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Just put the gun down.
Just give it to me, Dexter.
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
You're late.
I know.
Briefing started 10 minutes ago.
- Hmm. - Did you find Dexter's file?
That's it.
That's the little...
Language.
Toerag.
Thank you.
What did the doctor say?
"No smoking." He said, "No smoking."
Thank you, Larry.
I knew we'd had him in before.
Starting when he was 10.
Theft, assault. No last known address.
No fixed abode.
- Not for the most part. - Up.
Sorry, Mrs Keating.
I'm working.
You said it was itchy.
Right here.
The farmer near Whittlesford.
Lived there with his aunt and uncle for a time.
It's worth a try.
Right. You heard the boss.
- CONSTABLE 1: Sir. - CONSTABLE 2: Aye, sir.
I'm nipping home.
No ciggies.
Geordie.
I nearly died.
Give me this one thing.
Police!
- Up there. - Sir.
Dexter Sutton. Where is he?
Not here. Wash our hands of that boy.
Could have asked before you bashed my door in!
UNCLE: So what's he done now?
LARRY: This.
- Nothing to do with us. - Barrister probably deserved it.
I wouldn't do that, son.
Unless you fancy losing your pearly whites.
He's not here, guv.
MAN: Like I said.
Tell Dexter we're coming for him.
He'll be quaking in his boots, I'm sure.
His name's Geordie, by the way.
The man he shot.
He has a wife and four kids.
Someone's paying for my door!
Can't do that for nothing.
GEORDIE: I had the dream again.
- That bloody dream. - Hmm.
Can't seem to shake it.
You know why, don't you?
Please, enlighten me.
You're having a crisis of faith.
Er... (SIGHS)
I don't know. I don't know if it's that exactly.
The angst, the self-recrimination.
Did you pray for me?
- No. - Well, there we go, then.
Well, there wasn't exactly time.
A vicar who's on good terms with God would have made time.
I prayed.
You never did.
Well, not prayed, exactly.
I just...
I hear the shot,
I'm lying there, thinking, "This is it."
These words are going round and round in my head.
Love the sinner. Hate the sin.
- Wow. - The three vicars
all trying to explain it to me.
And all I could think was,
"I still don't bloody get it."
- Well, it's simple. - Well, go on, then.
Whatever we do, we're all children of God.
We all deserve his forgiveness.
But you still punish the sin.
Of course.
But if you punish the sin,
aren't you still punishing the sinner?
Well, yes, but...
So you're not loving the sinner, are you?
You're saying you love him
all while shoving a noose around his neck
and watching him swing.
It's a bit more complicated than that.
I thought you said it was simple.
Okay, so...
England lose at football.
- To who? - I don't know. Hungary.
- Home or away? - Does that matter?
- Home. - How much did we lose by?
One, nil. But you still love England, don't you?
You still love them as a team. You still root for them.
- No. Unforgivable. - Geordie, come on.
Losing a game that we invented
on home turf, to Hungary?
It was a metaphor.
Even so.
If an old heathen like me can have godly thoughts,
you can, too.
Earl grey?
You brought the tea service.
Of course she brought the tea service.
Leonard.
We have the thing.
About the situation?
Oh, yes, of course. The, erm...
The thing.
What thing?
More to the point, what situation?
It's nothing.
Nothing of note.
Nothing, really, at all.
What is the thing, Leonard?
- (GULPS) - She'll get it out of you.
You know she will.
Marcus wants to see us.
About Raymond.
Don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing.
What do you think we're doing?
You know very well.
I haven't got a clue.
Marcus has asked me to be Raymond's legal guardian.
So... So, you and...
Oh.
Have you ever heard of anything more ridiculous
in your entire God-given life?
I think it's rather marvellous.
Jack Chapman, you take that right back.
It's better than the alternative.
There'll be a home. Raymond can go to a good home.
Not a family, though.
Two men isn't a family, Jack.
But it isn't just two men, is it?
I mean, it's two men
and you and me, and Alfie.
And the Keatings.
It's the people in the village. Old Mrs Salter from next door.
Mrs Salter is a sour-faced trout.
Maybe not Mrs Salter then.
You can teach him to cook.
I'll teach him golf and mediaeval history
and how to make a perfect Old Fashioned.
Grandpa and grandmama.
Grandmama? No, thank you very much.
You have no idea how much I love you, Jack Chapman.
I have an inkling.
Grampy Jack.
I like that.
I like that very much.
You off?
There's a thing.
About a situation.
And it will all end in disaster.
GEORDIE: Have you tried doing a round of the pubs?
Yeah. Dexter likes a bit of a drink by all accounts.
On it, boss.
Who brought that in here?
Don't look at me.
(LARRY SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER PHONE)
...we can try talking to the others.
CATHY: He's just had an operation, Alfie.
- He's his own worst enemy. - (CATHY SIGHS)
Cath.
Larry, naptime.
Love to the boys.
I tried to stop him.
He stabbed his aunt.
He wouldn't stop.
Alfie.
You'll find God again.
I know you will.
What was that for?
I'm sorry.
You have nothing to be sorry about.
Yes, I do. You know I do.
- Cathy. - No.
Just let me say it.
I was stupid.
Mr Switch made me feel appreciated.
I... I think that's what it was.
And glamorous.
And nothing happened.
- Cathy. - I swear.
- Cathy. - It was just silly.
It was... It was a silly fantasy.
I hope you can forgive me.
You don't pull the whole wall down
when there's a crack in the plaster, do you?
Someone very wise once told me that.
Who was that, then?
Well, the name escapes me now,
(SIGHS) but she's very beautiful.
And glamorous.
And clever.
Cleverest person I've ever met.
Geordie?
What's wrong?
Oh, my God!
Alfie!
Cathy?
Get help! Please, get a doctor.
ALFIE: We're here, Geordie.
You want me to pray for you?
Yeah.
Okay.
Go forth from this world
in the love of God, who created you...
Go forth from this world in the love of God
who created you.
In the mercy of Jesus Christ, who redeemed you.
- In the mercy of... - It was me.
Your dream.
It was me.
Geordie.
- Geordie. - Geordie?
Hey, Geordie!
Geordie! We need some help in here, please.
Out of the way, please. Quickly.
NURSE: Please step aside.
In the mercy of Jesus Christ, who redeemed you.
In the power of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens you.
May you dwell this day in peace.
(WHIMPERS)
ALFIE: I saw God once.
I was 10 or thereabouts.
Reverend Potts sat me down
and told me I had a new family.
I was going to a new home.
They'd always wanted a son, this couple,
and even though they were white, they thought they could make me
into the boy they'd always wanted.
But from that very first night, I could tell.
They knew they'd made a terrible mistake.
They didn't want me.
Knowing that,
seeing that,
well, it broke me a little bit.
And so I did something really stupid. I, er...
I took a necklace that was hers. I stole it.
Put it under my pillow.
Because if they were going to get rid of me,
I wanted to make damn sure they had a good reason.
And it worked.
They brought me back to the home.
No one ever told me why, but I knew.
I wasn't good enough, Geordie.
Not good enough to have a family.
Not good enough to be loved.
I knew from that moment on, I'd always be alone.
And that's when it happened.
I saw this...
This light. This...
This beautiful
white light all around me.
You know, it was warm
and gentle,
and all that pain,
all that loneliness and the anger, it just...
It went.
Just left me.
He spoke to me.
It doesn't matter now what he said,
but the upshot is,
now I'm not seeing him anymore.
I'm not seeing the light.
Please don't leave me, Geordie.
Please don't leave me.
I can't lose you, too.
(DOOR OPENS)
Mum?
Oh, Esme.
"I, Marcus Hayes..." That's him, not me.
Yes. We know.
"...being the lawful parent of Raymond Hayes,
"do hereby appoint Daniel Marlowe
"to be guardian of said child,
"and vest in him all such power,
"duties and responsibilities
"as are vested in a guardian under the law.
"Et cetera, et cetera."
I don't know what to say.
Don't say anything. Just sign it.
Wait, wait.
So, if Daniel signs this...
Congratulations. It's a boy.
Just like that. Just...
We are with child.
Not until he's carked it, of course.
No offence.
None taken.
Could you just... Do you mind if we just... (GRUNTS)
Deep breaths.
This all feels very sudden, don't you think?
Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel.
That was all a bit sudden, but, er, she didn't mind.
Jesus was a baby.
Raymond is a little person with thoughts and opinions.
What if he doesn't know about the birds and the bees?
I can't tell him. I barely know myself.
This is...
Impossible.
I'm a homosexual, Daniel.
I hope so.
Or I've wasted an awful lot of time.
And a criminal at that.
Every criminal deserves a second chance.
- Oh, nonsense. - You were the one who said that.
You built a whole business around it.
You and me
with a child.
It seems so very unlikely.
Says the man who believes in miracles.
When I came here, I had no one, I had nothing.
I liked books more than people.
I was terrified of people, to be honest.
But then I found a family, and love,
and you.
Perhaps that's enough.
You had no one. I had no one.
Soon Raymond will have no one.
We were all alone.
We all found each other, Leonard.
It's...
It's rather wonderful, really.
And the birds and the bees.
I know the basics.
Shall we?
He's done it again, Alfie.
Dexter.
UNCLE: I told him not to be stupid.
I told him to calm down,
but he won't listen. He never listens.
He's gonna keep hurting people.
He's not gonna stop.
You have to stop him.
It's funny, isn't it?
I've spent so long trying to prove myself,
show Geordie I've got what it takes.
I hardly know what to do with myself.
Yes, you do, Larry.
Do you think he's proud of me?
Of course he is.
He never said.
Geordie taught you everything.
You know exactly what to do.
Move that lot back. This is a crime scene,
- not a bleeding circus. - Sarge.
Where would Dexter go, Mr Browning?
I don't know.
He's not mine. He's my sister's.
Would he go to her, do you think?
She's dead. Years back.
What exactly happened, Mr Browning?
He turns up, three sheets to the wind.
He's got a temper on him at the best of times,
but he was... His eyes.
I'd never seen him so cold.
It was like he had the devil in him.
He crowed about it, you know.
About your wife.
About the copper. Made a joke of it.
Said he had half a mind to go down there
to the hospital, finish what he started.
Wake up, my love.
Please wake up.
We've got to get old together,
you and me,
walking along the meadow, arm in arm,
kids driving us to distraction.
You, sneaking a little kiss
when you think no one's watching.
I don't... I don't work without you, Geordie.
None of us work without you.
What will I do without him?
You'll cope.
That's what we do, isn't it?
Sometimes
I felt lonely,
you know, even with him by my side.
(SOBBING) But I had no idea
how lucky I was
to have someone
all of my own
to love and be loved.
When was the last time you ate?
Oh, I couldn't.
You have to keep your strength up.
There's a pub across the road. Sherry?
It's fortifying.
Ten minutes. That's all.
I think we can get suitably fortified
in 10 minutes.
- (WOMAN SCREAMS) - MAN: Bloody idiot!
LARRY: Police! Move!
Move!
I'll do it! I'll kill you, too!
Move!
ALFIE: Dexter, stop!
Larry.
(GRUNTS)
(GROANS)
ALFIE: Larry.
- Larry! Larry! - I got him.
I think I got him.
Thing is, Raymond, I think God
is calling me to come up to heaven.
Can you tell him you're not ready?
You don't keep God waiting if you can help it, do you?
I don't want you to go.
I know.
I don't want to be on my own.
We don't want that either.
So how about you come and live with us, Raymond?
We'd make the spare room up with cars...
- (DOOR OPENS) - ...and trains and whatnot.
- (DOOR CLOSES) - Oh, Lord.
I've had some thoughts.
And a few sherries.
Now is not the time.
I was on my own for a long time,
and I was terribly, terribly lonely.
There's nothing worse than loneliness.
So when the time comes,
we want you to know that we're waiting, Raymond,
and we'd be ever so pleased to be your family.
I know this is an awful lot to take in.
You must have an awful lot of questions about,
well, an awful lot of things.
Do you have any questions?
Can we get a dog?
- Yes. - No.
We don't know the first thing about dogs, Leonard.
- We cannot get a dog. - We will absolutely get a dog.
I don't see it.
I don't see the lights.
I don't think I ever did. Not really.
I was just trying to find meaning
where there was none.
You were never with me.
I was always alone.
I think I'm dying.
You hear me, you bastard?
I need help!
He ain't here. I'm telling you, he ain't here.
He do this?
UNCLE: Always was a bit touched.
I've done my best by him. We both did.
Jesus himself would have turned his back on the boy.
He left the gun.
What is that?
A prayer of some sort.
I thought you had a duty.
He was my friend.
He was a copper.
He was doing his job.
Still a copper.
He had kids, for God's sake.
I'd do it again, you know.
Get that smug bastard right in his face this time.
Boom. (LAUGHS)
You don't give a damn.
Yeah, why should I?
No one gave a damn about me!
Rotten, stinking world full of rotten, stinking people.
There's no miracles. No God.
We're born alone. We die alone.
Like that copper of yours.
Dad?
Esme.
(DOOR OPENS)
- ESME: Mum? - What?
- What? What is it? - Quickly. Come on.
Cathy.
You came back.
You came back to me.
Cathy.
You're just gonna leave me here?
Is that what you're gonna do?
Why did you come here?
What do you want from me?
Is it forgiveness?
Hmm?
Is that it?
Well, you have to, don't you?
You have to forgive me.
And then what?
You're absolved?
While the rest of us...
You... You took a life.
And you ripped my heart out in the process.
(CHUCKLES) You're as bad as the rest of them.
I...
I kept having this dream.
About praying.
Yeah.
Well, I thought it might be the start of something.
Like lights, like, er...
goodness.
But it wasn't the start of something.
It was the end of it.
Of all of it.
Of everything.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
Boss, it's me.
I'll go and get you some water, my love.
You had me going a while there.
- Dexter. - I'm sorry.
- Dexter. - We'll find him.
Don't worry.
I'm so sorry.
Where's Alfie?
He went home.
I hope you can forgive me.
And if you can't, God will, won't he?
That vicar.
He will, won't he?
What are you doing? Lie down. You're gonna hurt yourself.
He was sorry.
The boy was sorry.
ALIFE: Go forth from this world
in the love of God, who created you.
In the mercy of Jesus Christ who redeemed you.
In the power of the Holy Spirit who strengthens you.
Please don't let me die.
May you dwell this day in peace.
(DOOR OPENS)
Alfie.
Geordie.
Mmm.
- (GROANS) - Geordie.
Just let me tell you a story, Alfie.
There was a boy who nobody wanted.
He was passed from pillar to post.
He was all alone in this world.
No one loved him.
No one cared.
So he lashed out.
He stole to get attention.
Yeah, made himself mean and hard
because if no one was going to love him,
he'd sure as hell give them a reason not to.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
(DEXTER GROANS)
GEORDIE: Everything but the cardboard box
on the doorstep.
I'd spent my whole working life
trying to right people by punishing them.
Just clap them in handcuffs
the minute they walk over whatever terrible cliff
they've made of their lives.
But then I met Sydney.
And Will.
And you.
And I started to realise,
all of us walk off a cliff at some point in our lives.
All of us fall.
It's how we pick people up afterwards.
That's what matters.
How we help them to stand back up.
Love the sinner. Hate the sin.
What was it God said to you?
When you saw him.
"Even when I feel furthest from you,
"I am near."
How about that?
Kept it under his pillow.
I'm sorry.
I am sorry.
Forgive me.
Please forgive me.
(SIREN WAILING)
Help is on its way.
- It's overdue as is... - Let me stop you there.
Why?
I have a feeling I know what you're going to say.
I don't think you do.
You're going to say, "This is long overdue,
"as is this apology."
(CHUCKLES)
Yeah. I thought it would be charming.
Hmm.
Come on, it's a little bit charming.
A shilling.
You owe me a shilling for the fine.
What exactly are you apologising for, anyway?
All of it.
- For being... - Self-absorbed,
hot and cold, troubled, unavailable.
I'm not self-absorbed, am I?
Oh, God, am I self-absorbed?
And after the apology, what happens next?
I'd casually ask you for a drink.
Go on, then.
Now?
Well, you're here, aren't you?
(CLEARS THROAT)
Hey, Meg.
Yes, Alfie.
I don't suppose you fancy a drink.
Mmm. Very casual.
And after that?
Well, I was thinking along the lines of,
I don't know, marriage and babies.
I meant what, after the drink?
- Dancing. - Hmm.
- I like dancing. - Mmm-hmm.
Tomorrow then.
You still owe me a shilling.
(CHURCH BELL TOLLS)
Tomorrow, and I'll pick you up.
You're forgiven, by the way.
Marriage and babies, you say?
Imagine the look on your dad's face.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
You know who I blame? Sidney Beckett.
Who?
Used to be my vicars were on time,
punctual, not dilly dallying with girls.
Then they got into jazz and motor vehicles,
and it all went swiftly downhill.
We're not dilly dallying, by the way.
I think I'm going to marry her.
Straighten your hair.
You look like you've been run through a hedge backwards.
Welcome. Please.
Will the godparents step forward?
Are you crying?
It's dust.
You've been a big old softie this whole time.
Does thou, in the name of this child,
renounce the devil and all his works?
BOTH: I renounce them all.
Does thou believe in God, the Father Almighty,
- maker of Heaven and Earth? - (DOOR OPENS)
Sorry. Sorry.
DANIEL: He was doing his hair.
Excuse me for wanting to look nice.
I think you look lovely.
Thank you, Raymond.
Sorry. As you were.
Does thou believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of Heaven and Earth?
Daisy, I baptise thee in the name of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
ALL: Amen.
Sometimes we may wonder,
"Where is God?"
Even Jesus thought he had been forsaken.
But through Christ, God is always with us.
He speaks to us through the shapes of our lives.
He speaks to us in the celebrations
and the silences.
Through beginnings and endings.
Through meetings
and partings.
In the sunset
and the sunrise.
God is in the big sorrows.
And he's there in the little joys.
He's in the path of our lives through every twist and turn.
Sometimes we may worry
that we're going in the wrong direction
to an edge
we'll fall from.
But if we do fall,
God will be there to catch us.
Let us all promise to be there for Daisy
as she navigates the path of her life.
Let us be with her every step of the way,
as Christ will be
through faith, hope,
and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
- (DOG WHIMPERS) - What the...
- Dickens. - Melbourne.
LEONARD: Dostoevsky!
- (CATHY CHUCKLING) What? - Dostoevsky.
Mmm. Leonard's idea.
- I would never have guessed. - (CHUCKLES)
Love all of God's creations,
both the whole and every grain of sand.
We prefer Dusty.
- We really do. - (CHUCKLES)
(DOG BARKS)
Grampy Jack?
Yes, Ray Ray.
There's a rope swing over there. Would you push me?
Absolutely.
Absolutely not.
Those things are dangerous. They break.
Only bad things happen on rope swings.
(DOG BARKING)
JACK: Hang on.
What is that?
You're gonna spoil him rotten.
I do hope so.
Who's for tea?
- Mmm. - Mmm.
Who's for sherry?
- Yes. - (CATHY LAUGHS)
Good boy, Dusty.
Don't go overexerting yourself, Geordie Keating.
I'm watching you.
So, how's Meg?
Good.
Are you seeing her again?
Maybe.
- There was a kiss, wasn't there? - Maybe.
- You sly old dog. - (CHUCKLES)
- Did you try my line? - No, I did not try your line.
- It's a good line. - It's a terrible line, Geordie.
It's all in the way you say it.
Go on.
Hang on.
Just let me get myself in the mood. Hmm?
Are we in a library,
because I can't stop checking you out.
Awful.
- It's better than yours. - (CHUCKLES)
The whole apology thing.
ALFIE: Well, it worked, didn't it?
GEORDIE: We'll see.
Did you hear?
What?
Skeleton's gone missing from Peter House.
You're retired, Geordie.
I know I'm retired.
You chose to retire.
And I am enjoying every minute.
What, full pension, snooze in the afternoon.
ALFIE: Mmm.
Not a care in the world.
It's a dinosaur, the skeleton.
There we go.
Police have stopped looking into it.
Have they, now?
Mmm. Not worth the time, apparently.
Hmm. Well, they have a lot on their plate.
- You know, maybe we could... - We could what?
Just discuss it over a few pints.
For old time's sake.
What do you reckon?
You're buying.
Backgammon?
Since when have we ever played backgammon?
It's the game, Alfie.
It's the game.