Line of Duty Page #4

HASTINGS:

Tony Gates returns the best crime

figures on the Job. What’s his

secret, Steve?

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 19.

We’re on Arnott, absorbing his discomfort -- deep unsettling

pc unease -- as Gates starts a short speech.

GATES:

Being a police officer isn’t a job.

It’s more than a duty. It’s a

privilege.

CUT TO:

1/42 INT. TOWN HALL. LATER THAT NIGHT. NIGHT 3. 1/42

From the periphery, alone and uneasy, Arnott observes a

champagne reception. He watches Gates in a self-

congratulatory huddle with the Chief Constable and characters

we’ll meet properly later -- Chief Superintendant Hilton,

plus Cottan, Morton and Kapoor. They’re laughing at each

other’s quips.

Arnott turns away, burdened already.

We join Gates et al.

CHIEF CONSTABLE:

He’ll be after your job next,

Derek.

HILTON:

Or yours, sir!

Laughter.

Gates’s mobile phone vibrates. He glances at the caller ID in

his pocket -

-- Jackie Laverty -

-- but doesn’t answer it.

GATES:

I’ve reached my level, sir. Any

higher and I’ll have to actually

read all those Home Office emails.

Laughter.

CUT TO:

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 19A.

1/43

INT. TOWN HALL. CORRIDOR/WALKWAY. MOMENTS LATER. 1/43

NIGHT 3.

Gates slips away from the crowd. His expression changes from

a fixed grin to slight worry as he keys his phone.

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 20.

GATES:

(Into phone.)

Jackie?

(Listens, becomes

concerned.)

Calm down.

(Listens.)

I said calm down -

Gates turns perturbed.

CUT TO:

1/44

EXT. EDGE PARK. JACKIE LAVERTY’S HOUSE. LATER THAT 1/44

NIGHT. NIGHT 3.

Security gates open to let in Gates’s car. It pulls up on a

big empty drive. Gates gets out.

Jackie opens the front door of a very large new-build house.

She’s a mess -- tearful, overwrought.

JACKIE:

Tony, thank God.

Shocked by her appearance, he hurries in.

CUT TO:

1/45

INT. JACKIE LAVERTY’S HOUSE. MOMENTS LATER. NIGHT 3. 1/45

Trembling, Jackie tops up a glass of Scotch.

JACKIE:

I’ve ruined your night ...

Gates marches up to her, puts the Scotch aside and takes her

by the shoulders.

GATES:

Keep calm and clear-headed and then

maybe I can help you -

JACKIE:

As soon as we agreed the deal,

someone cracked open a bottle of

champagne.

GATES:

How much did you have?

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 21.

JACKIE:

We went on to a wine bar -

GATES:

Christ, Jackie.

JACKIE:

I’ve been a bloody idiot.

GATES:

(Beats.)

What happened?

JACKIE:

I hit something.

GATES:

What?

JACKIE:

The road was dark -- I thought it

was a sign or a bollard or

something -

GATES:

What did you hit?

JACKIE:

A dog.

GATES:

You’ll be fine.

JACKIE:

People round here, they report

everything. What if someone saw my

car? I’m known.

GATES:

You’re overreacting.

JACKIE:

I was drinking all night -- the bar

staff, they saw what I was putting

away -

GATES:

Where’s the car?

JACKIE:

I’ve already got a conviction for

drink driving. One more and I’ll go

to prison.

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 22.

GATES:

Where’s the car?

JACKIE:

I called you. When you didn’t pick

up --

GATES:

Jackie!

JACKIE:

I reported it stolen.

He looks ashen.

GATES:

It’s an 80-grand motor with an

immobiliser. They’d need the keys.

Where are they?

She shows him the keys. His face drops.

JACKIE:

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I panicked.

She sobs. Backed into a corner, he runs through the options.

Tense beats. Her despair works on him. He snatches the keys

off her and moves into the hallway. He assesses the layout of

the hall, the distance to the door etc.

JACKIE:

What are you ... ?

With the keys, he makes scratches on a hallway table near the

door and then, from the outside, works loose the lead on a

little round window in the door.

GATES:

Watch out.

From outside, with his elbow, Gates busts in a section of the

door window.

JACKIE:

Thank you, Tony, thank you.

He pockets the keys. But he remains visibly alarmed by the

hugely dangerous course ahead.

CUT TO:

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 23.

1/46

EXT./INT. SUBURBS. GATES’S HOUSE. LATER THAT NIGHT. 1/46

NIGHT 3.

Gates lets himself in the front door of a nice family house

on a well-maintained new-built estate. Shoes left by the

front door suggest two girls under ten years old live here.

A big soppy dog stares up at him, half asleep in its basket.

GATES:

Some guard dog you are.

He creeps up the stairs. The landing is lit by a night light,

and a bedroom door is open, the little girls asleep in bunk

beds.

CUT TO:

INT. GATES’S HOUSE. MASTER BEDROOM. MOMENTS LATER.

NIGHT 3.

Undressed, Gates slips into bed. A woman stirs -- Jools, his

wife (late 30s).

GATES:

Sorry, love, didn’t mean to wake

you.

JOOLS:

How’d it go?

GATES:

Brilliant.

JOOLS:

Lovely.

She cuddles up to him and goes right back to sleep. He stares

at the ceiling.

CUT TO:

1/48

EXT. POLICE STATION. NEXT DAY. DAY 4. 1/48

DETECTIVE CONSTABLE KATE Fleming (mid-late 20s) enters an

urban police station. Her every move is monitored by CCTV.

Abundant signs scream Health & Safety, do your paperwork etc.

CUT TO:

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 24.

1/49

INT. POLICE STATION. INTERVIEW ROOM 2. LATER THAT 1/49

MORNING. DAY 4.

Fleming enters, finding a uniformed WPC, KAREN LARKIN, with

ALF BUTTERFIELD, 70s.

FLEMING:

Mr. Butterfield, I’m Detective

Constable Kate Fleming, Central

CID.

ALF:

Pleased to meet you.

FLEMING:

(Sitting.)

First let me say how bad I feel for

what’s happened to you. It must

have been a very frightening

experience. How are you feeling?

ALF:

(Shrugs.)

I just want summat done.

LARKIN:

It’d really help us envision your

experience, sir, if we could hear

it at first hand.

ALF:

What? I came in today because I

thought you’d made some progress.

FLEMING:

I’m sorry, Mr. Butterfield, unless

we have hard physical evidence that

leads us to an offender, it’s very

difficult -

ALF:

I’ve been burgled three times this

year already. Every time, it’s

someone new, who’s been given the

file, who wants to “empathise” all

over again.

Distraught, Alf gets up to go. He uses a stick. Larkin

ignores his slow, painful movements -- Fleming doesn’t.

FLEMING:

Mr. Butterfield, wait. This is my

phone number.

(Passes card.)

(MORE)

"Line of Duty" Episode 1 Shooting Script 18.08.11 25.

FLEMING (cont'd)

You can call me day or night. Let’s

see what we can do to get them this

time.

Fleming’s got through to him. He takes the card. He lingers

awkwardly.

ALF:

Thank you.

CUT TO:

1/50

INT. POLICE STATION. HILTON’S OFFICE. MOMENTS LATER. 1/50

DAY 4.

CHIEF SUPERINTENDANT DEREK Hilton (spineless, opportunist), a

senior uniformed officer, lets Fleming in, shutting the door

behind them.

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