Little Dorrit (2008) s01e03 Episode Script

Mr Pancks! Might you be interested in doing some detecting work? - Name of party? - William Dorrit.
- Don't say that you're a prisoner.
- I'm in for 40 pound-odd.
I'm a friend of Edward Dorrit's.
He's in debt to you.
I should like to settle.
You have a very lovely daughter, Mr Meagles.
I thought they took me in to be part of their family, but they treat me like dirt.
I was like you once.
If ever you want to come to me, you may.
- Oh, Pa.
- I know, son.
I know.
- Yes, Flintwinch? - It's Arthur.
- He wants to speak with ya.
- Does he? Well, will you see him, or not? Let him come in.
Good morning, Mother.
Good morning, Miss Dorrit.
Well? I came to tell you that I've taken up a permanent lodging in Covent Garden.
So, you choose to desert the family home as well as abandoning the family business.
- I think it's best, don't you? - I expected no better of you.
Of course, I shall come and visit you.
Here's the address.
42 Martlett Court.
- Is that all you wanted, Arthur? - I suppose it is, yes.
And what exactly do you plan to do now? I will work.
I have experience.
I'm sure I'll find a position.
Giving to some other house the fruits of an education provided by me.
You may leave us, Arthur.
Goodbye, Mother.
You may put that on the fire, Amy.
I know you're in there! Open up in there! Mr Pancks - Ah, Mr Plornish! Caught you! - Ah, now listen up.
I got a job, Mr Pancks, and I shall be paid on Friday.
You shall have the rent then, and I can't say any fairer than that.
Glad to hear it, Mr Plornish, but I'm not here about the rent.
I'm making a few enquiries.
Young lady name of Dorrit, known as Little Dorrit.
- I believe you know her.
- Yes, I know her, Mr Pancks.
Met her when I was in the Marshalsea.
- You know that, Mr Pancks.
- Got a little job with a lady, name of Clennam.
Needlework and sewing, true or false? Yes, sir, it's true.
That strike you as rum now, does it? Rum, Mr Pancks? An old woman like that, what needlework she want doing? That sounds like charity to me.
Now, this old lady, is she in general given to charitable works? Not as I know of, Mr Pancks.
No.
Not as I know of either.
So, that is rum, ain't it? That merits further enquiries.
- If you say so, Mr Pancks.
- I do say so.
Thank you, Mr Plornish.
Good day.
Rent day! Rent day! And now you are going out again? Only to see Maggy home, Father.
Come and sit up at the table.
You're all much too fond of going out.
Fanny's become almost a stranger.
Edward nowhere to be seen this evening, when lately he's been so regular.
Well, well, you must do as you please, I suppose.
- Is it a good supper, Mr Dorrit? - Very good, thank you, Maggy.
Very wholesome.
My daughter is a good little cook even though I do see so little of her with all this sallying forth.
Tell me the truth now.
Do men and women look down on you when you go forth from this place? Do they snigger behind their hands? Do they say, "There goes the child of the Marshalsea.
"Her father's an old fool "who's rotted his life away in prison these 20 years"? - Do they? Tell me the truth now! - No, father, never! I am always treated with great kindness and politeness.
Just remember that you're a lady.
A gentlewoman among gentlewomen.
Yes, father.
Finish your supper, now.
I'm going to take Maggy home before the bell.
Mr Green in number seven.
Mrs Dorhill in number four - Good evening, Miss Amy.
- Good evening, John.
Oh, Miss! Your brother's out.
Tip, released? He's never paid his debt off? Had it paid for him, Miss Dorrit, by a gentleman who wished to remain incognito.
But it's all properly done and docketed.
I signed him out not half an hour ago.
- Who wished to remain incognito? - That's it.
Oh, thank you, Mr Chivery! Oh, thank you, John! This is such happy news! I must thank him.
Come along, Maggy.
Looks like you've got a rival, John.
No.
I set my heart on her, Pa.
Well, son, faint heart never won fair lady.
- Do you think I've got a chance? - Why not? She's not royalty, is she? - Fresh eggs for sale.
- Violets! Violets! Buy a bunch of violets.
Buy a bunch of violets, sir! Bring you luck this evening.
Well, a bit of luck wouldn't go amiss.
Or a bit of brightness.
- Here you are.
- Thank you, sir! Very, very handsome! Sir? I'll come up for you, if you like.
No, no, that's Do you have somewhere to sleep tonight? Oh, yes, sir.
Bleeding Heart Yard, sir.
Well, you'd best go there directly, then.
Thank you, sir.
Good evening.
Where are we going, Little Mother? This isn't the way home.
We're going to see a friend.
- Is anything the matter? - No, sir.
We took it in our heads to call on you.
- I hope you don't mind.
- I don't mind at all.
Come on in.
Come and warm yourselves by the fire.
Sit, sit here.
Nice and warm, Mister.
Like hot potatoes.
Here we are.
Sit down.
Your foot! Your foot is frozen.
It's like marble.
Forgive me.
- Your shoes are very thin.
- I'm used to the cold, sir.
And your father.
Surely he'll be anxious about you.
I sometimes spend the night at Maggy's lodgings or with my sister.
You're sure nothing's the matter? Quite sure.
Indeed, quite the contrary.
I wanted to tell you.
My brother is free.
Oh, I'm glad to hear that.
A gentleman paid his debts, but he would not allow us to know his name.
- Really? - So, I am not able to thank him with all my heart.
But if I could meet him, I would thank him, and take his hand, and kiss it, and thank heaven that he took pity on us.
Well, I'm sure he was very happy to do you both that small service.
Not a small service, sir.
A great service.
And now we must be going.
Oh, no! Have some refreshments.
Look, we have wine here and cake.
Not for me, sir, but Maggy might take some.
Cake! Cake! Oh, that's 'eavenly! Thank you, Mister! In't it hospitally, eh? - What's that, Mister? - That is a musical box, Maggy.
You can open the little door, if you like.
- I never heard a tune like that before.
- It's a Chinese tune.
Mr Clennam used to live in China, Maggy.
He's been all across the world.
- Do they have chicken there? - They do.
And they have duck.
They're particularly keen on duck.
Chicken and duck.
I shall certainly be going there if I get the chance.
You have a button hanging loose.
- There, on your cuff.
- Oh, so I do.
If I had brought my sewing box, I could have sewn it on for you.
Oh, never mind.
There.
One less button.
No matter.
And now I think we must be going.
- Let me accompany you.
- Please don't worry about us.
We've imposed on you enough.
Once I've taken Maggy home, I shall go to the theatre.
The performance will be over soon.
- I can't let you go on your own.
- Really, sir, it's not far.
It would ease my mind to know that you're safe.
No, sir, really.
I beg that you wouldn't.
I am used to looking after myself.
I prefer it.
- Well, if you insist.
- I do, sir.
Maggy - Goodnight, sir.
- Goodnight, Little Dorrit.
- Good night, Maggy.
- Good night, Mister.
'Eavenly cake.
I think they all must be asleep.
I think they must be.
Missus likes her sleep.
Amy, don't knock hard! Missus will come down and batter us.
She will! - And she'll never let me back in again! - Don't worry, Maggy.
You can come and stay with me at Fanny's.
All right? Oh, hear the music, Mother! What larks! - Will there be chicken? - Hush, Maggy.
We go in here.
Evening, Miss Dorrit.
You're out late tonight.
Are you here for your sister? - They'll all be out in a minute.
- Thank you.
I say.
Did he say "Dorrit"? Yes, sir.
We're here to see my sister, Fanny Dorrit.
Well, bless my soul.
So am I! Edmund Sparkler, at your service.
I will tell you this, Miss - your sister She is a glorious girl.
Yes.
A glorious girl, with with no nonsense about her.
Here they come.
See you tomorrow, good night.
What are you doing here at this time of night, and bringing that creature? I came to see how you were getting on, Fanny.
We thought we might stop with you tonight.
Well, it don't suit.
I'm going out for supper.
You'll have to stay in your little friend's lodgings.
Don't come here at night, Amy.
You cramp my style! Come on your own, in the day, or not at all.
- Come on, you! - For you, my sweet.
Goodnight, Miss Dorrit.
Oh, lord.
What we going to do now? Hello, ladies.
Don't worry, lovely girls.
Would you like to come for a drink? Amy! It's Amy! - Are you all right? - Very well, thank you, John.
- Where have you been? - With friends.
It's all right.
Friends.
"Dear Mr Clennam.
Mrs Meagles and I would like to invite you "down to Twickenham for the day next Saturday, "and Sunday too, if you can spare the time.
"Mrs Meagles and I would welcome a renewal of your friendship "for more reasons than one.
" Mr Gowan! "And my daughter, Pet, would, I know, be very happy to see you again.
"If the weather is fine, you might care to walk it.
"Very fine views by the way of Fulham and Putney.
" What if you were to take these flowers to Mr Chivery at the gatehouse? But why would I do that? I got them for you.
- Have you quarrelled with him? - Quarrelled? Oh, no, no, no.
Quite the contrary.
He's been most attentive, most obliging And his son, John, too.
What a fine young man he's growing to be.
Here you are at last, Clennam! Welcome to Twickenham! We've all been looking out for you.
- Haven't we, Pet? - Yes.
Mrs Meagles, how are you? - How are you, Miss Meagles? - Very well, Mr Clennam.
- And yourself? - All the better for seeing you.
There now, Pet! - And Tattycoram, are you well? - Not so bad, thank you, sir.
And here's my good friend, Daniel Doyce, whom you've met.
He's Pet's godfather.
- Good to see you again.
- And you.
Well, come in, come in.
You've had a long walk.
You'll be glad to get your boots off! It's because you just wind it up underneath.
It's delightful.
I made it for Pet when she was small.
The house is full of Mr Doyce's handmade toys.
Pet's been a very lucky girl.
That's the thing about Doyce, Mr Clennam.
His head is filled with brilliant ideas but he has no means of realising them.
It's very difficult to be two things at once - an inventor and a man of business.
I confess I have very little head for the latter.
With a factory the size of yours, Doyce, you should be making a handsome profit, but does he care? No, he'd rather fiddle about with cylinders and springs.
There you are, Mr Clennam.
A proper cup of tea.
Not like that horrible concoction we drank in Marseilles.
Well, we might have been in quarantine and having to drink revolting tea, but we enjoyed the company in Marseilles, didn't we? - We certainly did, Mr Meagles.
- Well - some of it.
- Oh, yes, yes.
That strange young woman, Miss Wade, yes.
I wonder what became of her.
She's not strange.
She's a good person.
She's very kind.
- Here's your shawl.
- Tatty! She's not.
She told me that if I ever felt myself hurt, or badly treated, I could go to her.
What have you got to say about that? I don't like to think of Miss Wade talking to you.
She frightened us all in Marseilles.
I don't think she's very nice.
Count to five and twenty, Tatty! There's a young girl who might be lost and ruined, were she not among practical people.
But this Miss Wade, what does she want with our Tatty? What business does she have to interfere in our household? Well, I dare say we'll hear nothing more.
Tatty knows where she's well off.
Harriet.
I can't do it.
I've come to tell you I can't do it.
I couldn't forgive myself if I left them.
Those "practical people"? That spoilt girl who treats you like a toy to be picked up and discarded at will? You are as good as they are, Harriet.
I know it.
Then what are you waiting for? How do I know you wouldn't treat me as badly as they do? Do you think I would? I don't know.
I'm afraid.
Of me? Or yourself? You mustn't be afraid of yourself, Harriet.
You're not angry with me? Not a bit.
Because I know you'll come one day.
When you're ready.
I shan't.
Miss Amy, - you're soaked through! - I believe I am, John! Come on here in the warm, dry yourself off by the fire.
Parcel of soup on the stove.
Thank you, John.
Here, let me take your cloak and hood, Amy.
Thank you, John.
That's very kind of you.
- It's very cosy here.
- Yes, it's cosy enough.
Not very smart, though.
It's all, erm It's all higgledy-piggledy.
- It is, rather.
- Could do It could do with the little delicate touches a woman brings.
Perhaps it could, John.
But I like it quite well as it is.
Remember how you used to come and play here when we were both small? - Yes, I do.
- Happy days! They were.
The rain's slackened off a little now.
I'll take my chance.
Goodbye, John.
Thank you.
Whatever's that? Jeremiah! What are you gonna do with Little Dorrit? Is she to come and work here for ever? So long as she is quiet and industrious and stands in need of help, she will continue to come here, so long as I am spared.
Have you forgotten where she lives? Where she was born, and how? Have you forgotten the suffering that was inflicted on her family? How her mother died? How her father lives? Why do you goad me? Let me suffer and let me have this little alleviation of my suffering.
Is it so much that you torment me like an evil spirit? - I only asked you a question.
- And I have answered it.
Say no more.
Say no more! Now leave me alone.
Affery! Affery, woman! What's the matter with ya? She wants putting to bed! Affery! Jeremiah.
You frightened me to death.
Fright? I'll show you fright! - Can you not hear her? - No.
Do you know what I think? I think you've been dreaming again.
Oh, no, no.
Jeremiah, no.
You've got such a dose coming to you, old woman.
Now get up them stairs and do your duty, woman! Or I'll give you a dose that'll send you flying straight out the window.