They sacked you? I'm not surprised.
Well, let's face it, Tom, you had it coming.
Dad, it's me, your son, Tom. Tom. 'What happened?'
I was writing about crap.
That's not journalism. Not the sort that he used to do.
The man has got Alzheimer's.
Wendy! What's this Wendy about? She was his secretary.
His head seems stuck in that time.
I recognise you. We were at school together. Mandy Craven.
Tom Ronstadt, as I live and breathe.
Mickey Eldridge. Look at you!
Look at you. You're not going to tell him? Do I look insane.
Who's J Cleaver? Bastard's let me struggle and all the time this has been sitting there.
Your dad used to beat you?
No, it was just this one time. It was pretty savage. Well, why?
That's the question I've been asking for the last 18 years.
Why did she let him in the house? The only thing I remember is a name, Metzler.
Metzler. He's the leader of the council. He's my boss.
Stay out of my life!
Are you training for the marathon?
Exercise, important to exercise.
You haven't got any shoes on. Don't need shoes. Or trousers.
Good for the heart.
Fresh air, breathe in.
10,000 steps a day.
Doctor gave me a pedophile.
Pedometer. Pedometer.
Where are we? Where are we?
It's the estate.
Where are the fields? Where are the fields?
Dad, the houses are where the fields were.
You can't put houses where the fields were. I want the fields.
I want the fields. I want the fields.
GIGGLING
Alzheimer's disease. Hilarious. Far funnier than cancer.
She thinks you're fit. Sorry, girls, I've got commitment issues.
Dad.
You're sweating.
What's the matter with you?
You tell me.
I'm sorry if I hurt you.
Morning.
Who are you? Who's he?
Dentist.
The very same.
Dentist?
Kevin Hadcock, I know, funny name.
Had-cock. I'm a friend of Nancy's. She's in the shower, said to...
Tom. This my father, Samuel.
Pleased to meet you.
What's up with her teeth?
No, no, I...
No, they had a date.
A date? Date.
You know, drinks, chat, sex.
How was the sex?
It was...
Yeah, you know...it was splendid.
Pull your hand away.
Harder.
Fancy a coffee?
Yeah.
Help yourself.
Sorry if I hurt you.
Kevin's quite a catch. You have to help me get rid of him. He can bore for England.
You shagged him. Yeah, 11 months drought. Of course I shagged him.
Please, Tom, I'm no good at this. He wants to take me gliding.
He's mad into it, spent most of the night talking about thermals.
I left him with Dad downstairs, that'll send him running.
What happened to your face? Was that Dad?
No, I walked into somebody's fist.
Where you going? Digging.
I found something last night, a taped interview,
from way back. Dad was involved in something.
His wife had just died, he was mad with grief.
So he kicks the shit out of his own son.
His career was all but over and he'd hit the bottle.
There's more to it than that. Like what? Come on, Nancy.
Secret files, taped accusations. He was a journalist.
Mysterious bank payments. Amazing disappearing secretary.
The more I know, the more I can get him to talk about it.
Um... He's... taken his underpants off.
What the fuck do you think you're doing?
Who's Metzler?
Mandy!
Why did you tell him?
To see the look on his fat face.
He came round, you know, kicking off. Look what he did to me.
Tom, he's been wanting an escape route for years.
If your marriage is falling apart there's no need to drag me in. I wanted him to know.
Why? He goes off with all his bimbos, slappers he has to pay for.
I wanted him to know I could get it with someone nice.
I'm sorry. It's... It's a mess.
We were best mates as kids, we were like brothers.
I know, that was kind of the point.
Don't be angry with me.
You're mental, you know that?
The whole town is mental.
Sir, I'll just be two seconds.
In here.
Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me. Go screw yourself!
But we're all adults and she reckons you've been banging hookers left, right and centre.
You've talked to her? All I'm saying is, the moral high ground you're occupying
is a tiny bit shaky, right? Go screw yourself!
If you're not out of here in two minutes, I'm calling security.
Let me take you for a drink and talk it through... 90 seconds.
Mike, Mike, wait, wait.
Look, you know I was telling you that night, about my dad,
about Metzler, I need to ask you about it.
Out of the way. He's corrupt, he stinks to high heaven and my dad was...
Out of the FUCKING way!
♪ De der-de, de der-de
♪ De-der de-der der
♪ De-der de-der der. ♪
Why does he keep singing that? They get things in their mind, can't get rid of them.
It's like nailing jelly to the wall.
There's things I want to talk about, questions I want to ask him.
How do you access a brain like that?
Choose your moments. I tried the other night.
Just as I was getting somewhere, he starts lashing out.
Do you want my advice?
Not really.
The past.
Brilliant, have you ever thought about going into counselling?
You show me one person who's ever benefited from raking up the past. What's done is done.
He changed my life. All the stuff that's happened,
all this crap, because of him.
Come on. Instead of trying to be like him,
I've spent my whole life doing the opposite.
I just want to know what happened.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS
Mike. 'OK, I'll meet.
'Have you eaten?' Not yet.
'Thought we could go for a meal. Restaurant in town.' OK.
'What do you fancy? Italian, Indian, Chinese.'
I don't mind, you choose.
'Indian. No, Thai, there's a good Thai place, The Temple.'
Thai, it is.
'About an hour?'
See you then.
Did I mention I was eating out tonight?
Would you like to try the wine? Just pour it.
He screwed my wife.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Wants to say sorry.
That's good.
So he's paying, OK?
He's paying and we're going to eat like kings.
Thought you were on a diet. Not tonight I'm not.
I'll give you a few minutes.
Mike.
I'm leaving her. Moving out.
So you can do as you please.
Look, I've obviously walked into the middle of something.
Town bike when I married her, she's reverted to type.
Mike, look.
No, YOU look! You come back here, swinging your cock around, "Look at me, I've made something of myself."
And saps like her fall for it.
Except you haven't, have you? You fucked it all up.
So you start pointing the finger at us lot, start sticking your nose into our affairs.
I don't know what you think you know about Metzler, but you're wrong. Whatever it is,
you're way off course, there's nothing to know.
That man has worked hard for this community, harder than anyone else.
Yes, he made money in the '80s, feathered his nest, but he's worked for the good of the people.
He's pumped money into the economy, fought for better hospitals, better schools, better jobs.
Let me tell you, screwing my wife is one thing,
but you try screwing my boss and I'm going to screw you right back.
Are you ready to order?
Tom yam soup, please.
I'm going for a fag.
All I'm asking for is loyalty.
Think of your family. I need you to help me! Wendy!
You know that exposing me means exposing yourself.
I can live with that.
Charity night?
For the newspaper you used to work for.
Which newspaper?
Lancashire Evening News.
And what's the event we're going to?
Charity night.
Charity night? What for?
Can you help me with this?
You're as bad as him!
You worked for the Evening News for 20 years, longer.
I sold carpets.
No, your dad sold carpets. You were a journalist.
One of the best. I was editor of a newspaper. No, you weren't editor.
You were deputy editor.
The editor was a friend of yours, Richard Geller.
Richard Geller?
Short guy, specs. I showed you his photo before we came out.
Short, specs, big nose.
That's the one. He's here tonight.
Where are we, what is it? It's all right, Dad.
I'm here, I'm right by your side.
Toilet.
Sam! Sam Ronstadt? Mr Geller!
Just give us two minutes.
Please, open the door.
I don't want to stay here all night.
I'll have to climb over.
I don't want to climb over.
Open the fucking door!
Right, I'm coming over.
Dad.
Why is this happening to me?
You OK?
Come on. Where we going? To say hello to an old friend.
That wasn't me, that was the other girl...
Councillor Metzler.
Sam Ronstadt!
It's been a long time.
You remember Donald Metzler.
Leader of the council?
We knew each other many moons ago.
Good to see you.
It's such a shame.
He was a brilliant mind.
Amazing writer.
There but for the grace of God, and all that.
Richard, I'm trying to get him talking,
I'm trying to get his mind working again.
There's something I'd like to talk to you about. Fire away.
Shall I buy you a proper drink?
Yeah, sure.
Dad, we're going to go to the bar, OK? We'll be five minutes,
OK, you'll be all right.
Can you just keep an eye on him? Thank you.
You have to contextualise this, we're talking 30-odd years ago,
the Don Metzler of then isn't the Don Metzler of now.
Before he made a packet in the '80s, he was a doctor.
And you and Dad were investigating him?
His family were wealthy,
his father was a big fish,
and years before, young Donald was a bit of an embarrassment,
he'd failed his qualifications, wasn't living up to the family name.
So when he appeared at Greenlake,
the local nuthouse...
Well, mental institution as they call them these days.
There were rumblings,
whispers he didn't have the right letters after his name,
and that maybe, just maybe, he was endangering lives in the process.
Nice.
You know what your dad was like.
A terrier, campaigner, especially when it came to the voiceless.
Once he had the bit between his teeth, he never let go.
He was trailing Metzler for months, getting close to something big and then one day...
he came in the office, threw his hands in the air, game over.
Nothing to pin on him.
Did that not strike you as a bit strange?
Not really.
Doesn't mean he wasn't dodgy, just means we couldn't get him for it.
Happens all the time in journalism.
Well, you'd know.
You have to bide your time, choose your battles.
Why are you asking me all this anyway, why's this come up now?
Dad keeps talking about him.
His mind keeps going back to that time, I just wanted to find out why.
We'd better be getting back in. Wouldn't want to miss the raffle.
Just one more thing.
Dad's assistant, Wendy, do you remember her?
Of course. His loyal and faithful servant.
You don't know where she is, do you?
Absolutely no idea.
She was a lesbian, before it was fashionable.
I think she ran off with someone else's wife.
I'm trying to track her down, do you remember her surname?
Smith. Wendy Smith.
Best of luck with that.
Where is he? Toilet.
Great.
♪ De-der de-der der
♪ De-der de-der der. ♪
Used to tuck his trousers into his socks when he was riding his bike,
then forget to take them out.
We took bets on how long he'd leave them like that.
Who? Geller.
He's a good man.
Moral.
You were mates.
You must have enjoyed working with him. Who?
Geller.
I sold carpets.
Hiya.
'Tom, Mike's losing it, he wants to talk to you.'
MUFFLED SHOUTING
Give me two minutes and don't let him out of the cab.
He's moving all his stuff into the caravan.
Thanks for doing a runner.
I didn't fancy the soup.
Got it nice in here.
Beer?
No, I'm all right.
Have one.
I'm a failure.
Who says? Me.
Failed husband,
failed father,
failed career. Bollocks.
You work for the leader of the council.
I'm his lapdog.
She hates me.
She doesn't hate you.
There's too many rows, too many things said.
I've screwed around and rubbed her nose in it.
But those kids, I love those kids.
They love you. You were my best mate, and you left me!
I would have come with you, I would have gone and you just left me here.
Sorry. I'm sorry.
Too late for that isn't it, eh? It's too late because now I'm here. Like this.
Look at me!
And you know what the worst thing is, the very fucking worst...
..I can't even hate you.
I don't want to be here, not while he's like this. He's scaring the kids.
Do you want me to stay?
I don't want to be near him tonight.
Dad, can I bring a girl home?
Hi.
There you go, sleep well.
Sleep well, sweetheart.
They OK?
I'm sorry about all this.
You must wonder what you've got yourself involved in.
I used to think it was the drugs that made my life chaotic.
I must just attract it.
I've been unhappy a long time.
Me too.
You make me feel...
..less crap.
You make me feel less crap.
That's good then.
Can't sleep.
Do you want your mummy?
Here you are. Jump in here.
Thanks.
Tom, why is there...
Oh, Jesus.
Oh, will you put some bloody clothes on?
Tom! TOM!
Stick the kettle on.
How long do you propose this is going to last?
Well, you said you were sick of living on your own with him.
I thought you only went for brassy media types.
Yeah, cos that's been a winning formula, hasn't it?
We are not a refuge, Tom.
It's one night.
I thought it was lack of sex making you grumpy.
Didn't realise you were like this all the time.
Right, off you go, let's get in the car.
I need an address trace on a name.
Smith, Wendy Smith.
I know, I'm sorry.
Er, Northern based, worked for The Evening News for years and years.
I'm not with the magazine any more, I'm freelance.
How quick can you get it?
Jim, how many times have we done this? I will pay you.
Yes, cash.
Call me later.
"How many times have we done this, I'll pay you cash"?
Er, hitman.
You wanted him taking out, didn't you?
How are the kids?
Look, we'll be out your way tonight, I know your sister's not keen.
And go where?
Home.
He's not coming back in though, he can live in his caravan.
Are you OK?
Yeah.
I love your hair.
Got a thing for gingers?
Never before.
So come on, who were you really talking to?
Rent boy. It's all right, it's just the odd blow job.
He's ginger as well.
'Tom, it's Jim.
'I've found her.'
'Wendy Smith...
'she's living in a place called Hebden Bridge.
'Number 11, Hazel Street.
'Don't forget to send the cash.'
KNOCKING AT DOOR
Wendy Smith?
I'll get her.
Tom.
Wendy.
What a surprise.
He talks about you a lot.
He makes out like you still work for him.
He has conversations with you.
Really?
Yelling, mostly.
Just like the old days.
You were a confidant, weren't you? More than just an assistant.
Sometimes I was a sounding board.
When you work with someone for a certain amount of time,
you become, how should I put it...
on the same wavelength. Why did you leave?
I'd rather not go into it all.
Wendy, you know why I left, what happened to me.
I was just wondering, did the same thing happen to you?
Did he...hurt you, did he threaten you?
It was nothing like that.
Then what? He loved me, he never laid a finger on me, and then suddenly...
I know, it was terrible.
Was it Metzler?
I heard you.
Having a row, in his study.
Something to do with a file, something to do with Donald Metzler.
Tom, your father was a good man,
for most of our time together he was a pleasure to work for.
So what changed?
What was he investigating?
I don't know.
Wendy, please. Someone was paying him, J Cleaver?
Wendy, please, I need to know what happened.
I need this. I need to know why my dad became the person he became.
I should be getting back.
'All I'm asking for is loyalty.
'You can't just walk away.' 'Think of your family.'
'I need you to help me! Wendy!'
J Cleaver.
Jonathan Cleaver.
The payments aren't from him.
Who are they from?
I don't know. Who is J Cleaver?
Was. A patient at a mental hospital.
Greenlake. The place Metzler worked as a doctor?
That's all I know. I'm sorry. Wendy!
How do you know? How do you know this?
Did he tell you?
I'd like to arrange a meeting with Donald Metzler.
And you are?
Tom Ronstadt.
Sam's son.
Of which organisation?
Just tell him that.
Tom Ronstadt, Sam's son.
As soon as you can.
Thanks.
Bedtime.
And me.
Large one, please.
You not seeing your girlfriend?
Not seeing your dentist?
No, I'm not seeing anyone, am I? I've left it too late.
My best years were in this place looking after him.
You'll be all right. How?
How, Tom?
I'm 35, my biological clock's ringing in my ears.
The only men I ever meet are NHS employees.
Let's go out.
What? Me and you, on the town.
When was the last time we did that?
I don't know but I had a bubble perm.
What about His Nibs?
What about him?
We can't just leave him.
He's not a baby.
No, he's worse. What if there was a fire?
When is there ever a fire?
When you leave people with Alzheimer's in on their own.
All right, give me 20 minutes.
KARAOKE SINGER: # When I'm feeling weak
♪ And my pain walks down... ♪
What about Neil Diamond? ♪ ..a one-way street... ♪
Who invented this? Does it come from Japan?
It's bad enough having to hear the originals, without having to endure
some tone-deaf cover version from Fat Julie.
Oh, that makes me miserable, does it?
Yes, it does.
You brought me out, can we try and enjoy it? Fine.
Have they got any Smiths, Leonard Cohen?
What's wrong?
Nothing! Rubbish, you're walking round
like you've got the weight of the world on you.
♪ And through it all
♪ She offers me protection... ♪
I tracked down that Wendy.
Why? Cos I wanted to talk to her, I wanted to find out why she left.
We know why she left, cos Dad was a royal pain in the arse, that's why.
That's not the reason and you know it.
Did she talk?
Nothing useful.
Well, there's a surprise.
♪ She won't forsake me... ♪
What was he like, after I left?
Depressed, it was like he'd lost his wife and his son.
But you stayed.
Tom, I was 16.
But he never did anything to you, he never lashed out or anything?
No, never laid a finger. Not until his illness started anyway.
You know that photo on Dad's memory wall,
remember that holiday we went on just before Mum got ill? Yeah.
How old are we in that picture?
Don't know, teens, why?
Cos that's the last time I remember him being happy.
And then something changed.
It all changed.
Stuff it, I'm doing Britney.
♪ Intoxicate me now
♪ I think I'm ready now
♪ Intoxicate me now
♪ I think I'm ready now. ♪
Brilliant! Woo!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Oh, my God, get me a drink.
Great. He'll get you one. I think you've pulled.
He's better than the dentist. Well done.
It's all right, I'm her brother, get her a drink, be nice.
Oh, hi. Hiya. Can I get you a drink? Yeah, lovely.
Hiya. Chips and peas, please.
Salt and vinegar?
Bit of salt, loads of vinegar.
Do you want some crispy bits?
Yeah, all right. As long as they're not your toenails.
Tom Ronstadt?
Yeah?
I'm arresting you for blah blah blah.
Get him in the van.
What have I done? I haven't done anything.
Oi, what's going on? Open the door.
Shut your mouth. Stay quiet.
Dad.
Dad?
Dad! Intruders. What?
Burglars. They were in the house. Are you sure? Of course I'm sure.
OK, OK. Have they gone?
Come back and I'll kill you!
Dad, shall we put the knife down?
OK, all right, come on.
You are not wanted here any more so piss off back to London.
All right?
What the...?! (I didn't want to wake him up.)
Two coppers pick you up and threaten you in their van?
Why?
I've been digging around, asking questions.
Stuff about my dad, stuff from years ago.
The only person who's implicated is Mike's boss.
Yvette Froggatt?
No, his overall boss.
Metzler?
It's something to do with a mental hospital that used to be around here.
Greenlake. Remember it?
Remember? My mum worked there.
How long for?
Years.
Closed down in the Seventies. She still talks about it now.
Metzler used to be a doctor there.
Remember the phone call the other day? The hitman?
What about it?
I've got this contact who works for the Inland Revenue
and for a few twenties he'll find out information for you.
Isn't that illegal?
Tiny bit.
Anyway, I asked him to look for an old friend of Dad's, his secretary.
Right.
When I mentioned Metzler to her,
she was shit scared, wouldn't say anything
which only goes to prove
that there is something to say.
Like what?
Corruption. Something my dad uncovered, something...massive.
What are you going to do?
I don't know.
Are you sneaking away again?
No, it's my dad, I need to get back.
Perhaps we can do something later, you, me and the kids.
You think I'm moving too fast.
No, it's not...
I like you, and that's unusual for me.
I just need a bit of time to get my head around it.
Where've you been? I've been trying to call. Mandy's.
I thought you were coming home, that when you left you were coming straight back.
Well, the evening took a strange turn. What's the matter with you?
We've had a break-in.
A break-in!
Yeah, I found Dad patrolling the garden with a butcher's knife.
Is he all right?
Yeah, he's all right, I'm a nervous bleedin' wreck.
Are you sure he's not imagining it?
He says he saw a man in the house. We should never have left him.
How did they get in? I don't know.
Did they take anything? I DON'T KNOW!
All right, all right, calm down.
Listen, I don't want to freak you out,
but it's just possible that I'm being followed.
By who?
I don't know!
What have you done?
Just asked questions.
You are not a journalist any more, you screwed that life up.
Will you stop sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong.
Think about your future, what you're going to do with your life,
how you're going to earn money, instead of always looking backwards.
I'm taking him out for the day, try and talk to him again.
I'm wasting my breath.
How was your date? TERRIBLE!
That's it. Watch your head. You all right? OK. Leg in.
Everybody in? Yeah. OK.
Right, you need to put your seatbelt on. You grab that there.
What? The silver thing and just pull it round.
That's it. There you are.
Where are we going?
We're going for a drive. I don't wanna drive.
It's Saturday, we do what we always do on Saturdays.
♪ De-der-der-der, de-der-der-der
♪ De-de-der-der-der, de-der-der-der
BOTH: # De-der-der-der, de-der-der-der
♪ De-de-der-der-der De-der-der-der. ♪
Come on! Come on!
Oooh!
You don't know what you're doing! You don't know what you're doing!
CHEERING
♪ De-der-der-der, de-der-der-der
♪ De-de-der-der-der de-der-der-der. ♪
Shit.
I saw Wendy the other day.
I didn't know she was a lesbian.
Your mum thinks I fancy her. As I've told her a thousand times,
she bats for the other side.
Your mum says that's a cover, she dresses too feminine.
Don't know what she expects,
a skinhead with bovver boots most likely.
Wendy says you're a great journalist.
I pay her wages.
Always on the lookout for injustice, people exploiting the vulnerable.
She said the only one that got away was the Greenlake scandal.
Donald Metzler.
Greenlake...
He was the doctor you were investigating. What happened there?
What happened there, Dad?
Greenlake.
Mind your head.
They kept the name. But it was knocked down years back.
I sort of remember it from when I was a kid.
People used to say, "If you act like that, you'll end up in Greenlake."
"Everybody has their price." That was his motto.
Metzler?
People like him think the whole world's for sale.
Property, women, morals,
it's just about finding out how much it costs.
It was your mother, your mother was the one.
He couldn't buy me and he knew it, so he bought your mother...
..because she was weak.
She was weak and she let him into the house.
My house.
He wasn't fit to lick her boots and she let him into our house.
What happened? What did Mum do?
ALARM WAILS
Dad?
Dad, you OK? You're all right.
You're all right, just stay where you are,
I'll call an ambulance.
Dad, how did he buy her? Leave it. Metzler.
We had an accident.
Sit down.
What you were saying, Dad - how was she weak?
What did he do to her? A car hit us.
Tom, will you leave it?
He was talking to me! He was actually starting to talk to me! You're not helping!
There was lots of noise, there was a lot of glass, there was a lot of noise and glass.
There was a lot of noise and glass, Edie.
Edie's not here, Dad. Your wife's not here.
I need a drink.
Make mine deeper.
'You have one message. Message one.'
'Mr Ronstadt, it's Kathy from Donald Metzler's office.
'Regarding your meeting,
'Mr Metzler can see you on Monday at twelve noon, if that suits.
'That's if you'll still be around on Monday. Call to confirm. Thank you.'
'End of messages.'
Tom Ronstadt.
Former: Tom Cleaver?
Cleaver!
J Cleaver!
They lied to me my whole life.
Why would they? I don't know!
That demented prick is the only one with the answers.
You're not Edith.
I'm terribly sorry, Mr Ronstadt, Mr Metzler has an urgent matter...
Hey, no, you can't go in there.
Did you have me arrested? This is a private meeting.
About a week ago I was arrested for no reason. Was that down to you?
How would I do that?
My father was investigating you in the 1970s
when you were a doctor at Greenlake.
I want my mum. I want my mum.
I'm pregnant and I thought I'd lost it.
Oh, shit, shit, shit.
Who am I? Who's my real father?
I don't know who I am any more.
You want to be careful, Tom, with Metzler.
He can be a ruthless bastard, I've seen him operate.
I can blow you out of the water, Metzler.
You think?
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk