This programme contains adult themes,
references to suicide and assisted dying,
violence and scenes some viewers may find distressing.
SIGHS
FOOTSTEPS
DOOR OPENS
# Oh, yeah
# She's an old-time ambassador
# Of sweet talking, night walking games
# Oh and she's known in the darkest clubs
# For pushing ahead of the dames
# If she says she can do it
# Then she can do it, she don't make false claims
# But she's a queen and such a queen
# Such a laughter is sucked in their brains
# Now she's leading him on
# And she'll lay him right down
# Yes, she's leading him on
# And she'll lay him right down
# But it could have been me
# Yes, it could have been me
# Why didn't I say? Why didn't I say?
# No, no, no
# She's so swishy in her satin and tat
# In her frock coat and bipperty-bopperty hat
# Oh, God, I could do better than that. #
# To Him I called
# He to my rescue came
# The hosts of God encamp around
# The dwellings... #
Oh, hello.
# Of the just
# Deliverance He. #
Dennis Albert Wilkins.
Dennis.
Den.
Den was born in Bristol in 1944.
He was the third of four children
and was by all accounts, "the quiet one."
And Den's life was a quiet one, too.
School, the Scouts,
that was just Den.
Den joined in and played his part, always...
Dennis. It's Dennis, it was never Den.
Oh. I'm so sorry.
It's fine, just Dennis, please.
Of course.
Dennis was apprenticed into
the purchasing department of Lewis'.
MUFFLED LAUGHTER He was only young,
very soon he rose in the ranks.
BELL TOLLS
We meet in the name of Jesus Christ,
who died and was raised by the glory of God the Father...
SIGHS
TRICKLING
Don't mind me.
Oh, shit!
Nothing I haven't seen before.
Prostate.
I have to go every 20 minutes, what's your excuse?
I can't do the grave bit.
The soil hitting the lid.
Give me cremation any day. HE CHUCKLES
It's good to see you, Ken.
How long has it been?
Must be, what, 15, 20 even. Don't.
You know those things aren't good for you?
These? Mm-hm.
That's what I've read.
On the bright side, the pub looks decent.
Ahh...
Oh, come on. It'll be fun.
Tea?
Gin and tonic, please.
Tanqueray, Hendrick's, Sipsmith?
Pipehouse, Hayman's, Victory?
Just...a large one.
And for you, sir? Er, orange juice, please, thank you.
Oh, no, you don't! HE LAUGHS
Tom. Two pints of your best bitter, please.
Oh, no-no-no-no, I...
Well, how often do we all get together? Not often.
Never is how often. This could easily be the last time.
Don't say that!
We're going to give him a proper send-off.
Two scotches with the pints, and...another large gin there.
TOM CHUCKLES
When did you last see him?
I'm ashamed to say. Years.
Me, two weeks ago.
How was he?
It wasn't him by then.
It was cancer cells versus cancer drugs.
They had to lift him to...wipe him.
You could see his bones beneath his skin.
You wouldn't let your dog suffer like that.
If I get anywhere near that, please, take me out the back and shoot me.
What are friends for? THEY LAUGH
Hey, Ken could do it for all of us,
with his SAS training.
I wasn't SAS. Engineers.
That's what you would say if you were SAS.
I mean, how did they let you in? Captain America to the rescue.
Ken's mum was as British as you are.
I'm only teasing!
Tom, what did our old mum used to say?
"If you can't say anything nice..." "..don't say anything at all."
World Snooker Final, 1980.
Quickly, who played in that final?
No, no, no, no. Ken?
Uh... I don't know.
Phil? Tom? Alex "Hurricane" Higgins and...
Cliff Thorburn. Canadian, bushy moustache.
Yes. Hmm?
So what?
Everybody remembers that final. Bank Holiday Monday, newsflash.
"We're interrupting this programme to bring you breaking news."
The Iranian Embassy siege.
We're all glued to the snooker,
you're taking out terrorists
with your SAS mates. HE CHUCKLES
Or someone who looked very like you.
It's good to see you again, David.
LAUGHTER Thank you very much.
DRUMMING ON TABLE
The man indeed.
Somebody get a picture of this for posterity.
David buying a round.
No, to be serious, just-just for one minute,
could it be done? Could we not help each other,
when the time comes, make a more elegant exit?
You're not still on this, are you?
Don't be so morbid.
You'd need a really good pre-med. Get properly mellow.
David could prescribe it.
I wrote my last prescription a decade ago.
But why not? Really?
Because you'd never get away with it, that's why not.
"Old person dies." Not exactly headline news.
People get away with it every day.
I could take you now to the houses of people who got away with it.
Oh, that was then. I mean, with respect,
the forensics these days, it's moved on since your day, Phil.
Oh, yes, the beautiful pathologist deduces the whole thing from
a molecule. You watch too much TV.
We do watch a lot of television.
Well, you do, Marion. Speak for yourself.
Detectives. True crimes. Anything with a psychopath.
Oh, what about mobile phones? CCTV?
So do it where there's no CCTV.
All the forensics in the world can do nothing with
a truly random act.
37 years of policing taught me that.
But it would still have to be done.
You know, done-done. Ken?
Great. Ken can bump us off.
Phil can cover it up. Sorted.
THEY LAUGH
MUSIC: The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies
INDISTINCT CONVERSATION LAUGHTER
ALL: # All I need is the air that I bre-e-e-e-athe! #
BELL RINGS
BARMAID: Time, ladies and gents, please. That's time.
We're residents, doesn't apply to us.
Give me your tie, David.
Ken. What?
Ties, gentlemen, please.
I asked how the pub got its name.
The True Lover's Knot.
Legend has it that the landlord's daughter fell in love
with a shepherd boy. Ah.
The landlord was dead against it,
he said it could never be.
So the young couple,
broken-hearted, hanged themselves...
THEY GROAN
..from a mulberry tree.
They took their own lives so they could be together, forever.
Ah. Romantic, isn't it? The True Lover's Knot.
It means love, faithful even beyond death.
We all have to promise.
Give me your hands.
# You need hands to hold. #
You're drunk, David!
And you're ugly, Marion, but in the morning I'll be sober.
David! It's Churchill! I'm quoting Winston Churchill.
We all need to promise.
To swear, that if the call comes,
if any of us need it, we'll step up.
Help each other across the threshold.
We'll do it out of love.
True love!
True love! ALL: True love.
LAUGHTER
Ooh. Mind your head, everyone. Oh!
HE HUMS
Goodnight, Phil.
Goodnight, Marion.
Night, Ken. Goodnight!
You coming in for a nightcap?
You have a minibar? I don't have a minibar.
Oh.
I don't know, Phil.
What don't you know?
I might have to sleep on the floor if you don't have
an orthopaedic mattress.
I don't care where you sleep.
I've lost my room key.
To be honest I think I've had too much to drink.
Oh, found it! HE LAUGHS
Oh, dear!
DOOR OPENS, CLOSES
Goodnight, Ken.
Night, Phil.
BIRDS CHIRP
SHEEP BLEAT
SIGHS
Oh, Christ!
# I pulled into Nazareth
# I was feelin' 'bout a half past dead
# I just need some place
# Where I can lay my head
# Hey, mister, can you tell me
# Where a girl might find a bed? # POLICE SIREN
Oh, shit.
# And no was all he said
# Take a load off, Fannie
# Take a load for free
# Take a load off, Fannie
# Then hey-yeah-yeah
# Put the weight on me. #
Oh.
Good morning.
Morning, madam. Trouble taking off?
Was I maybe going too, er, fast?
Sorry, I've got to get back to see my grandchildren.
Hmm, had you been celebrating something?
We buried an old friend yesterday.
I'm sorry.
Thank you.
You maybe had something to drink?
This morning? Not so much as a cup of coffee.
And last night?
Yeah, just one long... Keep blowing.
Keep...blowing. Keep blowing.
I'm 72. Don't have much breath left.
Didn't get it. It needs to reset.
You're Dorset Police? Mm-hm.
How's Ed Cavender? Still Chief Constable?
A bit before my time.
Kate Wilkins?
She must be pretty senior there now.
Ready for you.
Look, you should never, ever
Google yourself, but...
..here.
Well, take a look.
Philippa Leach.
Deputy Chief Constable, Severn District, 1996-2009.
First woman to make that rank.
Should have been Chief but the boys' club kept me out.
I joined before the Sex Discrimination Act.
We weren't even allowed to drive a Panda car.
What's a Panda car?
How's this gonna play at the station?
Blue on blue?
OFFICER SCOFFS
Please?
Is there someone that can come and get you?
Yes, absolutely!
But like now, cos they monitor our movements. GPS.
Yes. Thank you.
Good call. Great call!
Just get on with it.
You're a life-saver.
I was halfway through a full English.
We thought you were still in bed.
Couldn't face the postmortem.
Well, I've felt better.
Listen, I'm sorry about last night.
I, um...
..shouldn't have.
I was drunk. Obviously.
Well, I wasn't far behind you.
Well...
..don't leave it so long next time.
Where are you going?
Home.
You can't get back in the car.
Who's going to stop an old lady driving within the speed limit?
I can't let you do that.
Bacon roll, cup of tea and you're on your way.
Non-negotiable.
I haven't had one of these since...John Major.
HE LAUGHS
That's Albert, he's six.
That's Alex, Alexandra, she's just nine.
Those old names are coming back, huh?
You got any of these creatures yet?
I've got one on the way.
My son's wife is expecting.
Lovely for you.
I'm not really in their lives.
I send gifts, though.
You can always reset.
It's never too late. HE LAUGHS WEAKLY
You've got something on your, um...
Here.
See you at the next funeral.
Unless it's yours.
Or yours.
Hi!
Hiya. I'm in here.
How were the kids?
They were great. They missed you.
Oh, you little minx!
Got you something.
Have I been good or have you been bad?
Both. We had far too much to drink.
How was the funeral?
He was dead, we buried him.
Who was there?
David and Marion. Tom. The old gang.
Ken Holding?
Mm-hm. He was.
Marion's getting increasingly vague.
She's always been vague.
Sorry, in the middle of a rather spicy hand.
Who are you playing with?
Marcia from Albuquerque.
She rides roughshod over conventions.
Oh, that's outrageous!
She always does this.
Hi, er, Barbara. There he is!
Monty boy! How was he?
Good as gold.
Can I have him when you pop your clogs?
KEN CHUCKLES Well, if I go first.
You will. Women go on forever.
Right.
Erm...thank you.
Any time. And not just Monty.
You know where I am.
Two bedrooms, a conservatory. Oh, it's got a garage.
Hmm.
I'll get that. No, can we just stay with this,
while we're all here.
Look, this one's nice.
A bungalow is a bungalow.
Well, what more do we actually need at our age?
Need? I like this house.
Us downsizing is the best chance for Kate
to get back on the property ladder.
While we slide down it.
Yeah, it's not for me, Mum, it's for the kids.
So? Maybe give the marriage another go.
Isn't that what we did?
Is it?
Apart from blasting into space,
divorce is the most expensive thing you can do.
Yeah, we've been through this, Mum.
Everybody knows. It goes bungalow, hospice...
..crematorium.
I'm going to get the post.
Oh, God.
GASPS
Do you think I could have a glance at the post before you bin it?
It's all junk.
I ordered this river cruising brochure.
We all know what you're doing out here, it's not a secret.
Maybe let me do it, then?
It's bad for you.
What possible difference can it make at this point?
Well, because we love you
and we want you around for as long as possible.
Will you come back in and look at bungalows?
I've made some coffee.
So, what do you think?
Dementia? Heart disease?
It's got to be the big C, hasn't it?
Fiver says dementia.
He's not seriously...?
We just can't play God.
Only God gets to play God.
Just a pity he isn't better at it.
Oh, Jesus.
The banal facts are I've had a diagnosis.
Lymph. Liver. Pancreas.
"The full English," one of the doctors called it.
We laughed.
I'm so sorry, Tom.
Don't be!
If you'd told me when we were kids that at 75
I'd be living by the sea, sailing every week,
I'd have shaken your hand there and then.
Wouldn't you, Ken?
I would.
I've been very lucky.
I just need to avoid the wretched denouement.
Hospital. Hospice. No thanks.
What about...Switzerland?
A Zurich suburb surrounded by strangers?
When it could be friends.
Do you think you might be rushing things?
I've got a month or two left, and that's it.
Well, I'm not talking about a cure
but palliative care's so much better these days.
I won't go like Dennis!
I just can't do that.
So...help me.
Tom.
We can't.
It's a lot to ask. I do know that.
But I also know you can do it.
You two could do anything.
And I...I promise to be good for you.
I was even hoping it might be...elegant.
Beautiful even.
There's no-one I'd rather be with.
You're my oldest friends.
Tom, I'm sorry.
I don't want your pity!
I want your help.
Truelove...
Truelove!
It was late. We were drinking.
It's...something you say.
TOM SLAMS TABLE Blast it!
Tom! Lovely seeing you as ever.
Tom. Keep in touch.
Tom, wait!
KEN SIGHS
See you, then.
When?
Down here I guess, when Tom...
Call me.
I will. No, you won't.
You don't have to wait for someone to die, you know.
You can just...call me.
A bet's a bet.
TYRES SCREECH
CHUCKLES
# Love calls like the wild birds
# It's another day
# A spring wind blew my list of
# Things to do away
# My friends are getting older
# So I guess I must be too
# Without their loving kindness
# I don't know what I'd do
# Oh, the wine bottle's half empty
# The money's all spent
# And we're a cross between our parents
# And hippies in a tent
# Love calls like the wild birds
# It's another day
# A spring wind blew my list of things to do...
# ..away. #
MICROWAVE HUMS
DOG WHINES, MICROWAVE PINGS
ROPE CREAKS
£6 an hour in a hospital car park!
Sorry.
Oh, hi.
How is he?
Well...
VOICE BREAKING: ..not good.
It's all right. Sorry!
Come on, let's get you a cup of tea. OK.
Not good.
Ready for this?
No.
You look dapper!
Very Noel Coward.
The cravat was Marion's idea.
How are you?
Never better. Absolutely tiptop.
I'm on suicide watch
and "do not resuscitate."
GIGGLES The little ironies.
KNOCK ON DOOR That's Janice.
My counsellor.
We have to have a session every day.
Janice tells me I won't get the rainbow without the rain.
I'm sure there'll be many, many other gems like that.
Tom... Please, Phil, Ken.
All I'm saying is walk it through with me.
I've got it all planned out.
We'll do it out on the boat, Bristol Channel.
Come down for a recce.
A dress rehearsal.
Only if you're completely happy with everything.
Only then.
Please!
If you ever loved me.
You're not thinking about this?
How can you not?
You saw him.
Just theoretically.
I spent my working life looking for
the traces people leave behind when they do things.
Could I do something...
..and leave no trace?
Could you?
There's no CCTV at sea.
But...say I can do my bit,
the thing itself would still have to be...
..done.
Could you do that?
Have you?
As a soldier.
A long time ago.
We're not talking about this.
Course not.
But...what's the harm in just walking it through for him?
Day on the water.
Old friends just...being old friends.
I'll see you later. Good luck.
Might be a bit late if we get through to the final.
Play well. What are you doing?
Hair appointment. Oh, lovely.
Bye. DOOR CLOSES
You look the part.
We said dress rehearsal, Ken.
So, we'll meet here,
a couple of miles out from shore
but still well shy of shipping lanes.
How are you with coordinates?
Fine on land.
Exactly the same at sea. Here are the keys.
The mooring number's on them. I've checked it,
filled the tanks, everything's shipshape.
Whose boat is it?
An old friend's. He won't be using it.
Can we be sure of that?
He's been in a care home for the past four years.
I look after his boat.
Obviously, come the day we'll meet here
but today's more relaxed.
I've got the picnic packed. THEY LAUGH
You don't have any allergies, do you? Haven't gone vegan on me?
Omnivore. Same.
We're very lucky.
It's a perfect day.
This is it.
Permission to come aboard.
Permission granted!
Would you venture a Scotch egg?
KEN LAUGHS
And now, for an old seadog's trick.
Oh!
THEY LAUGH
The perfect temperature.
There you go.
A toast.
Truelove.
Couldn't be more perfect.
Couldn't be happier.
Still beautiful, the old place.
"This precious stone...
"..set in the silver sea."
Anybody?
John of Gaunt. Richard II.
Very good.
"This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."
English A-level. 1968.
What did you get?
An A. Of course you did.
Look at you two.
You really ought to have been together, you know.
Oh, stop, Tom.
Embarrassing, isn't it? The truth.
Still should be.
Still could be.
Well, I've said my piece.
Let's show you how this is done.
You drop the sail like this, there, and you tie the boom.
Now, for a bit of insurance,
I'd say a round turn and two half hitches should suffice.
Could you be so... Please.
TOM PANTS
A little tighter, that's it.
Now we open the seacocks.
Tom... Sometimes they're a little stiff, these.
Tom, no, no. You don't need to do that.
Then we say farewell. So come here, both of you.
The water, Tom!
I'm ready now. Do it now. Please.
It's the recce, Tom. The dress rehearsal.
No, it's not. This is it. It is the real thing.
No, no, no. Everything's gone perfectly, hasn't it?
Tom, just wait. If you don't do it now, you never will!
We will. We'll take it back, we'll iron some things out.
For Christ's sake, Ken!
I don't care how, just do it quickly.
We promise you that we will.
This, is it. This is what we've been planning for.
Please, Ken. Phil, please.
Truelove. Truelove!
Thank you. Thank you, both.
Yes. It's OK. It's OK.
TOM GASPS
KEN PANTS
Subtitles by Red Bee Media