First broadcast 30th October 1979.
With Sapphire as a medium, Tully and Steel are able to communicate with the ghost of a woman who was once the soldier's schoolteacher.
David McCallum ... Steel
Joanna Lumley ... Sapphire
Gerald James ... Tully
Tom Kelly ... Pearce
David Woodcock ... 1st Submariner
David Cann ... Pilot
With Sapphire as a medium, Tully and Steel are able to communicate with the ghost of a woman who was once the soldier's schoolteacher.
David McCallum ... Steel
Joanna Lumley ... Sapphire
Gerald James ... Tully
Tom Kelly ... Pearce
David Woodcock ... 1st Submariner
David Cann ... Pilot
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00You
00:22Right it's such a long way
00:30she mustn't go that much deep.
00:46sir Farr?
00:51it's a warm day.
00:59oh it's a beautiful hot summer's day.
01:03mmm there are flowers in full bloom.
01:09oh there's such a lot of flowers.
01:18but there's no one here anymore.
01:23they've all had to go.
01:25there must be someone.
01:27someone who was close to him.
01:36just a minute.
01:41yes there is someone.
01:43yes there is.
01:46come on.
01:48come on.
01:53there!
01:55no!
02:14all irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension.
02:22transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life.
02:26medium atomic weights are available.
02:29gold, lead, copper, jet, diamond, radium, sapphire, silver and steel.
02:41sapphire and steel have been assigned.
02:47no!
02:55no!
03:01they're looking for me.
03:03so you better help.
03:05you brought us here.
03:07you promised.
03:09so you better help.
03:16who are you?
03:28will you tell us?
03:31mm-hmm
03:33mm-hmm
03:35mm-hmm
03:37mm-hmm
03:39here we are on Tom Tiddler's ground
03:42picking up gold and silver.
03:47now children back to your desks please.
03:50all of you.
03:52that's better.
03:55where's Sam Pierce?
03:58late again is he?
04:03always late that one. always will be.
04:08it's gone wrong.
04:10what?
04:11we want the name of a soldier not a child.
04:14Sam Pierce I reckon you'll be late for your own funeral.
04:23get her back.
04:25now?
04:26yes it's gone wrong. get her back.
04:36will you come back to the table please?
04:40the circle has been broken. will you return to the table?
04:49will you come back to us please?
04:53no no no. she must come to us.
04:56come back to us. we sent her.
05:01Sapphire.
05:03Sapphire.
05:05please answer me Sapphire.
05:08come back to us.
05:10come back to the table.
05:14no you can't.
05:23I don't want to be here.
05:27I don't know why anyone should want me here.
05:35what are you people doing?
05:38sitting in judgment or something?
05:40no. sitting there like that?
05:44the state of this place.
05:46do you know this place?
05:48I don't know it like this. I did know it once mind.
05:51it's a railway station.
05:54oh.
05:55Dewarton station.
05:58oh yes.
06:00you recognize it?
06:02not in this state.
06:04but you've been here before.
06:06off and on yes. when it was tidy mind.
06:08of course.
06:11the name of the soldier.
06:16will you tell us about yourself?
06:19there's nothing much to tell.
06:21well there must be.
06:23look I don't want to be here.
06:26there are things here.
06:28things? what kind of things?
06:31it's like a power.
06:34it's using other things.
06:37I just don't want to be here.
06:39it's using you?
06:41of course it's not using me. I don't have a grievance.
06:43what do you mean by that?
06:46I don't know what I mean.
06:49it's what I feel.
06:51all around me.
06:53can you...
06:55can you describe this power?
06:58not really.
07:02it's like dark.
07:05darkness.
07:09it's just...
07:12it's very dark.
07:16it's darker than anything.
07:21anyway I don't want to talk to you.
07:23not you.
07:25why?
07:27because you're different that's why.
07:29why different?
07:31you don't seem like one of us so I don't want to talk to you.
07:34I'm only asking you...
07:36I'm only telling you I don't want to talk to you.
07:38not you.
07:45will you tell us your name?
07:47why?
07:49because we'd like to know it.
07:53I'm not telling him.
07:55but you can tell me can't you?
07:59yes.
08:01so what is your name?
08:15...
08:37and were you at your school?
08:40school?
08:42just now teaching at your school?
08:45I'm not anywhere.
08:47I'm here and I don't want to be here.
08:50tell us something about your school.
08:53it's just a school.
08:55please I don't want to be here.
08:57I'm frightened.
08:59just tell me something about your school.
09:02it's just a village school that's all.
09:04it's just a village school. please.
09:06who is Sam Pierce?
09:08Sam Pierce.
09:16Sam Pierce.
09:25always late for school Sam Pierce.
09:28always late for everything.
09:32what happened to him?
09:34especially in the summer.
09:36keep him indoors for long in the summer.
09:39I said what happened to him?
09:41loved the sun.
09:43and the soil.
09:45liked seeing things grow.
09:49didn't make a lot of difference really.
09:5112 years.
09:54well it did when he was at school.
09:56but not after.
09:58not when he'd grown up.
10:0112 years.
10:03didn't mean a lot then.
10:06won't stay out now.
10:08usually does after a black front winter.
10:12or when there's a frost in March of course.
10:16thought you'd known that.
10:19you know up Goodman's field.
10:22I laid out straw there last March.
10:25dragged it up there.
10:27spread it out.
10:29took hours.
10:31well the lapwings.
10:33they start nesting in March.
10:35and they nest on the ground see.
10:37so if there's a frost.
10:49that one there.
10:51look.
10:54no. by there.
10:57well turn your head then.
11:00that's a pasque flower.
11:02well when it was in bloom.
11:05they're rare.
11:08must be chalk here somewhere.
11:11chalk pasture.
11:15know what?
11:17that would have been in flower at Eastertide.
11:22and we missed it.
11:25so what happened to him when he grew up?
11:31he went away to France.
11:34to the war?
11:36yes.
11:46I made a hide out of reeds didn't I?
11:49out on Cotton Marsh.
11:51out on Cotton Marsh?
11:54I'll take you there one day.
11:58all kinds.
12:01warblers.
12:03reed buntons. yellow wagtails.
12:06you have to be patient mind.
12:10all right.
12:12you bring the bread and cheese. I'll fetch the ale.
12:15oh no it'll stay hot.
12:18you know what?
12:20come next Eastertide I'll pick that pasque flower.
12:23well they're rare.
12:25there may not be another in a season or two.
12:30next year.
12:33I'll pick that next year.
12:44I think we found out who your soldier was.
12:47yes.
12:50then let's get Sapphire back shall we?
12:52not yet. no.
12:54but you've got the soldier's name. that's what you wanted isn't it? yes.
12:57then that's enough. no it's not enough.
13:05Eleanor.
13:11I don't want to talk to you.
13:13tell me some more about Sam Pierce. there's nothing more to tell.
13:15he died didn't he? of course he died. in that war? not quite.
13:21what do you mean by that?
13:25look I said I wouldn't talk to you.
13:27Eleanor please.
13:29don't go near her please.
13:31any change any sudden shock could could kill your friend Sapphire.
13:35do you want that to happen?
13:37are you prepared to risk that for information about someone who's already dead?
13:40all right then you find out what she meant by that.
13:43right.
13:46Eleanor.
13:50when did Sam Pierce die?
13:54tell me please. when did he die?
13:59it was a shame really.
14:01he should have come home.
14:03summer again.
14:0712 years age difference.
14:09it didn't mean a lot really.
14:11so when did he die?
14:13they said in the village it was exactly 11 minutes afterwards.
14:17someone out there had made a mistake you see.
14:2111 minutes after what?
14:24well after the armistice of course. after the ceasefire.
14:27someone out there had made a mistake that's all.
14:3111 minutes after 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month.
14:36yes.
14:38or 11th.
14:43all right let's get her back.
14:47what's wrong?
14:49they found me.
14:51so what do we do? do we go? go back?
14:54no.
14:56it's all right.
14:58it's coming to help.
15:01it's coming now.
15:04it's coming now.
15:30let's close our eyes please.
15:32why?
15:34because we have to.
15:37can I go back now?
15:39yes. just close your eyes.
15:43like this?
15:45yes.
15:48birds chirping
15:54think about your plan.
16:02you just think of your village. the village where you live.
16:05yes.
16:07on a hot summer day a long time ago.
16:14do you remember it?
16:16I do yes.
16:18can you see it?
16:21almost yes.
16:23and the school? the school where you teach?
16:26yes I can almost see it.
16:29good.
16:31keep thinking about it.
16:37think about your classroom.
16:39the children.
16:42birds chirping
16:44wait a second.
16:46almost see them.
16:50the sun's shining. it's a hot day.
16:53open the window somebody.
16:55that's better.
17:01sapphire. who's sapphire?
17:03shh. just think of your classroom.
17:08yes.
17:10and think of the children in the classroom.
17:14yes I can see them properly now.
17:16good.
17:17they're all there.
17:19all of them.
17:21all except Sam Pierce.
17:25always late Sam Pierce.
17:29the sun's gone.
17:32it's dark.
17:34darkness.
17:37careful at the back there.
17:39careful.
17:44Tully.
17:45please be careful.
17:48have you seen darkness like that before?
17:50what is it?
17:51whatever it is it's capable of bringing back the dead.
17:56you can't break the circle now. she isn't back yet.
17:58why isn't she back? I don't know.
18:00sapphire. you can't wiggle that way.
18:03sapphire. no you can't.
18:05come on Tully.
18:09come on.
18:13Tully!
18:26Steve.
18:28you broke the circle.
18:31you broke the circle.
18:33she could have been left out.
18:36left outside.
18:38between journeys. between journeys.
18:40from one life to the next.
18:42Eleanor.
18:47Ellen.
18:53the wind.
18:55the wind.
19:00there was no wind here, Eleanor.
19:04no chalk pastures.
19:07no birds.
19:09no trees.
19:12I would never point this unconscious at a ride between journeys.
19:17there was no one.
19:18I mean don't you see that?
19:21between the schoolteachers life on their own.
19:23you must never break the circle. never.
19:25do you know what you could have done?
19:27steal.
19:29you could have lost her forever out there. out there.
19:31steal.
19:32you could have lost her.
19:33be quiet.
19:34I said be quiet.
19:35sapphire.
19:36help me steal.
19:38I heard you sapphire. I heard you didn't I?
19:42answer me.
19:43I was right. look at her. you broke the circle and you lost her.
19:46out there. out there.
19:47what do you know about out there Mr Tully?
19:49well not a great deal.
19:50exactly.
19:54still.
19:56help me.
20:06it's something we've come to believe in.
20:08who is we?
20:09people like me. my kind.
20:11I shouldn't worry too much about sapphire if I were you.
20:13what?
20:14she knows more about out there than you and your kind will ever know.
20:16but she's not with us is she?
20:18I mean is she?
20:20I don't know.
20:51you
20:59look after her for a moment will you?
21:01where are you going?
21:03I'm going to see where that darkness has got to.
21:05I'll come with you.
21:07no.
21:09I need you to look after sapphire.
21:11please.
21:13very well.
21:20I'll be back.
21:50you
22:20Pearce?
22:22Sam Pearce?
22:50Sam.
22:54is that what they call you?
22:56sorry.
22:58used to call you.
23:02or is it Sammy?
23:04it wouldn't have been Samuel would it?
23:07not a private soldier.
23:09I wonder.
23:19I wonder what they called you when they marked your gravestone.
23:24I wonder what's written there.
23:28maybe they didn't give you a stone.
23:31maybe there wasn't enough left of you to fill a grave.
23:35not enough of private Pearce left to bury.
23:47have you been back Sam?
23:49been back to take a look?
23:52what about Eleanor?
23:57do you think she ever went to take a look at your gravestone?
24:02to see what's engraved on it.
24:06I doubt it.
24:08I doubt she'd bother.
24:14she was too old for you.
24:17and probably too good.
24:21what chance would you have stood once that summer was over?
24:25eh?
24:27help us!
24:31help us!
24:50excuse me sir.
24:54group sent me here sir.
24:56I've got one more op to complete and then I go home.
25:00and he did say sir.
25:02a group said that as your flight is one man short and all my team aborted that you...
25:10all right sir.
25:13sorry sir.
25:29whistling
25:59whistling
26:29whistling
26:59whistling
27:29whistling
27:33whistling
27:37whistling
27:41whistling
27:45whistling
27:49whistling
27:53whistling