Bonekickers (2008) s01e06 Episode Script
Follow The Gleam
I know where the sword started, mum.
I know where it was born.
It came from the stars.
A meteorite crashed into Assyria, from there was forged the most extraordinary sword.
A sword that affected the destiny of whole countries.
KNOCKING Gillian! Some call it Excalibur but it's more than that, it goes beyond Arthur, it existed before him and it continued after him.
I'm your sister.
It was your quest and it destroyed you.
Gillian! Tennyson was fascinated by the sword, he wrote about 'The Gleam'.
The profile of chivalry has been smudged.
But I want to offer this most august society a gleam of hope.
Deathlike a friend's voice from a distant field .
.
approaching through the darkness called No more mysteries, no more secrets, it stops.
Gillian, I'm your sister! SHE SCREAMS This is my money, keep digging.
Talk to me, Scott.
I want to check out reports of a 5th century swallet at the base of the Glastonbury Tor itself.
We're just clearing it.
Good.
People, it's been almost a year.
But we are starting to find 5th and 6th century pieces.
I sense that we're in a zone of opportunity.
We will find it, the ultimate Arthurian artefact and when we do my friends, you won't be studying history, you will be a part of it.
Mr Gift? Kevin Schaffer, I'm with the Frome Historical Society.
Ah yes, you amateurs are invaluable, thank you.
So can we join the main unit up on the Tor? No, we need you guys to mop up in the smaller fields, but thank you anyway.
.
INDISTINCT WHISPER You're pulling my plonker! She draws a lot of those.
Did you know how lucky you were? To watch your child fall in love with something you loved.
How many parents dream of that? All I ever wanted to do was please you, mum.
Then you closed me out for a whole year, and now I know the reason, don't I? Why didn't you tell me about her? I just wanted to make you proud, I thought I'd done something terrible.
Come on, Karen, let's get you back to bed.
Tennyson.
Bloody Tennyson.
Thy fibres net the dreamless head.
Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
That's In Memorium.
In memory of his dead friend Arthur Hallam.
I want no harm to befall you .
.
my dear friend.
You crammed it all into me, didn't you, mother.
All your obsessions.
You should be more respectful.
Your mother was a great woman.
You were a great woman.
You were also a great liar.
I DON'T have a sister, OK? And I DON'T have a quest.
Come on, trouble, let's go see granny.
Fourteen point seven, fifteen.
.
point two.
.
fourteen point nine.
Mr Jameson was very kind to donate so many of these.
What a nice man he is.
Jameson? Why do I know that name? He also donated a century old cognac bottled to celebrate the signing of the Entente Cordiale.
I have to say she was very 'cordiale'.
Has the Great She-Bitch been sent any more mysterious packages? Any more weirdy phone calls? We haven't seen her, Viv.
On my way I'm not even good for making tea now, is that right? Oh, goody the day just got better.
Where's Dr Magwilde?! Kevin, what the hell are you doing here? Where's your boss? If you've found something, take it to "Antiques Roadshow" You wanna know what I found? Only the greatest archaeological find this country's ever known.
What's that gob of pond-life doing in my lab? He's found something near Glastonbury.
Ever heard of Michael Gift? Self-styled treasure-hunter.
Oh, yes, thinks he's Indiana Jones, but really he's a barrow boy made good, throwing his millions at archaeological discoveries.
He's a tight git and that's why I came to you.
I've been out there for eight months and my expenses wouldn't cover a night in a Trowbridge knocking shop.
You have to admit Gilly, it's well, it's intriguing.
You are kidding me.
It'll be a fake.
What if it isn't? When have we been averse to putting our wellies on and having a look? Yeah, come on.
We can just go over there.
You know, all of us.
All three of us? Viv So then here I come, all the way down the stairs, then you catch me as I reach the floor.
Boom.
Projector.
No, no.
.
promotional work, out.
If I quit this place will you still give me a good reference? Well, it depends.
If Professor Parton has been harassing you with his Peruvian fertility totems Did you know Gillian was my sister when you hired me? Did you know or did I get it on my own talents? Sister? One hates to be indelicate, my dear but there's precious little of the freckled Scot in you.
Father black.
Mother Karen Magwilde.
Nobody walks out on me.
Get in the Land Rover.
Fine, I'm coming.
Who knows, you might even need me.
Right where were we? Main units moved on to the Tor.
So Michael Gift is looking for Arthurian artefacts? He's looking for one thing in particular.
He won't say what.
Well, one Arthurian relic? Never believed in Arthur much myself.
Thought it was for tourists and New Agers till we found this.
Is Gift behind it? Is someone else funding him? Oh, what kind of section edges are those? Are you using a spade?! Now come on! Looks like sandstone.
You've used brushes on it.
Smearing soil and obscuring the detail.
Tut-tut.
Latin, right? And that names got a symbol inscribed.
Denoting military authority, maybe.
This is crazy.
Do we have comparatives for this area? Oh, we've been pulling Medieval up from all over.
What about pre-Conquests? Pre-1066? Dark Ages? Yeah, a lot of stuff from the main unit.
We found this.
Penannular brooch.
6th century.
Artognou! It says Artognou.
It's the same style of epigraphy as a 6th century stone pulled out at Tintagel in the '90s.
It means Arthur.
Our find, right? I mean we're involved.
What were you going to do Kev, put it in your garage? Here, mate.
.
Great, thanks for nothing.
What now? Who told Michael Gift to start digging in the Levels for Arthurian finds? Do you think it's the same people who've been trying to contact you? Well, you tell me.
Why would I trust someone who was playing me? You sad, messed up woman.
DOOR OPENS Ah, Dr Magwilde? Is that you? You know, this really is very 'Hang up, this is not for you.
' I thought, that just maybe, just this once that we could be involved for a change.
But you see what happens don't you, right? I came to that cow in good faith and she stole the glory right out from under my nose! These faculty people, bunch of con-artists the lot of them.
OK, from the segment we have we can suppose that it's divided into twelve sections.
Epigraphy suggests 6th century.
At the top you have Artognou.
Arthur.
And next to him? Landelinus.
Lancelot.
Next to him could be Bedevere, and next to him D'Artangnan, next to D'Artangnan you could have a couple of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Gillian, why are you being so cynical? It's in line with comparative archaeology.
It's incredible! This is ridiculous, it's a fake, a very tasty fake but one I'm not falling for.
Of course the concept of the circular meeting table wasn't invented until Edward I in the 13th Century.
The site itself is called Battlebury.
Early scholars denote the place as Camlann.
The Saxon name for Camelot.
So this place could be the field that Arthur built and ran his court? until his nephew Mordred created civil war and killed him.
Family, eh Radio silence until you know more.
You're all out on a limb.
Don't I know it.
I mean it, Gillian.
Talk to no-one.
Kevin.
You've been talking to Gillian Magwilde, why talk to her? What does she know, Kevin? Look, I just took her to see what I'd found, OK? A table.
Part of a stone table I should have told you but I was angry.
You found it, now she's got it, you betrayed us.
You've endangered a great quest, Kevin.
One that will change this country forever.
Take him to Henry Timberdyne.
Who? Get off me.
What are you? I don't know anything else.
I'm sorry! Right, I'M SORRY! KEVIN SCREAMS SCREAMING CONTINUES He found a table.
A round table? OK, we have the results of our laser-scanning.
Our Round Tableisn't round.
It's a subtle elipse, like an egg.
The top is broader; and that's where Arthur sits, the far end is pointed.
There's a tiny carving in the centre of the table.
It's a setting sun, so the table points west, and there are lines, here and here under the sun.
So are we saying that the table points to the resting place of a certain sword? If that field is Camlann, then the sword could still be out there.
Why don't you go home and let the experts deal with it? You know you could make undermining people a national sport.
Well, only one of us here would get a gold medal for lying.
Really? I've seen that obsessional little room of yours.
All those diagrams and pictures.
Reminds me of your mother's book.
.
Give me that! All that is over and done with and I don't have to justify myself.
She's your mother too.
No, my mum was a wonderful woman who adopted an unwanted baby.
Your mother was a driven, selfish bitch who went mad looking for a relic! GET OUT! You're fired! The disciples of good use want the sword.
Good use? I know of your good use, You would seek to consume all who stand in your way.
You will never get the sword, even though you have killed for it.
Does Tennyson have the sword? You are adrift, goodnight.
If you'd paid them decent rates like I suggested he wouldn't have gone elsewhere.
Leave his watch on him.
Somebody can metal-detect him in a hundred years time.
Has he told us who has the table? Gillian Magwilde.
I think Michael Gift has been trying to get me to help him.
Mm hm? I think he goes by another name - Henry Timberdyne.
Timberdyne?! Is that who's been contacting you? We have known each other a long time, I'm going to ask you to do something from the very bottom of my heart - stop.
Hand the table over to Gift and go on holiday.
But stop.
I've helped you in your search in the past but that was before I heard any mention of the name Timberdyne.
Who is he? Not "he" but "they".
The Disciples Of Good Use.
A society born in Cambridge in the late 18th century.
They're Masonic in structure, but more.
.
concentrated.
They're rich, strong and many other things I do not care to speak of in this wonderful sanctuary of ours.
Gilly, they were the start of your mother's calamity.
And if they are behind this, you've lost.
And they believe in the sword? They believe in the Medieval writings which say that the Sword Of Albion will return to the new king.
They think the sword will come to them.
You've met them.
These are men with formidable power, they're like phantoms in white masks.
I don't care if you bring in every damn archaeologist under the sun! You know I'm the only one who can get it.
And if you think that I'm going to find this precious thing and present it to you? You're only inspired by power.
I'm inspired by something greater - "The Gleam" as Tennyson called it.
I won't be bullied or threatened.
Get out! She knew them.
I have to make sense of this.
I can't just walk away from it.
The dark is coming.
Let it go.
I'm sorry, I can't, it's my quest.
Then it is adieu.
For I am too scared to follow this time.
My lady.
Gregory Gregory? Greg? Where's he going? What am I doing? Hey, come on.
Come on, Gilly, I'm talking you home.
Hi, I'm Scott Wilson, I work with Michael Gift, we need your help.
I shouldn't be doing this.
You're saying that if the table is complete it could be pointing to where the king's sword is resting? If the inscription's correct.
Well, it could be genuine.
Maybe, let's tread carefully, yeah? So we need to geo-phys the area and start theorizing a map-regression.
Just to guess where the table is pointing.
It's a bloody breakthrough! Why don't you come and help us? I think Dr Magwilde would be She fired you and she's still ruling your life? Where the hell is it? Ah.
Raiders Of The Private Property.
Michael Gift's property in fact.
You're in way over your head.
Be careful.
Gift must be the key to this.
And he could be one of the disciples.
All the gear, no idea.
And look who's helping them.
Mr Gift? Excuse me.
Gillian Magwilde.
I know who you are.
Did you steal my mother's work? Are you the man who calls himself Henry Timberdyne? You, had your chance to be a part of history and you blew it.
Oh, oh, very nice - it's a ring-pull.
Mmm.
Every period lays down an artefact which defines it.
With the Romans it was coinage.
Elizabethans it was belt buckles.
Eighteenth, nineteenth centuries? Pipes, pipes, those damn clay pipes! Know what defines our generation? Ring-pulls.
In a thousand years time archaeologists can find a ring-pull and narrow the layer of history to a period from the mid-1960s to the mid-80s.
Guess where I found that one? I pulled it out of trench one.
It was underneath the Round Table.
Terminus post quem! The table must have been buried since the 1980s! It's a fake! Yes, I knew it was a fake, just like Gift.
Who else would fall for it? I mean students are always burying Holy Grails around Glastonbury, hell, I did it.
We're way ahead of Gift.
Did I ever tell you that when I sat my finals all those years ago, I went blank, just froze.
Stage-fright, I guess.
And then I caught your face across the hall, and you looked so sure, so damn certain that you had all the answers.
It was that look in your eyes, it just inspired me.
It still does.
And you inspire Viv.
That's why she's followed you to Bath.
You know, if you open the door and let in a little welcoming light people will come running.
Will they? Yes.
Is it the Round Table? We're running some tests at my facility in Bristol.
But if Camelot is here I'll find it.
And then who knows? Maybe something even greater.
You'll have to watch this space.
This Gift will present a gift to Well, you'll be delighted to know that I'm texting Vivienne the Witch of Arthurian legend.
So she's on the trail.
And she's closer than Gift will ever be.
Uhh Dr Magwilde just texted me.
She wants you to know the Round Table is definitely a fake.
She found a ring-pull under the table.
Thank you.
I don't think I can stay.
That's a shame, because if you're anything like your big sister you would be invaluable to us.
There are people you should meet.
Important people, and you will meet them.
Talk to me Scotty, do we have warp-power? Shut up you berk! What did you say to me? The Arthurian connection is a dead-end.
What? I warned you, Mike.
You went on national television, you're no longer in charge.
The disciples have no further use for you.
Oh, my God.
I don't believe this.
Look at it.
You've never showed me.
It's the same sword, Ben.
Throughout history, beyond even Arthur.
My mother never knew that but I do.
A meteorite crashes in Assyria.
Assyrians smelt the iron ore and make a sword like no other.
The Sword goes to Gordium.
Alexander finds it.
30BC - the Romans loot Alexander's tomb and the sword travels to Rome.
Claudius takes it to Britain and conquers the Celts.
Then Boudicca takes the sword.
It stays in Britain, travelling through the Dark Age kings like Arthur? But how are you going to get it to the Knights Templar? Saxon invasion! Britons flee to France.
Where, after 500 years the Templar Knights have the sword then there's no big leap getting it to St Joan of Orleans.
But how are you going to get it to West Africa and the Ashanti? The remnants of the Knights Templar migrated into Portugal, having recovered the sword after St Joan's death.
Just as the Portuguese are exploring West Africa! They trade the sword with the Ashanti.
After the Ashanti revolt in the Bristol Channel, it vanishes.
But most people don't know that journey.
All they know is the legend of Arthur.
And poets like Tennyson, they just fell in love with that.
This King Artognou, Arthur, he knew the sword by its Celtic name - Caliburn.
We know it as Excalibur.
Karen followed the Arthurian trail.
But you, you've taken this so much further.
There's something Oh, my God They've been in here! The disciples are very influential and you are tomorrow's headlines.
MUFFLED SCREAMS The Disciples Of Good Use.
There's so little on them.
Just a few short-lived conspiracy blogs Oh, my God! Arthur Hallam, Tennyson's best friend.
He was a member! Gilly, I want you to entertain an idea for me They hired mum.
And when she turned against them they destroyed her.
They want Excalibur.
You may have drawn that face on the wall yourself.
I know, just listen to me, please.
That wall is an obsession Gilly, and who knows? One night when you were a bit tired, or Mad? That sword drove your mother over the brink.
Yes, but that's got nothing NO! There are no buts! Gilly there are no buts.
Look at this, look at this.
It's like a chronicle of madness! It starts off OK and it disintegrates, just like she did.
"One Golden Fish".
"One Golden Fish".
"One Golden Fish".
She's written it on about a dozen pages.
What is "One Golden Fish"?! So she writes about fish and I scrawl faces on walls is that it? That's about it.
Yeah.
Maybe.
You know I really need you to be on my side, Ben.
I am on your side.
No, you're not.
You've turned against me! You should listen to me, I'm all you've got left! No, I am all I've got left! And I am all I need, so just get out, OK! Can we at least talk about it NO! I'm done talking.
Just get out! Gilly Just GET OUT! Gilly GET OUT! Don't OUT! All right.
Mum Don't be afraid, Vivienne.
Are you Henry Timberdyne? Actually Timberdyne covers up a multitude of sins.
So what does your sister know about Excalibur? Ask her yourself.
How close is she? I don't know.
The connection isn't Arthurian.
It goes beyond that.
Way beyond.
That was Gillian's discovery.
Tell me about that.
I don't talk to the walls.
Unlike your mother.
Can I go now please? Once you've given us some answers.
I don't have any answers! We think you do.
Who ARE you?! You need time for quiet contemplation, Vivienne.
Perhaps a visit to Henry Timberdyne would be a good idea after all.
You seem a bit flustered.
Anything wrong? Everything's fabulous.
Well, I told you, no-one's been in.
Let's keep it that way.
What about her other daughter? I haven't been able to get in contact with her.
Oh, that's a shame.
I'd like to be alone with my mother please.
You must have some information on the Disciples, mum.
Where did it all go? Where did it all go? You want to know about an archaeologist? You start digging.
Tennyson! Always bloody Tennyson.
Please no, please please.
Please.
Please.
Please, please.
Viv.
.
Viv.
.
OK, shallow breathe and you will be fine.
OK, the trick is not to panic, right, it is a hell of a trick OK, and after we'll have a little chat about Gillian, OK? No, please, please no, please, don't, please.
Please, no! Please! Viv.
.
meet Henry Timberdyne.
No.
.
PLEASE HELP ME! Vivienne.
She's left.
If she turns up again, call me.
SHALLOW GASPS This is my mother's.
I never knew she collected this stuff.
She was a lady of secrets.
All these letters Yes, between Arthur Hallam and Tennyson.
Well, Hallam, Hallam was his closest friend.
They may have been lovers.
They were at Cambridge together.
Arthur Hallam joined a secret society called The Disciples Of Good Use.
The Masons with knobs on.
I know.
Well, according to these, Tennyson was asking the Disciples to help rally the country behind a new way of thinking.
Although in fact an ancient way of thinking - the Arthurian principles of chivalry and honour.
There was a time when the King and the land were one.
When the King was great the country was great.
Where has our greatness gone? Where is the honour, the valour, the old, old virtues? Have you seen this, it's rather charming.
It's a copy of a receipt to a beachcomber.
It doesn't actually say what was that the beachcomber found.
it's just this funny phrase here - "One Golden Fish.
" One Golden Fish! My mother wrote that down! She didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle.
Daniel, you are a genius.
Yes.
Why? Tennyson isn't just the inspiration.
He's the key! Look, "One Golden Fish".
It's a coded receipt from Hallam's family home at Clevedon Court.
On the North Somerset coast.
A beachcomber finds something and he takes it to Arthur Hallam.
Now it was the law that Beachcombers had to offer their flotsam to the lord of the manor.
He's inspired.
He talks to Tennyson and inspires him to the ideas of Arthurian Chivalry restoring the country to the ways of Albion.
I believe with the right ruler and with the right symbol to stand behind, we can be Albion again.
What if the seed was planted, and that very same body of men began to fixate on the notion of ruling Albion with the legacy of King Arthur behind them? And my mother didn't know its significance.
But I do.
Because Arthur Hallam .
.
he lived on the Bristol Channel.
And he knew the power of the sword.
And then Hallam dies of a brain clot whilst in Vienna.
Or is murdered.
What?! By the Disciples.
If they've tried to follow a trail perhaps wondering if Hallam and his servants ever had a clue to finding Excalibur? Tennyson spends his entire life writing about Excalibur and Arthur.
Yes! Daniel, Hallam must have had a will.
What if? The Standard will and testament of Arthur Hallam.
But mention of The Gleam! Finally, to my dearest friend Freddy, I bequeath the Gleam.
The Gleam? I held it truth, with him who sings, To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones, Of their dead selves to higher things.
In Memoriam.
The work of a genius to remember his beloved friend.
I know dark forces will circle.
But the Gleam was meant to inspire you to the mountain heights where I now wait.
Know that the quest is everything.
An '84 Pomerol.
You lucky chap.
Vivienne.
Gregory? Viv.
I couldn't stand by and see Henry Timberdyne and his Disciples prevail.
I know them too well.
This is their chapter house.
Oh, my good God! They look practically post-coital! I wish.
I mean I wish you'd got here sooner.
We've cracked it.
No, we haven't.
We've almost cracked it.
Well, we'd like to help.
Unless we're all still banished? I didn't I didn't banish you.
Yes, you did.
They hurt her, Gilly.
They got to you.
I never thought They did it.
They destroyed mum.
I know.
Tennyson was given Excalibur by Arthur Hallam after his death and we think he hid it from the Disciples.
Now we are deciphering In Memorium if you don't mind.
Oh, dear God I held a truth with him who sings, To one clear harp in diverse tones Wait go to the second canta.
Old Yew which graspest at the stones, that name the under-lying dead Thy fibres net the dreamless head, Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
Where do we always find Yew Trees? Graveyards.
And to whom is that poem dedicated? The Disciples see Excalibur as a new beacon for a golden age of England.
It's all about bucking up the country, Viv.
Economy.
Crime.
Disillusionment.
It's about making Albion great.
How were you involved? I helped Karen, briefly, as an under-grad.
Saw something I shouldn't have seen.
The Disciples.
There I was surrounded by future politicians and bankers all of whom believed that Arthur's sword was the power that would hand them the nation of Albion.
And they put you in that coffin To scare me into silence.
It worked.
But Karen? She was tough.
They hired her, funded her and then she turned against them.
And they broke her life apart.
Excalibur inspires those who own it to do mighty things.
Look! Tennyson has us on a quest.
It's a letter from Henry Law.
Henry Law.
Law, Law Bishop Law.
Landscaped the grounds next to Wells Cathedral.
Named after the artesian wells beneath it.
And if with roaring wells, Should gulf him fathom-deep It's a quest all right.
And this is our final clue.
Tennyson put the clues in the poem.
Wells Cathedral.
Wells.
Wells.
You know, Wells makes sense - this was holy ground for the Dark Age kings.
Let's do it.
They drop all the way down to an underground cavern.
Millions of gallons from the Mendips.
Five wells! Which one? Haven't a clue.
Clues.
We mustn't give up on clues.
This is a quest after all.
I'll have a nose around inside.
I'll come with you.
We're stuck.
What are we looking for? A marker something to light the way.
Light, light the way.
Henceforth wherever thou may'st roam, My blessing like a line of light, Is on the waters day and night.
There's a candle, a line of light.
And from up there one could see the wells.
In Memoriam, Canta seventeen, verse Gregory? Here goes nothing Freddy, you old queen How the hell.
The wells are sacred.
It was designed that way.
"Follow the Gleam.
" Gregory? Gregory? Gregory! BEN! BEN! HELP ME! BEN! HELP ME! Your big sister has done very well, so we don't need you any more.
In fact we don't need any of you any more.
That goes for you too, Friar Tuck.
June 15th the year 1215! I'm sorry? Signing of the Magna Carta! October 25th 1415.
Go on! I don't know.
The Battle of Agincourt! July 14th 1789.
Come on! A child of TWO should know this! The storming of the Bastille! July 29th 1588.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada.
November 19th 1863.
The Gettysburg Address.
Now you give me one date! Just one! NO?! Call yourself a bonekicker? You know nothing! These were the dates in my head when they buried me alive.
These and a thousand more like them! The knowledge in my head that lit a fire in my heart.
Which you cannot extinguish.
Don't mess with me, I'm an ARCHAEOLOGIST! And so am I.
Vivienne! Bendon't just leave me! Go to Gilly! Gilly Gilly! Oh, GodGilly.
Ben? What does one do now? Any thoughts, at all? Oh, oh, Gregory.
Oh, well done.
He's out cold.
Come on.
Jesus! What does that mean? Nothing good.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
GILLY! GILLY! GILLIAN! About time.
Heaven have mercy - a mime artist.
It's so light.
Like an extension of my arm.
Like it's part of me already.
It's a sword.
It's simply a sword.
The sword of kings and conquerors, isn't it, Dr Magwilde? And which one are you? One of Twelve.
The Twelve Disciples Of Good Use and the twelve knights of the Round Table.
With Excalibur as the guiding inspiration for both.
Excalibur is meant to be found only by those born to greatness.
The Disciples were born to greatness, and with this sword we will make this country great again.
No, Gilly.
Get off! My mother loves that sword.
I'm not afraid of it.
A 4,000 year journey.
Through all those hands.
And it destroys itself in yours.
What does that say about you? It's OK.
It doesn't matter any more.
The quest is everything.
I know where it was born.
It came from the stars.
A meteorite crashed into Assyria, from there was forged the most extraordinary sword.
A sword that affected the destiny of whole countries.
KNOCKING Gillian! Some call it Excalibur but it's more than that, it goes beyond Arthur, it existed before him and it continued after him.
I'm your sister.
It was your quest and it destroyed you.
Gillian! Tennyson was fascinated by the sword, he wrote about 'The Gleam'.
The profile of chivalry has been smudged.
But I want to offer this most august society a gleam of hope.
Deathlike a friend's voice from a distant field .
.
approaching through the darkness called No more mysteries, no more secrets, it stops.
Gillian, I'm your sister! SHE SCREAMS This is my money, keep digging.
Talk to me, Scott.
I want to check out reports of a 5th century swallet at the base of the Glastonbury Tor itself.
We're just clearing it.
Good.
People, it's been almost a year.
But we are starting to find 5th and 6th century pieces.
I sense that we're in a zone of opportunity.
We will find it, the ultimate Arthurian artefact and when we do my friends, you won't be studying history, you will be a part of it.
Mr Gift? Kevin Schaffer, I'm with the Frome Historical Society.
Ah yes, you amateurs are invaluable, thank you.
So can we join the main unit up on the Tor? No, we need you guys to mop up in the smaller fields, but thank you anyway.
.
INDISTINCT WHISPER You're pulling my plonker! She draws a lot of those.
Did you know how lucky you were? To watch your child fall in love with something you loved.
How many parents dream of that? All I ever wanted to do was please you, mum.
Then you closed me out for a whole year, and now I know the reason, don't I? Why didn't you tell me about her? I just wanted to make you proud, I thought I'd done something terrible.
Come on, Karen, let's get you back to bed.
Tennyson.
Bloody Tennyson.
Thy fibres net the dreamless head.
Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
That's In Memorium.
In memory of his dead friend Arthur Hallam.
I want no harm to befall you .
.
my dear friend.
You crammed it all into me, didn't you, mother.
All your obsessions.
You should be more respectful.
Your mother was a great woman.
You were a great woman.
You were also a great liar.
I DON'T have a sister, OK? And I DON'T have a quest.
Come on, trouble, let's go see granny.
Fourteen point seven, fifteen.
.
point two.
.
fourteen point nine.
Mr Jameson was very kind to donate so many of these.
What a nice man he is.
Jameson? Why do I know that name? He also donated a century old cognac bottled to celebrate the signing of the Entente Cordiale.
I have to say she was very 'cordiale'.
Has the Great She-Bitch been sent any more mysterious packages? Any more weirdy phone calls? We haven't seen her, Viv.
On my way I'm not even good for making tea now, is that right? Oh, goody the day just got better.
Where's Dr Magwilde?! Kevin, what the hell are you doing here? Where's your boss? If you've found something, take it to "Antiques Roadshow" You wanna know what I found? Only the greatest archaeological find this country's ever known.
What's that gob of pond-life doing in my lab? He's found something near Glastonbury.
Ever heard of Michael Gift? Self-styled treasure-hunter.
Oh, yes, thinks he's Indiana Jones, but really he's a barrow boy made good, throwing his millions at archaeological discoveries.
He's a tight git and that's why I came to you.
I've been out there for eight months and my expenses wouldn't cover a night in a Trowbridge knocking shop.
You have to admit Gilly, it's well, it's intriguing.
You are kidding me.
It'll be a fake.
What if it isn't? When have we been averse to putting our wellies on and having a look? Yeah, come on.
We can just go over there.
You know, all of us.
All three of us? Viv So then here I come, all the way down the stairs, then you catch me as I reach the floor.
Boom.
Projector.
No, no.
.
promotional work, out.
If I quit this place will you still give me a good reference? Well, it depends.
If Professor Parton has been harassing you with his Peruvian fertility totems Did you know Gillian was my sister when you hired me? Did you know or did I get it on my own talents? Sister? One hates to be indelicate, my dear but there's precious little of the freckled Scot in you.
Father black.
Mother Karen Magwilde.
Nobody walks out on me.
Get in the Land Rover.
Fine, I'm coming.
Who knows, you might even need me.
Right where were we? Main units moved on to the Tor.
So Michael Gift is looking for Arthurian artefacts? He's looking for one thing in particular.
He won't say what.
Well, one Arthurian relic? Never believed in Arthur much myself.
Thought it was for tourists and New Agers till we found this.
Is Gift behind it? Is someone else funding him? Oh, what kind of section edges are those? Are you using a spade?! Now come on! Looks like sandstone.
You've used brushes on it.
Smearing soil and obscuring the detail.
Tut-tut.
Latin, right? And that names got a symbol inscribed.
Denoting military authority, maybe.
This is crazy.
Do we have comparatives for this area? Oh, we've been pulling Medieval up from all over.
What about pre-Conquests? Pre-1066? Dark Ages? Yeah, a lot of stuff from the main unit.
We found this.
Penannular brooch.
6th century.
Artognou! It says Artognou.
It's the same style of epigraphy as a 6th century stone pulled out at Tintagel in the '90s.
It means Arthur.
Our find, right? I mean we're involved.
What were you going to do Kev, put it in your garage? Here, mate.
.
Great, thanks for nothing.
What now? Who told Michael Gift to start digging in the Levels for Arthurian finds? Do you think it's the same people who've been trying to contact you? Well, you tell me.
Why would I trust someone who was playing me? You sad, messed up woman.
DOOR OPENS Ah, Dr Magwilde? Is that you? You know, this really is very 'Hang up, this is not for you.
' I thought, that just maybe, just this once that we could be involved for a change.
But you see what happens don't you, right? I came to that cow in good faith and she stole the glory right out from under my nose! These faculty people, bunch of con-artists the lot of them.
OK, from the segment we have we can suppose that it's divided into twelve sections.
Epigraphy suggests 6th century.
At the top you have Artognou.
Arthur.
And next to him? Landelinus.
Lancelot.
Next to him could be Bedevere, and next to him D'Artangnan, next to D'Artangnan you could have a couple of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Gillian, why are you being so cynical? It's in line with comparative archaeology.
It's incredible! This is ridiculous, it's a fake, a very tasty fake but one I'm not falling for.
Of course the concept of the circular meeting table wasn't invented until Edward I in the 13th Century.
The site itself is called Battlebury.
Early scholars denote the place as Camlann.
The Saxon name for Camelot.
So this place could be the field that Arthur built and ran his court? until his nephew Mordred created civil war and killed him.
Family, eh Radio silence until you know more.
You're all out on a limb.
Don't I know it.
I mean it, Gillian.
Talk to no-one.
Kevin.
You've been talking to Gillian Magwilde, why talk to her? What does she know, Kevin? Look, I just took her to see what I'd found, OK? A table.
Part of a stone table I should have told you but I was angry.
You found it, now she's got it, you betrayed us.
You've endangered a great quest, Kevin.
One that will change this country forever.
Take him to Henry Timberdyne.
Who? Get off me.
What are you? I don't know anything else.
I'm sorry! Right, I'M SORRY! KEVIN SCREAMS SCREAMING CONTINUES He found a table.
A round table? OK, we have the results of our laser-scanning.
Our Round Tableisn't round.
It's a subtle elipse, like an egg.
The top is broader; and that's where Arthur sits, the far end is pointed.
There's a tiny carving in the centre of the table.
It's a setting sun, so the table points west, and there are lines, here and here under the sun.
So are we saying that the table points to the resting place of a certain sword? If that field is Camlann, then the sword could still be out there.
Why don't you go home and let the experts deal with it? You know you could make undermining people a national sport.
Well, only one of us here would get a gold medal for lying.
Really? I've seen that obsessional little room of yours.
All those diagrams and pictures.
Reminds me of your mother's book.
.
Give me that! All that is over and done with and I don't have to justify myself.
She's your mother too.
No, my mum was a wonderful woman who adopted an unwanted baby.
Your mother was a driven, selfish bitch who went mad looking for a relic! GET OUT! You're fired! The disciples of good use want the sword.
Good use? I know of your good use, You would seek to consume all who stand in your way.
You will never get the sword, even though you have killed for it.
Does Tennyson have the sword? You are adrift, goodnight.
If you'd paid them decent rates like I suggested he wouldn't have gone elsewhere.
Leave his watch on him.
Somebody can metal-detect him in a hundred years time.
Has he told us who has the table? Gillian Magwilde.
I think Michael Gift has been trying to get me to help him.
Mm hm? I think he goes by another name - Henry Timberdyne.
Timberdyne?! Is that who's been contacting you? We have known each other a long time, I'm going to ask you to do something from the very bottom of my heart - stop.
Hand the table over to Gift and go on holiday.
But stop.
I've helped you in your search in the past but that was before I heard any mention of the name Timberdyne.
Who is he? Not "he" but "they".
The Disciples Of Good Use.
A society born in Cambridge in the late 18th century.
They're Masonic in structure, but more.
.
concentrated.
They're rich, strong and many other things I do not care to speak of in this wonderful sanctuary of ours.
Gilly, they were the start of your mother's calamity.
And if they are behind this, you've lost.
And they believe in the sword? They believe in the Medieval writings which say that the Sword Of Albion will return to the new king.
They think the sword will come to them.
You've met them.
These are men with formidable power, they're like phantoms in white masks.
I don't care if you bring in every damn archaeologist under the sun! You know I'm the only one who can get it.
And if you think that I'm going to find this precious thing and present it to you? You're only inspired by power.
I'm inspired by something greater - "The Gleam" as Tennyson called it.
I won't be bullied or threatened.
Get out! She knew them.
I have to make sense of this.
I can't just walk away from it.
The dark is coming.
Let it go.
I'm sorry, I can't, it's my quest.
Then it is adieu.
For I am too scared to follow this time.
My lady.
Gregory Gregory? Greg? Where's he going? What am I doing? Hey, come on.
Come on, Gilly, I'm talking you home.
Hi, I'm Scott Wilson, I work with Michael Gift, we need your help.
I shouldn't be doing this.
You're saying that if the table is complete it could be pointing to where the king's sword is resting? If the inscription's correct.
Well, it could be genuine.
Maybe, let's tread carefully, yeah? So we need to geo-phys the area and start theorizing a map-regression.
Just to guess where the table is pointing.
It's a bloody breakthrough! Why don't you come and help us? I think Dr Magwilde would be She fired you and she's still ruling your life? Where the hell is it? Ah.
Raiders Of The Private Property.
Michael Gift's property in fact.
You're in way over your head.
Be careful.
Gift must be the key to this.
And he could be one of the disciples.
All the gear, no idea.
And look who's helping them.
Mr Gift? Excuse me.
Gillian Magwilde.
I know who you are.
Did you steal my mother's work? Are you the man who calls himself Henry Timberdyne? You, had your chance to be a part of history and you blew it.
Oh, oh, very nice - it's a ring-pull.
Mmm.
Every period lays down an artefact which defines it.
With the Romans it was coinage.
Elizabethans it was belt buckles.
Eighteenth, nineteenth centuries? Pipes, pipes, those damn clay pipes! Know what defines our generation? Ring-pulls.
In a thousand years time archaeologists can find a ring-pull and narrow the layer of history to a period from the mid-1960s to the mid-80s.
Guess where I found that one? I pulled it out of trench one.
It was underneath the Round Table.
Terminus post quem! The table must have been buried since the 1980s! It's a fake! Yes, I knew it was a fake, just like Gift.
Who else would fall for it? I mean students are always burying Holy Grails around Glastonbury, hell, I did it.
We're way ahead of Gift.
Did I ever tell you that when I sat my finals all those years ago, I went blank, just froze.
Stage-fright, I guess.
And then I caught your face across the hall, and you looked so sure, so damn certain that you had all the answers.
It was that look in your eyes, it just inspired me.
It still does.
And you inspire Viv.
That's why she's followed you to Bath.
You know, if you open the door and let in a little welcoming light people will come running.
Will they? Yes.
Is it the Round Table? We're running some tests at my facility in Bristol.
But if Camelot is here I'll find it.
And then who knows? Maybe something even greater.
You'll have to watch this space.
This Gift will present a gift to Well, you'll be delighted to know that I'm texting Vivienne the Witch of Arthurian legend.
So she's on the trail.
And she's closer than Gift will ever be.
Uhh Dr Magwilde just texted me.
She wants you to know the Round Table is definitely a fake.
She found a ring-pull under the table.
Thank you.
I don't think I can stay.
That's a shame, because if you're anything like your big sister you would be invaluable to us.
There are people you should meet.
Important people, and you will meet them.
Talk to me Scotty, do we have warp-power? Shut up you berk! What did you say to me? The Arthurian connection is a dead-end.
What? I warned you, Mike.
You went on national television, you're no longer in charge.
The disciples have no further use for you.
Oh, my God.
I don't believe this.
Look at it.
You've never showed me.
It's the same sword, Ben.
Throughout history, beyond even Arthur.
My mother never knew that but I do.
A meteorite crashes in Assyria.
Assyrians smelt the iron ore and make a sword like no other.
The Sword goes to Gordium.
Alexander finds it.
30BC - the Romans loot Alexander's tomb and the sword travels to Rome.
Claudius takes it to Britain and conquers the Celts.
Then Boudicca takes the sword.
It stays in Britain, travelling through the Dark Age kings like Arthur? But how are you going to get it to the Knights Templar? Saxon invasion! Britons flee to France.
Where, after 500 years the Templar Knights have the sword then there's no big leap getting it to St Joan of Orleans.
But how are you going to get it to West Africa and the Ashanti? The remnants of the Knights Templar migrated into Portugal, having recovered the sword after St Joan's death.
Just as the Portuguese are exploring West Africa! They trade the sword with the Ashanti.
After the Ashanti revolt in the Bristol Channel, it vanishes.
But most people don't know that journey.
All they know is the legend of Arthur.
And poets like Tennyson, they just fell in love with that.
This King Artognou, Arthur, he knew the sword by its Celtic name - Caliburn.
We know it as Excalibur.
Karen followed the Arthurian trail.
But you, you've taken this so much further.
There's something Oh, my God They've been in here! The disciples are very influential and you are tomorrow's headlines.
MUFFLED SCREAMS The Disciples Of Good Use.
There's so little on them.
Just a few short-lived conspiracy blogs Oh, my God! Arthur Hallam, Tennyson's best friend.
He was a member! Gilly, I want you to entertain an idea for me They hired mum.
And when she turned against them they destroyed her.
They want Excalibur.
You may have drawn that face on the wall yourself.
I know, just listen to me, please.
That wall is an obsession Gilly, and who knows? One night when you were a bit tired, or Mad? That sword drove your mother over the brink.
Yes, but that's got nothing NO! There are no buts! Gilly there are no buts.
Look at this, look at this.
It's like a chronicle of madness! It starts off OK and it disintegrates, just like she did.
"One Golden Fish".
"One Golden Fish".
"One Golden Fish".
She's written it on about a dozen pages.
What is "One Golden Fish"?! So she writes about fish and I scrawl faces on walls is that it? That's about it.
Yeah.
Maybe.
You know I really need you to be on my side, Ben.
I am on your side.
No, you're not.
You've turned against me! You should listen to me, I'm all you've got left! No, I am all I've got left! And I am all I need, so just get out, OK! Can we at least talk about it NO! I'm done talking.
Just get out! Gilly Just GET OUT! Gilly GET OUT! Don't OUT! All right.
Mum Don't be afraid, Vivienne.
Are you Henry Timberdyne? Actually Timberdyne covers up a multitude of sins.
So what does your sister know about Excalibur? Ask her yourself.
How close is she? I don't know.
The connection isn't Arthurian.
It goes beyond that.
Way beyond.
That was Gillian's discovery.
Tell me about that.
I don't talk to the walls.
Unlike your mother.
Can I go now please? Once you've given us some answers.
I don't have any answers! We think you do.
Who ARE you?! You need time for quiet contemplation, Vivienne.
Perhaps a visit to Henry Timberdyne would be a good idea after all.
You seem a bit flustered.
Anything wrong? Everything's fabulous.
Well, I told you, no-one's been in.
Let's keep it that way.
What about her other daughter? I haven't been able to get in contact with her.
Oh, that's a shame.
I'd like to be alone with my mother please.
You must have some information on the Disciples, mum.
Where did it all go? Where did it all go? You want to know about an archaeologist? You start digging.
Tennyson! Always bloody Tennyson.
Please no, please please.
Please.
Please.
Please, please.
Viv.
.
Viv.
.
OK, shallow breathe and you will be fine.
OK, the trick is not to panic, right, it is a hell of a trick OK, and after we'll have a little chat about Gillian, OK? No, please, please no, please, don't, please.
Please, no! Please! Viv.
.
meet Henry Timberdyne.
No.
.
PLEASE HELP ME! Vivienne.
She's left.
If she turns up again, call me.
SHALLOW GASPS This is my mother's.
I never knew she collected this stuff.
She was a lady of secrets.
All these letters Yes, between Arthur Hallam and Tennyson.
Well, Hallam, Hallam was his closest friend.
They may have been lovers.
They were at Cambridge together.
Arthur Hallam joined a secret society called The Disciples Of Good Use.
The Masons with knobs on.
I know.
Well, according to these, Tennyson was asking the Disciples to help rally the country behind a new way of thinking.
Although in fact an ancient way of thinking - the Arthurian principles of chivalry and honour.
There was a time when the King and the land were one.
When the King was great the country was great.
Where has our greatness gone? Where is the honour, the valour, the old, old virtues? Have you seen this, it's rather charming.
It's a copy of a receipt to a beachcomber.
It doesn't actually say what was that the beachcomber found.
it's just this funny phrase here - "One Golden Fish.
" One Golden Fish! My mother wrote that down! She didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle.
Daniel, you are a genius.
Yes.
Why? Tennyson isn't just the inspiration.
He's the key! Look, "One Golden Fish".
It's a coded receipt from Hallam's family home at Clevedon Court.
On the North Somerset coast.
A beachcomber finds something and he takes it to Arthur Hallam.
Now it was the law that Beachcombers had to offer their flotsam to the lord of the manor.
He's inspired.
He talks to Tennyson and inspires him to the ideas of Arthurian Chivalry restoring the country to the ways of Albion.
I believe with the right ruler and with the right symbol to stand behind, we can be Albion again.
What if the seed was planted, and that very same body of men began to fixate on the notion of ruling Albion with the legacy of King Arthur behind them? And my mother didn't know its significance.
But I do.
Because Arthur Hallam .
.
he lived on the Bristol Channel.
And he knew the power of the sword.
And then Hallam dies of a brain clot whilst in Vienna.
Or is murdered.
What?! By the Disciples.
If they've tried to follow a trail perhaps wondering if Hallam and his servants ever had a clue to finding Excalibur? Tennyson spends his entire life writing about Excalibur and Arthur.
Yes! Daniel, Hallam must have had a will.
What if? The Standard will and testament of Arthur Hallam.
But mention of The Gleam! Finally, to my dearest friend Freddy, I bequeath the Gleam.
The Gleam? I held it truth, with him who sings, To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones, Of their dead selves to higher things.
In Memoriam.
The work of a genius to remember his beloved friend.
I know dark forces will circle.
But the Gleam was meant to inspire you to the mountain heights where I now wait.
Know that the quest is everything.
An '84 Pomerol.
You lucky chap.
Vivienne.
Gregory? Viv.
I couldn't stand by and see Henry Timberdyne and his Disciples prevail.
I know them too well.
This is their chapter house.
Oh, my good God! They look practically post-coital! I wish.
I mean I wish you'd got here sooner.
We've cracked it.
No, we haven't.
We've almost cracked it.
Well, we'd like to help.
Unless we're all still banished? I didn't I didn't banish you.
Yes, you did.
They hurt her, Gilly.
They got to you.
I never thought They did it.
They destroyed mum.
I know.
Tennyson was given Excalibur by Arthur Hallam after his death and we think he hid it from the Disciples.
Now we are deciphering In Memorium if you don't mind.
Oh, dear God I held a truth with him who sings, To one clear harp in diverse tones Wait go to the second canta.
Old Yew which graspest at the stones, that name the under-lying dead Thy fibres net the dreamless head, Thy roots are wrapt about the bones.
Where do we always find Yew Trees? Graveyards.
And to whom is that poem dedicated? The Disciples see Excalibur as a new beacon for a golden age of England.
It's all about bucking up the country, Viv.
Economy.
Crime.
Disillusionment.
It's about making Albion great.
How were you involved? I helped Karen, briefly, as an under-grad.
Saw something I shouldn't have seen.
The Disciples.
There I was surrounded by future politicians and bankers all of whom believed that Arthur's sword was the power that would hand them the nation of Albion.
And they put you in that coffin To scare me into silence.
It worked.
But Karen? She was tough.
They hired her, funded her and then she turned against them.
And they broke her life apart.
Excalibur inspires those who own it to do mighty things.
Look! Tennyson has us on a quest.
It's a letter from Henry Law.
Henry Law.
Law, Law Bishop Law.
Landscaped the grounds next to Wells Cathedral.
Named after the artesian wells beneath it.
And if with roaring wells, Should gulf him fathom-deep It's a quest all right.
And this is our final clue.
Tennyson put the clues in the poem.
Wells Cathedral.
Wells.
Wells.
You know, Wells makes sense - this was holy ground for the Dark Age kings.
Let's do it.
They drop all the way down to an underground cavern.
Millions of gallons from the Mendips.
Five wells! Which one? Haven't a clue.
Clues.
We mustn't give up on clues.
This is a quest after all.
I'll have a nose around inside.
I'll come with you.
We're stuck.
What are we looking for? A marker something to light the way.
Light, light the way.
Henceforth wherever thou may'st roam, My blessing like a line of light, Is on the waters day and night.
There's a candle, a line of light.
And from up there one could see the wells.
In Memoriam, Canta seventeen, verse Gregory? Here goes nothing Freddy, you old queen How the hell.
The wells are sacred.
It was designed that way.
"Follow the Gleam.
" Gregory? Gregory? Gregory! BEN! BEN! HELP ME! BEN! HELP ME! Your big sister has done very well, so we don't need you any more.
In fact we don't need any of you any more.
That goes for you too, Friar Tuck.
June 15th the year 1215! I'm sorry? Signing of the Magna Carta! October 25th 1415.
Go on! I don't know.
The Battle of Agincourt! July 14th 1789.
Come on! A child of TWO should know this! The storming of the Bastille! July 29th 1588.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada.
November 19th 1863.
The Gettysburg Address.
Now you give me one date! Just one! NO?! Call yourself a bonekicker? You know nothing! These were the dates in my head when they buried me alive.
These and a thousand more like them! The knowledge in my head that lit a fire in my heart.
Which you cannot extinguish.
Don't mess with me, I'm an ARCHAEOLOGIST! And so am I.
Vivienne! Bendon't just leave me! Go to Gilly! Gilly Gilly! Oh, GodGilly.
Ben? What does one do now? Any thoughts, at all? Oh, oh, Gregory.
Oh, well done.
He's out cold.
Come on.
Jesus! What does that mean? Nothing good.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
GILLY! GILLY! GILLIAN! About time.
Heaven have mercy - a mime artist.
It's so light.
Like an extension of my arm.
Like it's part of me already.
It's a sword.
It's simply a sword.
The sword of kings and conquerors, isn't it, Dr Magwilde? And which one are you? One of Twelve.
The Twelve Disciples Of Good Use and the twelve knights of the Round Table.
With Excalibur as the guiding inspiration for both.
Excalibur is meant to be found only by those born to greatness.
The Disciples were born to greatness, and with this sword we will make this country great again.
No, Gilly.
Get off! My mother loves that sword.
I'm not afraid of it.
A 4,000 year journey.
Through all those hands.
And it destroys itself in yours.
What does that say about you? It's OK.
It doesn't matter any more.
The quest is everything.