Next to a busy motorway in Taunton is a rambling country house where old Miss Constantine (Wynna Evans) lives. While she lives happily in the past in the grounds where her family and dogs once lived, inside the house she is troubled by the presence of three people sent from "the authorities" who refuse to leave and who she is convinced want her out of the house. She eventually plucks up the courage to ask the vicar for help after things go missing, but these 'people' don't exist - or do they?
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00:00A STRIP OF COMPULSORY DEVELOPMENT
00:09Think back. Not so long ago, this was marsh. Marsh birds and butterflies. Apple orchards.
00:22A field of grudging corn. It still exists, you see, in the mind, outside the grip of the authorities.
00:53A STRIP OF COMPULSORY DEVELOPMENT
01:06The rooks blow about like scraps of burnt paper.
01:12Yew trees. Old pillows. Tea on the lawn, when there were servants to bring it.
01:22There were tennis courts in those days.
01:42It keeps its old lady smell.
01:48Roses. Myrtles. Honeysuckle.
01:55The dusty smell of box.
02:12A STRIP OF COMPULSORY DEVELOPMENT
02:18A garden designed for private delight. But Ivy and boys have long since climbed the wall.
02:32The temple, where the bowls used to be kept. Now bees nest inside the door.
02:42At least the bees keep the boys out.
02:57They ran racers up and down this lawn. Miss Constantine and her brothers.
03:05Miss Pell's out. Off you go, Reggie.
03:10One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
03:35I've got you now. I've got you. Oh, Reggie. You silly boy.
03:45Miss Constantine, you see, still plays in the potpourri scent of the old garden.
03:55Come along, dogs. Come along.
03:58Come along, dogs. Dogs, Violet, Brownie.
04:03Come along, then. Come. Good dogs. Come along.
04:12Come along. Come along.
04:18Come along. Come.
04:23Come along, dogs. Come along.
04:26Living in the past. And happy there.
04:33Violet. Brownie. Come along. Come along.
04:39The house wears its creeper like fur. It turns to fire in autumn.
04:47The jackdaws call for Jack, Jack, all summer, round the roofs that have aged to a tender grey.
04:55Swallows come back every year to the servants' hall. They dart in and out through a broken window.
05:02Beards of grass in the gutters and a blackbird's nest in the Tudor plumbing.
05:19No servants now, of course. Just Miss Constantine at home.
05:27The house has the accumulated darkness of very old things.
05:36A darkness of times and people gone forever.
05:45But it's home to Miss Constantine.
05:48Or it would be if it wasn't for the young people from the authorities.
05:55The young people from the authorities.
05:59She can't remember when they moved in.
06:04What are they called? She doesn't know.
06:09They never speak. They are simply present.
06:14In here, for instance. Oh, dear. Please go away.
06:20Standing behind the piano with their backs to the light.
06:24Please go. But their faces.
06:27Please. Their faces are white, as if they'd been rubbed with ash.
06:37Her use of the house shrinks in winter.
06:41Her use of the house shrinks in winter.
06:45She crouches in the room she can heat, whose windows aren't broken and whose ceilings don't leak.
06:54But in summer, in summer, she travels through the house.
06:59The house that contains her lifetime's experience.
07:05She meanders through the light, the shadowy coolness of the different rooms.
07:12She wanders through the light, the shadowy coolness of the different rooms.
07:18She meanders through the light, the shadowy coolness of the different rooms.
07:49Her fingers leave a trail up the dusty banisters.
07:56Under the batwing cobwebs, she travels through her past.
08:18The creeper pressing the windowpanes is luminous, as if it, too, was made out of glass.
08:34But now the young people from the authorities have moved in.
08:39They turn up anywhere.
08:42I know you're there.
08:46I can hear you breathing.
08:49I can hear you breathing.
08:52I can hear you breathing.
08:55I can hear you breathing.
08:58I can hear you breathing.
09:00I can hear you breathing.
09:04Get out of my house.
09:07Very well, then. I'll shut you in.
09:12But how can you communicate when people behave as though you aren't there?
09:23They keep in a group.
09:26She hears them on the stairs.
09:28She hears them shuffling.
09:33I can hear you.
09:35Oh, you can't deceive me.
09:38Why don't you leave me alone? Go away!
09:51They even get into her bedroom.
09:53Sometimes she wakes up in the night, and they're standing in a row at the foot of the bed.
10:00Just looking at her.
10:03With their faces pale as moons.
10:08Out of my house!
10:11She knows what they want, of course.
10:15They want to get her out.
10:18They want the house for themselves.
10:20They want the house for themselves.
10:26But she won't have that.
10:28Oh, no, no.
10:34I know what you're up to.
10:36But you won't win.
10:38I'll see to that.
10:42Constantines have lived and died here for hundreds of years,
10:46and she won't give way, no matter what they do.
10:52Not even now they've started stealing her things.
11:00There! You won't get those!
11:07They stole her shopping list, for instance.
11:10She found it, at last, screwed up in some rubbish.
11:13Oh, they're devils.
11:16If only she could tell someone about them.
11:19But one has to be so careful.
11:22She doesn't want people talking about her.
11:25People can be so unkind.
11:33But she'll have to get rid of them somehow.
11:36They'll simply have to go.
11:39Before they drive her mad.
11:42The church looms over the graves of all the local families,
11:47including generations of Constantines.
12:04Forget-me-nots for Reggie.
12:06Daisies and buttercups.
12:08He always liked butter.
12:11Yellow under a little boy's chin.
12:20Miss Constantine used to go to church every Sunday.
12:24She trudged the family footpath across the fields in her hat, like a bowl.
12:30Her old-fashioned prayer book clamped under one arm.
12:33Hello, Miss Constantine. How are you?
12:37But recently, she's missed the Sunday service.
12:41And this worries the vicar.
12:44Though she's given him a reason.
12:47She's explained that her reading glasses have gone.
12:52So this morning, he offers to go home with her.
12:56But she refuses.
12:59So this morning, he offers to go home with her.
13:04He says he'll help her to find her glasses.
13:24He can't tell whether she's pleased or not.
13:28She's obedient, anyway.
13:40She trots off across the fields.
13:43He has to hurry to keep up with her.
13:47All the birds are out today, singing.
13:58Let me hold that. There we are. Now, careful, Miss Constantine.
14:02He can see she's troubled.
14:05She's even more fluttery than usual.
14:11Miss Constantine.
14:19Miss Constantine.
14:22You do seem rather agitated this morning, don't you?
14:26It seems it isn't only her glasses.
14:30Her pension book's gone as well.
14:33Well, what of it?
14:36That's nothing to worry about.
14:38He's absent-minded himself.
14:41Forgets people's names.
14:43Loses his way in the sermon.
14:46Ah, but there's more to it than that.
14:50Not lost.
14:53But stolen.
14:56I think you must be mistaken.
14:59Now, who would steal from Miss Constantine?
15:03The young people from the authorities.
15:06What does she mean?
15:09Funny old thing.
15:17Lucky he's with her.
15:20He'll sort it out.
15:22Yes.
15:48They pick their way down the drive.
15:52Between the puddle skies.
16:02The house casts a long shadow, even in summer.
16:10She won't let him in by the back.
16:13He has to wait for an official opening of the front door.
16:23The Starlings know which chimneys are never used.
16:27Crumbling stone.
16:30Patched like an old suit.
16:33Tudor glass with bars at every window.
16:37You'd think they'd keep the thieves out.
16:44But where is she?
16:47But where is she?
16:57He's been forgotten.
17:10Hello, Miss Constantine.
17:17Hello. Thank you so much.
17:22The door closes slowly, squeezing out the sunlight.
17:27Will you lead the way?
17:30No.
17:32Where to look first?
17:35Right, now then, your glasses.
17:38Which of the rooms do you usually use?
17:41Oh, all of them, Vicar.
17:43Could we start in here?
17:46By all means, yes.
17:51It will be quite all right, Vicar. I'll open the shutters.
17:54Good.
18:04Ah, there you are.
18:06Ah.
18:11It's years since anyone asked this clock the time.
18:21And the old grandfather, shaped like a coffin.
18:26He's been dead for years.
18:30You really have got some very lovely things, Miss Constantine.
18:34Yes, they are lovely.
18:36But I don't think we're going to find anything in here, are we?
18:40No, I don't think so, Vicar.
18:43Once upon a time, Miss Constantine galloped the pony.
18:47He's waited ever since for the new generation.
18:51The children who were never born.
18:56What a charming room, Miss Constantine.
18:59Yes, it is lovely, Vicar.
19:01Truly charming, and the view as well.
19:05Such a sunny aspect.
19:09Absolutely lovely.
19:14Now, what have we here?
19:17Oh, I don't think there's anything here.
19:21No.
19:25No.
19:27Ah, here's the reading glasses, at any rate.
19:30Oh, how lovely.
19:33Thank you, Vicar.
19:35I don't remember putting them there.
19:38No, well, we all tend to put things down
19:41and then lose track of them, don't we?
19:44Well, I can't see your pension book anywhere here,
19:47so I think we'd better look elsewhere.
19:51Oh.
19:58That's rather unusual.
20:00Oh, it's always like that, you know.
20:02Yes.
20:03Miss Constantine, have you used this chest at all lately?
20:07Oh, no, Vicar, no.
20:09Shall we just have a look and check to make sure?
20:11Why, oh, yes.
20:12Shall we?
20:14I say, these are rather magnificent, aren't they?
20:17Yes.
20:18Yes.
20:19It's full of uniforms.
20:21When Reggie tried on the old military uniform,
20:24Nanny heard footsteps up and down here all night.
20:27Let's go and try somewhere else, shall we?
20:29Very well, Vicar.
20:34It was easier for the children when the servants left.
20:38Not so many complaints.
20:43What's in here, Miss Constantine?
20:45Oh, the kitchen.
20:46Right.
20:49Cook hung on to the last.
20:53Now, what's in here?
20:55Boiled mutton and macaroni pudding,
20:57and the food curled by the time it reached the dining room,
21:01where the Constantine family ate their meals under the portraits,
21:05making conversation in a congealing silence.
21:09Well, they're not there.
21:12What's in there?
21:13Oh, it's a drawing book.
21:16Mother never felt comfortable in the drawing room.
21:20She didn't care for parties.
21:26Can you see, Vicar?
21:27Yes, fine, thank you, Miss Constantine.
21:30Father had his shooting.
21:35Miss Constantine doesn't like mirrors.
21:39You never know who you'll see looking over your shoulder.
21:43What have we got here?
21:45What's this?
21:47A pension book.
21:48A pension book.
21:50Miss Constantine,
21:52I think you'll be relieved to know that I've found what we've been looking for.
21:56Oh, my pension book.
21:59Thank you, Vicar, so much.
22:02I know I've not been in here.
22:05It must be them.
22:07Yes, yes, of course, yes.
22:09Yes.
22:12Moving on, are we?
22:14Now, let's have no more talk about thieves.
22:19Exit one old lady in a muddle and a kindly vicar.
22:26Well, there we are now, Miss Constantine.
22:28We've found your glasses, haven't we, and your pension book.
22:32Nothing else worrying you at all, I hope?
22:34No, not really, Vicar.
22:36Well, if you'll excuse me, I'd best get back to church.
22:40Perhaps we can hope to see you on Sunday.
22:43But as he's about to leave, she clutches at his sleeve.
22:47She's made up her mind.
22:50She asks him to throw out the young people sent from the authorities.
22:56What does she mean?
22:58What young people?
23:01But didn't he notice them a moment ago?
23:04They were in there, sitting on the couch.
23:13She leads the way to the morning room.
23:16Look, there they are, still sitting in a row.
23:23Well, he can't see anything, but that won't help her.
23:28So he tells her to open the doors through to the hall
23:32and to hold the front door open herself.
23:41Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that I must now ask you to go
23:45because you have caused Miss Constantine some considerable upset
23:51and so therefore I do feel it would be best if you were to leave straight away.
23:55If you would please all get up and just go, would you?
24:01Then he pretends to drive them out.
24:05He shoes them in front of him, like a flock of geese.
24:09No, this way, if you would please.
24:11Out through the hall and the front door, if you would please go.
24:16And you can go straight across the hall.
24:20If you would please come this way now.
24:22Please, thank you very much.
24:26Please come along.
24:29Thank you so much.
24:31Goodbye.
24:32When he asks her if they've all gone, she says that there is a nun under the piano.
24:38Sorry?
24:39Look, a nun under the piano.
24:41The nun under the piano.
24:42Yes, of course, yes.
24:43Please, please.
24:44Sister, I'm sorry.
24:46So he drives out the nun.
24:50Sister, I'm very sorry to trouble you, but Miss Constantine is a little concerned
24:57and I wondered if you'd be so kind as to leave.
25:01Thank you ever so much.
25:04Mind your head.
25:06Good.
25:08If you'd just come this way.
25:13Thank you so much.
25:16Goodbye, sister.
25:17And at last, the house is empty.
25:22There.
25:23She asks him then if he noticed their faces.
25:27See their faces?
25:28No, he says, at last.
25:31They're so pale, she says.
25:33Their faces look as though they've been dipped in flour.
25:37Miss Constantine, I think it would be perhaps best...
25:40The vicar pauses on the threshold to warn Miss Constantine.
25:45She shouldn't tell anybody about this.
25:48People talk.
25:50People might think she was imagining things.
25:54And I'll see you soon.
25:55Thank you so much.
25:56God bless you.
25:57Thank you, vicar.
25:58Bye-bye now.
26:00Bye-bye.
26:01Oh, Miss Constantine won't tell.
26:06She knows what people would say.
26:10She'll keep herself to herself.
26:13Has done for years.
26:17So the vicar walks home across the fields.
26:21But he's worried about Miss Constantine.
26:26And next morning, he cycles over to see how she spent the night.
26:46Hello.
27:10Hello.
27:11It's me again.
27:12He needn't have worried.
27:14that all is well. Miss Constantine slept like a child. He has cleared the house of
27:20the young people from the authorities.
27:29So he pedals away congratulating himself on the success of his little trick.
27:39The clouds are thickening over the sun. There's a storm coming. He'll have to get home quickly
27:46or he'll be soaked. But he's caught at the drive end. Miss Constantine's neighbour waves
27:55and comes across.
27:56Hear, vicar, he says. You know those young people you threw out of Miss Constantine's
28:04house yesterday. Our vicar is taken aback. He protests. Now come on, we both know Miss
28:12Constantine and her imagination. But the man interrupts him. He means the young people
28:21with the faces like they'd been whitewashed. He saw them. They were trying to get in again.
28:29All night.