LONDON SPY Page #6

Episode #5

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(sad)

That I’m not okay.

(beat, then happy)

But I was sure if I could just

find out your name - if I could

just find out who you were -

everything would be okay.

Danny sure that everything is now okay. But ‘we’, the

audience, should feel unease, that last line resonates

off kilter, it doesn’t land as sentimental, it lands as

Not True.

Everything is not going to be okay.

Just as Danny is about to smile we --

We flip around to reveal that he’s been talking to Alex.

Clearly we’re much further along in their relationship.

They’re completely at ease with each other.

Danny is expecting his words to provoke a sentimental and

warm moment. But Alex’s reaction is troubled.

Alex considers carefully. Unsure if he should say

something. Finally, softly, it slips out -

ALEX:

What if everything isn’t okay?

Danny’s expression alters. As far as he’s aware

everything is perfect. With sophistication, he proceeds

carefully.

DANNY:

Then we tell each other. And we

deal with... whatever it is. We

deal with it. Together.

Alex looks at Danny and nods.

DANNY (CONT’D)

Is there something you want to

tell me?

With MI6 in the background.

27

LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

ALEX:

No.

EXT. LONDON. VAUXHALL. EMBANKMENT. NIGHT

The exact same location. The same set up from the last

frame of the previous scene. Except the bench where Danny

and Alex were seated is now desolate and empty.

It’s a bleak winter night. A light snow falls.

MI6 glows in the darkness.

We pan across - drifting towards a door - as we get

closer we hear the faint sound of Japanese music.

We drift towards this nondescript door, closer and

closer, passing through it into the strange underground

club --

Over the darkness we hear singing, by the sound, a

woman’s voice, tremendous depth of heartbreak and hurt.

FADE IN:

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. STAGE. NIGHT

Reveal a drag act -not comedic - singing a powerful

song. A fragile, sorrowful, Japanese man, dressed as a

geisha. Singing a Japanese lullaby.

The voice is brittle and female: probably lip sync.

A bright spotlight on the mournful singer. Make up

beginning to melt in the heat.

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. BOOTH. NIGHT

The club is old and frayed, a neglected relic, popular

forty years ago, now unsettling.

Danny’s seated in a shadowy booth upholstered in worn

fabric. Opposite him is Scottie in crushed velvet.

Attire contrasting with civil service persona.

Their body language is strained. Scottie’s watching the

act on stage. Danny’s watching Scottie.

DANNY:

I’m excited you two are going to

meet.

(no reply)

I should’ve organized it sooner.

Scottie belatedly nods, emptily.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

SCOTTIE:

A month or two, I could

understand, I’m not so old I can’t

remember what it’s like to be

smitten. But eight months of

listening to you declare how

wonderful he is while failing to

introduce us. Eight months feels

wilful.

DANNY:

I’m sorry.

Scottie’s eyes remain on the stage and the singer.

Danny’s troubled. Watching the depth of Scottie’s hurt.

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. STAGE. NIGHT

The fragile, sorrowful, geisha. Hurt and pain. A bright

spotlight. The make up continues to melt.

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. BAR. NIGHT

Danny at the busy bar. The lullaby continues on stage.

He turns to see Alex enter.

Alex stands, smartly dressed, formal, straight from

work, a little out of place.

He searches the crowd --

Danny doesn’t wave, or signal, he waits. Sure enough,

Alex and Danny’s eyes connect.

With that connection, Alex seems to relax. No longer

out of place. But then Danny checks on Scottie.

Scottie’s been watching him. Caught, he turns his

attention back to the stage --

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. STAGE. NIGHT

The Japanese drag act, at the most intense peak of the

song, more and more make-up melting with sweat.

INT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. BOOTH. NIGHT

Alex and Danny at the table where Scottie is sitting.

Scottie pays no attention to Alex, intent on the drag

act. She’s coming to the end of the song.

DANNY:

Scottie, this is Alex.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

Scottie raises a hand, asking for silence, as the

lullaby finishes.

Danny and Alex wait.

The lullaby comes to an end. Scottie rises to his feet -

emphatic applause, lasting far longer than anyone else.

With this done, the three sit.

Scottie turns to Alex. A dim spark of recognition. As

if they know each other but can’t remember from where.

SCOTTIE:

Alex, tell me...

Scottie lets the question hang, we have no idea what

he’s going to ask. He gestures at the stage.

SCOTTIE:

What did you make of her?

Alex doesn’t have an opinion either way.

SCOTTIE:

Too much? That doesn’t surprise

me. Danny has always preferred

his men to be as ‘straight’ as

possible. A tedious form of self-

loathing that I’ve tried,

unsuccessfully, to wean him off.

Alex is silent. Danny’s furious. Rather than articulate

his anger, he tries to change the subject.

DANNY:

Scottie, I was telling Alex -

SCOTTIE:

I hope you told him that this is

where we first met?

(To Alex)

You must be wondering how an old

queer like me ended up friends

with a handsome young man like

Danny?

Danny seems alarmed at this topic of conversation.

Scottie notices but advances with the subject.

SCOTTIE:

Nineteen years old, he walked

through that door, as lost as a

person can be. But this is an

excellent place to come if

you’re lost, someone will always

find you, although not always

with the best of intentions.

30

LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

SCOTTIE (CONT'D)

I saw him in his tatty jeans,

with his cropped hair and his

puppy dog eyes. I could guess

his sad story without hearing a

word. I presumed, if I bought

him a drink, that there wouldn’t

be a single second when he

wasn’t waiting for someone

better to come along. What can I

say? I’m a soft touch so I

bought him that drink and to my

surprise Danny talked to me the

whole night. He didn’t leave

even when others stalked him. A

small gesture, but it meant a

great deal. We’ve been friends

ever since. I’m the person he

comes to when times are tough.

And they often are. Poor Danny

has a terrible track record of

picking the wrong man. I’m sure

he told you about -

DANNY:

I did.

SCOTTIE:

And yet Danny stayed with him,

believing love meant sticking by

your man even when they split

your lip. And bruise your eye.

He’s an insufferable romantic.

One of the last. When I asked

him, once, what he wanted to do

with his life...

(To Danny)

Do you mind?

Danny does mind.

DANNY:

Go ahead.

SCOTTIE:

He said:
‘I always dreamed of

being a better dad than my dad’.

DANNY:

That wouldn’t be hard.

SCOTTIE:

So what are my duties tonight?

Does it fall upon me to say -

‘Don’t break his heart’.

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