This country's gone down the pan. I'll tell you why.
I was quite enjoying the silence, you know.
People used to respect each other. Kids respected adults.
No, they didn't.
- Criminals respected coppers. - Give me one example.
I blame that fellow, with the pelvis. What's his name?
- Elvis. - All that thrusting.
His name rhymes with pelvis.
- And the grinding! - How do you not remember that?
In front of the kids as well.
- I miss the old days. - Which bit?
The wars? The bombs? The abject misery?
- At least you knew your neighbours. - The ones that weren't dead.
It's not the same any more.
That's all I'm saying.
That's him, Geordie.
Jim Parsons.
I'm arresting you for theft and grievous bodily...
All right, let's not play silly buggers.
Leave him.
Sidney! Leave him.
Ooh!
What did I say?
Something about a pelvis?
You've got to stop doing this. Are you listening to me?
No more bloody heroics.
*CREDITS*
Would you open your books to hymn number seven?
Christ Whose Glory Fills The Skies.
Item number five.
- A very grave matter. - A very grave matter indeed.
Mould in the vestry.
Hymn number 520,
Love Divine All Loves Excelling.
Baking soda, water and a vigorous scrubbing with a sturdy brush.
Vigorous... scrubbing.
I suppose that would work, Mrs Chapman,
if you're not averse to corroding the stonework.
Hymn number 573.
I suggest two parts vinegar,
and three parts water.
Buff robustly
- with a soft cloth. - Buff... robustly.
I suppose vinegar would be acceptable, Mrs Bennett,
if you weren't adverse to the House of our Lord
reeking like a chip shop.
Item number six, a very serious matter.
A very serious matter indeed.
The church fete.
I suggest we give it a good deal of thought.
I would go further, Mrs Bennett,
and say we give it considerable thought.
Make a note of that, if you would, Leonard.
I was ready to poke their eyes out with a pencil.
I was ready to poke my own eyes out with a pencil
just to make it remotely tolerable.
- It is part of your job, Sidney. - Considerable thought?
It's a fete!
- It's exactly the same every year. - Well, I rather enjoy it.
You read Dostoevsky for fun.
What's this talk about again?
Religion's role in the civil rights struggle.
Wouldn't you rather go to the pictures?
You're always telling me I lack inspiration.
What could be more inspiring?
The King And I.
I hear Deborah Carr's wonderful.
More men of God. You're crawling out of the woodwork today.
It's the lure of a free buffet.
- How are you, Professor Barkley? - Good.
For Reverend Todd's organisation. All donations gratefully received.
We've attracted a pious bunch. It's dull as tombs in there.
- Go and lighten things up, would you? - We'll do our best.
Darling, drink for these gentlemen.
Yes. Follow me, please.
I was saving that penny for an iced bun.
Oh, stop moaning.
Leonard.
Will!
- Good to see you. - Word of warning.
If they're not wearing a dog collar, they're a theology student.
I just spent the last 20 minutes avoiding eye contact.
Sidney.
This is Will Davenport, chaplain at Corpus.
Ah, how do you do?
- I owe you a debt of gratitude. - Really?
Well, the Dean thinks that I'm a liability.
But apparently you were worse, so thank you for sharing the burden.
You're more than welcome.
Ah, that's him. Reverend Nathaniel Todd.
Good morning. Nice to meet you.
Hello.
I'm Violet. Nice to meet you.
Just beautiful.
They are paste, all kinds of paste.
Fish, meat.
Bet you're disappointed you came in here now, huh?
Oh, I didn't come in here for the sandwiches.
You looked like you could do with the company.
- I'm fine. - You were talking to a painting.
I was...
communing with it.
It's older than my entire country.
- Not quite. - Give or take a few years.
Try a hundred.
Paste and pedantry.
You Brits have it all.
Would you not even consider, sir...
I think it makes us look like cowards, Mr Deveaux.
With all due respect, sir, who cares how it looks?
Papa, please, just think about it.
I came here to speak and that is what I shall do.
- Letty. - Yes, Papa.
Don't trust 'em!
Go back to where you came from!
Keep Britain white!
Go home, Todd!
Good afternoon. It's my great privilege
to introduce our guest today,
here on the first leg of a fund-raising tour
from Richmond, Alabama.
An activist, an orator,
and now a friend,
Reverend Nathaniel Todd.
Thank you, Henry.
I am no activist.
I'm no orator.
I'm simply a man of God.
Last year,
a negro boy in my town,
14 years of age,
was lynched
by a group of white men.
Why?
Because he had the audacity to buy a white girl a soda.
That night, people came to my church.
They came to pray.
Because when you are persecuted...
..when you are victimised,
when there is no-one else to turn to,
who do you turn to?
God.
Amen.
And the hand of the Lord was with them.
It is God who has brought me here today.
It is God who has brought you here.
We are all God's children.
...shall be to his brethren, and the Lord set a mark upon Cain!
- Sit down, sir. - You have no right to speak here.
- Sit down, Gregory. - He has no right to speak!
- Sit down. - You want the Negro to rule.
- Get him out. - The Negro will never rule!
Sit down before I make you sit down!
Charles, you leave it now.
Go home, Todd!
Let's go.
Sidney!
Bloody racists!
- We shouldn't have come here. - I knew we shouldn't have come here.
- They were fireworks. - They're fireworks.
Charles.
Charles?
Let me see, let me see.
- Oh, God. - Charles!
Help him!
Hold on, son. Stay with us now.
- Somebody get help! - Look at me. Charles.
Hold on.
Charles, look at us now. Stay with us now.
- You're gonna be all right. - Stay with me.
Look at us now. Hold on.
- Find a knife? - Not yet, guv. Sorry.
For God's sake, have some bloody respect.
- Did you see what happened? - I was just trying not to die.
That makes a change.
I lost my shoe.
Guv, the black man won't let us move him.
He's making a right song and dance.
OK, we need to move him now, sir.
Let them see what they did to him.
Let them see!
Go home, Todd.
- Go, go, move. - We don't want you here.
Move!
- Get the body out of here. - Yes, guv.
- Get in the van. - You're making us look like criminals.
I don't care. Get in. I cannot guarantee your safety.
We feel a lot safer out here
than we ever would in there. Come on.
Why ain't you speaking to that boy? The one shouting his mouth off.
Gregory Jones.
He's a rather opinionated student of mine.
He's a vile bigot.
He's a first year who's listened to too much Mosley.
We'll talk to him, don't worry.
But we do worry, officer.
Why was your son afraid, Mr Todd?
He wanted you to cancel the talk.
The reverend's had one a day since we got here.
The Phineas Society.
"If you speak today, know that...
"Jephthah's fate shall be your own."
What happened to Jephthah?
His daughter was killed.
May I have a bowl of water, please?
You can't touch him.
I bathed him on his first day in this world.
I shall bathe him on his last.
The Phineas Society?
Who's Phineas?
He killed an Israelite man and a Midianite woman
to punish them for intermingling.
Sounds like a barrel of laughs.
- You wrote these letters? - They're treatises.
Does it salve your feelings of inadequacy,
spilling out this hate?
Who else is in this society of yours?
There are many of us. We are everywhere.
- Names? - Secret society.
An organisation whose members are sworn to secrecy.
We've got enough to charge him.
- You're bluffing. - You made death threats, Gregory.
- They're not death threats, they're... - Treatises.
He hath made of one blood all nations of men
to dwell on all the face of the Earth
and the bounds of their habitation that they might seek...
I've got officers outside. I'd like to put another one in the house.
To guard them or keep an eye on them?
Miss Todd was mentioned in those letters.
Till we've accounted for all members of this Phineas Society...
It's decided. Mr Deveaux will accompany my daughter home.
She leaves tomorrow.
No-one's going anywhere.
Not till this is sorted.
I cannot lose both my children, sir.
Then you let me put another one of my men in here.
I'll stay.
I'll stay if you want me to.
Thank you, Reverend.
When we were first married, Henry would introduce me as his rani.
What does it mean?
Queen.
People assumed it meant "maid",
or worse, "concubine".
They couldn't comprehend
- that we were in love. - Madiah.
Excuse me.
Geordie, the policeman,
he's a friend of mine.
He's a police officer.
Even so, he's not the kind to discriminate.
He's a police officer.
He'll blame us soon enough.
I thought it'd be different here.
I thought it'd be a little brighter.
A little more hopeful.
Our first night here,
people were so welcoming, so kind.
We danced.
And we laughed.
At least you know where you stand in Alabama.
At least you know they hate you.
Come and dance.
What, to this claptrap?
- You're such a square. - You know where you are with a square.
Es, set the table.
Come on, Daddy.
Come on. Spin her.
Spin her.
Is everybody still breathing?
Oh, thank Christ for that.
- There's someone up here. - Should I get the officer?
- No. - In there.
- You know Dotty. - No.
Oh, yes, you do. From Haberdashery.
She says to me, there's a shoplifter doing the rounds.
So I say to Pauline from Undies...
- I don't know who Pauline is. - ...let's set a trap.
So we put out a tray of tie pins by Maureen's counter.
- You know Maureen. - No.
She was loving it.
Since when were my wages not enough, Cathy?
I'm not having this conversation again, Geordie.
Hello.
Whose room is this?
Miss Todd's.
We need to get her out of here.
The young lady is in...?
She's in my room.
The vicar and the other chap?
- They're in here. - So where are you?
I'm in Leonard's room.
- Where the Dickens is Leonard? - At Daniel's.
It's cos Daniel's away.
Fishing.
So I'll have the house to myself.
I'll be completely, completely alone.
Fishing?
- If you please. - Please make yourselves at home.
- If you like, you can sleep here, Mr Todd. - Thank you.
Couldn't they stay in a bed and breakfast?
- It's one night. - What will people think?
I don't give a damn.
That's abundantly clear.
She hates us...
- your housekeeper. - She hates everyone.
Once we're gone, she'll wash the sheets twice.
Not everyone is prejudiced.
With all due respect, you don't know a damn thing about it.
So tell me.
A white lady once wiped a bench with her handkerchief
because I'd been sitting there.
I was four years old at the time.
Sorry.
Were you close, you and Charles?
- I admired him. - It's not quite the same.
It's hard to be close in a family like ours.
We don't have affection,
we have a cause.
Maybe you should cancel the tour.
We should.
But we won't.
We'll keep on going.
But you're grieving.
Grief is undignified.
If there's one time you're allowed to be undignified,
I'd say that it's now.
You drink too much.
I know.
Maybe you're the one who needs a cause?
Maybe.
Are you happy?
- Are you? - Present circumstances aside, you mean?
Sorry.
You apologise too much, too.
Why don't you speak at the talks?
I support my father.
But you have so much to say.
And you say it so beautifully.
It's just the way things are.
Why don't you change the way things are?
Why don't you?
Thank you... for your...
hospitality, Mr Chambers.
I'm sorry.
You apologise too much.
Thank you, ma'am.
Morning.
Toast?
Ooh, I think I'll push the boat out, Mrs C, and have a soft-boiled egg.
You're very chipper.
- I had a wonderful night's sleep. - At least someone did.
So, how do we feel about a spoken-word tent... at the fete?
Aren't all words spoken? Isn't that the very nature of words?
It's poetry, Mrs C.
- Sounds a bit modern. - If you'll excuse us, ma'am,
we have an engagement to honour.
Are you sure that's wise?
Let me speak to Geordie first.
Always looking to save.
This is what we found out about your Phineas Society.
All that, "We are everywhere" cobblers.
It's just you in your underpants writing letters.
- Treatises. - Jesus Christ, boy. They're letters.
I never threatened the girl.
So you wrote all the letters bar the one that threatens Miss Todd?
- Yes. - You barged into that talk
shouting your mouth off!
- I didn't barge in. I was invited. - By who?
Professor Barkley.
Why make up a secret society?
Girls like dangerous men.
Son, I'll tell you this for nothing,
you will never in all your born days be dangerous.
My advice would be to cancel any further engagements.
- You're trying to silence them? - I'm not trying to silence anybody.
I'm almost certain Gregory Jones isn't the killer.
Almost certain? That's heartening.
And if he isn't, the perpetrator's still at large.
If you came here to reassure, you aren't doing a very good job.
Why did you invite Gregory Jones to the talk, Professor?
I'm an educator. I educate.
Strikes me you were looking to liven things up a bit.
Our aim is to raise money and spirited debate creates interest.
Backfired a bit, didn't it?
You're still in danger, Mr Todd.
Your daughter's still in danger.
We are always in danger, sir.
So you'll understand why I'm asking you not to continue the tour?
This is censorship. This man has a right to speak.
It's not censorship, Henry.
It is common sense.
Set-to with God?
God would be easier.
Saw you preach here a few years back.
- You were fantastic. - Are you sure it was me?
You told a story about your Sunday school class.
A little boy who just learned that Adam formed Eve from his rib.
And that evening he had a stomach ache
- and he said to his mum... - ..."I think I'm having a wife."
Will, I don't think you came here to talk about Sunday school.
- Don't be so naive. - I'm not being naive.
- Mr Deveaux... - You put profit above his safety...
I don't think they've noticed I've gone.
- Probably not. - Here's where I'm lost.
If there is no Phineas Society,
who carved a bloody great cross on the wall, hm?
Gregory Jones was in custody.
The only other people who knew about those letters were in that house.
The Barkleys. And the Yanks.
Here we go.
- What? - Violet knew you would do this.
She knew you'd make them the suspects.
Please tell me you didn't.
Dress it up any way you like, Geordie, it's prejudice.
You did, didn't you?
You screwed her.
She's grieving, for Christ's sake.
I know that.
- She's a suspect. - She's not a suspect.
Of course she is! They all are.
The knife found on Violet's bed wasn't the murder weapon.
That's a nice change of subject. Seamless.
You are a bloody idiot.
You're looking for a kitchen knife about this big.
What are you not telling me, Sidney?
I was given it.
By whom?
By someone who wishes to remain anonymous.
You see, I understand how it works, the whole vicar...
- Chaplain. - ...dog-collar hoopla.
People feel they can tell you things.
- Of course. - Secrets.
- Absolutely. - Confessions.
The most intimate things you wouldn't believe.
That is where you and I differ.
- No-one tells you anything? - Not a bastard thing.
- That's a shame. - It really is.
Who gave you the knife, Chaplain?
I'm not going to tell you that.
- Is it someone you know? - I'm not going to tell you that, either.
Did they confess to the murder of Charles Todd?
I should probably stop you there.
I'm not going to tell you anything
at any point about any of it...
sir.
I was told in confidence. It's not my information to tell.
You understand there's no higher authority than the police force?
I'd say God's a little bit higher.
- You think this is a joke? - Of course I don't.
A man is dead.
And where were the bloody police?
Doing nothing while those bigots had the run of the place.
Who gave you the knife, Chaplain?
- No-one is above the law. - I don't claim to be.
If I break their trust, what kind of man does that make me?
Let alone a priest.
He's a stubborn old sod.
So am I.
Unfortunately.
Why does he think you're a liability, the Dean?
- He says I'm a boat-rocker. - Are you?
Oh, absolutely.
We have a platform to say something.
We have a boat.
Why not rock it?
He once called me a "dissenter".
- Are you? - Absolutely.
There was a time I would never break a confidence.
Meeting a man of the law changed that, did it?
Let's just say, Geordie gave me a new perspective.
The person who came to me was afraid.
I gave them my word.
There are no laws in our church about sharing a confession.
It's a moral obligation, though, surely?
Isn't there a moral obligation to bring a killer to justice?
It just...
It just feels wrong.
God believes in the goodness of men,
and although he can be an arse sometimes,
Geordie is the best of men.
You can trust him.
I promise you that.
He insists the knife was placed into his pocket by an unknown assailant.
Who?
He fears you'll blame him for the murder.
I fear you will, too.
Who?
Robert Deveaux.
I know that must have cost you personally,
and I am grateful, Mr Davenport.
Please...
- ...call me Will. - Geordie.
Good to meet you, Will.
And, lo, it came to pass.
Get off me.
- Come on. - Get off me!
Get off me.
- Hands off. Get off me! - Hey! Hey! Hey!
Get off.
- Calm down. - Get off me.
You want to hear that I killed Charles over some slight or other?
A burning anger born in jealousy?
- He was a brother to me. - Violet was threatened, too.
Do you consider her your sister?
Your motives are unmistakable, Reverend.
- This letter... - What motives are they?
She could never love a white man.
The one that threatens Miss Todd, did you write it?
They were sent by that boy.
All but this one.
Read this passage for me, if you would, Mr Deveaux.
"Your visit here is an affront.
"Whites and coloureds should not mingle."
"Coloureds" is spelt without a "U".
The American spelling.
You wrote it.
You put that knife on her bed.
You wanted to scare her.
We had no business here. We should go home.
- Violet needs to be home. - With you, you mean?
Why'd you come to our talk, Reverend?
To dabble with controversy?
To feel a frisson of danger?
Then go home to your quiet life?
Smug that you did your bit for the Negro?
When y'all done nothing at all but perpetuate the myth
that we only save 'em from ourselves.
Did you kill Charles Todd?
I did not, sir.
Did you intend to kill Violet Todd?
Why would I kill the woman I one day hope to marry?
Is it ostentatious?
- No. - Yes.
Telephone.
Marvellously so. I love it.
There, you see, Leonard thinks it's marvellous.
What does he know?
You can take it right back.
- Vicarage. - Say it is Gregory.
- It's not Gregory. - He's angry at the world.
He hates coloured people.
Mrs Bennett accusing me of being flashy?
I like you flashy. The flashier the better.
Stabbing someone, twisting the knife, it's vicious.
- And Gregory's not vicious?
- He made up a secret society to impress girls.
Fair point. Which brings us back to square one.
Any bugger could have done it. Damn.
I'm gonna call you back.
Thank you for your sterling contribution there.
- You are 26. - So I should think myself grateful?
Robert cares for you.
Did you even think to ask what I thought?
I have opinions. I have thoughts and feelings.
Feelings?!
I'm part of this struggle, at the forefront of change,
and yet they see me as good for nothing but marriage and babies.
Look pretty, keep quiet.
Like all those butterflies in their cases.
They'd be hard pushed to keep you quiet.
Are you saying I talk too much?
That's exactly what I'm saying.
- I'm gonna take that as a compliment. - I meant it as one.
Violet.
I have done this before.
A few times.
More than a few times
- with more than a few women. - It's none of my business.
No, it is. I want to be honest with you.
I just...
don't want you to think that I took advantage.
Well, maybe I took advantage of you.
Have you thought about that?
I haven't thought about that.
And, frankly, I'm appalled.
You have to understand where I come from,
this, us, can never be.
I was a novelty, was I?
They killed that boy in my town for buying a white girl a soda.
People have died for less than sex.
People have died for...
For having the audacity to assume that they're equals.
Exactly.
The party.
The night before your brother died.
Who did he dance with?
Madhia Barkley.
Why?
Come on, Esme.
I'd rather not, if it's all the same.
Tuppence, was it?
It's all right. I've got it.
Thank you.
Well, that was humiliating.
It's tuppence, Geordie.
It's not like I pulled your trousers down
and gave everyone a look at your family jewels.
Cathy! Language.
Don't be such a prude.
Miss Todd.
Sidney sniff out the beer tent, did he?
No, he left.
The tour's been cancelled. It's a travesty.
Freedom to speak isn't a right, it's a bloody necessity.
How long have you been married, Professor Barkley?
- Six years. Why? - Do you trust your wife?
Oh, what an odd question. Yes, of course I do. Implicitly.
Charles danced with her.
Is that all it took?
I thought we were discussing freedom of speech.
- It's not about trust, though, is it? - I'd like you to leave now.
She's your queen. It's all about possessing.
You are dangerously close to insulting me.
Did it matter that he was coloured or is it any man touching your wife?
- I'm calling the police. - For all your liberality,
for all your open-mindedness,
you couldn't bear to see it, could you?
I imagine in that brief moment
she enjoyed herself more than she ever did with you.
Her arms around him,
his hand in the small of her back.
You couldn't bear it, could you?
Madhia smiling up at him.
Argh.
She's my wife.
She's my wife!
Argh!
Get him off.
Sidney?
You've got to stop doing this.
Ah, stop fussing.
Your lip's bleeding, you daft sod.
Trying to get yourself killed, is that it?
That's what it feels like.
You speaking didn't cause your son's death.
It was the jealousy of a possessive man.
Charles died because he was a black man
that touched a white man's wife.
This is what we're up against.
It's not your fault, Papa.
Please don't think that.
Did Charles know...
Er...
...that I loved him?
Of course he did.
I never... told him.
I never said the words.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
When do you leave?
As soon as we can. Tomorrow. Hopefully.
I've never seen Papa like this before.
He'll find the way through it.
He'll find the strength.
I have to go and give the blessing.
That's fine.
You go.
Come with me.
Have you seen that dreadful hat?
They're laughing at me. They think I'm showing off.
Sod the lot of 'em. Come on.
Jack!
I'm not saying she married him for the money, but...
Oh, it wasn't the money she married me for.
- It was the lovemaking. - Jack!
And now please welcome one of our fine local poets.
Spring...
Spring by LE Finch.
- What does the E stand for? - Ernest.
- "From darkness..." - Course it does.
"...unfurling.
"From moist climes
"springs life.
"Surging forth.
"Pushing.
"Eager.
"Tentative.
"Tumultuous."
- Someone swallowed a thesaurus. - "Bursting.
"Quivering.
"A new life. A new peace.
"Sated.
"Finally.
"Done."
Someone's had sex.
He's struggling a little with the subtext.
Is that what he's been working on all this time?
It doesn't even rhyme.
Poems don't have to rhyme any more, Mrs C.
And now Mr Chambers will say the blessing.
You do it.
You speak.
Give them hell.
No-one wants to hear what I have to say.
No, but they're all too polite to stop you, so...
All right.
What's she doing?
My name is Violet Todd.
And it may come as a surprise to you,
but I'm not from around these parts.
I am from a place
of violence, oppression,
and prejudice.
You may look around you and think, "Who gives a damn?
"There's none of that here."
But look harder.
There is oppression.
There is prejudice.
There is suffering.
And if one person suffers, we all do.
If one person falls, we all fall.
I truly believe
there is a better time for all of us.
One where we all have our moment in the sun.
But to get there, we must stand together.
Side by side,
we must walk together
and leave no-one behind.
*CREDITS*