LONDON SPY Page #7

Episode #5

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ALEX:

I could never hurt Danny.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

SCOTTIE:

May I ask, as someone who has

witnessed the breaking of many a

heart, how you can be so sure?

ALEX:

Because he’s the only friend I

have.

An exceptionally open remark. The force of it takes

Danny by surprise as it does Scottie, who is struck

full of wonder at this statement.

The wind goes out of Scottie’s rhetorical sails.

Scottie raises his glass. His tone changes. His toast

is affectionate. Melancholy. And genuine.

SCOTTIE:

I’m pleased for you. I’m pleased

for both of you.

EXT. BALLROOM GAY CLUB. NIGHT

Danny and Alex exit into a bitter winter night.

DANNY:

Had you two met before?

ALEX:

No.

Danny’s about to say something but Alex moves off.

Danny, troubled, lights up a cigarette.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Danny smoking, still troubled. Looks out of window --

EXT. DANNY’S APARTMENT BUILDING. COURTYARD. NIGHT

We see all the flats as before. Except one change:

The old man’s flat is empty. All furniture gone. On the

floor is a polystyrene cup of steaming coffee, beside a

glass ash-tray, smoke rising from a cigarette.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BATHROOM. NIGHT

Danny stares for a moment, thinking nothing of it.

At the sink he uses mouthwash. Looks at his reflection -

clearly weighing something up.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

Danny enters. The room has been transformed. Organized.

Cleaner, less student-like.

Alex is already in bed, his body language communicates

that he wants to sleep.

Danny shuts the door. He sits on the bed. Alex’s back

is turned to him. Danny puts a hand on him.

DANNY:

Scottie asked if you knew how I

became his friend.

Alex turns and sits up. He judges Danny’s expression.

ALEX:

Danny, you don’t need to tell me

anything --

DANNY:

I need to tell you this.

ALEX:

I love you.

The words strike Danny. His reaction suggests it’s the

first time Alex has said them.

ALEX:

And I don’t need to know.

DANNY:

I love you. And I need you to

know.

Danny takes a moment. Then speaks calmly, softly, his

control faltering only slightly.

DANNY:

I was nineteen, like he said. A

bad time. I’d left home. I was

doing a lot of drugs. One night

I was wired. Not happy, not high

-numb. I posted an ad online

saying anyone could come round.

I mean - anyone. I’d be waiting.

My only condition was that they

didn’t speak.

(beat)

And people showed up... I don’t

remember much about them...

there were two older guys. They

arrived together. I didn’t turn

them away. I didn’t ask anything

of them. I just reminded them of

my rule. Not to speak.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

DANNY (CONT'D)

And they must have thought their

luck was in... Because they

didn’t make a sound.

(beat)

The next day I couldn’t stop

crying. I went to see Scottie.

I’d only met him a few times.

But he was the only person I

could trust. He took me straight

to the hospital. They put me on

a course of PEP -

Danny checks to see if Alex knows what PEP is.

DANNY:

Emergency medication. In case you

might have been exposed to HIV. I

was on the drugs for twenty eight

days. There were... side effects.

Terrible ones, we sense, but no detail.

DANNY:

I took so much time off work they

fired me. Because I couldn’t

explain why... Scottie looked

after me. Sixteen weeks later I

had an HIV test. I was clear.

(beat)

And we were friends.

(beat)

I’ve never done anything like that

again. I swear. I was out of my

mind. I’m always safe. Always. I

don’t know what happened to me

that night. I look back and I

don’t recognise that person.

(new thought)

And I’ve never cheated on you.

Never. I don’t want to have any

secrets from you. I never want to

have any secrets ever again.

A brief moment of relief for Danny, a burden being

lifted. An echo of Alex’s relief.

But then Danny becomes apprehensive he’s said too much.

Alex is inscrutable. Indecipherable silence.

And then, slowly, he raises his hand - outstretched, in a

gesture that seems new and exploratory.

Danny, mirroring the new movement, raises his own hand,

placing it against Alex’s, palms touching.

As if Alex has said something profound, Danny, nods.

Their fingers inter-lock.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

ALEX:

That’s all we need to know.

That line lands awkwardly, like we sense it’s just an

idea, an idea that can’t hold. And they sense it too.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. KITCHEN. MORNING

Danny bustling. Alex is seated. Danny serves breakfast.

DANNY:

Let’s go away for the weekend.

Alex considers. Danny’s nervous. It’s a test.

ALEX:

Sure.

Danny’s relieved. About to say more when -Alex

turns the radio on, turning it up loud.

ALEX:

I have to buy a battery for my

laptop.

The observation seems strangely irrelevant.

ALEX:

I can’t go without replacing it.

DANNY:

If you need to work that’s fine.

ALEX:

As long as you understand.

Oddly emphatic. Oddly mundane. Oddly unnecessary.

DANNY:

I understand.

INT. WAREHOUSE. DAY

Danny’s working. But his eye is on the clock. As soon

as it hits six he hurries out.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. EVENING

Danny packs his bag. For long walks. We see that he’s

bought proper hiking shoes.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. EVENING

Bag by his side, Danny rings the doorbell. The security

camera a bulbous black spot. No reply. He waits.

Danny rings the bell again. Checks his watch. He takes

out his phone. Dials Alex. Goes straight to voicemail.

Mild anxiety creeps over Danny. He dials again --

EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT

Danny seated on the steps. Grim-faced. The house is

dark. He looks at his phone. No calls.

Leaving his bag on the steps he walks into the street

and looks up at the flat window.

The terrace. The bedroom. No lights. No sign of life.

EXT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT

Danny still seated. Upset. Cold. He dials again. But a

sense of futility prevails. No reply.

Suddenly it beeps - it’s painful how excited Danny is.

But the phone has a low battery. There are no messages.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. LIVING ROOM. NIGHT

Danny enters. Sara and Pavel and a group of friends are

wasted, drunk, high, seated in a circle, chatting.

DANNY:

Has anyone called for me?

But his voice is lost among the noise. No one hears

him. There’s laughter. Danny raises his voice:

DANNY:

Has anyone called!

Shocked silence.

INT. DANNY’S APARTMENT. BEDROOM. DAWN

Danny seated on the bed. His phone beside him. He

hasn’t undressed. He hasn’t slept.

EXT. CHELSEA. NIGHT

Heavy rain, Danny walking towards Alex’s apartment.

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LONDON SPY -EP 1 -SHOOTING SCRIPT

EXT/INT. ALEX’S APARTMENT BUILDING / HALLWAY. NIGHT

Dripping wet, Danny posts a letter written to ‘Alex’.

As he’s posting he sees a silhouette in the hallway.

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