LONDON SPY Page #10

Episode #5

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its weight - very heavy...

Danny covers his nose. The smell is overwhelming.

The trunk has two combination locks, one on each side.

Forcing himself, Danny presses on the top rusted steel

lock. It springs up with a loud click.

Danny presses on the second.

It clicks open, and as soon as it does, a hiss of noxious

air and the trunk is forced open, thick ooze flows from

the gap all over his hand.

A rush of body matter.

Shocked, Danny lets go.

He sits on the floor, staring.

In the crack that has opened up in the trunk we see the

shadowy shape of a man. Horrifically decomposed.

But in the darkness we see an eye.

Danny stares at this eye.

We hold this moment. Eye to eye.

And then Danny scrambles back, running to the stairs.

Stumbling as fast as he can towards the vertical shaft of

light, the outside world, the portal, the steps

47

LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT HALLWAY. NIGHT

Danny takes the first few steps at speed and loses his

footing, tumbling down and landing hard on his back.

His breathing is panicked.

On his back, terrified, he stares up at the attic. He

takes a moment. Then slowly stands.

He reaches for the telephone. A portable phone. He

picks it up. But then sees on the back of his hand --

A small clump of skin. Human hair visible.

He drops the phone. It smashes on the floor.

Danny runs to the bathroom.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Danny is sick in the toilet.

Finished, he scrubs his hands obsessively, using a nail

brush, until the skin begins to bleed.

He continues. The sink turning red.

Slowly he calms down. He stops washing his hands.

He takes out his mobile and dials 999.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM. NIGHT

Danny waits. He sits. Breathing deeply.

His eyes come to rest on the smashed home phone - the

bits spread across the floor.

Including the battery.

Danny picks up the battery and stares at it.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. HALLWAY. NIGHT

Danny at the bottom of the stairs, looking up to the

attic. Struggling with an idea. He holds a hand towel

which he twists into an improvised mask for his mouth.

Danny climbs the stairs.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. ATTIC. NIGHT

Danny tentatively enters the attic. The trunk has

largely emptied.

Danny has no option but to look in its direction.

It’s a struggle. The smell: he gags.

But he remains focused. His attention is on the laptop.

Danny walks towards it.

His actions are uncertain, acting on instinct, not

knowledge. He takes hold of the laptop, flipping it

over and opening the battery case.

Danny takes out the battery and peers at it. Something

wrong. A crack down the side. He breaks it open --

The battery case is hollow.

Inside is a small cylindrical object, taped in place.

Danny pulls it free, examining it. We can’t identify

what it might be. Wrapped tight in plastic tape.

We hear the sound of police sirens.

Danny hurries to the stairs. About to go down.

But then a thought occurs to him. He returns to the

laptop and hastily reassembles the hollow battery. And

puts it back in place. He wipes his prints off.

The police sirens are getting louder.

Danny hurries to the stairs.

EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. TERRACE. NIGHT

Danny opens the terrace doors, looking out.

Seven police cars have pulled up outside.

The officers are in a hurry.

Danny looks at the cylinder.

He hides it in his pocket.

The intercom system rings loudly.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. HALLWAY. NIGHT

Danny at the intercom.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

On screen we see the police officers.

Danny buzzes them in.

He looks down at his pocket. The cylinder is clearly

visible. He takes it out. And stuffs it in his sock.

There’s a loud knock on the door.

Danny is about to open it when he has second thoughts

about the cylinder in his sock --

Leaving the door shut, he runs to the kitchen.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. KITCHEN. NIGHT

Danny opens the fridge door, grabbing a bottle of

water. He takes the cylinder and puts it in his mouth.

The knocking on the door is urgent and angry.

POLICE (OFF SCREEN)

Open up!

Danny gulps the water, swallowing the cylinder. We

should see it forced down his neck.

POLICE (OFF SCREEN)

Open the door!

The knocking is now so loud it feels like they’re going

to smash the door down.

Danny is red faced. We think he’s going to choke. But

it goes down. With excruciating difficulty.

He hurries to the door.

INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT. HALLWAY. NIGHT

Danny opens the door.

A wall of police officers flow into the apartment.

THIS SCENE IS CUT

INT. POLICE STATION. INTERROGATION ROOM. NIGHT

Stark white. The room is strange, disorienting and

bizarre. Proportions odd. Abattoir-like.

Danny is seated. No lawyer present.

50

LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

The Detective opposite him is in her forties: Detective

Taylor. Her hair is cropped short, not as a style, but

having returned to work after chemotherapy.

She makes no reference to this, a silent fact, imbuing

her character with a sense of experience, wisdom, and

world weariness. Sagacity & lassitude.

There’s a second officer present but we’re not

interested in them. This is between Danny and Taylor.

Danny is emotional. Confused. When he sips a coffee his

hand trembles. All of which is noticed by Taylor.

DANNY:

His name is Alex.

(beat)

He’s my partner.

(beat)

It’s his apartment.

(beat)

He disappeared two weeks ago.

Danny is puzzled by her implacable silence.

DANNY:

(hopeful)

You think it might not be him?

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

Tell me what you know about

‘Alex’.

Danny thinks the question absurdly broad.

DANNY:

What I know?

(struggling)

He’s a genius...

(beat)

He went to university at the age

of fifteen...

(beat)

No family...

(beat)

His parents are dead...

(beat)

Works at an investment bank...

(upset)

What else do you want?

Detective Taylor reaches into a folder taking out a

photograph of Alex and placing it in front of Danny.

He picks it up.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

Do you know this man?

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

Danny is thrown.

DANNY:

This is Alex.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

Your partner?

DANNY:

Yes.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

What kind of relationship did you

have with him?

Suddenly Danny is wary of her. Of this room.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

Did it involve sadism? Drugs?

Not moralistic. She’s matter of fact.

DANNY:

No.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

You see - it’s hard for me to

believe you were in a serious

relationship, when you don’t

even know his name.

Danny in disbelief. Taylor watches his reaction closely.

Danny’s instinct is to protest but he loses his nerve.

Taylor takes the photograph, holding it up.

DETECTIVE TAYLOR

This man is called Alistair.

(beat)

His parents are alive.

(beat)

He did not work for a bank.

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