Peaky Blinders (2013) s06e03 Episode Script

Gold

1 Jack Nelson's coming to London.
There are some people in this country who I'd like to meet.
Fascists.
Not the ones in boots and black shirts.
The ones in tuxedos.
Mr Shelby, Lady Diana Mitford.
Oswald's most recent and last ever mistress.
Officially he's coming to buy liquor import licenses.
And unofficially he's Roosevelt's envoy.
By being among the Fascists, by being among 'em, I can undermine them.
Still looking for trouble big enough to kill you.
If you don't want to help me carry the bucket, then I wouldn't blame you.
You have to carry this bucket on your own.
Do we have a deal, Mr Nelson? You're a brave man.
Every war hero I ever met, they're just someone who wanted to get themselves killed.
If anyone is going to kill Tommy Shelby It will be you.
The devil will be dead.
The future belongs to us.
You need to see a doctor.
We've got to keep going until the Boston business is done.
Hello? Tommy, she has a temperature of 101 and nothing is working.
Just get here now.
Out of the way! Out of the way! - No no.
Where's the doctor? - Can you get the doctor? - I need to speak a doctor.
- Mr Shelby.
Mr Shelby, your daughter has consumption.
Consumption is a very infectious disease.
There are procedures that must be followed.
- Please, hand over the child.
- OK.
Lizzie? It's going to be all right.
Right, you take her.
You be gentle.
Look after her.
That's my daughter, you hear me? I need to be with her.
I need to be with my daughter! Tom.
OK.
Come on.
They are X-raying Ruby, they have to X-ray us - because we might have it as well.
- Fuck us, Lizzie.
Fuck us! Fuck you and me! Who brought this on? We brought on this curse.
Stop, Tommy.
Fucking stop! They wouldn't let me pass.
They wouldn't let me pass.
They did it on purpose, to punish me.
Tommy, stop it, please.
All right.
All right.
My husband is very sorry.
OK.
My husband is very sorry and he is calm now.
He is recovering from addiction.
Sometimes Sometimes he's a horse in a crate, kicking the crate.
It's just the crate I'm kicking.
I'm sorry.
- Lizzie.
- Yeah? Tell me what I have to do.
- This way, sir.
- Sorry.
Thank you.
Mr Shelby, you will need to keep still for a moment.
To see what's inside.
Wait till you see.
God.
God knows what's inside.
God help her.
She has a tubercular infection in her left lung.
They've caught it quite early.
They'll do more tests.
They do this thing, pulmonary something, where they collapse the lung, let it rest.
Sometimes the lung cures itself.
And if that doesn't work, they use gold.
What? - Gold? - Gold salts.
The doctor said he explained their methods to you when you cut the ribbon to open the institution.
I can't remember, I wasn't listening.
Yeah, well.
Gold salts.
Salt with 37% gold.
They say it helps, but it will make her more sick at first.
Did they say what? Did they say what the chances are? - No.
They don't say.
- Hm.
But she's small.
And with TB that's not good because the disease is big and fast.
I'm so sorry, my darling.
But I will deal with it.
I will make it go away.
I will strike a bargain.
You should be wearing a mask.
I am.
You can try gold, I will try something else.
Mayfair 244.
Ada.
Listen to me.
I need you to be me in London.
No, it's important.
I know you want nothing to do with my business, but Ruby is very sick.
I need five days of your time.
So she dresses well.
- Go to the door and take her coat.
- Yes, ma'am.
Uh and make a note of the label.
Of course, ma'am.
Oh, Thomas, where the devil are you? Mrs Ada Thorne, ma'am.
- I thought you were all called Shelby.
- Ah, I'm a widow.
My husband didn't have the good grace to die.
He lingers yet.
Your husband is a member of the Guinness family, I believe.
They do a lot of good work on behalf of the poor.
The poor who are only poor because they spent so much of their income on Guinness.
Please.
I think the causes of poverty are a little more complex than that.
Yes.
I believe it is to do with genetics.
Huh.
Beautiful vase.
My grandfather stole it from a brothel in Cairo.
Egyptian.
The 18th Dynasty, I think.
How do you know so much about Egyptian vases? - I collect antiques.
- Hm.
A tribe of Gypsies settles on a clearing in a factory town.
Children, of course, ensue in their hundreds, but one of them becomes a gangster and a politician, the other a collector of antiques.
It is quite extraordinary.
A result of genetics, I think.
My dear, you researched me and I researched you.
If this was 1919, you would have come through my front door carrying a revolver and a Molotov cocktail and would happily have blown off my head.
Hm, isn't it wonderful how time changes everything? - Where is the American? - He'll be here later.
Where is Mosley? He heard Thomas wasn't coming so he decided to sulk.
You know how men are.
Where is Thomas? His daughter is sick.
Does he not employ a Governess? It's a class thing, a genetic thing.
He puts his daughter's welfare before business.
Even the business of changing the world.
I thought today was purely social.
Now that it's just you, I suppose it will be.
You should know your brother has altered my life.
The men here just bounce up and down in their saddles in a rising trot, never even galloping.
Thomas is the man on the horse on the vase.
That's why I put it out for you to look at.
According to recent interpretations, the black rider on 18th Dynasty vases is meant to signify approaching death.
So, yes, I suppose it resembles Thomas.
Tell me, why is he so emotionally mutilated? Oh.
Because he is a character in a novel, of course.
One of those novels ladies like you like to read.
All about wild men.
Oh, I don't read novels, I read only pornography and politics.
In the absence of the men, shouldn't we ladies be engaging in small talk? Very well.
Small talk.
You know I like to fuck women as well as men.
Mm, Tommy was right.
He says that everything is a circle.
A lady in Eaton Square, as coarse and honest as an Aston whore.
I just realised I haven't even offered you a drink.
Ada.
Before the dreary business of changing the world begins, I want you to know something.
When the time comes for the great cleansing, I myself will personally argue the case that the Jews must be dealt with, but that the Gypsies should be spared.
Huh.
Let's drink whisky and wait for the American.
Huh.
Who the fuck are you? I am the owner of this Colt pistol and the bullets within it.
And I am in a hurry.
I followed the patrin signs for the Lee family.
I'm looking for Esme Shelby-Lee.
Never heard of her.
Esme's husband was a fucking dirty Didicoi.
- He was a Peaky Blinder.
- Yeah? Well, I'm the elder and more terrible.
And as I said, I'm in a hurry.
Where is she? Put your gun away, Thomas, there's children around.
You only found me cos I let you find me.
I heard you were looking, and I'm curious.
If any of these men is your man, please tell him I want no trouble.
I don't have a man.
What use is a man? A horse pulls the wagon.
A dog keeps me safe.
A cat keeps me warm at night.
And if anybody's going to give you trouble, Tommy Shelby.
It'll be me.
What do you want? Tell them to leave.
What, you think I'm in charge here? Oh, I'm sure of it, Esme.
Didicoi's too grand to put his arse on the grass these days? I have a daughter, Esme.
Her name is Ruby.
She's fallen ill suddenly.
She's very sick.
And I can tell by saying her name and looking in your eyes that I have wasted petrol, time and hope.
Wasted petrol on what? Ah Tommy Shelby, OBE MP.
Running round the mountains in pursuit of a Gypsy curse, is that it? I thought you had Polly deal with the spirits.
Polly is dead.
Bullet or a blade? Still speaks to me in my dreams.
It was her who told me to come find you.
Polly.
That name like the ringing of the school bell.
Come and do as you're told.
Oh, fuck! I am so glad I'm not in your camp any more.
Made of bricks and bars.
My daughter is dying, Esme.
Some people go to France.
To Lourdes.
I hear they sell trinkets.
I need more than fucking trinkets.
I can tell from your reaction this is not your doing.
I'm sorry for troubling you.
The butler says our American friend is parking the car.
He also says, in answer to your inquiry, Diana, that the coat our exotic friend is wearing is made by Chanel.
- That's a very expensive label.
- Yes, it is.
But the perfume I can smell on you is very cheap.
I am deeply, deeply annoyed that Thomas isn't here.
It is a family emergency, apparently.
We only have Ada.
The sister.
Well, would the sister like some more Champagne? Oh, the sister is allowed to speak? She thinks this lunch is purely social.
The sister is here because there's sickness in the family.
Thomas wanted someone from the Shelby organisation to introduce Mr Nelson to you and to offer all three of you an invitation.
Ooh.
What invitation? The invitation can wait.
And please remember, in this moment, in this room, it is the Shelby family that holds the power, because we have the information and the incentives that will make Mr Nelson do what you require him to do.
So when I speak, please keep your fucking mouths closed, because, although I'm reluctant, I am actually quite good at this.
And yes, I will have Champagne.
- Ah.
- Take care of this.
OK, so before these dull introductions begin, I just have to tell you something that my niece Gina just told me.
Oh, Jack.
She said the Shelby family are all witches and sorcerers who speak freely with the dead.
So who here's a Shelby? Is it true? - Gina.
- Hello, Ada.
Michael sends his regards.
You're the sister.
Yes, it seems I am indeed the sister.
I did some research.
You were a Communist once, but diamonds and lipstick now.
Actually, I'm a Socialist.
She is Mr Shelby's political adviser.
And you, you're the future Prime Minister of Great Britain - and its dominions.
- Indeed I am.
And you, Lady Diana Mitford, the talk of London with her amphetamines and emeralds.
It is her sharp mind that I am in love with.
Men bore me.
Ada, do you have a man? My husband died, but of course we speak often.
Between this sparkling conversation, could I get a drink of some kind? So this little kid Gina, she runs out, she marries a gangster, and now here we all are.
Oh, Jack, please, you are so blunt.
Yes, it's wonderful.
A man who is not careful with his words.
I'm not careful.
Just say it first then clear up the broken glass with my bare hands.
There you are.
I don't seem to have a drink either.
Well, I have Scotch or Irish.
Thomas drinks Irish.
- Where the hell is he? - Irish.
He's been unavoidably detained.
- Nothing is unavoidable.
- His daughter is unwell.
He doesn't have a wife? You know, I did some research on you too, Mr Nelson.
Ada here is the smart one of the family.
I learnt that when you were young you lost a brother and a sister to consumption? No ice? Well, that same awful illness has entered our family.
And, you see, Thomas has very little faith in current medical practice - regarding tuberculosis.
- Man, he has that right.
He's gone off in search of alternative approaches to curing the disease.
Experimental work that he hopes will save the life of his daughter.
In his shoes I would do the same thing.
Your brother intrigues me.
Yes, he often has that effect on people.
Yes, and my future husband has that effect on 20 million people in this country who attend his rallies and listen to his broadcasts.
It's amazing what English upper class women can do with just skin, bone and arrogance.
My brother sends his apologies for not being here and would like to invite all of you to his home for a meeting.
A meeting where the real business will be done.
And where you can meet like minds from Ireland who would also like to discuss the future of Europe.
But as you say, this lunch is purely social.
And looking at my glass, I see I still don't have Champagne.
Michael told me the sister had gone straight.
Yes, but her brother is the sun, and the rest just orbit around him.
Gina tells me lots of things, but I want to hear it from you, Ada.
What exactly does the Shelby Company Limited do? Fuck! You used to have eyes in the back of your head.
How can you change so much and not change at all? I have other lines of inquiry, give me the spark plug.
Gimme the Gimme the fucking spark plug.
Give you the spark, give you hope? Is that what you want? Something you should see.
Someone dead, someone grieving.
A lot of hate against you.
You were wise to come to me, Thomas.
Open up the bonnet, would you? What hate? What hate, what grieving? I can't explain where it is you have to go.
So I'll take you there.
I hope the suspension is good.
We're going to a wild old place.
Mrs Thorne, Mr Shelby isn't here.
I know.
I am.
Do you know where he's gone? He's gone up a mountain looking for a miracle.
No-one is allowed to go in if he's not here.
Just bring me the keys.
All of the keys.
Do you want tea, Mrs Thorne? Whisky.
Mr Shelby doesn't allow whisky in the building any more.
Then have someone go and fetch some.
Until Mr Shelby comes down off his mountain, I'm in charge.
Yes, Mrs Thorne.
Fuck.
Mickey, I've got to go.
The boss's sister is here.
For the next five days, I'm not the boss's sister, I'm the boss.
- Where is Arthur? - We locked him in the cash safe.
When he gets the yamps really bad he tells us to lock him in the safe, to stop him from slipping down to China Town.
What are the yamps? When you lose your head.
When you can't control yourself.
Young people say it.
And Arthur gets the yamps a lot? A lot is twice a day.
Arthur gets them three times a day.
It smells in here.
Arthur sleeps on the floor.
We lock him in at night.
On your feet.
Sit down.
Nice perfume.
Tommy likes you, Isiah.
I believe I'm suited to this life.
I'm not so sure about you.
I was given to understand that you are no longer part of the company.
Hm.
You speak well.
I was going to be an accountant but everybody said I would be wasted counting money, instead of stealing it.
What's the name of that perfume? I've got a girlfriend with a birthday.
I want you to go to Liverpool.
Then I will go to Liverpool.
We have opium in storage at the Salthouse docks.
Word got out among the dock workers.
They started stealing cupfuls, now it's by the bucket.
By the bucket? The audacity of it.
The sale of the stolen opium is being organised by a union convenor called Haydn Stagg.
In the envelope you'll find details of where to find him and what to do to him when you do.
Is there a black star in the envelope? I decided not.
You decided? The name of the perfume is know your fucking place, soldier.
I decided he'll just take a beating.
And also, that you're going to take Arthur with you.
Arthur, ten days clean, and we're going to take him into a warehouse full of fucking opium? It can be your job to look after him.
Why take him at all? It's his reputation you're taking.
The beating can be conducted in a civilised way.
No-one would dare fuck with Arthur Shelby.
But they would fuck with me? Yes.
He is Arthur Shelby.
You're Isiah who? I'm just Isiah, who is keen to learn, Ada.
Keep him clean.
Deal with Haydn Stagg, bring Arthur back in one piece.
And in return, I won't tell Tommy that you're laying private bets on races that we've fixed.
Just trying to make a few extra pennies, buy that birthday present for my girlfriend.
Mm, lucky girl.
Lock the door, Lizzie.
There are people around here who start drinking this early in the morning.
No.
I need to stay myself and be strong.
Now, come on, not with me.
You can let it go with me.
I can't cry, Ada.
If I start, I'll fall apart.
I need to stay strong for Ruby.
Tommy says it's just in one lung.
No.
They now think it's in both.
It's moving quickly.
They collapsed the left lung but it made no difference.
They're starting her on the gold salts tomorrow.
You know somebody who died on the gold treatment, yes? Half the people I tell look like you just did because they know someome who died on the gold treatment.
The person I knew was old.
Old and young, the same.
Have you given up, Lizzie? No.
I'm being strong.
At her bedside, on my own.
While Tommy is up in the mountains to be among the gypsies.
In truth it's a blessing he's not around at the hospital, because all he wants to do is fight people and blame himself, and I've never felt so ashamed of him, Christ, because right now I need a normal man.
And it's me sitting there, taking away the bloody rags and watching her disappear.
Do you know when he's back, Ada? He gave me instructions, not information.
Can you get a message to him? He'll be out of reach.
Ada, I thought you might know things.
I've been away from all this.
You're still Gypsy.
Yeah, well.
The mystery leaves you.
What mystery? Lizzie, is there anything practical that I can do? Before he left, he was looking for a number for Esme.
What's Esme got to do with this? I thought you might know.
Esme's a Lee.
What does that mean? The Lees and the Barwells, they're wild tribes.
Where do they live? They're gypsies, they live where they like.
Fuck.
Fuck, Ada.
Tribes in the mountains.
It's 1934, and the doctors know what it is, they know what causes it, but oh, no, my husband, he knows better.
Not a normal man, your brother.
He's up in the mountains with fucking horse thieves and sorcerers while I'm here on my own.
Not a normal man.
It's OK, Arthur.
I'll look after you.
Yeah.
And Ada said it would be OK if I recruited my cousins.
Off the streets of Alum Rock, and looking for the big time.
What do you say, Arthur? I say big-time boys don't ask for permission.
I think he means you're in.
Let's go.
Can you still ride bareback? We're a long way from anywhere, Esme.
If I find out you've been wasting my time, I'll use that rope to fucking hang you.
Right, hold up, Hold on, hold on.
Listen, you know what you've got to do, right? You've got your orders, I'm depending on you.
Do you hear me? Let me tell you something.
Any man, any fucking man who looked like this before they're Peaky Blinder.
Peaky Blinder still looks like this.
After.
I've got a real big mirror of a smile We are here to meet a gentleman called Haydn Stagg.
A gentleman? Mr Stagg? That scoundrel.
Never there when you need him.
Who needs him? We do.
Where is he? Last I saw he was up to his balls in a lady called Maria.
We have no time for tradition or the rules of the sporting life.
Because, among the Peaky Blinders, any man who comes home from a mission with all his bullets, he pays a fine.
My name's Haydn Stagg.
I hear there's some men here from Birmingham looking for me.
I was in the banana warehouse playing football with the boys.
But I'm guessing you gentlemen aren't here to kick footballs.
No.
We're here about other business.
We like to call it Black Star business.
The Black Star a pub, is it? Yeah.
The Black Star's a pub.
The last pub you ever fucking drink in.
The Peaky Blinders take you to the Black Star and all your troubles are done.
But the pub you drink in, Mr Stagg, is called The Dolphin, right? Every night you're in there.
Not to drink, you're there divvying up the days takings, in't ya? And there's a woman there.
She sings out, "Opium for sale!" Sit down, boys.
The rules say the King puts his head on the block and the game is up.
You're stealing from the Shelby Company Limited.
You're stealing from the Peaky Blinders, man.
Therefore punishment is a visit to the Black Star pub.
But, out of kindness of my heart, your sentence has been commuted.
Praise the fucking Lord! And our lovely Ada, eh? Instead instead, Mr Haydn Stagg, it's just a beating for you.
Well, before I take this beating Arthur Shelby, is it, yeah? Well, comrade, beneath your sleeves lies the truth.
The marks on your arm.
Yeah.
Stories about you come up the canal.
Where once you walked fine alone, now you need a stick.
Let's just fucking do it, Arthur.
For me it was the morphine they gave us in France.
I got a taste for it, Arthur.
It was 1924 before I realised the fucking war was over.
There's a warehouse full of it is just across the yard, there, where the boys play football.
And they steal it and roll around laughing, and it floats in the air.
But I'm strong, comrade.
Arthur.
Let's just fucking do it.
- Liar.
- It's me that's due a beating.
But it's me who feels sorry for you, Mr Shelby.
Because you take your beating every hour of every day.
Your own blood betrays you, because it demands dilution.
And sometimes you want to cut a doorway in your arm so your blood can escape and leave you in blessed peace.
Yeah.
Fuck you, man.
I was once where you are now, Arthur.
If you're going to do it, do it.
But look at me as the man you can be.
You've tried Jesus, yeah? Yeah, he looked you up and down and he shook his head.
Your loved ones your wife, your kids.
Jesus and your wife and your kids can't help you.
Only you, Arthur Shelby.
Only you.
Don't count the days.
Futile.
You get to 100, then you wake up and it's fucking one again.
Don't build mountains.
Walk like it's a flat plain.
Easy step by easy step.
Arthur, just give me the fucking word and I'll fucking do it.
Use your stick, Arthur.
Give him the order.
Arthur, I'm not going to ask you fucking twice.
Isiah, leave him alone.
No No fucking way.
I said you can stand down.
Let's go, come on.
Come on, all of ya.
Go on.
Go on.
Gypsy graveyard? You can still read the signs.
No horse will go beyond here.
We'll have to walk.
Just tell me whose grave it is.
You'll see.
Who knows what you'll see? Do you ever go to John's grave? Things are really bad.
When what's really bad? I've done bad things, Esme.
And you think now you're being punished for them? I would like to make amends.
You want to lift every curse anyone has ever put on you? That's a lot of lifting.
My own curse is in there somewhere.
I should have done more to protect John.
You think in this holy place the spirits are listening to you being kind? Believe it or not, Esme, I am discovering kindness.
I'm learning it from my children.
Do you ever think you've lost your mind, Thomas? Lost it long ago.
I only use the crate it came in.
I know why you're here.
I'm in a hurry, Esme.
You think you can make a deal even with death? Well, soon you'll be in the right place to do it.
The village disappeared.
The church fell down.
Only us still use the graveyard.
Do you recall a sapphire? You gave a sapphire to a woman called Bethany Barwell.
Ten years ago.
She took the stone back to her camp.
I warned her about it, but she took it anyway.
She gave the sapphire to her sister.
Evadne Barwell.
Evadne put the stone around the neck of her daughter.
A little girl.
Straight away, the little girl began to cough.
She died that night.
Seven years old.
I heard they threw the sapphire in the river.
No-one's ever gone to look for it.
I'm guessing it'll be the girl's mother who laid the curse.
Only women can lay curses.
Perhaps she waited until your little girl was seven, so you'd know how it feels.
- Do you have whisky? - No.
Tommy.
Perhaps the treatment will work and your daughter will live.
It's science.
Science is winning everything these days.
Even against the angels.
I can leave you, if you want.
Your horse will know his way back.
But I think there should be some reward for what I have shown you.
Some consideration.
You can afford it, Mr Shelby OBE.
I will find her.
I will find this fucking Evadne Barwell, I will fucking find her, and I will give her money to take back this curse.
You only found me because I wanted to be found.
And the Barwells roam from the border to the sea.
I will give her £10,000.
More.
Anything.
You will put out word, Esme.
You will put out word.
I will put out word, and I will find her.
And instead of this poor wooden cross - Tommy! - I will build a monument to this little girl.
Her mother can decide how big.
It can be as big as fucking Nelson's Column.
That and £10,000.
I will buy her off.
I will start looking today.
Ruby will be well.
She will be well! And I will undo the many wrongs that I have done.
Now that I'm without whisky I can hear the spirits clearly, and they're saying Ruby will be well, if I make amends.
That is the conversation.
If you want my help, I will help you, Thomas, if you also pay me.
Pay me and I will help you to find her.
- I will pay you.
- But I don't want money.
I don't read the papers, but I know there was a crash, and nothing is certain and money loses value.
Instead of money, give me gold.
Gold.
Yes, I will give you gold.
In uncertain times, gold is always certain.
I will give you gold.
And you will help me find this woman.
And she will spare my daughter.
- Lizzie! - Where the fuck were you? Where were you? Where the fuck were you? She's gone, Tommy.
She's gone.
Just now.
At 5.
17.
You weren't fucking here, were you? Were you? It was before then, and she was here, and then she was gone, and now she's gone to where they've put the dead.
They've put her with the dead people.
She was asking, just now, for you.
But went at 5.
17.
I told her that you loved I gave her your kiss goodbye.

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