The Artful Dodger (2023) s02e07 Episode Script

1
[intriguing music playing]
Are you nervous?
- [Belle] Hmm?
- [Fanny chuckles]
It must be a bit delicious
being fought over.
What are you talking about?
Don't be coy.
How are you going to respond
to Inspector Boxer's proposal?
If it was a proposal.
I really have no idea, Fanny.
Haven't thought of it.
You have.
Where are you going
on this interrogatory morning?
Buying ribbons.
Hmm. That's what you told Mother.
Where are you actually going?
None of your business.
- [groans and vomits]
- [hospital staff panicking and clamouring]
[tense music playing]
- [indistinct conversation]
- [patients vomiting, wheezing]
[crowd murmuring]
[officer] Stand back, all of you.
[distressed exclaiming]
[apparatus hisses]
[crowd clamouring]
[people groaning, coughing]
[Dodger grunts]
Belle, it's not safe for you here.
Is it cholera?
[breathing heavily]
Yes. In Devil's Elbow.
[theme music playing]
The Duke tells me you swindled him
into buying land he shouldn't have
when he was drunk.
[sighs] No, I don't swindle.
Especially not from dukes.
I can't believe his Lordship would
be untruthful with you.
He must have been confused.
You see,
I sell to the best people in town.
Uh, "Sir Gideon Hawkes,
Elizabeth Maxwell."
- Elizabeth Maxwell?
- Yes.
All respectable, all above board.
That £20,000 wasn't his
to spend on Fagin & Son's land.
It was the East India's money,
meant for something else
that we have a pressing need of.
I must insist
you return this money to me immediately.
No, no, no, no. A deal's a deal.
And besides, that money is
already snarled up.
You're a commercial man.
I I respect that.
But I need that cash
or a head in a barrel, pickled,
so my employers can balance the books.
Now that head can be mine.
Very unlikely.
It can be the Duke's.
That That's much more complex.
Or it can be yours.
Simpler.
No.
See, I don't like them choices,
and we don't need to be
at each other's throats.
You see, I reckon
we're cut from the same cheesecloth.
Yes.
I suspect we share an humble history.
We both reached up from the gutter
and touched the dirty hems of the stars.
We have. We have.
So don't make me your enemy
when I could be your friend.
Now, you mentioned something
that your employers have
a pressing need of.
Perhaps I could help with that?
As a gesture of goodwill between friends.
What is it?
A saltpetre nitrary.
A nitrary?
Well, why didn't you say?
You You know of one?
[Fagin] Oh, yeah, I've got one!
I've got one.
It's being finessed as we speak.
If only the Duke had asked.
But they don't trust us, do they?
You see, you understand me,
but a toff would never think
that Norbert Fagin of Clerkenwell Green
could have his own nitrary.
They underestimate us
because we're humble.
[Fagin] They do.
And at their own peril, eh, Uriah?
May I call you Uriah?
You may. How soon can you
fill my ships with saltpetre?
Ah. End of the month.
- I need it tomorrow.
- [exhales]
Well, if I if I if I put
me best people on it, it could be done.
But, you know, given the pinch of time
and the greater value of this thing,
this nitrary,
I'd have to have, uh, 50% of the profits,
plus £15,000 cash for me disbursements
and expenses.
Impossible.
Right then. Well, nice to natter.
Wait.
Done.
Tomorrow then.
Or I will have to take your head.
- [laughs] Yes.
- [chuckles]
What was all that about?
Who's Salt Peter?
What the bloody hell's a nitrary?
[patients coughing]
We need more commodes
and turpentine stupes.
Yes, sister.
- We need more calomel.
- [nurse] Yes, my lady.
[mumbles indistinctly, sighs softly]
You are more vulnerable
after your surgery.
Please, Belle, you have to go.
[Belle] I'm not leaving, Jack.
You should know that.
You always tell me
not to be reckless with my life,
but you are doing
the same thing with yours.
We did it in London during the
outbreak of '32, and it worked.
Yes, but a quarantine is a
[Dodger] A quarantine?
What, so you're gonna
just shut them up in the Elbow,
- away from any kind of medical treatment?
- [Alistair sighs]
Not here, Dawkins. Come.
We can't let cholera
spread into the town.
Nobody knows how cholera is spread
or what causes it.
You cannot justify a quarantine
on this flimsy basis.
Well, I don't feel I need
to justify myself
to an unqualified woman with a hobby.
Now, the poor nest in filth
and the stinking effusions
of their cesspits and slaughterhouses
rot the soil and poison the air
with a stench.
Miasma.
You can't prove that a smell
transmits cholera. It's just a theory.
Miasmic theory is supported
by The Lancet, Lady Belle.
Oh, yes, being poorly read,
I was unaware of that.
The Lancet presents miasma as a theory,
not scientific proof.
Nevertheless, the theory is supported
by the chief medical officer of London
and the vast majority of practitioners.
Well, why does it affect their gut, then?
Because if cholera is spread
by stinking air,
it would attack the lungs, but it's not.
They are vomiting.
They are fouling themselves.
It's more likely they've
ingested something than breathed it.
You can't quarantine
on this basis, Sneed.
It's wrong.
No, these people are poisonous.
Their foulness spreads disease.
These people, they're human beings.
I grew up in a place
just like Devil's Elbow.
There are children there. There are th
There are people who deserve our care,
and we are condemning them
like rats in a sodding bucket
based on some toff's theory!
- We must make a decision.
- [Sneed] No.
I must make a decision.
Lady Belle, Dr Dawkins,
I've heard your position.
But as head surgeon, I must act
to protect the most lives I can.
And the only reasonable option
is to follow the medical consensus
and ask the Governor
to quarantine the Elbow.
Christ, Sneed.
- I'll go to the Governor.
- [Belle] Yes, so will I.
To tell him it's ridiculous.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[Fagin] Salty Pete.
Could be a sailor, a cook.
Anyone. [sighs]
I don't mind telling you, Fanny,
I am now lumbered
with a somewhat pestiferous conundrum.
How am I gonna find out
what his nitrary is,
if no one's ever heard of Salt Peter?
Oh, my sainted twitches! I have!
- You have what?
- Heard of Salt Peter!
There's been a bell tinkling in my mind
and I thought he was a pirate,
but he's someone
Uncle Dickie's talked about.
Magnificent. Go and ask him.
Well, it's just, Uncle Dickie
is rather angry with me
after helping to take all that money.
I have no doubt you could charm
the budgies from the trees, Fanny.
Fly forth.
- [birds chirping]
- [pensive music playing]
[Alistair] I have seen cholera
ravage London, Governor.
And if we don't contain it
in Devil's Elbow,
it will spread into the town.
But, quarantining,
it it seems extreme.
Yes, it is. We need to find the cause
before we lock people up
without medical treatment
just for having it.
If the professor is right,
delay will cost more lives.
[Alistair] Yes. And it's not just me.
It's the view of the medical journals
and most senior men in the profession.
Is he lying, Belle?
No, but that doesn't mean
they're all correct.
But you are?
And we should listen instead
to your, well, what should we call it?
A guess? Or hubris.
I am suggesting we don't turn our backs
on our own people when they're sick
because they happen to be poor.
Yes, but you're rather biased there.
This is immoral.
[Lady Jane scoffs] You're hardly one
to talk of morality.
Give the order, Edmund.
[tense music playing]
Based on the medical consensus,
we will quarantine the Elbow.
But But just as a precaution,
until we understand
how the disease is caused and spread.
Hmm. Affrey, Devil's Elbow is
to be quarantined.
Send the order at once.
My lady.
And, Belle, you'll stay here and
not risk your health in that hospital.
I'll do nothing of the sort.
[door closes]
[Governor and Lady Jane
arguing indistinctly]
Uh, what's happening in there?
[Dickie] Oh, plague of the poor
or some such.
Come to swindle me again,
you little vixen?
No, to apologise for my recent antics.
I've come to believe you're right
about Mr Fagin and his miscreants, Uncle.
I should have listened to you. [sighs]
I'm very sorry.
I feel rather silly.
Well, we can all err.
Perhaps I was rather
terse, in my own way.
No matter. The money is
no longer my concern.
Mr Heep will manage it from here.
Well, these look
ever-so complicated. [chuckles]
You must be very clever to read them.
Well, uh, yes, as it happens.
- Who's Salt Peter? Is he a pirate?
- [laughing]
No, my dear. Bless you.
Saltpetre is bat excrement,
liquified and mixed with ash.
Ugh. What for?
To produce potassium nitrate,
which, when mixed with sulphur
and charcoal, goes [mimics explosion]
Oh.
- Fireworks?
- No, gunpowder.
Which we use to blow our enemies
to kingdom come,
unless of course they pay more,
in which case we sell it to them.
It means we win all the wars,
one way or another.
- [softly] Golly!
- Hmm.
- How wonderful.
- And how lucrative.
At least, it would have been
if I still had the £20,000
that I was meant to use
to establish a saltpetre nitrary.
Oh, dear.
I feel terribly responsible.
Will we lose the war?
Oh. My dear.
There, there, there, there, there.
Who among us hasn't lost a war or two?
You know, I must say,
I commend you, Fanny.
Taking responsibility for your mistakes
is a sign of real maturity.
- I
- [Fanny] Thank you.
I do so love to learn from you, Uncle.
I'll try to be better.
- [indistinct shouting]
- [keys jingling]
Inspector.
[Boxer] Forgive me, Constable.
You all right, sir?
I've made a grave error of judgement
in this case.
[Bramwell] Inspector.
Inspector, it's the Elbow.
There's a cholera outbreak.
We've been ordered to lock it down.
[imposing music playing]
- [clanking]
- [lock clicking]
This isn't right.
We should protect them, not condemn them.
Governor's order says to lock 'em up,
so we lock 'em up.
Right. Out of the quarantine zone, men.
Please. My daughter.
She needs to see a doctor.
- You comin'?
- Please!
- [Boxer] No.
- You can't leave us here to die!
We need your help!
Someone needs to stay
to ensure there isn't a riot.
[Bramwell] Suit yourself.
[people clamouring]
[groaning softly]
- [Belle] I need your help.
- I have 15 patients.
No, your other skills.
So you'll happily use crime
when it suits you then, my lady.
I need to get past the quarantine line
to find the cause of the outbreak.
Well, I can get you in, but you can't go.
It's far too dangerous.
Don't be absurd.
I'm not a hothouse flower.
I cannot risk the extra pressure
on your aorta if you catch this.
- It's not your concern.
- It bloody is my concern.
You are my only concern.
If anything were to happen to you, I
We need to start venesections.
They helped reduce the congestion
of blood in the last outbreak.
No, I'm going to find the source.
If you go near that place,
I'll consider you infected and you
won't be permitted to return here.
[Dodger] Well, I'm going, too.
Dawkins, no. I need you.
All we are doing here, Sneed,
is delaying the inevitable.
Belle is right.
We need to have doctors there,
so we can find the cause
and save more lives.
This is reckless and cowardly.
And you call yourselves doctors, do you?
- [Fagin] And?
- Saltpetre isn't a pirate at all.
- It's an ingredient in gunpowder.
- [Flashbang scoffs]
I could have told you that, Fagin.
But you never come to me, do you?
Apparently, bats' unpleasantries
are glorious for making explosions,
and all the countries want saltpetre
because everyone is at war.
Isn't it wonderful?
And look,
I happened upon Uncle Dickie's plans
for a nitrary to make it.
Fanny.
You are a criminal mind
of pure and potent genius.
Right, listen up.
From now on, Fagin & Son
are in the saltpetre business.
Now, gather 'round, time is of the essence
if we're gonna make this by tomorrow.
Tomorrow? Have you
been smoking hair, too?
I only did that once,
and it was a very emotional time.
- [Fagin] Well, how long does it take?
- About three months.
Three months? I ain't got three months!
I'm about to have me bonce lopped off
and pickled.
Ooh, why don't we all play
a game of pretend?
Yeah, that's a lovely notion, Fanny,
but we ain't got any time for that now.
No, we'll just pretend to have a factory.
Oh, that could work.
If we all muck in together and start now.
Flashy?
You said you didn't trust me.
You threatened to blow me up!
[stutters]
Look, why don't we just spit on palms
and shake on it like coveys?
- We'll need a vat.
- Go and get a vat.
And you need to be nicer to me!
[loudly] I'm nice!
What's not nice about me, ya cabbage?
Rotty?
[Rotty] Last time I helped
in a Fagin & Son land scam,
I got no coin and trouble
from the East India Company.
Granted, we lost £20,000,
but Uriah's got a very strong need
for this nitrary.
So, we can either form a potentially
lucrative partnership with him,
or I lose me head.
I'll think on it.
Either outcome benefits me.
Oh! [laughs]
Rotty, that is chilly, even for you.
I'll tell you what.
When you find the time
in your bloody pint-pulling schedule,
let me know. Until then, Flashy,
piss off and get me that vat.
"Please."
Please, piss off and get me that vat.
[Flashbang grumbles, groans]
You all right?
Fine. You?
Yeah, fine.
Fine, uh
- I'm glad we're together doing this.
- Walking into a plague?
[Dodger] How sure are you
that it's not spread by stinking air?
[Belle] Reasonably sure.
The logic doesn't hold.
Because if we're wrong,
then we're not coming
back from Devil's Elbow.
Then let's hope we're right.
Before, in the hospital
Did you really grow up in a place
as difficult as Devil's Elbow?
Yeah. Worse.
[Belle] I'm sorry.
[chuckles] Why? Don't be.
It's It's not like it's your fault.
I didn't know any different.
I mean, it was just life, you know?
It was hard.
Toffs didn't make it any easier.
Always shovin' us down,
stoppin' us from making a crust,
kickin' us off the street corners
for begging
No one would give you an honest job,
so we'd just nick what we needed.
I'm beginning to see why flouting the law
feels more natural to you.
[chuckles] Yeah,
well, you're doing it now.
- Um
- [Belle] What?
No, nothing. There's just, uh
There's a rather large bar of platinum
down here somewhere.
- Oh, for goodness' sake, Jack!
- What?
The platinum, that was you.
Now, I can understand breaking laws
that are arbitrary and unfair,
- but stealing just for greed, Jack
- No, no, no, no, no.
- No, it wasn't for greed, it was for you.
- I don't need platinum.
No, but you might do, Belle.
I am
I'm so scared that the surgery
I did to you is not gonna hold.
And Tim is close
to perfecting a galvanocautery
that can fix you if your ligation fails.
- But for that, we need
- [softly] Platinum.
And I'm sorry for involving Fanny
in all this,
but when it comes to you, I just,
I don't I don't think rationally.
Same.
Now, where do we go from here?
[Fagin] Why are they being
so scratchy with me
when they know me noggin's on the block
and I'm offering them
a share of the profits?
Well, I suspect Rotty's upset
because you've taken advantage
of her hospitality.
- Taken advantage?
- And I think Flashbang wants a hug.
- [Fagin] A what?
- He wants to be included.
- He is.
- Appreciated.
Right, so in the face
of the East India Company
coming for my head with a pickling barrel,
I'm supposed to just stop everything
and soothe the feelings
of a pair of old knackerbags?
When Belle's been unkind to me,
which is quite a lot,
she leaves me flowers
or a book on my table,
but I don't really want that.
I just want her to say, "Sorry,"
and "Would I like to be her friend?"
Just be nice to them.
Nice? Yeah.
I find all this very irregular.
I'll give it a go.
My dear Smike, when we arrive
at my lodgings,
would you please be so kind
as to keep your oculus peeled
for a sign of Mr Heep?
Thanks ever so. Much obliged.
- How's that?
- I think that's lovely, Mr Fagin.
Yeah, gives me the shivers.
[bottles clanking]
[sombre music playing]
If they're all dying here,
there must be a common factor.
Jack?
Sorry, um
Yes. So, um, if they're not dying
from breathing in the stench,
then what is it?
Food? Drink?
[Belle] The arsenic poisoning.
There were articles on it
being in the wallpaper.
I can assure you, these people
do not have wallpaper.
They are lucky to have walls.
[Boxer] Lady Belle.
- Dr Dawkins.
- Inspector, what are you doing here?
People need to know
the law will protect them.
- [Dodger chuckles]
- Quarantine or not.
You and I clearly have
a different experience with the law.
Yes, I suspect we have.
I've been recording the deaths here
to make sure everyone is accounted for.
There are almost no deaths
on the Butcher's side of the street,
but a very many on the side
of the Whaler's Pub.
See, if cholera was in the air,
that disparity would be impossible.
We need to find the reason.
I'll take the Whaler's side.
I'll accompany Lady Belle
on the Butcher's.
Lady Belle doesn't need accompanying.
We'll split it up.
Dr Dawkins.
I misjudged you,
and I apologise.
Will you shake my hand?
[softly] Careful, Jack.
[Dodger] You, too.
[Lady Jane groans softly]
- Are you all right, darling?
- Yes, fine.
Something at breakfast
didn't agree with me.
[Governor] Oh, dear.
Not the kippers?
I thought they tasted a bit iffy.
[Affrey clears throat]
A Mr Heep of the East India Company.
Forgive me, excellencies, for the
temerity to approach my betters
Could you speak plainly?
We're in the middle of something.
'Course.
Did I hear a port quarantine
had been ordered, Governor?
Yes. My husband closed the port.
Oh, did I?
Yes, darling. Remember?
Your opinion was
that as there's a communicable disease
in the streets next to the docks,
well, it would be unconscionable
to allow anyone else to be exposed.
Yes, quite right. Yes,
ports closed, Heep.
[Uriah] But surely
not for the East India Company.
I have three ships arriving on the tide,
and if I can't dock 'em,
I can't process gunpowder for the realm,
and then we give the enemy an advantage.
Yes, uh
Well, given those circumstances, this
Nothing changes.
Because you were very firm.
No exceptions could be made.
[Governor] Yes.
Yes, firm.
You'll just have to wait
like everyone else, Heep.
[drunk men singing indistinctly]
- [Dodger speaking indistinctly]
- [man grunting]
[Boxer] They all eat
from the same stalls,
drink the same beer,
breathe the same air,
yet half the street's dead,
while the other half lives. Why?
Are you all right?
Yes. [chuckles]
Just Jack.
You've called him Jack twice now.
Have I?
A habit, I suppose.
Then I have my answer.
[poignant music playing]
You must follow your heart.
It's not so simple.
Doesn't seem like it sometimes.
But death has shown me
that love is simple.
It defeats all our attempts
to rationalise or master it.
That's why you're still
in mourning for her, seven years on.
I am still in love with a ghost.
And I'm in love with Jack.
She would have been proud of you.
She would have liked you.
[chuckles]
If there was anyone else in my life
I could have loved but her
[Flashbang and Rotty
arguing indistinctly]
Right, hurry along, my sweetlings.
Riches or the pickling barrel await.
- [Flashbang] I'm an expert on this stuff!
- You ain't the boss! Did you
- [both continue arguing]
- Now that is what I call craftsmanship.
I've also brought these lovely dust coats
for the girls
to greet Mr Heep officially.
Now you know what that's doing?
That is very nearly bringing a tear
to me eye.
And I thought it might be rather jolly
to have these pretend nitrary documents
to get into the spirit of it.
I took my father's government seal
to make them look special.
Is that fun or not fun?
This is a lot of fun!
We might just make this scam work.
If we can stop these two
from killing each other.
Just take the bleedin' box!
Why don't you stop telling me what to do?
Why don't you stop calling me a thief?
You can do it, Mr Fagin.
Remember, with kindness.
Yeah, right.
Oi!
Oi, oi, oi, oi.
We haven't got time for all this discord.
Just be bloody harmonious,
you hear me? [loudly] Harmonious!
Not quite like that.
When Belle and I were small and fighting,
our nanny would make us sing
the forgiveness song.
Shall I teach it to you?
- No.
- No.
[Fagin] Oh, dog's teeth. Right, listen.
Flashy [continuous indistinctly]
[Darius] What the devil
are you up to now, Fagin?
[suspenseful music playing]
Understood? Agreed? Come on.
Yes.
[chuckles] Well done, Mr Fagin.
That was a lot coarser
than the forgiveness song,
with a bit more bribery.
But it it was similar in substance.
[Fagin] Yeah.
Oi, Boxer.
You said they were all dead
on the pub side.
[Boxer] Yes.
[Dodger] Yeah, well,
they're not dead in the pub.
I thought that was evident.
- The one common thing in there is beer.
- Again, evident.
- They don't drink water.
- What, not at all?
[Dodger] No, they don't even serve it
out of principle.
That lot shut themselves in there
as soon as the bodies started dropping.
They don't let anyone back in
if they leave. That's why that
fella's so angry.
So, if they are the one dwelling
on this side of the street
where everyone is still alive,
and they only drink beer
The cholera must be in the water.
Exactly.
The next question is, why the difference
between the two sides?
Different supplies.
We need to find out where people
are getting their water from.
Yes. I'll accompany Dr Dawkins this time.
Keep you out of trouble.
Yeah, if you like.
[rock music playing, AC/DC "T.N.T."]
- [liquid dripping]
- [hissing]
Oi, oi, oi ♪
Oi, oi, oi ♪
Oi, oi, oi ♪
Oi, oi, oi ♪
Oi, oi, oi ♪
See me ride out of the ♪
Higher. Do it higher.
To the left. A bit to the right.
- All right. Good work! Good work, ladies.
- [Fanny] Go higher. A bit higher.
And Flashy, when Uriah turns up tomorrow,
this'll be glorious.
Mr Fagin? You said to tell you
when Mr Heep was arrivin'?
- Yeah, that's right, Smike. I did, yeah.
- Yeah, well, he's arrivin'.
Bloody hell, you clot!
Next time, lead out with that!
Flashy. Dump the rest of that dirt out.
Put some gunpowder on top of it.
I thought it was meant to be fake.
It is. It is. We gotta show him something.
Can't we use some of these whiz-bangs?
Yeah, but these are my favourites.
I don't doubt it. You see?
I knew I could rely on you.
Now, come on, go, go, go, go!
Hey, everyone. Look lively!
T.N.T. ♪
Watch me explode ♪
[door closes]
You're as good as your word.
Uriah! [laughs]
You're early.
I mean, we're very nearly ready.
Allow me to test your product?
[Fagin] Of course, yes.
Now, obviously,
we are in the saltpetre business,
but me colleagues and I always keep
a sample of gunpowder, you know,
for the client to test the potency.
Where did you get your sulphur?
Ah. Well, you know. Here and there.
'Round the corner.
Look [chuckles]
I can't be givin' away me trade secrets,
can I, before we've reached an agreement?
[chuckles]
It's gritty.
- But a good, pungent taste.
- Mm-hmm.
Pungent is our stock in trade.
Of course, I'll need to see it boom.
Goes without saying. Happy to oblige.
It's just, we did say
we'd be ready tomorrow, you know,
- and today's today.
- Looks like you're ready.
No, no, no, no, no. I wouldn't be doing
me artisanship justice
if I was to present you
with a less than crackin' banger.
Now, tomorrow we can
make a noise so loud,
- it'll loosen your bowels.
- [all chuckle]
- In the nicest possible way.
- Tonight, or the deal's off.
Good. Tonight, then. Yes, right.
Can you do it, Flashy?
Abso-bloody-lutely.
I think.
They get their water from the pump.
Rainwater tank.
Same as all the others on this side.
[Dodger] Huh.
Mary? Dolly's here.
[Belle] Hello there.
Where did you come from?
Hello.
I'm Belle.
I'm Elsbeth. Mary won't wake up.
[softly] You poor darling.
Where are your mummy and daddy?
Inside. They won't wake up neither.
[sombre music playing]
There's no tank in there.
They must've used the pump water, too.
Do you drink the water
from the pump, Elsbeth?
No. Mary does. But it's bitter.
So, Mummy gets me water
from Mr Cob across the street.
I'm going to take you
someplace safe, Elsbeth.
Will you come with me?
What about Mummy, Daddy, and Mary?
We'll come back for them, all right?
Let's let them sleep for a while.
Come on.
One more question, Mr Cob.
The Chandlers get their water from you.
Do you let anyone else use your tank?
It'll help with our inquiry.
Nah, just them and the Professor.
The Professor?
He doesn't live here.
No, he visits his old brother.
Out in the pastures on yonder.
[Boxer] Why does he come to you?
I don't know.
Elbow's on the way, I suppose?
He buys him his vittles from my shop,
and, uh, I give him some of me water.
His brother's not well
and mine's got a sweeter taste. [sniffs]
When does he come here?
Strange hours. Late at night.
Tell me exactly where his brother lives.
- [Belle] Jack, wait!
- [Dodger] There's no time.
They're drinking bloody poison.
[Belle] Where are you going?
Jack, what's wrong? Just talk to me.
Tell me what you're doing.
The pump water must come from
the Gallows Square pipes in the tunnel.
- And they flooded recently.
- Yes, I heard.
Well, I felt it. I was here. It stank.
There was sewage in it.
What if it got into the pump water?
Cholera must be in the sewage.
So, I suspect it passes
through the bowels into waste water
and gets transmitted by infection
Oh, my God, my father
turned that water on. [breathes deeply]
[softly] Bloody hell, Belle.
Tell your father to turn off the water
to the Gallows Square pipe.
And to lift this bloody quarantine
so that anyone left alive
can get to hospital.
Come on, Elsbeth. We need to run.
[solemn music playing]
- [knocks]
- [door creaks]
[Boxer] Are you Ernest McGregor?
[Ernest] Yes.
Who are you?
The law.
[sighs]
[exhales sharply]
Are you all right, sir?
Yes, I'm all right.
Forgive me, but you don't look all right.
You seem ill.
Did you drink from the pump in the Elbow?
No, no, it's
I have cancer.
My brother tells me
he'll be ready to operate soon.
- Professor McGregor?
- [officer grunts]
[Bramwell] There's your cause
of death, sir.
Now why take the pains to stitch
if it's a simple knifing in the dark?
[officer] Another body
with the blue stitchin', Inspector.
[Boxer] The killer is surgically trained.
And obsessive.
I wonder could it be a botched operation?
A surgeon?
Those stitches are appalling.
[Boxer] That doesn't rule out
a surgeon conclusively, does it?
- [softly] He's bloody practicing.
- [dramatic music playing]
[cracks]
I hate to say this, Flashy,
but I am relying on you completely.
No, no, no, boy.
I don't think we need to do that.
No, no, no. [stutters] Of course.
- I thought maybe you needed to
- No. No, I didn't.
[Flashbang] Right. Yeah.
I brought my pickling barrel, in case.
Yeah. Well, I think we will meet
with your approbation, Mr Heep.
If I may present Fagin & Son's
chief chemist, Dr Flashford Bang.
A unique last name.
I followed my destiny.
Before we begin, Mr Heep.
Oh, no, sweetling.
I'll sign when Mr Fagin proves
the saltpetre works.
Yes.
Well, Dr Flashford, bring on the bang.
- Here.
- Thanks.
[matchbox clatters]
[crackling]
[suspenseful music playing]
[crackling, exploding]
[Fanny chuckles]
[Fagin laughs]
Where do I sign?
[laughs]
Take these blood basins outside,
would you?
[sniffles]
Rest now and go forth from this world
into the arms
of thy loving Father. [sniffles]
[softly] Into the arms
of thy loving Father.
We found the cause for cholera.
What? Where?
It's in the water, the sewers.
Surely not.
Well, you will have your proof
in a couple of hours if I'm not dead.
But if you're right,
the quarantine was
Was utterly pointless. Yes.
But all the literature had said
Jack, I thought all for the best.
I know. But
All your patients, they need you.
[melancholic music paying]
[Belle] Clara?
Give her food and clean clothing.
She's not infectious.
Stay with Clara for a moment.
She's very kind.
Belle. Darling, are are you all right?
Good Lord.
Who's that young lady?
Belle, what is this?
Pump handle from Devil's Elbow.
What? How did you even get in there?
Mother, listen to me. Please.
Cholera is not in the air.
It is in the water,
spreading because the sewers don't work.
How do you know?
[Belle] We've seen this plague,
in tooth and claw,
and it is carried
from the Gallows Square pipes
to the pump in Devil's Elbow.
People in there are dying.
I brought a little girl with me.
[voice shaking] She became
an orphan in a day.
They need doctors and nurses.
They need you and Father to protect them!
- Tell Father to lift the quarantine.
- [gasps]
No. Stay back.
[scoffs] Mother, you're not listening.
I'm not infected!
[grunts and sobs] I fear for you,
not for me.
Mother. [inhales sharply]
[Lady Jane whispers] Yes.
Your lips.
They're blue.
[weakly] I don't feel
I don't feel well.
[theme music playing]