♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I remember not to set the clock, but how do I turn off the alarm in my head, Liz?

How do you sleep like that?

When you're working, you think, my God, I'll take it easy when I retire, but I never thought taking it easy would be so bloody hard.

How do you do it?

Liz?

Only a couple of things to go now.

Deposit box to sign for Mr. Roberts, 1963.

Uh, just a minute.

Could I order a newspaper?

Yeah.

MAN: The guardian-- He's organized, already ordered his paper, top-of-the-range Range Rover money and no one to spend it on.

I can't help seeing people as customers.

It's exactly the house I would have chosen for him if I were still in the game-- four better, all en suite, sauna with all the trimmings.

I wonder how much he paid for it.

None of my old mates know.

Went through a London agency.

♪ It's Sarah.

Now, calm down, darling.

I'm perfectly all right, Mother.

I'll make us some coffee.

Shut up, Dad.

I'm not saying a word.

- That'll be the first time.

- It's all right.

I know my place.

Just tell me this so they don't put my foot in it.

Is this it?

Have you finally left him?

You're not doing the lawn now, are you?

No, I'm going to see how much he paid for the house.

300,000.

At 25?

Tenner on it.

Done.

Don't know how you put up with him for 23 years.

24.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ MARK: Get some help, quick.

REMOVAL MAN: What's wrong?

Get an ambulance.

FIRST RESPONDER: OK, madam, yes, Madam, thank you.

Thank you, sir.

If you'd like to step back now, we'll take it from here.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sarah.

How's your mother?

About the same, Mrs. Peterson.

So terribly sad, but life has to be lived.

Tell her we miss her desperately at the cathedral shop.

Takings are abysmal without her.

SARAH: I will.

Um, what do you know about our new neighbor?

Nothing, he's a bit of a mystery.

Don't bother with that.

It's only a junk room.

Good morning.

Oh, thank you.

That is very generous, Mr. Roberts.

I'll make sure you're invited to all the social gatherings.

No, thank you.

I'm sorry, that sounded rather rude.

It did.

I mean I'm not a social person.

Oh you will be, Mr. Roberts.

Don't you worry about that.

This is a very friendly area.

Nobody keeps themselves to themselves here.

I see to that.

Have you any relatives here?

I have no relatives at all.

Oh well, that makes friends all the more important.

Um, what made you choose Marchester to retire to?

I stuck a pin in a map.

Well, almost.

When one's lived abroad a long time, one tends to have a rosy picture postcard memory of England.

Mine was that of the cathedral close at Marchester.

Autumn, of course, with the leaves just turning.

Oh, what a lovely story, Mr. Roberts.

I don't believe a word of it.

There's, uh, something not quite right about you, Mr. Roberts.

SARAH: You're writing something?

Just doodling.

Good, good, that's good.

Yes, yes, take my mind off things, keep me occupied.

Don't be so patronizing, Sarah.

Mum, you're in a real state, aren't you?

No, I'm not in a state.

What I feel is guilt, if you really want to know.

Guilt?

When I woke up that morning and your father kept prattling away, all I could think of was, how the hell am I going to spend the next 20 years of my life listening to this?

Then that was it.

It was as if I'd made a wish.

Oh, come on.

Come on, that's silly, Mother.

Yes, I know.

I know, it's silly, but it's how I feel.

Come on, come on, Mum.

Look, you're coming to dinner with us and a few old friends.

No, I really can't, Sarah.

Mother, are you going to stay cooped up in here for the rest of your life just doodling?

You've got to start rebuilding your life.

Promise me you'll come.

Doodling.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Katherine.

I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Well, no one told me about her, how many people cried ♪ ♪ But it's too late to say you're sorry ♪ ♪ How would I know?

♪ ♪ Why should I care?

♪ ♪ Please don't bother trying to find her ♪ ♪ She's not there ♪ ♪ Well, let me tell you about the way she looked ♪ ♪ The way she acted, the color of her hair ♪ ♪ Her voice was soft and cool.

♪ ♪ Her eyes were clear and bright ♪ ♪ But she's not there ♪ Get out.

Get out.

Get out.

Get out!

I thought I told you-- Hello?

SHEILA (ON PHONE): Liz, have you got a moment?

Ah, Sheila, yes.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): Liz, Liz, are you all right?

Yes, I'm fine.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): Good, because the cathedral shop road has been absolutely decimated by flu, and I'm desperate for your help.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I can't, Sheila.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): And it's just what you need, something to take your mind off things.

I'm afraid I really don't think I could cope at the moment.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): Oh poor Liz, I'll come right round.

No, no, no, no, no, it's all right.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): No, I will-- Don't worry, I'll do it.

I'll be there.

It's all right.

SHEILA (ON PHONE): Oh, how kind.

I knew you would.

Goodbye, darling.

Oh!

DOCTOR: Now, this will help you to sleep.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I haven't any prescription for them, I'm afraid.

Last week, I saw a woman I haven't seen for 25 years, only I couldn't have done.

She was exactly as she was then.

When I knew her, I-- I had a kind of breakdown, and I'm afraid it's happening again.

Try and mix more with other people.

That really would be better for you than any medicine.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Maureen, I'm going to take my coffee break now.

I'm on the run too.

Oh.

She'll never find us here.

You're no better than I am.

I'm totally antisocial.

What are you running from?

The look in Sheila Peterson's eyes.

She does a very good job.

I never really thanked you.

For what?

For trying to save Bill's life.

When I lived on the other side of the world, this is the view I always remembered.

I thought you'd never been here before.

Imagine then, imagined it.

There's a poem by Philip Larkin about an earl and his countess.

It's over here.

"Side by side, their faces blurred, the earl and countess lie in stone, their proper habits vaguely shown as jointed armor, stiffened pleat.

Only an attitude remains.

The stone fidelity they hardly meant has come to be their final blazon, and to prove our almost instinct almost true, what will survive of us is love."

Do you know a lot of poetry by heart?

Only that and the usual school stuff, "dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smokestack-- BOTH: "--butting through the Channel in the mad March days."

Right, I think the next bit is that filigree bit at the top, just that because we haven't gotten that yet.

Good.

Next, right, now the knight and his lady, and I want the couple in.

Use the zoom.

It's a lovely picture, good, good, and another, and another.

Lovely, thank you.

♪ ♪ ♪ Bit stodgy.

Good stuff though.

Really good, not stodgy at all.

You shouldn't be reading that.

I'm sorry.

It's just doodling.

Nonsense, don't do yourself down.

I've only ever written an estate agent's waffle.

Garden has creative opportunities if you can get rid of the builder's mess.

It's a great idea.

Seeing the cathedral through the eyes of the people who built it and worshiped there, so much better than the books you have in the shop.

Do you mean that?

Of course, I mean it.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that.

Why?

MARK: Liz.

Yes?

What is it?

You know nothing about me.

That's what's so wonderful.

I know everybody in this bloody town.

The kiss, the kiss of life, just like you tried to give Bill.

An awful thing to say.

Why shouldn't I say it?

We hadn't had sex for years.

I've forgotten what it was like.

Oh god, I've drunk too much wine.

I made a good wife and a very, very good mother and not much else.

LIZ (ON PHONE): Hello, it's Liz.

Sorry I can't get to the phone, but leave a message and I'll get back to you.

SARAH (ON PHONE): Mother, it's me.

Are you there?

Are you there, Mother?

Mum, it's me.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I'd like to look at the early '60s edition of the paper, please, oh, and a cup of coffee.

Hi.

Hello, darling, nice surprise.

What's that perfume?

Dark blue.

Do you like it?

Doesn't do anything for me.

It's not meant to.

Mother, what's happening?

What do you mean?

Well, it's two weeks since I've seen you.

You don't turn up at my dinner party.

What do you think I felt like?

Angry enough not to invite me again, I hope.

Darling, I'm sorry.

Of course, I want to see you, even Tony, but not your father's friends, not at the moment.

What is going on, Mother?

I'm having an affair.

That's all.

♪ ♪ ♪ He's only been dead two months.

My great regret is that I didn't have an affair while he was still alive.

Hello, Mrs. Harrison.

It might have done us some good.

Mother, this may sound so stupid, so-- so-- So motherly?

Do you know what you're doing?

No, I don't think I do.

That's the fun of it.

Well, why wouldn't Mark come to dinner with us?

It was him that stopped you, wasn't it?

He's odd, rude.

Sarah, stop it.

I saw him outside just now, and he rushed past me, totally ignoring me.

He probably didn't recognize you.

Darling, I'm sorry.

I have to get these books back to the library.

I'll ring you.

♪ ♪ ♪ SHEILA (VOICEOVER): Dear Mr. Roberts, thank you for your contribution to the cathedral appeal fund.

Your previous connection with Marchester has come to our attention, and in these circumstances, the cathedral cannot accept your donation which is returned herewith.

LIZ: She's my favorite, so I always keep her until the end.

She has such a serene face after all she's been through.

Of her 16 children, nine lived, and she wrote, "I love them all, including the ones I shall only meet in Heaven."

All right, that's it.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

See?

Wasn't I right to get you back here?

You bring the cathedral to life, Liz.

Thank you.

I'm not stupid enough to believe that that's why you're so happy.

Liz, I'm afraid you're going to need a little of that serenity.

♪ ♪ He comes from Marchester, chose a place to retire to with a pin?

He was born here on the wrong side of the river.

His real name is Mark Richardson.

As soon as I saw him, my antennae were out.

When I was a journalist, I sat through enough cases in that dreary courtroom, but I remembered those eyes.

Don't they unnerve you?

So I knew he hadn't been a couple of paragraphs, but top of the page?

Murder or rape?

He didn't kill his wife.

But for the grace of God, the bullet missed.

He intended to.

Intention, that's what matters, Liz.

That's why he got eight years.

♪ ♪ They never found the gun.

He swore then that he would return.

For God's sake, Sheila, stop talking in headlines.

Oh I'm awfully sorry, Liz.

It must be a terrible shock.

Yes, well, I'm-- What you need is a chronicle.

I keep it for the dean.

Sheila, it happened 20, 30 years ago.

He's a different person.

People don't change.

Rubbish, I've changed in two months.

Mark's lovely.

He's lovely, Sheila.

You don't know him.

Liz, I knew a lot more than you did.

Do you know what he's been doing with himself for the past 20 years?

Yes, he's been a financier.

Financing what?

He's leaving.

He's phoned Bill's old firm to put the house on the market.

You're trying to drive him out, aren't you?

Oh don't be stupid, Liz.

Yes, you are, and you're loving it.

Well, I'll tell you something.

He's not going to leave.

Oh, he will.

He knows I'd have sold the story to the paper already.

Why didn't you become one of those foul tabloid journalists?

I suppose even that would have required a certain talent.

You're a cow, Sheila, a nasty, poisonous cow who lives on gossip and other people's misery.

Phew, I've been longing to say that for years.

Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz, don't-- don't be such a fool.

You don't know what you're getting into.

♪ How should I know?

♪ ♪ Why should I care?

♪ ♪ Please don't bother trying to find her ♪ ♪ She's not there ♪ ♪ Well, let me tell you about the way she looked ♪ ♪ The way she acted, the color of her hair ♪ ♪ Her voice was soft and cool ♪ ♪ Her eyes were clear and bright ♪ Mark.

♪ But she's not there ♪ Mark, Mark!

♪ ♪ ♪ LIZ: Mark?

I know you're there.

Please open the door.

Mark.

Let me in.

Oh.

My god, bloody cold out.

You going out?

Please don't drink any more.

It'll only make things worse.

Here.

Thank you.

Aren't you afraid?

Of what?

Me.

The demented would-be killer, tabloid imagination.

Is it?

I was demented.

Was, was.

The only thing I'm afraid of is you're not telling me anything about all this.

How could I?

Would you have had anything to do with me if you'd known?

That's why I took another name, built a different life abroad.

Property deals, all honest, though no one will believe that now, now they know I'm a criminal, will they?

I do.

I think you do, yes, thank you.

Why did you come back here?

I was born here, that's all.

I really imagined the past was dead and buried.

Well, you're not going to leave, are you, just like that?

Mark, what is it?

You don't want anything to do with me.

I do.

I do.

I'll stay.

No, no, I have to be by myself to think.

Is there someone else?

No, why did you say that?

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ High up, what have we got here then?

Oh, a bit long in the tooth.

HOOLIGAN: Mature.

So is my mother.

All right, darling, where are you off to then?

HOOLIGAN: Off down the pub, are you?

You're firsting yourself, actually.

SINGER: ♪ I need someone ♪ ♪ To have a little chat at midnight ♪ ♪ I don't want you to worry, baby ♪ ♪ We can make everything all right ♪ ♪ Listen to my plea, baby ♪ ♪ Bring it to me ♪ ♪ Because I need your love so bad ♪ ♪ Because I need your love so bad ♪ Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, time for us to liven things up just a little bit now, carry on with a bit of Motown.

Sorry, love.

This is taken now.

♪ SINGER: ♪ Coming out around the world ♪ ♪ Are you ready for a brand new beat?

♪ ♪ 'Cause summer's here and the time is right ♪ ♪ For dancing in the street ♪ Hi.

All right, what's the matter here?

So you from around here, are you?

♪ Way down in New Orleans ♪ ♪ Dancing in the street ♪ ♪ In New York City ♪ ♪ Dancing in the street ♪ Oi!

Oi, oi!

One thing you learn in prison.

Are you all right?

What the hell were you doing in a place like that?

I followed you.

Liz.

If it's prostitutes you want, you should have said.

Liz, Liz.

Who are you waiting for?

Girl I told you about, Katherine.

The woman you tried to-- Kill, yes.

Don't touch me.

If that's who you love, go back to her.

You can't love a ghost.

♪ ♪ I've seen her twice, as real as you are, just as she was then.

But I thought-- isn't she dead?

No, I know her address, her phone number.

Why don't you go and see her?

I've tried.

I can't.

It's as if it's happening all over again, as if I'm being taken over.

I didn't know you smoked.

I don't.

I did then.

We used to meet here just then.

It was here, she told me, quite casually, she was pregnant and it wasn't mine.

When she came back, I thought, it's not true.

It's a joke.

But all she wanted was a cigarette.

♪ Was that pub where you used to meet her?

I got drunk there the night I tried to kill her.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Mark, Mark, what is it?

Are you all right?

Are you all right?

♪ ♪ ♪ That perfume you gave me, she used it.

Was she like me?

A bit.

You're much nicer.

Oh, I was always nice.

And older.

Oh, of course, I'm older, you fool.

And so is she.

The woman you knew isn't there anymore.

I know that.

No, you see her as she was, but that beautiful skin is a mass of lines.

She's got bags under her eyes and a scraggly neck.

You don't want to believe that though, do you?

Of course, I do.

You want her still to be there.

You want that illusion.

That's why you won't go and see her, because if you did see her, poof.

Oh, oh.

I'm finished.

No one will ever want to speak to me in this town again, invite me to their dreary parties, offer me their sympathies, their condolences.

You got me out of a rut I've been in for 25 years.

I'm going to get you out of yours.

Phone her.

Go on, phone her.

Later.

No, you won't do it later.

Do it now.

Get me the number.

MARK: 473-- You know it by heart.

473?

MARK: --264-- 264.

Stupid, I told you, it's stupid.

I know it's stupid.

Now leave me alone!

I'm sorry.

Mark, young Katherine's in your head.

She's old now, but you have to see it.

You don't have to phone.

Just walk along the street, that's all.

Do it today, and I'll meet you at the Cathedral after work.

Otherwise, let's just forget it.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ CHILD: Sorry, mister.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Katherine, don't you know me?

Katherine, don't go.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Has something happened?

My daughter always catches that train.

Katherine.

♪ ♪ She's not there ♪ ♪ Well, let me tell you about the way she looked ♪ ♪ The way she acted, the color of her hair ♪ ♪ Her voice was soft and cool ♪ ♪ Her eyes were clear and bright ♪ ♪ But she's not there ♪ ♪ ♪ But it's too late to say you're sorry ♪ ♪ How would I know?

♪ ♪ Why should I care?

♪ ♪ Please don't bother trying to find her ♪ ♪ She's not there ♪ ♪ Well, let me tell you about the way she looked ♪ ♪ The way she acted, the color of her hair ♪ ♪ Her voice was soft and cool ♪ ♪ Her eyes were clear and bright ♪ ♪ But she's not there ♪