sent someone
over to London."
Uh, Sasha agreed with that,
said he thought
someone had been sent
from Moscow to poison him.
Then my colleague, Jim Dawson, asks,
"Do you have any idea who
might have ordered this?"
"I know the man who
makes order for this,
the man who says I must die."
"You have a name?
Let's start with a name."
"His name,
Vladimir Putin."
(ominous music)
(rain pouring)
(thunder cracking)
(ominous music continues)
Sir Robert: Mr. Emmerson.
Sir, the final chapter
will come, of course,
when you deliver your report.
But the evidence here,
sir, is utterly objective,
utterly damning,
and it has the simplicity
of undeniable fact.
Polonium-210
is only manufactured
in Russia,
in a tightly-controlled
state facility
in Russia.
In the hands of Mr.
Lugovoy, Mr. Kovtun,
and Mr. Putin, therefore,
it's not simply a murder weapon
but also a calling card.
Mr. Emmerson, thank you.
(ominous music continues)
What Now?
Now we wait for his judgment.
To judge the judge.
Ben: Exactly.
(door opens)
(Marina groans)
(intercom ringing)
(ominous music)
Hello?
(ominous music continues)
Mum.
(door opens)
(ominous music continues)
(streetlamps buzzing)
You stop.
I will never stop.
(streetlamps buzzing)
(door slams)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
The inquiry has found
that Mr. Litvinenko
was deliberately poisoned
by Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun.
The inquiry has also found
that Lugovoy and Kovtun
were acting on behalf of others
when they poisoned
Mr. Litvinenko.
There is a strong probability
that they were acting
under the direction
of the Russian domestic
security service,
the Federal Security
Service, or FSB.
And the inquiry has found
that the FSB operation
to kill Mr. Litvinenko
was probably approved
by Mr. Patrushev,
the then head of the FSB,
and by President Putin.
(thunder rumbles)
- Hi.
- Hi.
Why?
What is this?
Why you hide this from me?
When are you due?
Any day now.
A little boy.
And, well,
we were hoping
Um, we were hoping,
if you'd be so kind,
as to give us your blessing, um,
to name him Sasha.
(Marina sobbing)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(birds twittering)
(traffic rumbling)
(birds twittering)
(birds twittering)
(birds twittering)
(bright music)
(copier beeps)
(copier whirring)
(keyboard clacking)
(printer whirring)
(people chattering)
(tape tearing)
Right.
Time to hand in your own work.
(bright music)
If you're wondering why
we're not emailing this
or pressing a button to make
some sort of computer submission,
it's because I want this
physically handed in.
200 people on this
job. 40,000 man hours.
Two strong suspects.
There's a weight of evidence here,
and I want 'em to feel that weight.
I want 'em to hold all your
hard work in their hands
before they make their decision.
It's the biggest job
of my career, this,
and I know it's the same for
many of you, so well done.
Now, we just need a volunteer
to take it round to CPS, please.
(bright music continues)
Marina?
It's in.
Now all we can do is wait.
(dosimeter clicking)
Improved by Sailor420
Hope you enjoy the sub-show
(car rumbling)
(brakes squeaking)
(birds twittering)
(door slams)
(birds twittering)
(vacuum cleaner whining)
(intercom ringing)
Anatoly:
.
.
Marina:
.
.
(console beeps)
(gate buzzes)
(footsteps approaching)
Marina:
.
.
Boris:
.
.
Boris:
.
.
Marina:
.
.
(brooding music)
Well, somebody
can't stay away. Look.
(telephone ringing)
What?
CPS have agreed to press charges,
and request extradition.
But you knew that already.
No.
Then, then why are you here?
Because Marina wants a meeting,
and she wants it at
her lawyer's place.
Why would Marina need a lawyer?
What my client would like
while the CPS considers its options
is a public inquest into
her husband's death.
She believes that an inquest
will maintain public awareness.
She believes it will
expedite matters.
She believes that
it will give us all,
and we include you in this,
a far better chance of
establishing Russian culpability.
Sorry.
She believes this or you do?
Louise Christian is
a human rights lawyer.
Very experienced.
She explained what we- To be clear,
my client does not need your
permission for any of this.
She's just making you aware.
Marina, we were going
to call you about this,
but given you wanted a meeting,
we agreed that it will be
better coming in person.
The CPS has decided to
press murder charges,
and to request extradition.
It's fantastic notes.
Yes, but it won't change anything.
Extradition won't follow.
Extradition will be requested
by the British Embassy directly.
Fine, but they're
not gonna get anywhere.
(scoffs) We don't know that.
Peter: No.
How did your detectives get
on when they were in Moscow?
I'm in the process
of finding a barrister
to represent my client.
Clive: You don't need to do that.
If by a miracle-
It confuses things.
extradition is granted-
It gets in the way.
then we can all reconvene.
Louise: That way we
will waste no more time.
What do you mean, more time?
Is that fair?
I address that to you, you
being the most senior, yes?
Look, you either trust in
the British justice system,
or you don't.
Honestly, I could trust in it more.
I'm not talking about you,
I'm talking about your client,
or Marina, as we tend to call her.
She asked us to do
a job. We did it.
We put colleagues' lives in danger,
and now we need to let it play out.
Stop!
It's like cats and dogs.
Here's an idea.
Whatever the decision
over extradition,
it shouldn't take more
than a few days to arrive.
The second it does,
we let Marina know.
From that moment on,
everyone around this table
agrees to support Marina
with an inquest or whatever
you choose to do next.
How does that sound
Thank you.
Clive: Peter?
Peter: You near a television?
Um
Yes.
Peter: It's called Russia TV.
Russia TV?
Right the way up.
If you get to the dirty
ones, you've gone too far.
Yeah.
(ominous music)
"Putin on Litvinenko:
'An insignificant target who the FSB
would not have
bothered murdering.'"
When are the embassy
asking for extradition?
Peter: This afternoon.
Pff. Talk about bad timing.
No, this, this isn't timing, Clive.
This is him giving
his answer in advance.
All you're watching
is televised fuck you.
(ominous music continues)
The Russians are not
going to allow extradition.
We heard about an hour ago.
I wanted to be the one to
tell you, face to face.
This is why we ask for a meeting.
We knew this would happen.
And
police work is finished.
A murder case is never closed.
You're working on this now?
Personally?
Clive working on this now?
Brent,
I
trust you
very much.
From beginning, all of you,
you try to catch this man,
but now it is
done.
If want to continue fighting-
Marina, I'm always
here if you need someone-
If?
to talk to.
If I want to continue fighting,
I fight on my own, yes?
(Brent exhales)
(Marina sobbing)
(door closes)
(streetlamps buzzing)
(ominous music)
(engine revving)
(dog barks)
(people yelling)
(ominous music continues)
Uh, Louise, I don't understand.
You are my lawyer.
I'm your solicitor.
But if there's an inquest,
we'll need a barrister, too.
There are a lot of
good ones in London.
He is one of the very best.
(intercom ringing)
(receptionist) Matrix.
Louise: Hello. Here
to see Ben Emmerson.
(receptionist)
One moment, please.
So, the question for
you is never gonna be,
is he good enough,
but, do I trust him,
and does this feel right?
(door lock buzzes)
(siren wailing)
Well, they'd have been
placed with the teapot.
That's excellent, but here's
the one that seals it for me,
the U-bend from Lugovoy's
sink, because I'm sorry,
polonium might do many things,
but it doesn't
cross-contaminate its way
into the U-bend of your sink.
You have to pour it there.
Now, this shows that these
are the men responsible.
Yes?
Well, when you factor
in all the rest of it,
unquestionably.
But, you know,
it is very important to say, Mrs. Litvinenko,
that if you and I are to
work together on this,
now, push for this inquest,
then our objective cannot be to show
these are the men that
killed your husband.
But I need to show this.
That's not our brief.
It is brief.
It's not the one I've been given.
May I show you?
Not that you won't
have seen it already.
This may be the time
to say one or two things
to the person responsible.
You may succeed in silencing me,
but the howl of protest
from around the world
will reverberate, Mr. Putin,
in your ears for the
rest of your life.
It's not what your
husband's asking us.
He wants us to lay this at
the door of Vladimir Putin.
That is the brief.
(bright music)
So if we do this,
and even though it might take
a considerable amount of time,
then that is what I
suggest we try and do.
(door shuts)
(bright music continues)
Before any inquest can begin,
the rules of the game
need to be established,
what is or or is not
admissible, and so on,
but none of what happens
here is gonna be a trial.
It's not us versus them.
It's a lot of stuffy
old lawyers like me
putting a lot of
things before a judge,
and it's for the
judge alone to decide.
To judge the judge.
Precisely. But first we need
to jump through some hoops.
Our preliminary assessment
does establish a prima facie case
as to the culpability
of the Russian state
in the death of
Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr. Emmerson.
Sir, may I thank the inquest team
for their preliminary report.
That there is a case for
Russian state responsibility
in the death of Mr. Litvinenko
is of course something
that my client has
been hoping to explore
since her husband made
clear to her whilst dying
that that was his own belief.
In which case, I will
look to confirm the date
on which we can begin
the substantive hearings.
(cheerful Christmas music)
Ben is very happy, very positive.
Everything take time, of course,
but Ben says there is good chance
to prove Russian responsibility
at highest level.
He keeps fighting.
You keep fighting.
Ben and I, well, we keep fighting.
What?
Oh,
nothing.
You said the name Ben three
times in the last minute.
(chuckles) What is wrong with that?
Alex: Nothing, nothing.
Stop.
This is very dangerous
situation for me.
Do you not see?
Yes.
I put all my hope
in this one man, in this one place.
(bright music)
(bright music continues)
Right.
Sorry.
Ready?
(door clacks)
Oscar:
.
.
(keys clattering)
Boss?
(ominous music)
Boss?
(ominous music continues)
Boss?
Boris!
Boss?
Boss?
(ominous music continues)
(Oscar grunts)
(door shatters)
(Oscar gasping)
(people chattering)
The, uh, the judge is going
to invite the government
to hold a public inquiry.
Now, that would mean
that the materials
they wanted hidden
will remain hidden,
but that he, crucial,
will get to see them,
and not just see them, take
them into consideration.
This is good?
Oh, it's a hell of a lot
better than it was at lunchtime.
Put it that way. All right.
You're Temple, I'm
Chancery Lane, so.
How long will this take?
Too long, probably, but then,
yeah, we knew that
it would, didn't we?
My knowing's half the battle.
(carillon tolling)
(rain pouring)
"Evening Standard."
(ominous music)
"Standard."
(ominous music continues)
(ominous music continues)
Taxi!
(ominous music continues)
He makes a series of
anti-Putin remarks, like Sasha,
and the next thing
you know, like Sasha,
he's found dead in
unexplained circumstances.
But not like Sasha in that
he had a scarf around his neck.
Bruising all on there.
Yeah, I'm not saying
that it's not suicide.
And the door was
locked from the inside.
I'm saying it's worth investigating.
You know what, Brent?
It's a simple job.
You get a brief, you get to work,
you make your submission
at CPS, or not, depending,
and you move on to the next one.
Staying emotionally attached-
Oh, you mean caring?
is not a strength.
Not in a way you think it is.
(cellphone ringing)
Sorry.
Oh, I, I've
I'm sorry.
(cellphone ringing continues)
(door opens)
Hi.
Okay.
Tell me.
(somber music)
I'm coming right now.
(somber music continues)
Just I (sighs)
feel like we keep running
into the same brick wall.
Yeah, but at least we get
to run into it together.
(somber music continues)
Thank you.
The UK has refused a request
to set up a public inquiry
to replace the
inquest into the death
of the former Russian
spy Alexander Litvinenko.
Mr. Litvinenko was poisoned
with radioactive polonium
in London in 2006.
A disappointing decision
then for the family today.
Six reasons from the home secretary
for why a public inquiry
is being refused,
including, risibly,
the admission that international
relations are a factor,
which, to translate into English
from the original bullshit,
means that trade opportunities
are more important to this
country than the life of,
of, of one of its citizens.
Maybe government knows
it was not actually Putin.
But it was actually Putin.
(Marina sobbing)
What Russian citizen would
dare do something like this
without his blessing?
But you know, Putin's
not the problem.
Well, he's not the only problem.
What today proves more than anything
is that we are taking on
an entire regime here,
one that is immoral, cowardly,
one that, yeah, it
answers to Putin's drum,
one that deludes
itself into believing
that it has an
international relevance
that it lost long ago.
But as of today, the
regime we are up against
isn't the Russian regime.
(ominous music)
It's the United Kingdom.
(garbage truck beeping)
(wind howling)
(leaves rustling)
(Marina humming)
(birds twittering)
He would. He definitely
would, if you can see it.
It's real, to be honest.
Oh, mate, your mum's here.
See ya, mate.
You smoke?
What?
Do not smoke, Anatoly.
Your sports like your father.
Well, sport's not exactly my thing.
How about helping your
mother with shopping?
Is this your thing?
Alex is coming later.
I was gonna take this to the
cemetery, but maybe tomorrow.
I can do it now.
Hmm. Okay.
(bright music)
(bright music continues)
(bright music continues)
Anatoly's school fees are settled.
The apartment is secured,
but there can be no more
money taken from the estate.
We certainly cannot afford
barristers like Ben Emmerson.
So,
that's it?
I just tell him it's
over, everything stop?
Sorry.
Okay, so, uh,
no more money.
We think of new way.
(clock ticking)
Marina,
it's been seven years.
Seven years.
(door shuts)
I think it's time for you to
ask yourself the question,
"What more can I do?"
(somber music)
The grave was covered in
moss and leaves and stuff,
but I took care of it.
You should never let
it get like that.
Thank you.
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
There are three things
we could be doing.
One, keep this in the public eye,
two, keep the police on side,
and three, wait.
Crucial.
Every time Putin does something,
influences an election,
annexes Georgia,
the pressure mounts,
and there'll come a point when
even the British government
can't be seen to look the other way.
And when that day comes,
that's when we strike.
You haven't touched your sandwich.
This morning, I, um,
visit Louise Christian.
I explain her,
I'm very scared.
From now on,
no more money.
Expensive barrister,
not possible.
So now you've come to see me?
You bought a sandwich
you don't even want,
and you wanna know what I think?
I think,
I think we're just gonna
have to carry on anyway,
is what I think.
You and I, we've
started something, and,
well, I'm afraid that I'm
just gonna have to insist
we see it right towards the end.
I also think you need to put
that sandwich back in your bag.
Take it home for Anatoly.
Yes.
Before I eat it for him.
Thank you, Ben.
(printer whirring)
(bright music)
(keyboard clacking)
(printer whirring)
(bright music continues)
(printer whirring)
(bright music continues)
(Marina sighs)
(bright music continues)
(keyboard clacking)
Dear Mr. Putin,
my name is Marina Litvinenko.
I believe you to be responsible
for the murder of my husband.
I have shared this belief
with the British media,
and I have asked my prime minister
to authorize a public inquiry
so that you may be held to account.
In the words of my husband,
may God forgive you.
(dog barks)
(car approaches)
(cat growls)
(cat growls)
(footsteps tapping)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(people chattering)
(clears throat)
Sorry, everybody.
(somber music continues)
Forgive me.
Thanks.
What are we doing this afternoon?
No, don't, don't answer that.
I'll tell you exactly
what we're doing.
I cannot understand why
the British government
needs to cover for
the people in Kremlin
responsible for the
murder of my husband.
After all, the government
is supposed to be interested
in finding out who is
responsible for the murder
of a British citizen in
the streets of London.
Now the decision is
up to Theresa May.
Jenny: Brent.
I call on her to
begin an investigation.
I want to ask her as
one woman to another,
how would she feel in my place
if her husband were
murdered in such a way?
Would she not want
to know the truth?
(newsreader) Our
correspondent, Julia Kremer,
is in Westminster.
(birds twittering)
(somber music continues)
(footsteps approaching)
(floorboards creaking)
Mum.
Mum!
(Anatoly sighs)
It's in the Ukraine.
They think it was
shot down by Russia.
Isn't that the kind of thing
we've been waiting for?
The thing they can't ignore?
(telephone ringing)
Hello?
(bright music)
So what, she's just coming over?
It's that like a,
like a Russian thing,
like with Australians?
You know, just invite
yourself round?
You don't need to tidy up.
She's not that sort
of person. She's nice.
(taxi rumbling)
(engine revving)
This morning,
Theresa May,
she decided.
yes,
we have inquiry.
I wanted to tell you, Brent,
before anyone else.
Straight away, I know
Brent needs to know this,
because Brent was the first
person at the hospital.
Yes.
Late at night.
Yes.
How many years ago now?
Eight years this year.
The first person to believe
my husband, to listen to us.
This is very big moment.
And you'll need everyone
on the police side
to take part in the
inquiry, I'm presuming?
Then that's what we'll do.
We're about to have some
food, Marina. Will you stay?
(water running)
(plates clanking)
Everything okay?
Brent,
for me and Anatoly,
this inquiry is easy.
We stand in public and we say
Vladimir Putin is murderer.
Because it is family.
For other people, this is
big risk.
You must think about the
things closest to you.
Marina
The people you love.
We're giving evidence,
we're giving it everything,
and we're doing it for you.
End of.
You will?
You just try and stop him.
(Marina laughs)
Marina, how are you feeling?
All right now.
Excuse us.
(reporters shouting)
All right, come on now.
That's enough. Excuse us.
(reporters shouting)
(somber music)
Bailiff: Rise.
(somber music continues)
Sir, my
client,
Mrs. Litvinenko,
as you know, has fought
long and hard to reach this,
the opening day of a public inquiry
into the assassination
of her husband in 2006.
That murder
was an act of unspeakable barbarism.
The significance of this
dreadful murder, though,
resonates far beyond those
immediately involved.
It is a matter of grave national
and international concern.
On his deathbed, Mr. Litvinenko
accused Vladimir Putin
of having ordered his assassination,
and we, sir, so on hearing all
the evidence out before you
that you will conclude
he was right about that.
(people murmuring)
(elevator dings)
(cellphone ringing)
Brent.
Hello, Jim.
Um, sorry to do this
out of the blue.
The original interview transcripts,
how do I get those?
It'll be summaries on the
database of Operation Wimble.
No, not the summaries.
The whole lot.
Jim: How soon d'you need it?
How soon can you get them?
(solicitor) Whenever
you're ready, I think.
(people chattering)
Mrs. Litvinenko, when
you first met your husband,
what did you understand
his job to be?
He was, uh, Special Unit,
FSB.
But he had concerns over
corruption within the FSB,
did he not,
to the point where
he submitted a report
to the head of the FSB?
That is correct.
Who was the head of
the FSB at that time?
Vladimir Putin.
Robin: Thank you
Mrs. Litvinenko, when he
reported those concerns,
did he think Mr. Putin
would act on them at all?
No.
Very soon Sasha realized that
Putin will not act
against these people.
No?
Why?
Because Putin knows these people.
He protect them, protect himself.
Putin was involved in these plots.
That was your husband's view.
Yes.
Sir Robert: Thank
you very much indeed.
(bright music)
Ben: Sir, the next witnesses
will be from the
Metropolitan Police,
members of SO15 Counter Terrorism,
and the detective who led the
murder investigation itself.
The polonium was found
in the Itsu restaurant,
where Lugovoy and Kovtun ate,
in the Millennium Hotel,
where they stayed,
in the Pine Bar, which they visited,
at the table where they sat,
in the teapot that they ordered,
in the spout of the
teapot that they ordered,
that was on the
table where they sat,
in both their hotel rooms,
in the U-bend of the basin
in Mr. Lugovoy's room,
and, um, oh, several
other sites across London,
too long to commit to memory.
Thank you-
Including the seats they sat in
on the flight they
flew in on from Moscow.
Thank you Mr. Timmons.
(brooding music)
Lugovoy was career KGB.
Mr. Litvinenko mentioned
that in his statement,
but we, of course, carried
out our own investigations,
and were able to verify that.
And if I may, it's worth
saying that, just this week,
Mr. Lugovoy was given a medal
for services to the motherland.
And you mention that
We just all thought it was
curious timing, that's all.
Robin: You interviewed
Mr. Lugovoy in December 2006?
Yes, that is correct.
Am I right in saying
there is no tape recording
of that interview?
I'm afraid that is also correct.
Robin: That is
unfortunate, is it not?
That would be an understatement.
Now, since you paused Mr. Tam,
may I ask
Mr. Tarpey,
is it right to say
that it's not the case
that there was no tape?
Yes, there was a physical tape.
There was a tape
provided by the Russians
that purported to
be of Mr. Lugovoy,
but which was later found to
be blank, or wiped, perhaps.
Yes, that is correct.
An important clarification, I think.
Mr. Hyatt, the interviews
that you conducted
with Mr. Litvinenko in hospital,
do you have the
transcripts with you there?
Now, for this section,
sir, unusually,
we will be educing evidence
relating to the death
of Mr. Litvinenko
from Mr. Litvinenko himself.
The suggestion is
that Mr. Hyatt read
some of his questions
aloud for the court
and that I shall read the
answers given by Mr. Litvinenko.
Starting then, Mr. Hyatt.
Um. (clears throat)
At the bottom of page 078,
I'm asking Sasha about the work
he was asked to do by the FSB.
"Your job was to kill.
That's what you're saying. Who?"
"Enemies of the Russian state.
They give me names.
They must be killed.
That is why I am here today."
"Because you killed?"
"Because I refuse.
This job is not human.
FSB is corrupt.
I want to tell
this to the world."
Then further on at 085,
I say to him,
"You became a target.
They sent someone
over to London."
Uh, Sasha agreed with that,
said he thought
someone had been sent
from Moscow to poison him.
Then my colleague, Jim Dawson, asks,
"Do you have any idea who
might have ordered this?"
"I know the man who
makes order for this,
the man who says I must die."
"You have a name?
Let's start with a name."
"His name,
Vladimir Putin."
(ominous music)
(rain pouring)
(thunder cracking)
(ominous music continues)
Sir Robert: Mr. Emmerson.
Sir, the final chapter
will come, of course,
when you deliver your report.
But the evidence here,
sir, is utterly objective,
utterly damning,
and it has the simplicity
of undeniable fact.
Polonium-210
is only manufactured
in Russia,
in a tightly-controlled
state facility
in Russia.
In the hands of Mr.
Lugovoy, Mr. Kovtun,
and Mr. Putin, therefore,
it's not simply a murder weapon
but also a calling card.
Mr. Emmerson, thank you.
(ominous music continues)
What Now?
Now we wait for his judgment.
To judge the judge.
Ben: Exactly.
(door opens)
(Marina groans)
(intercom ringing)
(ominous music)
Hello?
(ominous music continues)
Mum.
(door opens)
(ominous music continues)
(streetlamps buzzing)
You stop.
I will never stop.
(streetlamps buzzing)
(door slams)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
The inquiry has found
that Mr. Litvinenko
was deliberately poisoned
by Andrey Lugovoy and Dmitry Kovtun.
The inquiry has also found
that Lugovoy and Kovtun
were acting on behalf of others
when they poisoned
Mr. Litvinenko.
There is a strong probability
that they were acting
under the direction
of the Russian domestic
security service,
the Federal Security
Service, or FSB.
And the inquiry has found
that the FSB operation
to kill Mr. Litvinenko
was probably approved
by Mr. Patrushev,
the then head of the FSB,
and by President Putin.
(thunder rumbles)
- Hi.
- Hi.
Why?
What is this?
Why you hide this from me?
When are you due?
Any day now.
A little boy.
And, well,
we were hoping
Um, we were hoping,
if you'd be so kind,
as to give us your blessing, um,
to name him Sasha.
(Marina sobbing)
(somber music)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(somber music continues)
(birds twittering)
(traffic rumbling)
(birds twittering)
(birds twittering)
(birds twittering)
(bright music)