Tamara Drewe Page #10

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 49A.

EXT. DAY. STONEFIELD - THE GROUNDS (LIMBURY). 79 *

Penny Upminister has managed to get Boss on a bit of rope.

She is handing him over to Beth at the top of the field.

PENNY:

Those girls could have aborted!

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 50.

BETH:

Calm down, Penny. I’ll sort him out.

Nicholas is approaching.

PENNY:

It beats me why you people want to

live in the country. You’ve got no

sense of responsibility.

BETH:

It’s not our dog!

NICHOLAS:

Hello, Penny. How’s tricks?

Penny is suddenly all coy.

PENNY:

Oh - Nicholas...

NICHOLAS:

You’re looking great. Terrific coat.

PENNY:

What, this old thing?

NICHOLAS:

You look like royalty.

PENNY:

(laughs, delighted)

Well, I try... Can’t wait for your

next book. Inchcombe’s such a sauce-

pot. Giles is always says ‘What are

you reading Penny? You’ve got steam

coming out of your ears...’

She laughs like a drain. Nicholas joins in. Beth is striding

away with the dog, infuriated.

80 INT. DAY. WINNARDS FARM - TAMARA’S BEDROOM 80

Ben has put a ring on Tamara’s finger.

TAMARA:

So what’s the ring saying, Ben?

BEN:

It’s saying hello I’m a ring. Will

you marry me?

Tamara looks at him, searchingly.

BEN (CONT'D)

What’s up?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 50A.

TAMARA:

I didn’t know.

BEN:

Didn’t know what?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 51.

TAMARA:

That you were in love with me.

BEN:

The ring says I’m platinum with a

long guarantee. So give me a reply.

Tamara is grinning from ear to ear.

TAMARA:

You’re the best fun in the world.

I’d love to marry you.

She throws her arms around his neck.

TAMARA (CONT'D)

Can I say it then?

BEN:

Say what?

TAMARA:

I love you.

Tamara holds him, profoundly affected. Something akin to fearflickers across Ben's eyes. The phone rings.

BEN:

(answering it)

What? She’s being proposed to.

81 EXT. DAY. TEN MINUTES LATER. STONEFIELD - THE GROUNDS. 81

Ben’s Porsche skids to a halt, music blaring. Diggory is

looking on in irate astonishment. The hat is on.

*

*

BETH:

Shhh! There are writers here, tryingto write.

Beth is in the hen enclosure, a hen in her arms. *

BETH *

This is a Buff Orpington. She’s

looking a bit peaky today. Not agreat layer but she’s very

decorative.

*

*

*

*

Beth puts down the hen. *

BETH *

We’re fully organic - but I like tothink that our champion product isthe written word.

*

*

*

Nicholas approaches, his hand held out, heartily. *

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 52.

NICHOLAS:

The famous Ben - Swipe, eh?

Ben just about manages to shake it.

BEN:

Swipe’s over. Thought the whole

world knew that.

NICHOLAS:

It wasn’t on Newsnight, no.

BETH:

Ben is engaged to Tamara. Isn’t

that lovely? He’d just popped the

question when I rang.

NICHOLAS:

She said yes?

Nicholas can’t hide his disbelief. Ben is insulted.

BETH:

We’re delighted for you both.

Boss leaps up, straining against a chain.

BEN:

Why’s he on a chain?

BETH:

He was out of control.

BEN:

How’d you like to be chained up?

BETH:

He was chasing livestock. He

could’ve got shot.

BEN:

They shoot him; I’ll f***ing shoot

them. *

He takes Boss. Beth and Nicholas are left alone.

NICHOLAS:

I think the word is gobshite.

BETH:

I hope he makes her happy. It’s hard

for girls when their dads walk out.

Gives them bad taste in men.

NICHOLAS:

What’s that supposed to mean?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 53.

BETH:

Just saying her father left when shewas a girl and NICHOLAS

That is ten pence psychology! Youdon’t know what you’re talkingabout, do you? *

He walks away. Beth is completely taken aback.

82 INT. DAY. STONEFIELD - NICHOLAS’ SHED/ EXT. WINNARDS 82

Nicholas, wearing a woolly hat and scarf, is writing.

NICHOLAS (V.O.)

Patel’s eyes were open, eloquent indeath...

He looks up. In the distance, he can just see Tamarato Andy in the garden at Winnards Farm.

talking

Nicholas opens his desk. He finds a pair of old binoculars.

He focuses them on Tamara. She holds out her hand with the

ring on it. Andy has his arms wrapped around himself, hisshoulders hunched. He nods, affecting congratulations.

Nicholas tries to close in on Tamara. But she turns and goesindoors. Also the yellow Porsche arrives. Nicholas puts thebinoculars down.

NICHOLAS (V.O.) (CONT'D)

He knelt down - forensics be damned -

and closed her eyes, forever.

83 INT. DAY. 10 MINUTES LATER. WINNARDS FARM - KITCHEN. 83

Tamara is turning the ring around her finger.

BEN:

‘Mai Buff Orpingtons. Oh, thewritten word. That’s what the

country does to you; turns you intoone. What’s up?

TAMARA:

It’s a shame it doesn’t fit. Perhapsyou should have taken one of minewith you when you went to buy it.

BEN:

Yeah but I didn’t know you then.

TAMARA:

So... when did you buy it?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 54.

Ben realises his mistake. Tamara laughs, shocked.

TAMARA (CONT'D)

Was this for someone else?

Ben shrugs, not wanting to admit. The truth dawns.

TAMARA (CONT'D)

You gave it to Fran didn’t you?

BEN:

So? It’s yours now. She never wore

it. She didn’t want it.

TAMARA:

You asked her to marry you...?

BEN:

It was a gesture, OK, when she

started seeing Steve. Backfired,

anyway. Look, I love you now.

Tamara doesn’t believe him. She is devastated.

BEN (CONT'D)

It’s not the ring that matters. I

mean f*** the ring. It’s just a

consumerist piece of zinc. What

matters is I want to marry you.

TAMARA:

Do you?

BEN:

Yeah. With my whole heart. And all

the other stuff. Like my brain and my

entrails and my whatever, pancreas.

It all wants to marry you.

He hugs her, starts kissing her but Tamara hardly responds.

84 INT. NIGHT. STONEFIELD - NICHOLAS’ SHED./ EXT. WINNARDS 84

Nicholas is staring out at the darkness. Beth is organising

things around him.

BETH:

She wondered if you had a delivery

date in mind. I told her Easterish.

Mind that cocoa, it’s hot.

Across at Winnards, Tamara’s bedroom light comes on. For a

moment, she gazes out. Nicholas gazes back.

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 55.

BETH (CONT'D)

There’s a few invites; I’ll pop them

there. Just tick the ones you want

to go to.

Ben wraps his arms lovingly around Tamara. She draws the

curtains as he pulls her away.

BETH (CONT'D)

And Tim wants to know if you’ll do

your Christmas signing in Hadditon. I

know he’s always ungrateful but I

think it’s so important to keep these

little bookshops open, don’t you?

NICHOLAS:

Uh huh.

Beth is on her way out. She turns and kisses him.

BETH:

Come in soon, my love.

Nicholas stares out into the darkness. He isn’t working. He

isn’t doing anything.

84A EXT. NIGHT. NICHOLAS’ SHED. 84A

From the field, Nicholas is an ageing, isolated figure in a

tiny pool of light.

85 WINTER. POSY DRAWING. 85

86 EXT. DAY. EWEDOWN - THE BUS SHELTER. 86

Mud, frost and gloom add to the sense of neglect. Jody is

smoking. Casey is eating Pringles. They share a magazine.

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