The Hour [Series 2, Episode 1]

The Hour [Series 2, Episode 1]

By

Celine Song

This is NOT the real script scheduled to air later this

year. This is a fan-written script. It was written a while

back for fun as a gift to my sister for her birthday. It is

only shared with the community in case others are also

interested. I have used whatever information about the

upcoming episodes released by the press as a basis to the

episode. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

THE DARK

BEL

(in the dark)

Places, please!

INT. STUDIO

Exciting montage of The Hour studio.

BEL

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,

four -

CLOSE UP of BEL’s fingers as it counts THREE, TWO, ONE -

On black and white screen:

HECTOR

Good evening, and welcome to The

Hour.

CREDITS

FLASHBACK

TEN MONTHS AGO

EXT. FREDDIE’S PLACE - EVENING (FLASHBACK)

It’s raining.

BEL is knocking on FREDDIE’s door frantically.

BEL

Freddie! Freddie! Open up! Please!

END OF FLASHBACK

INT. STUDIO - AFTER THE SHOW ENDS

The night’s show is over. The bell rings.

BEL

(walking through the studio)

Good work, everybody.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.

LIX

Good work, Bel.

She walks by ISAAC in a scuba diving costume.

ISAAC

Someone help me out of this thing,

please?

SISSY laughs at him.

BEL walks back to her office.

INT. BEL’S OFFICE

She enters and finds, in her chair, BILL KENDELL.

BEL is surprised.

BEL

Hi.

BILL

Good show. It lagged a bit ten

minutes in with that story about

the mailmen strike, not because

it’s not fascinating but because

you didn’t frame it right - but

Isaac’s skit picked it back up.

BEL

Sorry, who are you?

BILL

Hi, I’m Bill Kendall. You’re Bel

Rowley.

BEL

Right.

(beat

Who are you?

BILL

Old friend of Hector.

BEL

College?

BILL

High school.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

BEL

Very old friend, then. Anyway,

you’re in the wrong office.

BILL

He told me he was going to leave

Marnie for you.

BEL looks at him.

BEL

What do you want?

BILL

Wanted to meet you.

BEL

Now you’ve met me. Hector’s down

the hall.

HECTOR enters.

HECTOR

Good show, Bel. Billy, you ready to

go?

BILL

Yeah.

BEL

Did you let him in here?

HECTOR

He asked where your office is so I

told him.

BEL

Why would you -

HECTOR

Because he wanted to meet you.

BEL

He wanted to meet your ex-mistress?

HECTOR

No, the producer of The Hour. He’s

a producer too. I thought you two

would get along - but then, why did

I think that, you two don’t get

along with anybody.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 4.

BEL

(to BILL)

You’re a producer?

BILL

Yeah. At ITV.

BEL

(beat)

ITV? Are you kidding?

BILL

No.

(to HECTOR)

Ready to go?

HECTOR

Yeah. The pub?

They head out but then on his way, BILL pokes his head back

in to the office and says:

BILL

You’re a good producer. I think you

run a tight ship.

BEL

(taken aback)

Thank you.

BILL

See you around, then?

BILL leaves.

BEL seems baffled.

ISAAC knocks and enters.

This startles BEL.

ISAAC

Bel, Randall wants to see you.

BEL

Can’t you knock or something?

ISAAC

I did.

BEL

What does he want?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

ISAAC

Who ever knows?

INT. HEAD OF NEWS OFFICE

BEL and RANDALL BROWN, the eccentric new Head of News is

sitting there. RANDALL pulls his glasses down and looks at

BEL.

Behind him, a man is changing the wallpaper.

RANDALL

(about the man papering the

walls)

Don’t mind him. I finally settled

on eggshell with lavender prints.

(beat)

So. Ms. Rowley. Why is your show so

boring?

BEL

(beat)

The ratings are good, aren’t they?

Someone even described it

"smashing".

RANDALL

I’m not talking about ratings. I’m

talking about the crushing boredom

I feel inside whenever I watch the

show. I’m talking about what the

show was supposed to be built on

and smashingly it’s failing at it.

BEL

What do you mean.

RANDALL

The earlier hours of The Hour was

always on the verge of exploding.

Why isn’t it anymore? News should

be dangerous. I thought you

understood that.

The man finishes paperwalling behind RANDALL.

RANDALL

(to WALLPAPER MAN)

How long till it dries?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 6.

WALLPAPER MAN

Overnight.

RANDALL

Is it going to smell like this

tomorrow?

WALLPAPER MAN

Probably.

RANDALL

Right, then. Thanks for the

trouble. Send me the bill.

WALLPAPER MAN leaves.

RANDALL

(to BEL)

So, who’s covering domestic news

right now?

BEL

Well - everyone’s pitching in. I do

a chunk of the work, Lix helps, and

-

RANDALL

So no one. No one’s covering

domestic news.

(reading a name from the paper

in front of him)

Freddie Lyons.

BEL

He’s our domestic news

correspondent.

RANDALL

Who was fired ten months ago.

BEL

He quit.

RANDALL

Why haven’t we replaced him?

BEL

(beat)

Haven’t found the replacement.

RANDALL

Is he the one who blew it up with

the Lord Elms interview?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 7.

BEL

He was only reporting the news as

truthfully as he knows how.

RANDALL

No need to defend him. I’m a fan of

idiots like that. Freddie Lyons is

a personality.

(beat)

We need a personality.

BEL

Hector’s a personality.

RANDALL

(laughs)

Hector’s a drag.

BEL

(beat)

Mr. Brown, we are fine as is. The

ratings -

RANDALL

Boring.

Beat.

RANDALL

That’s all. Shut the door on the

way out.

INT. OUTSIDE HEAD OF NEWS OFFICE

BEL shuts the door behind her and takes a breath.

LIX shows up.

LIX

What does he want this time?

BEL

Excitement.

LIX

Seriously?

BEL nods.

LIX

Because we don’t have any?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 8.

BEL

(sad)

We don’t have any.

LIX

(beat)

At least the ratings are good.

BEL

I know. But he’s right. We’re

better than this. I don’t know how

to fix it. I wish -

(beat)

I wish Clarence was still here.

He’d be more helpful about what to

do about this, rather than just

"oh, it’s boring, fix it".

LIX hands BEL her glass of scotch and takes a swig from the

bottle itself.

LIX

Don’t pout. It’s your job to figure

out how to fix it.

BEL nods.

BEL takes the glass from LIX.

LIX

I wish I could tell you that

everything will go back the way it

used to be - but experience shows,

it won’t. We just have to move on.

BEL

But I wish it would.

LIX

I know, dear. Drink up.

BEL throws her head back and downs the drink, and -

Sound of FREDDIE laughing, overlapping the scene, as we go

to -

FLASHBACK

9.

TEN MONTHS AGO

INT. BEL’S APARTMENT - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

BEL throws her head back and downs the drink, then slams it

down on the table. FREDDIE is doing it too, next to her,

coughing.

It’s just FREDDIE and BEL, getting drunk the night of Lord

Elms interview.

BEL

I can’t believe they fired me.

FREDDIE

You’re too good for them. You’re

too good for anyone, really.

BEL

You make me sound like a massive

snob.

FREDDIE

You’re not.

BEL

Anyway, whatever. I don’t even

care. What we did tonight, that was

a bloody good show. It’s why I am

in this business, what I’m doing

this for and it’s - and you - you

were brilliant tonight.

FREDDIE

Couldn’t have been up there without

you.

BEL

What Lord Elms said was remarkable.

You got that out of him. How did

you even do that? You were so, so

good.

FREDDIE laughs. They look at each other with great

tenderness.

BEL

This is the best night ever. We

made something, made something

happen!

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 10.

FREDDIE

We did.

BEL

I’m here, with you, right here,

like this - and I want nothing to

change. Can everything never

change?

FREDDIE

(smiling)

If you want.

END OF FLASHBACK

INT. BEL’S OFFICE - NIGHT - CURRENT DAY

BEL and LIX are now sitting on the floor together, drinking.

LIX holds in her hand the bottle, BEL has her glass in her

hand.

BEL

Everything’s changed.

LIX

Nothing has, dear. It’s just in

your head.

LIX pours BEL another drink.

ISAAC rushes into her office.

ISAAC

Bel!

BEL

What?

ISAAC

You’ve got to see this.

ISAAC goes to the windows and opens the windows.

Outside is a riot.

11.

INT. THE PUB

HECTOR and BILL are drinking together.

HECTOR

... and then they pull the segment,

because Randall feels like it’s not

fun. What does that even mean? This

isn’t a children’s show, it’s a

news show, and - and did I tell you

he told me the other day that I’m

getting fat?

BILL

(kidding)

You are packing on some pounds.

HECTOR

Shut up. I’m in great shape.

BILL

What girl wants a scrawny little

thing anyway.

The two laugh.

HECTOR

So how have you been anyway?

BILL

Come work with us, Hector.

HECTOR

Jesus. Straight to point.

BILL

Come work with us. My controller

sent me to offer you a job as the

head anchor of eight o’clock news

show.

HECTOR

Well, I -

BILL

You’re miserable at BBC.

HECTOR

It’s not so bad at BBC.

BILL

Fine. But it can be better.

(beat)

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 12.

BILL (cont’d)

Think about it.

HECTOR thinks a bit.

There is a ruckus outside the pub. Some men rush in.

BILL

Something’s happening.

(to HECTOR)

This is why I like drinking at a

shitty pub. The stories come

running at you.

HECTOR

What’s going on?

BILL jumps off the chair and begins talking to people at the

bar. There’s anxiety and chaos.

BILL comes back to settle up and pick up his coat.

HECTOR

What’s going on?

BILL

Riots. White supremacists killed a

black woman.

HECTOR

Where?

BILL

We don’t work together yet. Find

out for yourself.

HECTOR

Where are you going?

BILL

To work. I suggest you do the same.

BILL heads for the door.

HECTOR

Wait, Billy, hold on -

HECTOR jumps off his chair, settles up, and tries to catch

up to BILL.

13.

INT. STUDIO

Everybody’s gathering equipment to head out into the night

and film the riots.

BEL

Where’s Hector? Someone get Hector!

SISSY

(with phone in hand)

He’s not home. Marnie’s worried,

what should I tell her?

BEL

Tell her not to worry!

HECTOR runs in.

BEL

Hector!

HECTOR

What’s going on?

SISSY

Here he is!

BEL

Good, you’re here. There’s a race

riot in Notting Hill. Come on.

They all rush out.

INT. CAR

BEL and HECTOR are riding to Notting Hill where there is a

riot. LIX is driving.

BEL hands HECTOR some pages.

BEL

That’s what Sissy could come up

with in ten minutes.

HECTOR

It’s like two pages and most of it

is the dictionary definition of

racism.

BEL

Like I said, she had ten minutes.

HECTOR looks through the notes.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 14.

HECTOR

Bel, I can’t use any of this. We

need someone on domestic. It’s

absurd to go this long without

somebody on domestic.

BEL

Memorize the bloody dictionary

definition of racism.

LIX

Everybody, cool down back there and

have another drink.

LIX passes them her bottle of scotch.

HECTOR

Are you drinking and driving, Lix?

That’s very unsafe.

LIX makes a dismissive gesture.

Outside, a bunch of skinheads are having a good time being

destructive. It’s terrifying.

BEL

(to LIX)

How long till we reach the square?

LIX

Almost there.

BEL

(to HECTOR)

So. What does he want?

HECTOR

What does who want?

BEL

Your friend, Bill or whatever. What

does he want?

HECTOR

We just had drinks.

BEL

Just drinks, no business?

HECTOR

Just drinks.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 15.

BEL

Did you tell him anything?

HECTOR

What would I tell him?

BEL

I don’t know. How we operate, how

we do things here at BBC.

HECTOR

He knows how we do things here, he

used to work here.

BEL

Really? He used to work here then

left? What’s ITV got over BBC?

A young black couple, bleeding, stumble past their car,

looking at BEL and HECTOR, then disappear into the dark.

BEL and HECTOR remember why they are there.

LIX

Alright, if I try to drive here

I’ll only add to the chaos, so just

get off and look for Isaac. I have

to hide the car or these arseholes

will smash it up.

BEL and HECTOR get off the car, and gravely run into the

dark and disappear.

FADE OUT.

EXT. IN FRONT OF BBC - MORNING - A FEW DAYS LATER

It’s peaceful.

A cab arrives.

FREDDIE gets off the cab.

He’s come from a long trip.

He looks up at the building. It’s raining.

16.


RANDALL and FREDDIE sit across from each other.

RANDALL

Famous Freddie Lyons. You are one

notorious man. I’m a huge fan.

FREDDIE

(looking around)

Love what you did with the place,

Mr. Brown.

RANDALL

My mother-in-law knows an interior

decorator. How was your trip?

FREDDIE

Short.

RANDALL

Ready to get back to work?

FREDDIE smiles.

INT. JUST OUTSIDE OF OFFICES

FREDDIE takes a breath.

FREDDIE pushes the door open and walks in.

INT. OFFICES

FREDDIE coughs and people notice him.

FREDDIE

You fascists, you all owe me money!

People shout joyously for FREDDIE.

He hasn’t been forgotten.

SISSY squeals and tackles him to the floor.

LIX

Jesus.

ISAAC

It’s Freddie everybody!

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 17.

SISSY

We love you, Freddie! We missed you

soooooooooooooo much!

ISAAC

Hector, it’s Freddie!

SISSY

How was India? How was China? How

was Yugoslavia? How was Israel? How

was everywhere?

ISAAC

You have to tell us how the world

is doing!

HECTOR

Freddie, so nice to see you again!

FREDDIE

Hector. How’s being a mediocre news

anchor going?

HECTOR

Splendid. Just bought a new car

with all the money I made while you

were fired.

FREDDIE

Good, can I borrow it?

HECTOR

The money or the car?

FREDDIE

Both, obviously.

HECTOR

Obviously.

LIX approaches.

LIX

I’m already sick of your ugly mug.

FREDDIE

You missed me, then?

LIX

Not one bit.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 18.

FREDDIE

Didn’t get married or anything,

then, while I was gone?

LIX

Only to the prince of Belgium.

FREDDIE and LIX hug happily.

LIX

How was the trip?

FREDDIE notices BEL in her office, looking at him.

FREDDIE

Long.

INT. BEL’S OFFICE

BEL sees him, panics a little, and isn’t sure how to behave.

ISAAC enters.

ISAAC

Freddie’s here!

BEL

I saw him.

ISAAC

Aren’t you going to come out and

say hi?

BEL

(looking through her desk)

What happened to the draft I asked

you to edit?

ISAAC

Oh. Uh, working on it.

ISAAC leaves, awkwardly.

BEL looks out the window to see FREDDIE, and sees him coming

towards her office.

BEL pretends to be busy.

FREDDIE walks into the office.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 19.

FREDDIE

On my way over, I dropped by

Bramley Road and talked to some

West Indian folks living there

whose brothers had been arrested

for carrying a broken beer bottle,

which we’re now all calling

"offensive weaponry", apparently.

Metro police is arresting blacks

defending themselves almost as much

as the whites attacking them. That

should be the story we run about

the riots.

BEL looks up.

BEL goes back to shuffling her desk.

BEL

(professionally)

Good idea. Write it up.

FREDDIE

Hi.

BEL

Hi.

FREDDIE

I’m back.

BEL

Welcome back. How was the trip?

FREDDIE

You’re making more mess than you’re

cleaning up.

BEL stops.

FREDDIE

Can we talk?

BEL

Sure, what about?

FREDDIE

Are you angry with me?

BEL

No. Why?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 20.

FREDDIE

Because you’re angry with me.

BEL

I’m not.

FREDDIE

Listen, I -

BILL enters.

BEL

(to BILL)

What are you -

BILL

(to BEL)

So, dinner tonight?

FREDDIE

(to BEL)

Who’s this?

BILL

(to FREDDIE)

Her flavor of the week.

BEL

(to FREDDIE)

He’s not that.

BILL

(to FREDDIE)

I’m a friend of Hector’s. Bill

Kendall, I produce over at ITV.

FREDDIE

(to BEL)

Are you fraternizing with the

enemy, Bel?

BEL

(to FREDDIE)

There’s no fraternizing with

anything anywhere anytime.

BILL

(to BEL)

So, dinner?

FREDDIE

(to BEL)

Are you having dinner with him?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 21.

BILL

(to FREDDIE)

Who’re you? You her brother or

something?

FREDDIE

(to BILL)

Twin brother.

BEL

(to BILL)

He’s not my twin brother.

FREDDIE

(to BEL)

I’m not?

BILL

(to FREDDIE)

Who are you?

FREDDIE

(to BEL)

Who am I?

BEL

The arsehole that left us for ten

months without so much as a

goodbye, toodle-doo!

Beat.

BILL

This seems serious. Are you her

boyfriend? Is he your boyfriend?

BEL

Both of you, out.

BEL pushes them out.

BILL knocks on the window and mouths "DINNER".

FREDDIE is walking away from the office, behind BILL, like

he has no care in the world.

BEL shuts the shutters.

22.

INT. HALLWAY

HECTOR

Did you see my friend back there?

FREDDIE

Is your friend the twat with

enlarged entitlement issues in his

short shorts?

HECTOR

Maybe. You met him?

FREDDIE

He’s knocking on Bel’s window the

last time I saw him.

HECTOR

(chuckling)

He can be very persistent.

(beat)

Actually, a bit like you.

FREDDIE

That man has nothing in common with

me. He is your sort.

HECTOR

He’s a scholarship child and an

orphan. He was raised in foster

homes. You remember the segment

over at ITV about child poverty on

Riverside? You said it’s flawless.

FREDDIE

I said it was good. It was good.

HECTOR

He produced that. That was all him.

FREDDIE

Huh.

Contemplative beat.

HECTOR

Did you say hi to Bel?

FREDDIE

Tried.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 23.

HECTOR

She missed you.

FREDDIE

She’s pissed with me.

HECTOR

The first three weeks of your

absence, she called everybody by

your name. Freudian slip.

FREDDIE

(beat)

She’s having dinner with your

ridiculous friend.

HECTOR

That’s true.

FREDDIE

You’ve given up on her, then?

HECTOR

A man’s gotta know when his

number’s up.

FREDDIE

It’s nice to hear you talk out of

your arse again. I’ve missed that.

INT. BEL’S OFFICE

BILL is knocking from outside.

BILL (O.S.)

Looking forward to the next

installment of The Hour.

BEL

(to BILL, from inside the

office, shouting)

Go away.

INT. REEL SCREENING ROOM

ISAAC is getting FREDDIE all the footage they shot of the

Notting Hill race riot. It’s a LOT of stuff.

ISAAC

So that’s reel one, two, that’s

three, that’s four, five, six,

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 24.

ISAAC (cont’d)

seven, eight, nine, that’s reel

ten, and eleven.

FREDDIE

That’s it for the riots?

ISAAC

Yep. It lasted all week, so we went

out and filmed it every night. And

this is what Sissy, Lix and I could

come up with on the page.

FREDDIE looks at the script they wrote.

FREDDIE

You wrote three paragraphs.

ISAAC

Lix wrote about five. There’s a lot

of international crises going on,

so she hasn’t had the time to write

much of it, she says. Sissy wrote

four and a half, but it’s mostly

just facts and things. You need

anything else?

FREDDIE

Yes. Find me every article about

the past London riots.

ISAAC

There’s a lot. Even the ones in the

19th century and all that?

FREDDIE

From 20th century is fine. What are

you doing for your skit?

ISAAC

I was originally going to do a

segment on bullying in

kindergartens, but I thought it’d

be better to do a bit about the

history of racial profiling in

London. I put in a request to hire

a black actor for it.

FREDDIE

Good idea.

ISAAC is cheered up.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 25.

ISAAC

(smiling)

It’s so great to have you back,

Freddie. It’s not the same here

without you.

FREDDIE smiles back.

ISAAC leaves.

FREDDIE begins watching the reels.

The violence is terrible and HECTOR is clearly in panic -

but FREDDIE keeps watching attentively.

INT. STUDIO - ON THE DAY OF THE SHOW

The day of the show.

MONTAGE of everyone getting ready for the show.

BEL is doing a pep talk to his production team.

BEL

... Okay, that’s it for notes,

we’re on air in twenty minutes.

People disperse, but FREDDIE holds back.

FREDDIE

You’re still not speaking to me?

BEL

I’m speaking to you now. Can I see

your final draft? I know I’ve

looked at it a dozen times but it’s

the feature so I’d like to have a

look at it again.

FREDDIE

Right. I’ll put it in the booth.

LIX runs back towards them.

LIX

Did we fix the interview reel with

the Balinese ambassador?

BEL

Yes, but let’s go look at it again.

LIX and BEL walk away from FREDDIE.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 26.

SISSY approaches.

SISSY

She’s still not speaking to you?

FREDDIE

Nope. Does Hector need my script

now?

SISSY

Yes.

FREDDIE goes to get HECTOR the script.


HECTOR, on his way to the studio, putting his tie on, walks

past RANDALL’s office.

RANDALL

(sing-song)

Oh, Hector!

HECTOR stops, dreading this.

RANDALL is not even looking at HECTOR.

HECTOR

Yes, Mr. Brown?

RANDALL

Try not to make me want to kill

myself today from tediousness. Your

work on the show is rubbish.

Beat.

SOMEBODY (O.S.)

Mr. Madden, we’re ready for you!

RANDALL

That’s it for now. Shut the door.

HECTOR shuts the door.

INT. STUDIO

They are about the start.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 27.

BEL

Places, please! Let’s have a good

show, everybody! On air in ten,

nine, eight, seven, six -

CLOSE UP of FREDDIE.

FLASHBACK

TEN MONTHS AGO


Where we left off in the last flashback, they are still

drunk and on BEL’s couch.

BEL

- five, we finished five bottles of

wine.

FREDDIE

That can’t be safe.

BEL

How did we even do that? Five is an

awfully large number. You’re

staying here tonight, right?

FREDDIE

Guess so.

BEL

Right here, on this couch, right?

FREDDIE

Right.

BEL

I’ve been thinking, now that I

don’t have my amazing job here, I

should move. I’m tired of London.

Would you come with me? Would you

give up your thriving career and

come with me to Lausanne like we

talked about?

FREDDIE

Sure, but only if you let me turn

our den into a cat breeding ground.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 28.

BEL

We can talk about it. We could

probably come to some sort of a

compromise.

BEL falls asleep and begins snoring.

FREDDIE laughs and touches her head.

TIME CUT:

INT. BEL’S APARTMENT BEDROOM - MORNING (FLASHBACK)

FREDDIE is gone and BEL is in her bed, without her shoes and

socks on. FREDDIE had tucked her in.

BEL wakes up. Looks at the clock.

She goes back to bed.

The phone rings.

BEL picks up.

BEL

Hello?

VOICE

(on the phone)

Ms. Bel Rowley?

BEL

It’s she.

VOICE

(on the phone)

This is the desk of BBC controller.

We need you to come in immediately.

EXT. FREDDIE’S PLACE - MORNING (FLASHBACK)

FREDDIE walks home, in a great mood and whistling.

He enters his home.

29.

INT. FREDDIE’S PLACE (FLASHBACK)

FREDDIE

Dad, wake up! What do you want for

breakfast?

FREDDIE’s father doesn’t answer.

FREDDIE makes his way to his father’s room, and sees him

seemingly unconscious on the floor.

FREDDIE drops into him to wake him up.

FREDDIE

Dad? Dad?

Everything goes silent.

TIME CUT:

INT. FREDDIE’S PLACE (FLASHBACK)

Ambulances and paramedics are there to take the father’s

body to the morgue.

FREDDIE is calling BEL. She doesn’t answer, because -

INT. BEL’S APARTMENT (FLASHBACK)

No one’s there.

TIME CUT:

INT. BBC BUILDING - SOME TIME LATER (FLASHBACK)

BEL is really excited. She is happily walking to the

offices. She sees LIX rushing down the hall and waves

happily.

BEL

Lix! Lix!

LIX is upset. BEL doesn’t notice in her euphoria.

LIX

Bel, listen -

BEL

Lix, I got my job back! I got my -

they said the ratings were through

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 30.

BEL (cont’d)the roof during last night’s show,

and anyway - I got my job back!

They gave me my - wait - what?

What?

BEL notices something’s wrong.

BEL

What’s wrong?

LIX

Freddie’s father’s died last night.

He just called me, he said he

couldn’t reach you.

It begins to rain outside.

END OF FLASHBACK

INT. STUDIO - CURRENT DAY

The bell rings and the show is over.

BEL

(elated)

Great show, everybody! Good job,

Hector!

HECTOR is still fuming.

FREDDIE

Good show, Bel.

BEL

(half-ignoring)

Good show.

BEL walks away from FREDDIE.

SOMEBODY

Randall wants to see you, Bel.

BEL dreads that and groans a bit.

LIX

Courage, Bel dear.

BEL rolls her eyes and heads to the office.

31.


BEL enters his office.

BEL

Hello, Mr. Brown.

RANDALL

Come in.

BEL comes in, nervous.

BEL

I -

RANDALL

I just wanted to say, "good show",

Ms. Rowley.

BEL

(beat)

Oh. Right.

RANDALL

That’s it. You can go now.

HECTOR rushes in.

HECTOR

(furious)

Excuse me, may I speak to you for a

moment, Mr. Brown?

RANDALL

Do you mind, Ms. Rowley?

BEL

Not at all. Goodnight, Mr. Brown.

RANDALL

Night, Ms. Rowley.

BEL exits after a "I don’t know what just happened" look

shot at HECTOR, who is too occupied with his anger.

HECTOR

Mr. Brown, what you said to me

before the show is totally uncalled

for. I was about to go up there and

stick my neck out for the show as

its lead anchor, and I have to say,

you treated me like I am a useless

member of this team. I’m the face

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 32.

HECTOR (cont’d)

of this show and I believe I

deserve more respect than you are

giving me, sir.

RANDALL

What’s your point, Mr. Madden?

HECTOR

My point is, Why the bloody hell

don’t you support me?

RANDALL looks up.

RANDALL

Because, Mr. Madden, your work

suffers when you’re not trying to

prove yourself. You become lazy

when you perceive yourself to be

good at your job. I’ve noticed that

you need something to push against,

so in fact I am supporting you, the

best I can.

(beat, then looking back down

at the paper on his desk)

Is that all?

HECTOR has nothing to say.

RANDALL

Shut the door on the way out. But

don’t touch the door, they painted

it this afternoon, it might still

be wet.

INT. HECTOR’S OFFICE

BILL’s waiting there.

HECTOR enters.

HECTOR

You waited long? Sorry, I got

caught up in a stupid conversation

with Randall again.

BILL

(sincerely)

That was a brilliant show. How did

your domestic feature get so strong

overnight?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 33.

HECTOR

(begrudgingly)

Because Freddie Lyons is back.

BILL

Is it the skinny chap who hangs

about Ms. Rowley?

HECTOR

Yes. He’s our domestic man.

BILL

I saw him interviewing Lord Elms a

while back. He was good.

(beat)

He’s bloody good at this.

HECTOR

Right.

BILL

Anyway, I came by because our

controller wanted me to give you

this.

BILL hands HECTOR a piece of paper.

BILL

It’s the starting salary we’re

willing to offer you, if you decide

to come work for ITV.

HECTOR

I see.

BILL

You could use it as a leverage to

get a raise here, if you wanted,

and keep putting up with Randall

Brown. But obviously we’d prefer it

if you just came to work with us

instead.

HECTOR

I’ll consider it. So you want to go

get a drink?

BILL

Not tonight. Give me a ring this

week with an answer and we can get

a drink then.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 34.

HECTOR

Okay. Night.

BILL

Night.

BILL exits.

HECTOR looks at the piece of paper again.

HECTOR

(breaking his poker face,

impressed)

Bloody hell.

The number is very large.

INT. BBC ELEVATOR

BEL gets in the elevator to head home.

BILL (O.S.)

Hold the lift, please!

BEL doesn’t.

BILL runs and slides his hand in between the elevator.

The elevator door opens again and BILL gets in.

BILL

That wasn’t very nice of you.

BEL

No.

BILL

Can I drive you home?

BEL

No.

BILL

I’ll walk you, then.

BEL

No.

The elevator stops and the door opens.

BEL walks a few steps and BILL walks with her.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 35.

BEL

Are you following me?

BILL

Just going your way.

BEL turns around and walks exasperatedly, but she secretly

smiles. So does BILL.

EXT. BBC BUILDING - NIGHT

FREDDIE comes out of the building, ready to go home, and

lights up a cigarette.

A really nice and unique car stops in front of FREDDIE.

It’s RANDALL.

RANDALL

Want a ride home, Mr. Lyons?

FREDDIE

Thought I’d walk.

RANDALL

It’s raining, and if you turn the

wrong corner, you might run into

the riots.

FREDDIE

Right.

FREDDIE gets in the car.

INT. RANDALL’S CAR

RANDALL

So Mr. Lyons, what’s the plan?

FREDDIE

Plan?

RANDALL

Where do you want to be in ten

months?

FREDDIE

(joking)

I don’t know, in your

newly-renovated office, perhaps.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 36.

RANDALL

(seriously)

In ten years, I wouldn’t be

surprised.

Beat.

RANDALL

I think you have the potential to

become big, Mr. Lyons.

FREDDIE

You do?

RANDALL

Yes.

FREDDIE

How do you suppose that?

RANDALL

You’re an idiot. The audience wants

an idiot.

FREDDIE

Not sure if I’m flattered by that.

RANDALL

Ask me where I see you in ten

months.

FREDDIE

Where do you see me in ten months,

Mr. Brown?

RANDALL

As the face of The Hour.

EXT. FREDDIE’S PLACE - EVENING

RANDALL drops FREDDIE off.

FREDDIE gets out of his car.

FREDDIE

Goodbye, then.

RANDALL

Goodnight, Mr. Lyons. See you

tomorrow. Excited to see what you

will do with your new position.

RANDALL drives away.

37.

FREDDIE walks into his house.

INT. FREDDIE’S PLACE - NIGHT

The house is completely empty.

He is utterly alone.

He doesn’t take any of his clothes off and just sits down on

the couch where his father used to sit and watch the telly.

FLASHBACK

TEN MONTHS AGO

EXT. STREET - DAY (FLASHBACK)

It’s raining.

FREDDIE is soaked to the bones, with a suitcase, trying to

catch a cab on the street just off his house.

A cab stops.

FREDDIE

(to the cab driver)

The airport, please.

EXT. FREDDIE’S PLACE - EVENING (FLASHBACK)

BEL jumps out of a cab and begins knocking on FREDDIE’s door

frantically.

BEL

Freddie! Freddie! Open up! Please!

END OF FLASHBACK

EXT. BEL’S BUILDING - EVENING

BEL and BILL are having a spirited talk as they walk towards

their building. BILL is carrying BEL’s umbrella for her.

BEL

... So you think you can make

income taxes entertaining.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 38.

BILL

I think I have to, as a producer.

Where the money goes after we send

in the cheque is the most important

part of our citizenship to this

country.

BEL

Because money is everything.

BILL

Because where we put our money

informs what we believe in as a

society.

BEL

This is my apartment.

BILL

Oh, alright.

BILL hands BEL her umbrella.

BEL

Thanks for the walk.

BILL

Can I kiss you?

BEL

(beat)

No.

BILL

Can I come up to your apartment?

BEL

No.

BILL

Can I steal Hector and make him our

lead anchor?

BEL

Definitely not. No. Never. Is that

what you’re trying to do?

BILL

So you’d rather let me kiss you or

have me come up to your apartment

than to let Hector go?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 39.

BEL

I didn’t say that. I said no. It’s

all no. No.

BILL

Dinner tomorrow?

BEL

No.

BILL

(laughing)

Goodnight, Bel.

BEL

Goodnight.

BILL walks away, his hands in his pocket.

BEL looks after him for a moment smilingly and enters her

own building.

FLASHBACK

TEN MONTHS AGO


Back to that night of Lord Elms’ interview, the two of them

still drunk, on the couch.

FREDDIE

Can I kiss you?

It startles BEL a bit, but she’s very drunk so she recovers

smoothly.

BEL

(playfully)

You know you don’t have to ask,

James.

BEL kisses him on his lips, intending it to be celebratory

and friendly.

Before BEL can pull away completely, FREDDIE pulls her hair

and kisses her, not intending it to be friendly.

After a full moment -

BEL bursts out laughing. FREDDIE laughs too.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 40.

BEL

(laughing)

I hate you so much.

END OF FLASHBACK

EXT. BEL’S BUILDING - NIGHT

It’s raining.

FREDDIE has walked over in the rain without an umbrella.

He looks up at BEL’s room.

He makes a phone call on the payphone.

After a few rings, BEL picks up.

BEL

Hello?

FREDDIE

Hi, it’s me. Look outside.

BEL appears at the window, looking out at him.

FREDDIE waves.

BEL

You’re soaked.

FREDDIE

Can I come up?

BEL

No.

FREDDIE

I know you’re angry with me, but I

need to speak to you. Can I come

up?

INT. BEL’S APARTMENT

There is a knock and BEL furiously opens the door, her arms

full of big towels.

BEL throws the towels on FREDDIE and tries to roughly dry

him, like a shaggy dog.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 41.

She finishes drying him and takes the towels away, and

FREDDIE looks ridiculous, with his hair in a tangled mess.

FREDDIE laughs softly. This annoys BEL.

He sneezes.

BEL hits him, furious.

FREDDIE

Ow.

BEL

What is wrong with you? Don’t you

have a bloody umbrella?

FREDDIE

I’m sorry.

BEL

And how could you just leave? Ten

months? How could you just leave

like that? You didn’t even leave a

note - I was worried sick. You

can’t just leave and then not write

or call or -

FREDDIE

I’m sorry.

BEL

How could you do that to me? After

what happened, I thought you’d come

to me, so I can be there, for you,

but you just - I wanted to be there

for you. You didn’t let me and it

really hurt me.

FREDDIE

I know.

BEL

You’re a real twat.

FREDDIE

Yeah.

BEL

I thought I’d never see you again.

FREDDIE

I missed you.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 42.

BEL

You bloody liar.

FREDDIE

I did.

FREDDIE steps forward and touches BEL’s cheek.

BEL softens despite herself.

BEL

You’re impossible.

FREDDIE

You’re exactly as I thought of you

- in Italy, India, Israel -

(beat)

Honestly, I went to get away from

you. I wanted to see if I could do

it.

BEL

(beat)

And?

FREDDIE

I can’t.

Long, heavy beat.

BEL

(grumpy)

How was the trip, anyway?

FREDDIE

(smiling)

Long.

Fade out.

END OF EPISODE.

Documents

The Hour [Series 2, Episode 1]