Adultery (2026) s01e04 Episode Script

1
INAUDIBLE
I'll sleep down here.
Do you want a cup of tea?
A cup of tea?
I get it.
You hate the man
that this makes you,
but no-one does this
if they are happy at home.
Beth, you don't know me.
We don't know each other.
We've built lives with other people,
we have families.
What we gonna do, burn it down
and gamble that this is more
than sex
that we have something that lasts?
Maybe this is what
real connection feels like.
Just be with me tonight, and then
next week, we can
Beth, I need to not see you.
Because when I see you, I want you.
And that's not reality, is it?
When you're out,
I want to show you what I've done.
All right, five minutes.
Right, so, this is all
the business - invoices, receipts.
There's a tax letter, and I've
marked up the half-year payment.
Your Amy said she can help us out
if we have any cash-flow problems.
This side, personal accounts -
car tax, insurance, all that crap.
I've printed off your account,
my account and the joint
so you can see how much
we've got to play with.
How bad is it?
Bad.
If I'm not earning for a year
and we've only got your income
How will we pay the mortgage?
We ask them
for a temporary reduction.
Will they do that?
Probably not.
So, what, then?
Your sister.
Or you could sell Ally's house,
take what's left after
the mortgage had been paid off.
Right, yeah.
The lads can still keep working
without me,
so there'll be some income.
But, obviously, word gets out
that I've been sent down,
it's not gonna do my reputation
much good, is it?
Like, the only thing
I can't work out
is whether some stuff hasn't gone
through yet. What do you mean?
Right, look. Balance, there.
So, that's to yesterday.
Last week, hardly anything,
and the week before.
You must have spent money
in Northumberland -
Airbnb, meals out, whatever -
but there's only one payment there,
12 quid, Riverbank.
Oh, yeah, that were this cafe
that were near where I
I spread Ally's ashes.
And the Airbnb, there was a problem,
I complained, damp, erm
but they might
I'll, er, check the app,
see if there are any messages.
I really appreciate you
doing all this, and
I'm sure it won't be necessary.
Where are the kids?
Upstairs.
I'm sorry, I can't, I can't.
HE BREATHES SHAKILY
Sorry, I just
HE EXHALES DEEPLY
I just can't get rid
of this feeling in here.
I feel like the condemned man.
It's OK.
I don't want to go to prison, Beth.
I should be here
for you and the kids.
I'm scared.
HE SOBS
Oh, God, I'm being pathetic.
No. No, you're not.
Sorry. I'm an idiot.
Fucking idiot!
Why didn't I stop myself?
Neil. Neil.
Stop it. Stop it, all right?
Whatever tomorrow brings,
whatever the outcome
we will get through it together.
Shall I tell you what scares me
more than anything?
Me not being here
and you realising
you're better off without me.
Is this all packed?
Yeah.
Hey. It's gonna be OK.
Yep.
I'll be back for dinner.
Mate, honestly, it's gonna be OK.
Come here.
Go on.
See you later.
You all right?
Just worried about Ollie.
His dad's in court today.
I'm sure it'll be all right.
We need to be ready for this.
If his dad goes to prison,
then everyone at school will know,
and Ollie's not afraid
of confrontation himself.
Well, let's see what happens,
shall we? Yeah.
Bye, everyone.
Bye, love.
TEXT WHOOSHES
DOORBELL RINGS
Leah, you OK?
No, I need Hannah.
Hey.
I need your help.
He's with her right now. Look.
So, last night, he calls me, right,
and he's on this work trip,
and then today, there.
What do I do?
Well, I think
you need to go and check.
Give me a second to sort the girls.
I'll come with you.
Jess?
Yeah?
I need you to take Lily
to school today, OK? All right.
Please do not get in the middle
of this. It's madness.
Well, I can't just leave her, Tom,
she's family. Yeah, MY brother.
You gave her that app anyway.
If this all blows up,
you're gonna get blamed for it.
If he's doing
what she thinks he's doing,
he needs to face the consequences.
Come on, we need to be quick!
I'm coming.
Could you please not go?
I've gotta go.
Hannah? Hannah!
Argh!
RINGING TONE
'All right? It's Paul.
You know the drill, baby.'
SIGHS,
VOICEMAIL BEEPS
You sure you want to do this?
Hannah, I can't forgive him again.
What am I gonna tell the kids?
It might be fine.
It might be nothing.
No, I can't. That bastard promised
me that he wouldn't do this again.
Why is he here?
Leah, this is madness!
Go away, Tom!
Why are you here?
I'm stopping her
from ruining her marriage.
What's going on?
Is he with you?
Who?
My husband.
You out of your mind?
Paul Kirkman. Is he in there?
You've dragged me out of the shower.
Leah, Leah!
He could be with a colleague!
Leah!
I'll wait here all day!
You can't sneak out!
Paul! Paul! Paul! Open the door!
Leah, come on, you're gonna
hurt yourself! Paul! Paul!
I know you're in there,
so be a fucking man!
You can pay for that door.
Where is he?
Where's who?
My husband.
And don't say he in't here,
because he's on the app.
Hey, you can't!
Leah!
Paul!
Get the fuck out of my house!
Leah, please!
Where is he?
Where is he?!
He's not here!
You fucking liar! You're young
enough to be his fucking daughter.
Where is my husband?!
Bathroom.
Paul, open the door!
Open the door!
I'm sorry.
You might as well know I'm pregnant.
LEAH BREATHES HEAVILY
Come on, Leah, let's go. Let's go.
I'm sorry, yeah?
Fucking bitch!
Get the fuck away from me,
you fucking bitch! Leah, let's go.
Fuck off, get off!
SPEECH FADES
Where's your solicitor?
Don't know.
She just said to meet her here.
Does anyone want a coffee?
No, I'm fine. No.
So, this Saturday, it's ten years.
James and I.
And? I've decided to throw a little
surprise party at our house.
Nothing fancy,
just friends and family.
Amy!
He'll be there. Won't you?
You'll be there
because you're going to get off.
Don't throw a surprise party.
No-one likes surprise parties.
Don't they?
No. No.
Well, all right,
I'll tell him on the day.
But either way, I would like you
to officiate a renewal of vows.
What?
It's not serious.
It's just this daft thing I found
online to embarrass James. Right.
You can bring the kids, obviously,
and Ollie's girlfriend.
Invite her parents, too,
if you like.
They don't know you.
And they never will
if you don't introduce us.
I am not inviting her parents
Mr Brookes. Hi. Katrina Bray.
I'll need to grab Neil
for five minutes. Excuse us.
She looks about 12.
Yeah, well, that's what happens
when you fire your solicitor.
What's all this about
your anniversary? It distracted him.
Do you want him inside his own head?
And besides, he'll be there.
I will have that coffee.
Yeah.
Beth
Don't make it harder than it is.
Fractured nose, black eye,
heavy bruising to the torso,
neck and arms.
All these months later,
Mr Wells is still suffering
from the negative effects
of Mr Brookes' vicious attack.
And all because he had the temerity
to question Mr Brookes
about the difference
between his quoted job price
and the inflated price
that ended up being invoiced.
You are presenting yourself
to this court as the victim
of unexpected violence,
but, in fact, it was yourself
who used violence first
in this encounter with Mr Brookes.
Isn't that correct, Mr Wells?
I pushed him, I've admitted that.
We have two men trading
very strong words
until one of them
decides to escalate the matter
with physical aggression -
that man being you.
Would you describe yourself
as someone with anger issues,
Mr Brookes?
No.
You wouldn't?
And yet your reaction to being
pushed over is to jump to your feet
and start punching Mr Wells
and pushing him
against the side of your van
until he eventually falls
and strikes his head.
Neil has been successfully
project managing for my business
for many years.
He's dealt with,
to my best estimate,
over 130 clients,
and I have never, in all that time,
had a single complaint.
CAR BOOT SLAMS
Don't make it harder than it is.
CAR DOOR SHUTS,
ENGINE STARTS
SIGHS
Neil, they want us back inside
for the verdict.
Shit. This is it.
BREATHES DEEPLY
Mr Brookes, whilst we appreciate
that there was undoubtedly
provocation,
the injuries sustained by Mr Wells
and verified by the hospital report
can only be deemed
as unacceptable and severe.
Therefore,
it is the opinion of this court
that the assault accusation
is credible,
and on the charge
of actual bodily harm,
we find you guilty.
SOBS SOFTLY
Ollie. Ollie. Oliver!
We are sentencing you
to nine months in prison.
However, taking into account
your previous good character
and the report
from the probation service,
we do not feel
a custodial sentence is appropriate
in this instance.
We are suspending the sentence
for two years,
recommending 150 hours
of unpaid work,
attendance of an anger-management course
and the defendant
is now legally required
to pay the court costs
of the complainant.
TEXT ALER
I told you it was gonna be OK.
What did I say?
LAUGHTER
Eh?
Aw.
Must be relieved
having your dad back home. Totally.
This weekend can be
a double celebration -
my anniversary and your dad
having this behind him.
Definitely.
It's a party Saturday night.
Invite your mam and dad.
Your uncle helped us.
Oh, this Saturday?
Yeah, my house.
Tell them I'm not taking no
for an answer. Oh.
God, I was so worried
about you all, you know?
You're like my second family.
Aw.
Oh.
Aw.
JESS CHUCKLES
How good was I
in the dock, though?
Eh? Come on.
You were very good.
He was very good!
Mm-hm.
I honestly think
they were intimidated by me.
I'm thinking about changing my job.
LAUGHTER
DOOR SHUTS
Hey. Uncle Paul's staying
for a few days.
You all right, girls?
Baby? With another woman? Really?
You were always my favourite.
Ey-ey-ey-ey-ey.
Grab you some clothes.
I reckon I've got a spare toothbrush
somewhere.
Yeah, er, it'll only be
for a couple of days
till I get myself sorted out.
I'll stay out of Hannah's way.
You know,
she'll barely know I'm here.
I've broken her, haven't I, Tommy?
The woman I'm supposed to love.
BEATS PILLOW
You weren't happy, mate.
Happy?
That's got fuck all to do with it.
I've never understood
why everyone thinks they got
the right to be happy all the time.
I
PAUL CHUCKLES
I just wanted to shag Alesha.
TOM EXHALES
That's the bare bones of it.
You know, I wanted it
so I did it.
PAUL EXHALES DEEPLY
Fuck.
And now I've created the mother
of all shit shows.
And everybody hates me.
I don't hate you.
So, how long have you told him?
Couple of days.
Please, don't worry.
He'll keep himself to himself.
Well, we can't tell Leah, can we?
She'll feel so betrayed.
Can you imagine?
Don't tell her, then.
HANNAH SIGHS
If she finds out, just blame me.
He's gotta go back at some point
to get his stuff.
She's a wreck, Tom,
completely distraught.
She's had to send her kids
to her sister's house.
I'd be worried about her
if she was on her own.
I think Helen's going round there.
Do come in
So, Ollie's dad got off
with a fine and community service.
That's good.
Mm-hm.
Excellent result for a man
that beats up his customers. Hmm
Anyway, he's gotta do this like
anger-management course,
which is stupid
because it was a one-off, but
Ollie's mum's sister is having
a party Saturday night to celebrate.
I think it was her anniversary
party, but now it's both.
They invited us, I said we'd go.
What? We don't know them.
SCOFFS
Is this the property developer?
Yeah. We've got plans.
What plans?
Well, it was it was a surprise,
but it's not any more, is it?
Since when, Dad? Cos I said we'd go.
Well, un-say. I'm taking us out.
Where are we going?
What?
Where are we going?
Laser Quest.
CHUCKLES
We used to love it.
Haven't been for ages.
Can I go to the party?
No, it's booked.
Can you please just spend
an evening with the family for once?
GROANS Come on.
Laser Quest?
Yeah.
You used to love Laser Quest.
Please, please, please,
I'm begging you, mate.
Yeah. No, I've checked online,
it's completely full.
It's a really,
really special birthday.
Can you just check if you can
just squeeze us in, please?
'Er, please hold on.'
Yes, yes, of course I'll hold, yeah.
Two adults, three children.
'OK, so, that's all booked for you.'
Yes!
Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you.
You've done a very,
very special thing. Thank you.
Hoo.
I'm gonna be a better husband.
Better man.
I swear.
It's shook me, all this.
Look at me.
Remember this moment, because
No, in fact
Better idea.
What are you doing?
What's that?
It's us.
Which is which?
All right, so,
one's bigger than the other,
and my arms are different lengths.
That's a reminder.
This is day one of a new me.
New us.
HE CHUCKLES
ELECTRONIC POP MUSIC
SHOUTING
No, no, no, no! Ahhh!
Go, go, go, go!
Oh, my God!
LAUGHS
You were great in there.
Oh, thanks. Yeah, still got it.
Still got it.
BOTH LAUGH
Do you know what it made me think?
What?
It made me think
that we could go skiing again.
Yeah, we should, at Christmas.
Yes.
Yeah!
Girls, what do you think?
What's that?
Skiing. Christmas?
Yes!
Yes! Oh, my God.
We haven't done that in ages.
Can we go and get some dinner now?
Yes.
Yeah!
Yes. Pizza. Pizza.
Pizza! Pizza!
Yeah, see you later, lads. Yeah.
This is so dead.
Well, get a beer, then.
In fact, get me one.
Don't encourage him to drink!
What? One. One beer.
Like, if you can't get pissed when
you get your freedom, when can you?
This one says it's all down to her
that you got off.
Oh, aye, yeah,
nice witness statement,
but then she showed the judge
a bit of leg. Didn't!
You didn't get off,
you were found guilty.
Thousands in court costs,
150 hours where you can't work.
Is it your intention
to ruin this party? No.
Then tell your face.
Good. Because you can't do our vows
like Milly Misery.
Oh, no, Amy,
no-one wants to watch that.
Just let everyone have a nice time.
It's called fun.
It's called cringe. I'm just
trying to save you from yourself.
Just let everyone get pissed.
So, what? You don't want to do it?
No, I don't.
This is the thanks I get, is it,
for stepping in,
helping out with everything?
It's hardly the sa Fine.
Fine, I'll do your
Here, just give them to me.
Give me the vows. I'll do it.
It's the least I can do
after what you did for me.
See? Problem solved.
GASPS
No, no. Dad, tell her,
I was doing reds by the end.
Rubbish.
Jess. Yes, I I can't
Darling, yes, you were. I think
you were doing red by the end.
I can't remember,
it was a few years ago.
Can you put your phone down,
please, as well? She's on hers.
Daisy, can you
put your phone down, please?
Anyway, you weren't doing reds.
Stop going on, "I was doing reds."
You did one red, fell over,
and couldn't get your skis back on.
That's why we haven't been back.
No! Dad, tell her!
Please!
Girls, can we just have one dinner
without all the fighting
and the phones?
Daisy, come on.
Just one second.
No, not one sec - now.
I'm in the middle of something.
In the middle of having dinner
with your family.
Can you please just let me?
Put the phone down NOW!
Fine. Jesus.
PHONE RINGS
I wouldn't take that.
Oh. Hypocrite.
It's Ollie's mum.
What?
Hello?
'Sorry for calling
out of the blue,
'it's my sister -
she just won't let it lie.
'She really wants to meet you guys.
'Neil is celebrating getting off,
'and we'd really love it
if you came, even just for one.'
OK, it's just
we're just having dinner.
Oh, Mum, please, please.
HANNAH CHUCKLES
It's on the way home.
Don't be boring.
Getting a bit of pressure here. OK.
I tell you what,
why don't we go after dessert,
and we'll have one drink?
'Oh, that's fantastic!'
Yeah, it'll be fun.
Do you want to send me the address?
'Yeah. I'll see you then.'
All right. Bye!
Yes!
What? It'll be fun.
We'll meet some new people.
It's a family evening.
Well, we'll go as a family.
LAUGHTER
Right. No, calm down,
this is the important bit.
Right, repeat after me.
"I promise, from this day forward,
"to never, ever use the word "ditto"
ever again."
GUESTS JEER
What's that about?
To stop belching words.
He does that!
LAUGHTER
Right, listen to this.
"And to definitely never watch
the next episode
"of a show we're watching together
after I've gone to bed."
LAUGHTER
"Do you, for the rest of your days
with Amy, promise these things?"
JAMES, BELCHING: I do.
LAUGHTER No!
Right, listen up.
Amy, unbeknownst to you,
James has also written some vows.
Ohhh!
When did he do that?
Ten minutes ago, in the toilet.
LAUGHTER
I can't read that!
Come on! Get it read.
She's had hers.
Oh, God! Whose idea was this?
Oh, right, OK.
"Do you, Amy, promise to stop
badgering James every Friday night
"for cunnilingus?"
LAUGHTER
Three glasses of wine
every bloody week!
And he never does!
Sorry for calling like that.
BETH CHUCKLES
Is he cross with me, Tom?
No. God, no, no, no.
He wants to be here.
Of course, madam's happy.
Aw, they're cute together,
aren't they?
Wish I was still in them days,
don't you?
Yeah, sometimes.
It's a really lovely house.
Your sister must have put a lot
of work into it.
Or paid someone else to.
Yeah!
BOTH CHUCKLE
Yeah.
I hear you and Tom
have got a place in the Lakes.
Yeah, it's Tom's mum's place.
I mean, it's tiny,
needs a lot of work doing.
Spend much time there?
No, not really, but Tom went up
recently. He's been renovating it.
Think he's turning it
into a bit of a, you know
Shag pad?
HANNAH CHUCKLES
Yes.
Everything OK?
Hi, yeah. Was just telling Beth
about our little shag pad
in the Lakes.
TOM CHUCKLES
Yeah. You and Neil should You can
use it any time you're up there.
That's a really good idea.
You should go up there, actually,
it'd be really good
after everything
you've been through. What's that?
BETH SIGHS
Tom and Hannah,
they have a place in the Lakes.
They were just saying
we could have the use of it.
Oh, right, nice one. Not been there
in years. Where is it?
Windermere.
HANNAH LAUGHS
It's right on the lake, actually.
You can go out on the water,
take the kids.
Ours love it, don't they?
They're always in the water.
Afterwards, you can go
to the Riverbank,
get a little cake and coffee.
Riverbank? Yeah. It's this little
cafe, it's very sweet.
Yeah, they have them all over.
There's one in Northumberland.
Oh, is there?
Yeah, think so
This is my sister, Amy.
Oh. Oh.
Hello.
Hi.
Hannah and Tom, Jess's parents.
Oh, it's so good to meet you.
And you. Yeah, good to meet you.
Tom.
Such a lovely home. Thank you.
It is, it's beautiful, yeah.
Bet you've got a fantastic bathroom.
AMY CHUCKLES
Up the stairs, on the left.
THEY LAUGH
I need to go as well, but
luckily, there are two of them.
AMY LAUGHS
There's three, actually.
Have you lost your fucking mind?
I wanted to see you.
So you call Hannah?
Well, Jess invited you,
but then you were all of a sudden
off shooting at each other.
No, not all of a sudden, no.
That was booked. It was organised.
Oh, really
Yes, really.
Hmm! Playing happy families,
are you? Shh, Beth!
In here. Jesus Christ.
SHE LAUGHS
Honestly. Right.
Beth, we had a plan.
Cold turkey. No contact.
Well, I think those
were mainly your conditions.
Yes, to save our marriages.
I know that you want to be with me.
HE GROANS
Oh, admit it.
Come on, just admit it.
I miss you.
Ugh.
And I know that you miss me.
Tell me that you don't miss me.
Oh, for fuck's sakes.
You're a fucking liar.
Beth, my brother's just been caught
by his wife. I was there.
It's horrific. You don't want that.
I'm telling you,
you don't want that.
Tell me that you don't miss me.
Tell me that you don't miss me.
I'll tell you what I don't miss -
I don't miss feeling fucking
terrible.
I don't miss hating myself.
Your husband is downstairs.
SHE SCOFFS
You're up here trying
to stick your tongue down my throat.
Please. Please!
Do you know, sometimes, I do wish
that we'd never met each other.
SIGHS
BREATHES SHAKILY
GROANS
Three, two, one.
That's really good! That's it.
LAUGHTER
Daisy.
SING-SONG: Addicted!
Give it back!
All right. Whoo!
Give it back! Give it back!
Jesus. All right. Let's go again.
One more, one more.
I'm gonna win this one. Three
Hey, are you all right?
Fine.
INAUDIBLE
MUSIC PLAYS SOFTLY
FROM SPEAKERS
Yeah?
What?!
I just want to say sorry.
About earlier -
getting angry at the party.
Forget about it.
You can go now.
SIGHS
I need your help.
You can't tell Mum or Dad.
TV PLAYS SOFTLY
Hey.
This couch is comfier than mine.
CHUCKLES SOFTLY
Budge up.
TOM SIGHS
I saw Dad down at the Lakes.
Right. You go and see him?
No.
He was just in some pub
with a woman, looking very happy.
Right.
And your point is?
Maybe we're not all made
for monogamy.
CHUCKLES SOFTLY
I wasn't happy.
Throughout Hannah's illness
I used to come home,
she'd be curled up
on the bedroom floor, crying.
Oh, my God, it was brutal.
Always the saint, aren't you?
I'm not a saint.
Really, I'm not.
If you loved Alesha
would it make all this mess
worthwhile?
Love?
Oh, yeah.
If I'm being honest, I think that's
all I ever really wanted, was
was that feeling again.
Falling in love
and nothing can touch you.
It was magic, that time, weren't it?
That magic doesn't exist any more
for us, does it, Tommy?
Chasing it,
look where that gets you.
Sat in your pants,
watching robots
living in your brother's
garden shed.
HE SIGHS
Right you, bed.
You, do whatever you're doing.
I'm taking
this beautiful woman dancing.
What, are you going out?
No. Kitchen disco.
Like when you two were little.
I'm exhausted, Neil.
Come on. Dance with me.
Dance with him. He's happy.
He's drunk.
He's happy drunk.
I'll dance,
but only if you two join us.
Pfff! Yeah, right (!) I'm going bed.
I'll dance.
Frankie
MUMBLING No.
FRANKIE SIGHS
Still got the playlist.
It's no way for life to start
Do you know that tonight
The streets are ours?
Tonight, the streets are ours
These lights in our hearts
They tell no lies ♪
Sorry for the way I've been.
I love you. You know that.
My gorgeous girl.
The trigger of time it tricks you
So you have no way to grow
Do you know that tonight
The streets are ours?
Tonight, the streets are ours
These lights in our hearts ♪
Neil We can be quiet,
they won't hear us.
I just I don't
You're just tired.
Once we get going, we always
No, I can't.
When you didn't want to,
I didn't push it.
The day before my court case?
Yeah, and now you're acting
like you can just
sweep it all away.
Tonight, the streets are ours ♪
HE SIGHS
I've had
months of this.
Being your
your wife, your your
your mother, your counsellor.
When was the last time
that we had fun?
When was the last time that we
that we lived
without some shit to deal with?
Yeah, well, I've tried tonight.
Yeah, but it's been years, Neil.
It's just the same routine,
day after day.
It's called real life, Beth.
Yeah, well, real life sucks.
HE SIGHS
Nothing ever changes.
It's just
get the kids to school
work, bed.
It's not how I thought my life
would turn out.
Look, I know what you're saying.
All right? Things have been hard.
But we can have fun again.
In a few years,
it'll just be me and you.
We can do what we want.
Trips away, out with our mates.
On our third date
we had sex
behind the bins outside Cassidy's.
We can go back there if you want.
BOTH LAUGH
And they say romance is dead.
When Ally died, it
turned a light on inside me.
Life is short.
But the truth is,
we're just boxed in by
work and
money and
routine.
It's not that bad, is it?
No, it's not that bad.
But it's not that good either.
And it used to be.
We used to be good together.
Where did it all go?
We will be again.
Promise, Beth.
Just be with me tonight.
I love you.