Happy Valley Page #9

Season #1 Episode #3

---

HELEN:

Pills. To start with. A whole

cocktail of them, three times a

day. And then...

(she doesn’t want to

contemplate the chemo any

sooner than she has to)

one step at a time.

CLARE:

(a smile)

You’ll be rattling.

HELEN looks at CLARE affectionately and smiles.

HELEN:

You make me smile.

CLARE:

If there’s ever anything I can do,

you know I’d

HELEN:

I know.

CLARE:

You helped me find a way forward.

When I didn’t think there was one.

If there’s the smallest, tiniest

thing I can do for you, well

HELEN:

I will, Clare. I’ll ask.

(an understanding between

them. A pause, we see

HELEN struggling with

something, then - )

(MORE)

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 43.

HELEN (CONT'D)

There was something.

(CLARE’s intrigued)

Your sister - Catherine - she’s a

police officer. Isn’t she?

CLARE:

Yeah. Why?

HELEN’s nervous about where this could lead. She’s scared

that once it’s out of the bag there’s no going back.

HELEN:

I - there’s something I’d like to

be able to ask. A police officer.

About.

CLARE’s bemused, intrigued, discreet

CLARE:

Okay.

HELEN:

Is she...?

CLARE:

What?

HELEN:

A discreet sort of person.

CLARE considers.

CLARE:

Yeah, she’s - I’d have said so.

HELEN:

Is she a good person?

CLARE has to think about that slightly less.

CLARE:

Yes.

HELEN:

Do you think...? She might have a

few minutes. If I...?

(bravely blurting it out)

Could I come to your house?

CLARE’s even more intrigued. But determined to help.

CLARE:

Sure.

HELEN:

This evening.

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 44.

CLARE:

Yeah.

HELEN:

She wouldn’t mind?

CLARE:

Just to warn you though, she’s a

bit upset. At the minute. ‘Cos of

that girl who got killed last

night. Up Scammonden Road.

Catherine’s her sergeant, so she’s

feeling like it’s all her fault -

which it isn’t, but

HELEN:

Oh, good grief, she won’t want to

be bothered with [me]

CLARE:

No. Honestly. Helen. Catherine’d do

anything for anybody. I would not

be a popular person in our house if

I’d told somebody she was too busy

to listen to ‘em.

HELEN smiles. That last piece of information gives her some

faith that CATHERINE might well be a good person to talk to.

CLARE smiles, intrigued, but too polite to ask.

CUT TO:

48 INT. NORLAND ROAD POLICE STATION, LOCKER ROOM. DAY 8. 48

14.30

This is probably a mini-montage (montage in a good way):

CATHERINE approaches KIRSTEN’s locker with a key, and a small

empty cardboard box.

She pauses before she opens it. She steels herself and

unlocks it, pulls the door open. Inside are various bits of

spare uniform, and spare kit; whatever she wasn’t wearing

when she was killed. CATHERINE rifles through them and makes

an inventory on a piece of paper.

Stuck inside the door are a couple of photos of OLLIE, and a

couple of photos of their dog and their cat. OLLIE with the

dog. OLLIE with the cat. OLLIE with CAROLYN and IAN. KIRSTEN

with OLLIE up a mountain in the sun. CATHERINE pulls them

off, one by one - rolls the blutac off the back to they don’t

all stick together - and puts them carefully into the box.

When the inside door’s denuded, CATHERINE reaches up into the

top of the locker. KIRSTEN’s spare P.C.’s hat.

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 44A.

CATHERINE removes various personal belongings from the top of

the locker, including KIRSTEN’s sandwich box.

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 45.

An opened, half eaten bag of sweets. A dried-up cardboard

coffee cup from Costa. A speckly banana. A folded piece of

note paper in elderly handwriting, which she opens and

glances over - “Dear Constable McAskill, Thank you for your

very kind help - ” CATHERINE glances over the rest of the

letter, folds it up with the same love and care it was

probably folded with originally when it was written, and puts

it into the box.

And then CATHERINE finds something else. A copy of the

Halifax Evening Courier, opened and folded on page 3, and a

big colour photo of KIRSTEN, SHAFIQ and CATHERINE, with about

thirty tiny infant school children (approx age 7) in front of

a police Landrover in the school playground, everyone smiling

broadly, and having a really good, happy day. The children

are doing a project - which one of them holds a display board

for - “People Who Help Us” and it’s about police, fire,

ambulance. And that’s what threatens to bring tears to

CATHERINE’s eyes, because that’s all KIRSTEN wanted to do:

help people.

Just then - entirely out of the blue - she sees BECKY hanging

again, this time from the back of the locker room door.

Instantly she’s gone again, but it triggers another panic

attack. CATHERINE’s terrified; the combination of fearing

she’s going a bit weird in the head and the terror of being

forced to relive the moment almost decimate her. She gets

angry and hisses “Stop it!” to herself.

Just then her mobile bleats with a text message. She checks

the screen. It’s from Richard: “Can I meet you after work?”

It annoys her, upsets her, and hears herself mumble

CATHERINE:

No, you can piss off.

-and sticks her phone back in her pocket, still recovering

from the weird moment.

CUT TO:

49 EXT. CANAL BANK, SOWERBY BRIDGE. DAY 8. 14.45 49

We find ASHLEY COWGILL sticking a different SIM card into a

phone. He turns it on and dials a number he has written on a

scrap of paper. The phone rings.

CUT TO:

50 INT. NEVISON’S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM. DAY 8. 14.46 50

NEVISON’s got day time TV on. Not that he’s able to pay

attention. His mobile rings. He checks out the screen:

Unknown. He picks it up gingerly.

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 46.

NEVISON:

Hello?

Cutting as and when with:

CUT TO:

51 EXT. CANAL BANK, SOWERBY BRIDGE. DAY 8. 14.47 51

ASHLEY walks along the canal bank as he talks, tries to go

into the cocky persona he uses to talk to NEVISON.

ASHLEY:

Nev!

(he screws the scrap of

paper up and flicks it

into the canal)

How are we today?

NEVISON:

I want my daughter.

ASHLEY:

I am doing my best with these

people, Nev. Believe you me.

They’re asking for another fifty

grand.

NEVISON:

I want proof. That she’s alive.

ASHLEY:

You better not have been talking to

the five-oh, Nev.

(NEVISON doesn’t know what

five-oh means)

The rozzers.

NEVISON:

I haven’t.

ASHLEY weighs things up. He gets a phone out of his pocket.

ASHLEY:

Okay. Well as luck would have it,

we do have a little photo of Annie

that somebody’s took.

(he presses a few buttons,

and continues to talk)

I’m just sending it just now. I’ll

be in touch as regards the details

tomorrow. And. On the plus side...

this could be the last drop.

NEVISON:

What d’you mean?

HAPPY VALLEY. EPISODE THREE. BY SALLY WAINWRIGHT 47.

ASHLEY:

I think they might have had enough

of her, I think they might be

thinking it’s time to let her go.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes