Virdee (2025) s01e05 Episode Script

1
.
Whatever mess you're in,
whoever you're working for,
you keep Harry out of it.
I want what you've got.
You start work for me here,
tomorrow.
DCI Virdee.
Tell them what you did.
Pawa. Bradford's most violent
kingpin.
Alastair.
I am going to get you out of here.
Now our game begins.
DISTANT SHOUTING
CLANKING
DISTANT SCREAMING
CLANKING
CLANKING CONTINUES
BUZZING
IN PUNJABI:
Hmm?
I have a different deal for you,
Officer Sharma.
Do you want to be boss
of this prison?
Or the most powerful man
in the whole Punjab?
Help me escape.
And get back to England.
This isn't about power.
OFFICER SHARMA CHUCKLES
GROANING
BUZZING
HE SHOUTS
LABOURED BREATHING
Harry Virdee, 39, GCS 10,
multiple wasp stings to torso
and neck. Anaphylactic response.
Start IV adrenaline
and prep the chlorphenamine.
Someone page the anaesthetist
in case we need an airway.
Let me help.
Saima, you need to leave, please.
No, let me help. You know you can't.
Step out. I'm not leaving him.
Harry, Harry, it's me,
it's Saima.
You're going to be OK. I'm not
going anywhere, all right?
POLICE RADIO CHATTER
SOCO will sweep this place
when they've finished
with Henford's house.
Looks like he hasn't
been in there for months.
The extermination team
has just left.
Apparently it's safe to go in.
Let's go.
Any news on DCI Virdee?
No.
He's covered in leeches.
It's Matthew Henford,
the owner of this place.
Pawa's former accountant.
He testified at his trial.
CONWAY: We found him
collapsed on the street
outside a suspect's house.
We're lucky we got to him in time.
How did you not know where he was?
He didn't have his radio.
Why not?
SHE SIGHS
Why didn't he have his radio?
The decision was made to suspend him
from duty.
What? Why? I can't say.
It's for Harry to tell you.
Oh. I just can't say.
Mm. Right.
Saima?
Dad.
How are you? Are you OK?
Dr Azhar called me.
She told me what happened.
How's he doing?
He's stable.
It looks very serious.
Does his family know?
I can't deal with them right now.
Especially not his dad.
Not after the way he's treated us.
Come on. You need a break.
Let's step outside,
and get some fresh air, huh?
Yeah, all right.
WHISPERS: Bye.
PHONE BUZZES
I'm worried Vasil's
going to retaliate.
Maybe you should lay low
for a while. Work from home.
Work from home?
Nothing's going to happen to me.
What's wrong?
Got a lot going on.
Big shipment coming in,
new kids starting, that's all.
It's been a while
since I've seen you like this.
Harry?
The past, Soph, it never goes away.
Every decision we make
has to be answered for.
Why are you doing this?
Did you kill him, the detective?
PHONE RINGS
Hello?
Who is this?
Boardman, I have your son.
What do you want?
I intend to surrender
at City Park tonight
with Alastair unharmed.
On one non-negotiable condition.
DCI Harry Virdee.
Not exactly
who I wanted to wake up to.
Pretty sure you've woken up
to worse faces than mine.
Drove your car here,
parked it outside.
How bad was I?
Shit-ton of stings.
Anaphylactic shock.
We found Henford.
Been dead a while.
Covered in parasitic leeches.
What about Alastair?
Gone.
Any ID on the suspect?
I mean, he hit me over the head
with a gun and stuck it in my mouth
before I passed out.
I can't be certain,
but it looked like Jai Pawa.
I thought we got confirmation
that he was still
in a Punjab central prison.
We did.
Unless it was fake.
Get on that, yeah?
Something's not adding up.
I was just leaving.
Harry wasn't certain, but he said
the guy who attacked him
looked like Pawa.
Contact the British Consulate
in Punjab.
I need them to interview
whoever took this video.
What are you thinking?
That there's a wider conspiracy
at play here.
VASIL: Find out what happened
at my tearoom yesterday.
Boss.
Someone is going to pay for this.
Yes, boss. Ateeq!
Tell me.
Look, I got into contact
with Bradford West.
And the whole abduction thing
made them trust me.
The boss is called Riaz Hyatt.
And he'll be at this location today.
Hey.
Our plan, it worked.
My tearoom was hit yesterday.
I'm thinking it was Bradford West.
You know anything about this?
If I knew anything, you'd know.
Listen, I've done what you asked.
HE SCOFFS
Jepja.
Ten grand.
For you.
OK? You go now.
You are a real soldier for Vasil.
Take out this Riaz Hyatt.
And the kid?
You know what to do with him.
CONWAY: City Park is being
shut down, businesses closed
and an evacuation order is in place.
British Consulate have confirmed
Jai Pawa escaped from prison
and those videos were faked.
I think Jai Pawa's here
and he's got Alastair.
Get a team. Find Sophie Brodenham,
and any other members of Pawa's crew
who co-operated with the prosecution
and then disappeared
into witness protection.
We're running out of time.
We need to go and see Harry.
Tell him about the call.
Sir, our job isn't
to give criminals what they want.
We can't just
shut down the city for one man.
Our job is to save my son!
PRAYING
How are you feeling?
Like I've had the shit
kicked out of me.
Conway said you were suspended?
Well, it's just
He needs to rest.
Whoever's done this to you
has contacted me directly.
He's ready to surrender
and release Alastair.
But he's got conditions.
He claims he'll surrender tonight
in City Park
and release Alastair, but
..only to you, Harry.
Now, he says he won't be armed.
No, not a chance.
You can't seriously
be considering this.
I thought he was suspended.
Well, that's been rescinded.
The suspension
was a misunderstanding.
You're really going to walk back
into the hands of the man
who put you in here
in the first place?
You'd have full tactical support.
Please! My son's life is at risk.
Excuse me.
Saima.
DOOR SLAMS
Sai! Saima, wait, man.
Why did they suspend you?
Our suspect forced me
to confess I'd murdered someone.
Right?
Conway had no choice
while they investigated.
Why would he get you to do that?
What are you asking me?
Whoever's doing this
has got a grudge against me,
my family. That's all I know.
Has it got anything to do with this?
I've already given Riaz his back.
I have been going over and over
this, trying to rationalise
why you'd be talking to Riaz
using a burner phone.
What the fuck is going on, Harry?
That's something
you need to ask Riaz.
I have asked him.
And now I'm asking you.
You deserve the truth, Saima
..but right now Alastair's life
is in danger, so I just..
I need you to trust me.
Please.
We both know you're going to do this
regardless of what I say.
PHONE RINGS
Riaz, where you at?
I need a one-to-one.
RIAZ: About Saima?
She knows.
Meet me at the warehouse.
Hello, boss.
Ta-ra, boss.
I told you,
I don't do minimum wage shit.
Nothing wrong
with minimum wage shit.
Is that how you started, yeah?
Nah.
I grafted for free
in me dad's corner shop.
Everyone does that.
Maxed out in some dead-end job.
That ain't living.
What do you know about living?
Choices and that, innit.
What sort of choices?
Ones that give you options.
A good education does that.
I've got a juvie record.
That door's closed.
I were hitting good grades, though.
New crowd. New vibe.
Shit happens.
Yeah, shit happens.
Why'd you say Vasil lifted you?
I wanted to switch to you lot,
Bradford West.
I was sick of not
climbing the ladder in Vasil's crew.
But you know the game.
No switching.
I was making moves
to bring some others with me.
And Vasil wanted to send a message.
I were like you once.
I had prospects. Got taken.
Want to know why I got in this game?
Money.
Power. Nah.
People. Family. Ethics.
Right, kids should be kids,
not runners.
You've seen how Vasil does things,
I do it different.
I create real jobs from all of this.
You'll see.
I entered this world to change it.
You understand?
You're a good kid, Ateeq.
Now, crack on.
It's not minimum wage.
It's me trusting you.
Riaz!
GUNSHOTS
Riaz!
Is he still breathing?
TARA: Thanks for meeting me.
SAIMA: It's all right.
It sounded important on the phone.
I wanted to ask you about something.
Mm-hm?
Who were Paul King?
Where did you hear that name?
Well, I wanted to see if the 420
on my neck was something to do
with your old shop,
so I went there yesterday.
Tara, don't you think
you should be taking it easy?
Look
..when I arrived, Uncle Harry
and your Riaz were there.
I heard them talking
about something. They were angry.
And something about this
Paul King.
He were a thug who robbed our shop
in 2001,
when the riots were happening.
Nearly killed me mum,
but Riaz
Murdered him.
Well, it was self-defence.
Look
..do you not think
all this is connected?
Eh
What do you mean?
I don't think Harry and Riaz
are the men we think they are.
Saima's father.
This morning, when I was getting
ready to come here,
I was wearing my shalwar kameez.
Then I changed into these.
You know why?
30 years ago,
I bought a shop on Lammington Lane.
Very difficult in those days.
Very difficult, fully white area.
I thought, if I dress
like the white man,
then maybe they'll see me
just like them.
Maybe they'll be nicer to me.
This morning
when I was coming here to see you
..it felt like those times again.
If I wore my shalwar kameez,
you would see only a Muslim man
and not Ubaid.
Ah.
I've cleared the whole floor,
let's get you in the office.
Easy. There you go, sit down there.
That's it.
We should blue light him!
And say what?
He got shot in a fuckin' drive-by?
What do you reckon
that does to us all?
What do you reckon
that does to this place, eh?
It's stuck in your arm.
Riaz, let me call this in.
No. I'm going to have to take it
out, stop the bleeding.
You good? Do it.
Pin him.
This is going to hurt.
Shit.
Come on. Almost there
Got it!
Get me a pen!
I'll make a tourniquet.
Easy, easy.
What you want from me?
I want you to let go
what Harry and Saima did.
Look Look where we are.
How long have we got left, hmm?
We are the generation whose hearts
were back in our homeland,
but our minds were trying
to figure a way out,
on how to lead a new life.
We may not have got
everything we wanted
but we moved here for more choices.
Then to deny our children
the most important choice?
My late wife used to say,
if we don't embrace change
then we will always lose.
The greatest gift Aaron has?
He will never know any of this pain.
He won't drown in history.
He'll have his own identity.
English? Indian? Pakistani?
Who knows?
Who cares?
What did you say to Saima?
Do you know what it is, yeah.
I told her exactly the same
as I'm telling you now.
Stay away from me.
Stay out of my business.
I'm dropping every fucking body
Vasil's got.
You make that move,
everything changes.
I told you before, Harry
..there can only be one king
in this city.
Riaz
Look at me.
You do this
..you'll never be the same again.
Trust me.
It's time for you to leave.
I've done what you asked.
Put the word out
that Vasil's got his man.
As of now, you're dead.
I'm going to look into
who gave away our location.
Vasil will drop his guard.
That's when we take him out.
Get the team ready.
Timeframe?
Within 48 hours.
What about a medic? En route.
Send everyone home.
We need to lay low.
Meet me back at the house.
Done!
PHONE BUZZES
Is it done?
Yeah.
You got him.
He's dead.
What are you doing?
Please let me go.
What are you going to do with that?
Some deaths need to be slow.
Some deaths are worth savouring.
Please, just let me go.
MUFFLED SPEECH
ARUs will be surrounding
the perimeter.
A final recap
before you're all dismissed.
Snipers will be positioned
here and here.
ARUs will be surrounding
the perimeter.
We have locked down the perimeter
around City Park
and have roadblocks set up on all
routes which our suspect could use.
Our suspect claims
he will not be armed
but we will abort
if we are not satisfied.
Let's get to it.
Dismissed.
Is me firearm ready, yet?
We're arming Virdee?
Yes. As a precaution.
We can't take any risks
dealing with this murderer.
Let's bring Alastair home.
Riaz?
CHLOE: Yeah, let me grab it
from the office.
Shit!
Who are you?
I'm Saima, Riaz's sister.
I'm just waiting for him.
Riaz is busy,
can't see you right now.
I'll tell him
you came round, all right?
Right.
Doctor's done a good job,
considering.
I pay him enough.
Enzo just told me
there's a big police operation
in City Park tonight.
Whole area's on lockdown.
I need to go.
Where?
We take Vasil tonight
while the police are distracted.
I'm going with them.
Look at the state of you.
Are you crazy?
It's time me and Vasil
came face-to-face.
It's time I got my hands dirty.
PHONE BUZZES
How did it go?
OK.
They've got Vasil,
they'll be here in ten minutes.
We also know who the snitch is.
Want them here?
HELICOPTER ROTOR WHIRS
INDISTINCT SHOUTS
I'm running the operation tonight,
Harry.
I won't have UKCA all over this,
not with one of mine on the line.
If you feel any threat,
you do not hesitate.
You use your weapon.
He won't get the better of me again.
Come on, move. Come on.
Put them in the loading bay.
Fuck you!
Vasil is not afraid to die!
You wanted to play gangster, yeah?
GUN CLICKS
Then play.
Well, go on.
What are you waiting for?
Shoot him.
Take his life.
What's wrong, hmm?
I told you before,
kids don't belong in this world.
The fuck do you know
about being a kid in this city?
I never had a choice in all this!
Well, you wanted
the leader of Bradford West.
You've got him.
VASIL LAUGHS
This is only the beginning for you.
When my death comes
GUNSHO
PHONE RINGS
PHONE CONTINUES RINGING
RINGING STOPS
CONWAY: Everyone in position?
OFFICER: Alpha team, standing by.
How you feeling, Harry? Over.
Solid.
Aerial unit have a visual, Harry.
He's in a Ford Transit van
on Manchester Road. Over.
Van approaching.
He's pulling into the square.
Received. Over.
Remember what I said, Harry.
Any threat, use your weapon.
Copy that.
Confirm visual on the suspect.
Negative.
Windows blacked out. Over.
Standby, everyone.
All units standing by.
Door's opening.
I see it.
I've got eyes on Alastair.
Move.
Confirming,
suspect appears to be Jai Pawa.
Over.
There's some sort of device
on Alastair's neck. Over.
Any sudden moves,
and his head comes off, Harry.
Alpha team, there's no clear
visual on the device.
We do have a clear shot.
Please advise, over.
Negative. We need more detail
on the device. Over.
We still have the shot.
Clear line of sight on suspect.
Does anyone have a visual
on the device? Over.
I have.
The device is around Alastair's neck
with a wire
connected to Pawa's hand.
Might be a dead man's switch.
Do not take the shot on Pawa.
I repeat, do not take the shot.
All teams acknowledge, over.
Acknowledged. Over.
Jai Pawa, stop there.
STOP THERE!
Lift up your shirt.
Show me you're not wired.
No wires.
No explosive vest. Over.
DCI Virdee, we meet again.
Let Alastair go.
You got what you asked for.
Exactly as I imagined.
Take your earpiece out
and throw it away.
Why? I want to talk to you.
Just us.
Do it.
Or I let go of this button
..and Alastair dies.
If you remove it,
we will have no comms, Harry.
There. Now let him go.
Don't let go.
Good luck.
Alastair, walk slowly. Don't look
back, you're doing really well.
Go! On your knees! Now!
Hands behind your head!
Get Alastair out of there!
Here they come.
On your fucking knees!
Hostage appears unharmed.
Where did you get this?!
It's Saima's.
You didn't really think
this was over, did you?
I have Saima in my possession
and if you tell anyone I have her,
she dies.
You're lying!
You have the necklace, Harry.
Now, Harry, we'll see just how far
you'll go to save her life.
What do you want?
Vengeance.
Pawa's got Saima.
He's going to kill her.
We do this,
put everything on the line,
you work for us.
Bring Sophie to me.
She will die at my hands. Or
..Saima dies.