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00:00I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you
00:31What's all the racket for?
00:34War's over, brother. Peace broke out.
00:39That's nice.
00:49We just won a war, Prime Minister. And now, it appears we've lost its greatest heroine.
00:56Lost track of her mum, for the time being.
00:59Well, where is she? I understand the Lord Mayor was arranging a parade. Royal Fusiliers.
01:05She was last seen entering a convent of nuns in Bermondsey.
01:09Nuns? Catholic nuns?
01:12Yes, ma'am.
01:13Are we still in England? I thought you knew the family.
01:18I do. Highly respected people.
01:21And yet, their daughter.
01:23I would say she was always unusual, ma'am.
01:29BUZZER
01:37One bundle?
01:59BIRDS CHIRP
02:29DRAMATIC ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
02:33CROWD CHEERS
02:48CROWD CHEERS
02:50Valdia! Valdia!
02:52CROWD CHEERS
03:00SCREAMS
03:18CROWD CHEERS
03:30SCREAMS
03:40BIRDS CHIRP
04:00BIRDS CHIRP
04:13Miss Florence!
04:16Hello, Watson.
04:22Help! Help! Help!
04:26PIANO PLAYS
04:29One dark lonely night
04:31On Crimea's dread shore
04:34There was bloodshed and fighting
04:37The morning before
04:40The dead and the dying
04:42Lay bleeding around
04:45Some crying for help
04:48But none could be found
04:53Then God sent his angel
04:55To succour the brave
04:58Ten thousand she saved
05:00From an untimely grave
05:03The wounded they love her
05:06As it can be seen
05:09She's the soldier's preserver
05:12They call her their queen
05:15Hello, Queenie.
05:17Won't we come once a miracle
05:20A blooming human miracle
05:24We've got a lady
05:26When all else declares
05:28Who made us well
05:30Our guest is coming now
05:33Won't we come once a miracle
05:37A miracle's at hand right now
05:41CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
05:51Rest, rest and more rest.
05:54Thank you, Doctor.
05:56You know what they're calling her?
05:58The soldier's preserver.
06:00Who calls her that?
06:02All sorts, ma'am. It's from a song.
06:04Really?
06:06A song about Florence?
06:10Oh, my poor brave little girl.
06:12Come. Come, my dear.
06:14My beloved mother and father.
06:16How they fought to keep me at home.
06:18Fought all my plans and dreams for myself.
06:21But now that I'm a national heroine,
06:23how proud they are.
06:25They even call me brave.
06:30Brave.
06:34Brave for doing my duty.
06:37The soldiers, they were the brave ones.
06:40Lying there, strapped down,
06:42while their shattered legs were hacked off.
06:45And no chloroform for the lower ranks.
06:47I'm still in a rage about it.
06:52Still there.
06:55The tree.
06:59The tree.
07:01The tree.
07:03The tree.
07:06The little bench.
07:08The garden where all my troubles first began.
07:14Then, if scripture is to be believed,
07:16isn't a garden where all our troubles first began?
07:23I was so young.
07:32I was...
07:34innocent.
07:35No thoughts of war or disease.
07:38My only struggle.
07:40How to escape from a life that was poisoning me
07:42with vanity and social expectations.
07:46But one day, something happened that changed me forever.
07:50I remember...
07:52the sunlight so bright.
07:54Too bright.
07:56Then a voice.
07:58Really, a voice.
08:00I was being asked...
08:01No.
08:02I was being told in no uncertain terms
08:05that my life belonged to God.
08:07That he had work for me to do.
08:09Yes, Lord.
08:11Let me think of thy will.
08:13Only of thy will.
08:15Let me serve you.
08:17You alone.
08:21Listen to this.
08:23When e'er a noble deed is wrought,
08:26when e'er is spoken a noble thought,
08:29lo, in that house of misery,
08:32a lady with a lamp I see.
08:35She passes through the glimmering gloom
08:38and flits and flits from room to room.
08:41Flits?
08:43I doubt if our Florence has ever flitted in her life.
08:45Well, Mr. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow thinks she does,
08:48so who are we to argue?
08:50Oh!
08:51Oh, are you all right?
08:52I'm asking Florence, what are you doing downstairs?
08:54Please, stop.
08:55If anyone asks me any more questions,
08:57I'll fire a revolver and shoot them.
08:59Well, anyone except the Queen.
09:01What are they saying now?
09:03Mr. Longfellow's written a poem about you.
09:08An entire army murdered.
09:10What's been done about it?
09:11Absolutely nothing.
09:13Well, we shall have to see about that.
09:17Florence, no, not outside.
09:19You'll catch your death of cold.
09:21At least wear a coat.
09:23My dear papa,
09:25I'm never sure about anything.
09:27Though years ago, when I was struggling
09:29to discover God's will for me,
09:31he did at least try to understand my pain
09:34and help me.
09:39Flo?
09:44I wish...
09:48If only...
09:49If only I could be satisfied with a life that satisfies you.
09:53I can't be.
09:55But you make it so hard for yourself.
09:58When I heard my call, I didn't hear it would be easy.
10:02Your call.
10:04Papa, you've never believed in it, not for a minute.
10:10Have you?
10:13Well, I...
10:14I thought not.
10:16You don't know what struggle is.
10:19And so we continued to observe our uneasy truths.
10:24Justify, see, how Turkey can stand up for itself...
10:28My mother played hostess to the powerful and well-connected,
10:31and I, the dutiful daughter, attended.
10:33The men taught politics, the women taught husbands.
10:37I hear the Bible is forbidden all over Russia.
10:40One frequent guest was Sidney Herbert,
10:42a rising star in Parliament.
10:44He sympathised with my hopes and dreams.
10:47In years to come, I would often turn to him for help.
10:50Back then, though, my thoughts were all taken up with matters of the heart.
10:57But don't you think there might be a case for compromise?
10:59I mean, the Ottoman Empire could...
11:00What's your point, sir?
11:02My point is that the sick man of Europe may be past curing.
11:06Isn't the real point that the Tsar is a brutal tyrant
11:08and we have to stand up to tyranny wherever we find it?
11:11Even at home?
11:15Quite so.
11:16Nicely put.
11:22Anyway, I do believe that we're on adrift to war.
11:24Well, I was talking to Palmerston the other day at our club about it.
11:28He's full-bored of facing down the Ruskies.
11:32A bit behind time.
11:34What's that?
11:35It's young Moncton Mills.
11:38He's become quite a regular visitor.
11:40It's useful, actually. You can set your watch by him.
11:43Do you know what happened on this day five years ago?
11:46No. Should I?
11:49We'd all been invited to the Bonham Carters.
11:51Your sister recited a poem.
11:53You played the piano. Something new by Mr Chopin.
11:56Badly, I'm sure.
11:58Oh, yes, rather badly, I'm afraid.
12:00And because of my poor performance, that day must go down in history.
12:03Oh, dear.
12:05No.
12:06On that day, we talked for the first time.
12:09Really talked, I mean.
12:11And you said something I've never forgotten.
12:14That if only people knew what a young girl is thinking
12:17while she's playing the piano or busy embroidering. Do you remember?
12:20If only people knew she was actually imagining extraordinary adventures.
12:24With someone by her side whom she had chosen
12:26as a loving and loved companion in life.
12:29Yes, it's true.
12:31I did say that.
12:34Florence.
12:36Florence.
12:41You must know by now that everything you believe in,
12:44everything you hold dear,
12:47I do too.
12:54Do you think today the two of them perhaps...
13:06Mmm.
13:32Well?
13:33Florence?
13:35Nothing.
13:37What do you mean, nothing?
13:40You proposed.
13:42I said no.
13:44Florence.
13:46No, wait.
13:48Do you realise what you've done?
13:50Yes.
13:52Saved myself from a life of slavery.
13:54Oh, my goodness, Florence, how could you?
13:57I just couldn't. Is that so hard to believe?
13:59You have kept that man dangling for five years.
14:02He understood. He understood perfectly, better than you.
14:05And you did exactly the same thing with the Nicholson boy,
14:08and now our families rarely speak to one another.
14:10Look at this. Look at it!
14:13Can any reasonable person want all this?
14:16The linen, the china, the 56 pots of jam!
14:19Whatever one is to entertain properly...
14:21And to be treated like a piece of furniture,
14:23nailed to an existence where you talk about nothing
14:26but who's coming to dinner!
14:29Would you kindly excuse me, please?
14:31Florence, you know I never asked you to be anyone's slave.
14:35I have been very indulgent.
14:37I'm sure my mother never considered what I thought.
14:40The least you can do, in common courtesy, is to listen to me.
14:44I'll go out and I'll find work.
14:46Oh, my dear young lady.
14:48This absurd notion of becoming a nurse, which I will never agree to!
14:52That is God's way for me.
14:54Don't bring God into this again!
14:56It has nothing to do with him, and you know it!
14:58I will not allow you to disgrace yourself.
15:01Emptying slop buckets,
15:03living at the beck and call of letchers and drunks!
15:06Have you any idea what goes on in hospitals?
15:09No woman of character would ever...
15:12Yes, dear?
15:14Fanny, my love, the Colonel's just leaving.
15:16What shall I say to him?
15:18Tell him there's no tyranny like the petty tyranny
15:21of a good English family.
15:23There's no tyranny like the petty tyranny of a good English family.
15:28After that, everything changed.
15:30She said no to Richard.
15:32Dismayed, but resigned.
15:34My parents gave in, and I set about acquiring
15:37the largest hospital experience man or woman ever had.
15:41In truth, I lost Richard,
15:44but I gained my freedom.
15:48And yet I confess, if I were to see him again, even now,
15:52I don't understand it.
15:54I'm ashamed to understand it.
15:56But not one day has passed
15:59without my thinking of him.
16:05Hello.
16:07Are you all right?
16:09It's nothing.
16:11I'm over it, the Crimean fever. I mean, I was quite ill.
16:14Guess who's here.
16:16Sidney. He just arrived from Westminster.
16:19He has news.
16:21I knew he'd get the government's sea sense.
16:25Nothing.
16:27Nothing at all.
16:29My dear, the British public has had quite enough of the Crimean catastrophe.
16:33It's over.
16:36No, no, no, it's only just begun.
16:39The catastrophe, I mean, with our silence.
16:43You must help me, Sidney. You absolutely must.
16:45You have before, and you can do it again. I know you can.
16:48Florence, I'm no longer Minister at War.
16:51Just a plain old humble Member of Parliament making occasional speeches.
16:56Very fine occasional speeches, Sidney, if I may say so.
17:01I brought you this.
17:03You don't have to bring me presents. Just tell me justice will be done.
17:07May I see?
17:09Sir John Hall, for instance, that miserable excuse for a military surgeon.
17:12Has he been court-martialed, stripped of his command?
17:14No.
17:16Has he entered a monastery, perhaps, to do some well-deserved penance?
17:19He's been given a KCB.
17:21A KCB.
17:23Which stands for Knight of the Crimean Burial Grounds, I suppose.
17:26A float.
17:29What a beautiful brooch.
17:32A bit overdone, isn't it?
17:34But see who it is from.
17:37In appreciation of her service, Victoria.
17:42Her Majesty will be in Balmoral next week.
17:45She wants to meet you. And to talk.
17:48I believe she may even be inclined to listen.
17:51Do follow me.
17:53Do try to be tactful, Florence.
17:55Don't say anything that might upset Her Majesty.
17:58Nothing about maggots and wounds and frostbite and limbs falling off.
18:02Please.
18:05CHEERING
18:11You're off to see the Queen today.
18:13Oh, do be careful what you say, or you will quickly be excused.
18:17Her Majesty is not amused by stories set to shock and scare.
18:21So listen to Mother and please beware.
18:27We don't want to hear about maggots.
18:29We'd rather not learn about lice.
18:31Just make everything pretty and jolly and happy and nice.
18:35We don't want to hear a soldier swear or listen to moaning and screams.
18:39We don't want to hear a single cough...
18:41COUGHING
18:43..to bother Her Majesty's dreams.
18:48Be sure never to tell her about all the blood and the gore.
18:51Surely you know it's not right or polite to make a Queen faint on the floor.
18:55She's happy to hear a daring deed by soldier, colonel or toff.
18:59But never, not ever, no, never discuss...
19:01The fingers that keep falling off.
19:03The hands that keep falling off.
19:05The legs that keep falling off.
19:07The heads that keep falling off.
19:09Cos everything keeps falling off!
19:11CHEERING
19:21May I offer you some tea, dear?
19:24Thank you, Mum.
19:29BELL RINGS
19:33Please continue.
19:35Yes, Ma'am.
19:37We...
19:40..we lost 10,000 men in six months
19:43and I came home to find that many of the officers responsible had been promoted,
19:48given honours, medals, titles, crimes were committed,
19:51terrible suffering inflicted that could easily have been avoided.
19:54Yes, yes, Miss Nightingale,
19:56but what exactly entitles you to be the judge of that?
19:59I studied and visited all the hospitals in London, Dublin,
20:02Edinburgh, Paris, Rome and Berlin.
20:04I was twice in training with the Protestant Deaconesses
20:07at the Kaiserwerth Institute in Germany.
20:09I spent one year as superintendent of the Harley Street Nursing Home.
20:12I personally scrubbed floors of sick rooms, emptied bedpans.
20:15I nursed cholera patients whose whole bodies were a mass of...
20:22And your parents permitted all of this?
20:25They...
20:28They came to understand that I had a calling,
20:31that this has truly been God's will for me.
20:35I see.
20:43And what is it you suggest we do about these crimes, as you call them?
20:49A Royal Commission, Mum.
20:52A Royal Commission?
20:54Nothing less than a Royal Commission will suffice to bring out the truth.
20:57It is our sacred duty to the crimee in debt.
20:59And if I may, Your Majesty,
21:01it is also a heaven-sent opportunity to reform
21:04the entire hospital system of the nation, not just of the army.
21:09Beg your pardon, Mum, of your army.
21:16We shall think about it.
21:38Remarkable woman.
21:40I wish we had her at the War Office.
21:42I'll convey that sentiment to the Minister, Mum.
21:45Good.
21:47Oh, and as to that commission...
21:49Yes, Mum, I seriously doubt whether it's in the best interests of...
21:53..Mum.
21:55We do want our brave soldiers to receive the very best care.
22:00Please see to it.
22:03The commission.
22:06The commission, Prime Minister.
22:10A difficult meeting.
22:12I'm afraid the Queen was somewhat taken aback by your proposal.
22:16Yes, a Royal Commission.
22:19A Royal Commission.
22:21That could have consequences, ramifications.
22:24Well, I had hoped that...
22:26And you were quite forceful, you know.
22:28Well, I'm sorry about this.
22:30However, I did prevail upon Her Majesty to change her mind,
22:33and she has graciously agreed to allow the commission
22:36to go forward under my supervision.
22:38Thank you, my Lord. Thank you. Thank you very much.
22:41I well remember one evening at the Vernon's
22:43when you were very eloquent on the subject of nursing and so forth.
22:47Now, one minor detail. Of course.
22:50I would like you to submit your evidence to me
22:53in the form of a report, a confidential report.
22:57There are susceptibilities to be considered.
23:01Are we agreed? Yes.
23:04Agreed.
23:06Good.
23:09I think I've just found you a suite room waiting for you.
23:15Please, if there's anything that you need, anything at all...
23:21They want a report from me, do they?
23:23Then they shall have it.
23:25This room should be my war office.
23:27My family always stay here when we come to London.
23:30The fine old Burlington Hotel.
23:33This room is ample,
23:35when compared with my lodgings in the Crimea.
23:37Utter luxury.
23:39But how could I sleep in comfort
23:41when so many of my children lie in unmarked graves?
23:44I call them my children.
23:46Those ordinary soldiers who died in pain and silence, uncomplaining.
23:51Though the officers called them brutes, the scum of the earth.
23:55My children.
24:00What a tale I have to tell.
24:02How eager and proud they all were when they first set out.
24:06The very names of those regiments made our hearts beat faster.
24:10The Royal Dragoons, the Grenadier Guards,
24:13the Ninety-Thirds, the Inner Skillings,
24:15the Coldstream Guards, the Royal Fusiliers.
24:18Off they went,
24:20with their brand-new rifles and pretty sparkling uniforms.
24:23Off to teach the Russian bear a lesson.
24:26The finest army in the world, we thought.
24:28Invincible.
24:30Back home in a month.
24:33We thought.
24:35Come on, everybody.
24:37Let's hear it for our brave boys in pretty uniforms.
24:44I can't believe it.
24:46Is it? Oh, no, it isn't.
24:49Oh, yes, it is.
24:51You're right.
24:53It's a lightning-frightening surprise.
24:56You're right.
24:58It's a lightning-frightening fighting...
25:01Light Brigade!
25:14We're the glorious Light Brigade.
25:17The Poltavrovskis of Light Brigade.
25:21A glory queen, a country true.
25:23We draw our steel and shout hurray.
25:26The lightning-frightening fighting Light Brigade.
25:30Who never, no never, no never have been afraid.
25:36We're the glorious Light Brigade.
25:39The Poltavrovskis of Light Brigade.
25:43You've never seen something like us before.
25:45We boldly charge with a cannon draw.
25:49The lightning-frightening fighting Light Brigade.
25:53Who never, no never, no never have been afraid.
26:18An army that had spent more time on the parade ground than on the battlefield.
26:32Commanded by a dear old gentleman whose last taste of action was Waterloo forty years before.
26:38This force, incredibly, due to the heroism of the common soldier, won three battles against huge odds.
26:45But the cost, and those blundering generals.
26:50I know this much.
26:52If any woman had managed her kitchen the way our generals managed that campaign,
26:56she and her entire family would have been reduced to the poorhouse in weeks.
27:00As it was, the British army was reduced to a regiment of living skeletons.
27:04Dressed in rags, crawling with vermin.
27:07And if they were wounded or got sick, worse was waiting.
27:12A death house, in the shape of the military hospital.
27:16At Scutari.
27:24The casualties mounted and the death rate soared.
27:28But the soldiers were writing home.
27:30And the London Times sent out its best reporter.
27:34Before long, the appalling truth was known in every English parlour.
27:39Only then did we begin to understand the full horror of what our men were going through.
27:44Listen to this.
27:46It is with feelings of anger and surprise that the public will learn
27:51that no preparations have been made to care for our wounded in the Crimea.
27:56Not only are there not sufficient surgeons, there's not even linen to make bandages.
28:01Arriving at the hospital, they lie in their own waist,
28:05covered by a single blanket, eating meat, raw, stiff with salt, or rotten with maggots.
28:12Not over breakfast, dear, please.
28:14Let me see.
28:18Excuse me, Mother.
28:20At last, I knew what I must do.
28:22All my training could now be put to use.
28:25But I needed an ally.
28:27So I wrote to my dear old friend, Sidney Herbert, now a powerful member of the War Cabinet.
28:32As it happened, a letter from him crossed with mine in the post.
28:37Dear Miss Nightingale,
28:39I have recently been receiving letters from ladies offering to go out to the Crimea
28:43and give medical care to our injured troops.
28:47I know of only one person in England capable of organising and directing such a scheme.
28:53Yourself.
28:54I suggest that you start interviewing likely candidates as soon as possible.
29:00Well, I wrote back immediately.
29:02Dear Mr Herbert, I've already begun.
29:05Which was only partly untrue.
29:07I started the next day, only to discover that while many called themselves nurses,
29:12few were fit to be chosen.
29:17And why do you feel yourself qualified?
29:20Well, when I read about it in the newspapers, I cried,
29:25and pockets, and pockets, and pockets.
29:30Well, I just thought of those poor, poor boys.
29:33How they must miss a woman's touch.
29:36Pardon?
29:38I never did mind hard work, and I'm not easily shocked.
29:42I just do my best and carry on.
29:45Well, I won't deny that the money will come in useful.
29:48I take it we do get paid?
29:49Good. How much?
29:51At our convent in Bermondsey we see every kind of disease and deformity.
29:56You're a Catholic order, I believe.
29:59We make it our business to save the body first.
30:02Then, and only then, do we attend to the soul.
30:05If that's what concerns you.
30:09We leave in a week. How many can you bring?
30:21War ain't no place for a woman, it's only a place for a man.
30:25This cold we fight from morn till night and beat him when we can.
30:29So don't come here to interfere with the British battle plan.
30:33War ain't no place for a woman, it's only a place for a man.
30:37It's only a place for a man.
30:43If war's no place for a woman, it's hardly a place for a man.
30:47We'll ride the wave and try to save as many as we can.
30:51We're not in gear.
30:52We're nurses.
30:53You'll thank us and not curse us.
30:55We'll rescue you from pain and fear, we'll bring you comfort.
30:58And good cheer we've got to hold your hand.
31:04War ain't no place for a woman, it's really a masculine game.
31:07So when something else move in, it's simply not the same.
31:11Just when the fun is starting, you come with your ribs and curls.
31:15Our only need's to do great deeds and not be hobbled but utterly free
31:19from a gaggle of twittering, tittering, sippering, whippering.
31:22War ain't no place for a woman.
31:43We landed in Turkey just as autumn gave way to winter.
31:46My final choice of nurses were a mixed brigade requiring much drilling.
31:51Some experienced, some less so.
31:53Some happy just to be paid.
31:55Some there out of pure charity and love of God.
31:59Follow me, step lively.
32:01Mind where you put your feet.
32:08We had expected chaos.
32:10But nothing had prepared us for those barracks at Skitari.
32:22Here, just across a narrow strip of water from Constantinople,
32:27the British High Command had established the nearest thing I'd ever seen
32:31to hell on earth.
32:34It was, in fact, the main hospital for receiving the casualties from the Crimea.
32:42It was there I met Sir John Hall,
32:44Chief Medical Officer for the British Army in the East.
32:47Chloroform.
32:48No chloroform for the lower ranks, Mr Davies.
32:51Let us hear the man bawl lustily.
32:53At least then we'll know he's still alive.
32:57Fine, carry on.
32:59Sir?
33:04Ah, Miss Nightingale.
33:06I'd heard you were coming.
33:08And from what I've seen so far, not a moment too soon.
33:11Maybe so, and maybe not.
33:14As I read the instructions from your friend, the Right Honourable Sidney Herbert,
33:18you are under the clear direction of the medical staff here.
33:21That means that neither you nor any of your ladies
33:25will do anything without the express written permission of a military doctor.
33:30In other words, Miss Nightingale,
33:32here in my hospital, you are in charge of nothing
33:36with the exception of your personal laundry.
33:39Am I clear?
33:44But do let us know when you need help.
33:47See to them.
33:51Do we have to give them rations, sir?
33:53Certainly not.
33:54This way.
34:07The quarters we were herded into were squalid and cramped.
34:11Alive with vermin.
34:13The air heavy with the stench of fever and death.
34:23Oh, so that's where he went.
34:25Been missing for a day or two.
34:27Sorry about that, ladies.
34:28We'll have it removed forthwith.
34:33First, the strongest of you to the wash tubs.
34:35Everyone else had a sudden floor sweat.
34:37The windows cleaned up, the stove working.
34:40Where are the brooms?
34:41Brooms? That's a joke.
34:43Find brooms. If you can't find them, make them.
34:52To wait, to have to listen to the screams of the sick and dying
34:57was almost past endurance.
35:01But I knew those gentlemen officers.
35:03They saw us as twittering society do-gooders
35:05in search of a fevered brow to mop or a manly hand to hold
35:08as a brave soldier slipped off to his maker.
35:13But I'd grown up with ministers of the realm
35:15and titled bigwigs sitting at our dinner table.
35:18I knew the little games, I knew the rules.
35:20And I knew how to win.
35:22So...
35:24we waited.
35:39BANGING
35:41Guess what is it?
35:42Big battle. Incoming.
35:44Casualties. They're coming in. A lot.
35:46Sir John says...
35:47Ladies, follow me.
35:49SHOUTING
36:01SHOUTING
36:09DRAMATIC MUSIC
36:23That was the moment of victory.
36:25We were liberated, set free to do what we had trained for
36:28and had come to do.
36:32But after victory comes counter-attack,
36:35in the shape of a system seemingly designed to create confusion.
36:38The officials in charge of supplies, I soon discovered,
36:41were masters of red tape, experts in obfuscation and delay.
36:46I was clearly marked out as the enemy.
36:49I needed allies, and I knew of only two sources I could rely on.
36:53The good lord who never left me through all my trials
36:56and his chief angel of mercy, my old friend Sidney Herbert.
37:00Dear Mr Herbert,
37:02The supply officers fix their attention on the correctness of their bookkeeping
37:06as the primary object of life.
37:08Last week we had run out of bread, soap, carrots, poultices
37:12and many other necessities.
37:14I went to the supply officer and asked him,
37:17was he expecting these things from England?
37:19No, he said.
37:21Are you doing anything about purchasing them?
37:23No, he said.
37:24Can they be had in the local town?
37:26If they can, I don't know how to get them, was his answer.
37:29So, Mr Herbert, I went out myself and I bought them with my own money.
37:33In short, I am now a general dealer in socks, shirts, knives and forks,
37:38tin bars, cabbage and carrots.
37:39The meat is not cooked. The water is not boiled.
37:41The cooking is done by drunken soldiers.
37:43I must refer again to the deficiency of knives and forks here.
37:47The men tear their food like animals.
37:49Will you send us 1,000 mops, 3,000 tin plates?
37:53I go about making the orderlies empty huge tubs of human waste.
37:56The mortality is frightful.
37:5830 in the last 24 hours in this house.
38:00Christmas Day, 1854.
38:02The state of the troops who return here is frostbitten, starved, ragged.
38:08No wonder they die in the hundreds.
38:10No washing has been performed for the men,
38:12neither of body linen nor of bed linen, except by ourselves.
38:16The consequences of this are fever, cholera.
38:19I shall endure.
38:21I shall not break my heart of disappointment
38:23at the total inefficiency of the hospital system here.
38:26I shall bear it willingly.
38:28I was called to do this work,
38:30and I will fight on for God and for the right,
38:32for they are worth fighting for.
38:34I now see clearly what must be done.
38:37If these conditions are happening here,
38:40they are happening elsewhere.
38:42I have written a plan for the systematic reorganization of these hospitals.
38:46Please make sure, Mr. Herbert,
38:48that it reaches the highest levels of the government.
38:50I have more and more reason to believe
38:52that these hospitals are the kingdom of hell,
38:54but I fervently believe they can be made into the kingdom of heaven.
38:57Kingdom of heaven.
39:05Get some sleep.
39:07I don't know how your body keeps going.
39:09Why doesn't a silly thing...
39:11Here, let me.
39:17Thank you, Reverend.
39:20And my body is strong.
39:23My spirit, I get so discouraged.
39:27How could even Jesus not be? How did he persist?
39:30He was the love of God incarnate.
39:32He could love the good even in the worst.
39:35Could Jesus love Sir John Hall when he forbids the men chloroform?
39:39If Sir John Hall sins,
39:41I believe the sacrifice of Jesus can redeem it.
39:45Sometimes I think I expect too much from God.
39:48Well, he is God Almighty, Florence,
39:51and not your private secretary.
39:55I suppose not.
39:57If he were, I'd say, send more bedpans, Lord.
40:01You can't get around it, Florence.
40:04God is in charge, not you.
40:08Time for rounds.
40:16They love you, you know.
40:19Those soldiers.
40:23Then I'm most blessed.
40:31Spring came, and so did the government inspectors.
40:34Sent out after Sidney Herbert spoke to the right people.
40:38And gradually, we began to have something that looked more like a real hospital,
40:42staffed by nurses who were disciplined and professional.
40:45But those poor fellows who died in front of our eyes that first winter,
40:49they will not let me rest until I tell the world of all they suffered.
40:54Who is it?
40:55Dr. Farr.
40:56Just a moment.
40:58The wonderful Dr. Farr,
41:00a member of my unofficial war cabinet.
41:03He brings me such charming gifts.
41:05Sets of figures, all neatly tabulated.
41:10Pardon me, do I intrude?
41:12No, Dr. Farr, come in.
41:13No work today, Miss Nightingale?
41:15Yes, of course, I have to go out, but I'll be back in an hour.
41:17What have you got for me?
41:18Ah, some very interesting comparative death rates.
41:22Excellent. Will you write up a price for me, Dr. Farr?
41:24We'll look it over when I get back.
41:26Meanwhile, you can wish me luck.
41:28Luck? Why, where are you going?
41:30Into battle.
41:37I know what you're thinking.
41:39Here comes that bothering woman again.
41:41Oh, no, not at all.
41:42A delightful interlude in my all too humdrum day.
41:45Then, like all good interludes, I shall be brief.
41:48I come on behalf of the Crimean dead.
41:50Ah, yes, the Royal Commission.
41:52Which still has not met and has not even received your signature, Prime Minister.
41:56Tell me, my lord, in all candour, do you mean to shelve it?
41:59Shelve it?
42:00To silence me, to shut me up.
42:02Miss Nightingale, you must understand
42:04that this is the start of the grouse shooting season.
42:07Yes, of course, those poor birds.
42:09The point is, my dear, that all the important people are leaving town.
42:13I understand.
42:14Then perhaps with so many people at leisure now
42:16would be a good time to publish my own narrative of the Crimean campaign.
42:20I believe, correct me if I'm wrong,
42:22we agreed your report would be confidential.
42:25Indeed we did.
42:26And once it is fully commissioned and I hand it over to you, it will be.
42:30Until that happy moment, I believe I have complete liberty.
42:33And Mr. Russell of the Times has already expressed such an interest
42:36in a first-hand account of my Crimean experiences.
42:42Good day, my lord.
42:49Ah, how in the battle?
42:51I think we won.
42:52Ah, brilliant.
42:54Um, by the way, you might want to look at my precis,
42:58the mortality rates in each regiment relative to the percentage...
43:01Let me see.
43:02Are you sure you're not too tired?
43:04I'm never tired when I see a column of numbers.
43:10Are you sure these figures are correct?
43:12Yes, of course.
43:14Then I must go over them every single one.
43:16Pass me that book and the figures you gave me yesterday.
43:33So there's no doubt?
43:37Statistics tell us facts, not who is to blame for them.
43:43I am to blame.
43:44No, I'm sure you did your best.
43:45It was not enough.
43:50Florence, my dear young girl, do you realise what you just did?
43:55The papers for the Royal Commission will be signed tomorrow.
43:58I have it on the best authority.
44:00Well done, Flo.
44:02And guess who will be chairman?
44:10What?
44:13What?
44:20My poor man.
44:22I've endured so patiently.
44:26I've been such a bad mother to you.
44:30God.
44:33God.
44:35Why have you forsaken me?
44:41Flo?
44:43Yes?
44:45Flo?
44:55Guilty? How can you say that?
44:57Because I am guilty as charged.
44:59Nonsense, my dear. There's absolutely no proof.
45:03No proof?
45:05Scutari, last January. Mortality from disease.
45:08576 per thousand.
45:11576 per thousand.
45:13At the front, same four weeks. Mortality from disease, only 17 per thousand.
45:18Scutari, a 25% greater chance of death from diseases of the stomach and bowels.
45:24Flo, please, please. These are just figures.
45:26Just figures?
45:28I murdered those men.
45:29Come, come. Everybody knows you saved lives.
45:33All that soup you made, all the knives and forks you procured.
45:37Soup, forks.
45:42That first winter, a nurse came to me and said,
45:45there are some beds the men won't lie in.
45:47They call them bad luck beds.
45:48Whoever goes to sleep in them doesn't wake up again.
45:51Nonsense, I said.
45:52Wash the sheets, dress the wounds, feed the men and they'll get better.
45:58It turned out they were right.
46:00The whole hospital was built over a lake of sewage.
46:03Which of course was then cleaned out.
46:05Too late.
46:06Why?
46:08Me.
46:10Ignorance.
46:11Exhaustion from my fights with doctors.
46:13Arrogance.
46:15I was God's own handmaid, wasn't I? So of course I knew best.
46:17But you had absolutely no authority.
46:21No, but I had Sidney Herbert in London at the centre of power.
46:24I wrote to him every week and not once did I ask for help with sanitation.
46:30I asked for pillows.
46:34It took a government commission four months later to flush out the sewers.
46:40Do you know what they found when they dug up the channel that brought us our drinking water?
46:46A dead horse.
46:50And all the time I was saying,
46:52send your patients here, we'll take care of them, we're professionals, we're nurses.
46:58They should never have listened to me.
47:01They should have stayed away.
47:03My poor children.
47:05It's over.
47:07You did your duty.
47:10Nothing more to be done now.
47:13Yes, there is.
47:14What?
47:16Tell the truth.
47:18If that means I'm to be crucified with other murderers like Sir John Hall on either side of me, well,
47:23isn't that the traditional way?
47:25And what exactly will that achieve?
47:27Flo!
47:28Flo.
47:30Please, child.
47:31Think carefully.
47:32Martyrs seldom leave anything behind them but their ashes.
47:37Better a useless martyr than a cowardly deserter.
48:03I dress you slept well?
48:06Is it morning?
48:09Yes.
48:10And Lord Palmerston is expecting your report.
48:13Oh.
48:14Is that it?
48:15Yes.
48:16All done?
48:18It is finished.
48:20Let it go.
48:32I trust you found Miss Nightingale's report of use, Your Majesty?
48:35Extraordinary.
48:36Most valuable.
48:38So you will present it to the Commission?
48:40Florence, one must consider the public mood.
48:44Exactly.
48:45The nation wants to move on.
48:48And let us not forget our Queen.
48:50Nay, the whole of Her Majesty's government are dedicated to reform.
48:53But for reform, we must look to the future.
48:57And not fight old battles, Florence.
49:00Well put, Sydney.
49:04If I were to publish my own report?
49:06Ah.
49:07But there is that confidentiality clause.
49:10Besides, the public would not stand for the loss of one of their greatest heroines.
49:16It would set back the cause for those very reforms you and our gracious Queen so earnestly desire.
49:24You do look tired, Florence.
49:27So much work.
49:29It drains the system.
49:31After two years fretting about the health of our army, isn't it time you took care of your own?
49:42Then God sent his angel to succor the brave.
49:47Ten thousand she saved from an untimely grave.
49:53The wounded, they love her as it can be seen.
49:58She's a soldier's preserver.
50:01They call her their Queen.
50:04Hello, Queenie.
50:06What we got was a miracle.
50:10A blue-neck human miracle.
50:22Not to worry, ladies and gentlemen.
50:25Now, she will be fine.
50:27Look, there's tendons round her.
50:29Now, now, stay where you are.
50:39And when does this commission of ours expect to start hearing evidence?
50:43Next week, I believe.
50:45And will Miss Nightingale appear before it?
50:48Ah, no.
50:50It was decided to submit her evidence in writing through me.
50:54I see.
50:56And how is the dear girl?
50:59Somewhat indisposed, ma'am, after her Herculean efforts.
51:03I believe she's taking the waters in Morven Spa.
51:06Tell her we wish her a speedy recovery.
51:09I'll convey that sentiment to her father when I see him next.
51:13Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me, please.
51:17Not to be disturbed.
51:19Where's my daughter?
51:20Especially by her family.
51:22You have to see my daughter.
51:27I've been told she hasn't eaten for a week.
51:29Well, we can't exactly force her to eat.
51:36You didn't even call a doctor.
51:38I'm sure she's fine, sir.
51:41Mr Nightingale!
51:43Florence!
51:46Florence!
52:01Flo?
52:04Flo?
52:16I'm aware that we need to talk.
52:19We haven't always done that, have we?
52:24I'm also aware that there have been times in my life
52:28when I've been too distant.
52:33Too much in my books, my thoughts.
52:37But you know I always loved you.
52:41Don't you?
52:49Yes, Papa.
52:52Yes, I do.
52:57And yet, in a way, I feel I was always a little afraid of you.
53:04You?
53:07Of me?
53:09Well, you were, but are so independent, so headstrong.
53:16Well, I had to be, didn't I?
53:22Yes.
53:26Of course, you know I had ambitions, too.
53:31Politics.
53:33William Edward Nightingale MP.
53:38I thought that had a nice ring to it.
53:41Better than good old Wen, decent chap,
53:44but not much good at getting the vote out.
53:47Well, I wasn't to be.
53:50I've been left behind in the race.
53:53A lot of races.
53:55Whereas you, on the other hand,
53:58Papa, I'm sure
54:01if there's a House of Commons in the next life,
54:04you'll be a member.
54:16I...
54:18Perhaps that my real calling in life
54:21was to be your teacher when you were a child.
54:25Except, you see, one can be wrong about one's calling.
54:29Oh, Flo.
54:31Be patient with yourself.
54:34Haven't I always said that the world needs pioneers?
54:38Yes, many times.
54:40And you are just such a pioneer.
54:45But if you're a pioneer
54:47and you lead others into a swamp,
54:51but if you're a pioneer
54:53and you lead others into a swamp, into death,
54:57how can you not blame yourself?
55:01What if it's all part of a plan?
55:05What is?
55:08The mistakes.
55:13So when God called me,
55:17He called me to make mistakes.
55:20But you don't believe in my call, do you?
55:23I believe in you, my little genius.
55:27No.
55:29You think the call was just my own voice, don't you?
55:33Nothing more.
55:35Well, I think once I did, but now I...
55:40What?
55:42Oh, does it matter?
55:44It matters to me.
55:46What I think.
55:48Yes, Father.
55:51Then I think that you are human
55:54and that God is God
55:57and He teaches us all through our mistakes
55:59and all we common mortals can do is work through trial and error.
56:06For my errors, I'm now on trial.
56:09And what about Jesus?
56:12What do you mean?
56:15I heard you in the church
56:19when you were praying when you thought you were alone.
56:23My God, why hast thou forsaken me?
56:26I meant...
56:30I once felt so close to God
56:33and now...
56:35I know.
56:37And I meant that you are not the first to feel that despair.
56:42Yet, when you look back on it,
56:45that suffering led to great good.
56:50But I'm not Christ.
56:52Precisely.
56:54Flo, let God be the judge.
56:59He's in charge, not you.
57:12Come on.
57:43Well, my dear, what now?
57:46Do you know, if I had my health,
57:49I think I should like to see what's going on in our English hospitals.
59:42You