Tamara Drewe Page #2

BETH:

We could go into Hadditon, get a

meal.

NICHOLAS:

Yes but. What about the guests?

BETH:

Mary’s got Casey to help.

NICHOLAS:

But I’m supposed to be thinking,

you know about the

BETH:

You can run it by me. I’m good at

forensics.

Nicholas has run out of excuses.

9 EXT. DAY. STONEFIELD - THE GROUNDS. 9

Beth approaches Andy with her scones and biscuits. Nearby,

Glen is sitting back in a sun-lounger. Diggory sleeps on.

BETH:

Can I tempt you, Andy?

Andy takes a scone with a wide smile.

BETH (CONT'D)

That’s Glen, our new academic. Turns

out he’s working on Thomas Hardy.

Said he might have some farming

questions.

ANDY:

Needs an expert yokel, does he?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 6A.

BETH:

Would you mind? And the writers are

eating al fresco tonight; could you

check there’s no bird sh*t on the

seats? Sorry.

Beth looks distant, troubled.

ANDY:

You OK?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 7.

BETH:

Yes. Nicholas and I are going out

to dinner.

As she walks away, Andy glances at the shed, a look of

puzzled dislike on his face.

9A INT. DAY. STONEFIELD. 9A

Glen settles back in his chair.

GLEN:

It’s paradise...

10 INT. DAY. STONEFIELD - NICHOLAS’ SHED. 10

Nicholas, dreading his predicament, is staring out at a cow’s

arse. The cow starts to piss. He shuts his eyes in

desperation.

10A I/E. DAY. TAMARA’S CAR. 10A

Shooting from inside the car, we pass the sign “Ewedown”.

11 EXT. LATE AFTERNOON. EWEDOWN - HALFWAY DOWN THE STREET. 11

The same car drives through the village. Jody and Casey

appear from behind a wall and chuck eggs at it. They both

land on the windscreen.

JODY:

F***ing bingo!

Jody and Casey run away, laughing.

11A EXT. DAY. EWEDOWN. OUTSIDE THE PUB. 11A

The driver brakes, swerves and comes to a halt. Tamara Drewe

gets out. She’s twenty eight, startlingly beautiful. She

looks around shocked, for the culprit.

The immaculate, picturesque street is deserted. Tamara takes

it in, with an expression of such distaste that it might as

well be a landfill site.

TAMARA:

What a dump.

As she drives away, we see Nadia sitting outside the pub in

her urban heels, anxiously smoking a cigarette.

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 7A.

12 EXT. LATE AFTERNOON. WINNARDS FARM. 12

Tamara drives up to an old farmhouse. She gets out of the car

and stands at the gate. Air of neglect; dark windows. Tamara

looks at the place as if it stirs memories. She doesn’t move.

12A DELETED 12A

14 EXT. LATE AFTERNOON. WINNARDS FARM. 14

At the back of the house Tamara walks through an overgrown,

neglected garden. She peers through the back door into the

kitchen. A thin layer of dust on the surfaces; a sense of

recent abandonment.

Suddenly a pigeon flies out from the porch eaves - just over

her head. Tamara startles. It completely spooks her. She

backs away. She doesn’t know what to do.

13 EXT. LATE AFTERNOON. EWEDOWN - BUS SHELTER. 13

Jody and Casey are slouched on the bench at the bus stop.

Three teenage boys are doing wheelies over the T-junction.

One of them almost lands in the shop. An old lady comes out,

shoo-ing them away.

JODY:

We could walk up the garage.

CASEY:

I’m supposed to be helping my mum

up at Stonefield.

JODY:

They keep you busy.

CASEY:

Yeah.

JODY:

You never stop, you!

Neither of them moves. The boys are yelling. Two try to put

the third head first into the bin outside the shop. Jody and

Casey are not impressed.

15 DELETED. 15

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 8.

16 EXT. EVENING. STONEFIELD - THE GROUNDS (PATIO). 16 *

The writers are sitting round a table lit with tea-lights injars. Casey is helping her mum, Mary, an efficient localwoman in her late thirties. She wobbles the heavy servingdishes dangerously.

GLEN:

It was called ‘From Hearth to Heath

- Doomsday and Revelation inVictorian verse.’

TESS:

What was it about?

*

*

GLEN:

Oh you know. Pale poets onlaudanum, dark towers and sunless

seas - a little sturm and drang in

a teacup.

*

*

*

*

*

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 9.

At an upstairs window we can see Beth hold a dress up to

herself and then abandon the idea.

TESS:

Did it sell?

GLEN:

Well my kind of books aren’t about

sales. I mean that’s not why I

write. So... no.

TESS:

What are you working on next?

Upstairs, through a window, we see Beth is putting on a

blouse.

17 INT. EVENING. STONEFIELD. BETH’S BEDROOM. 17

Beth is looking at herself in a cheval mirror. She’s full of

hope that Nicholas will take her out - and dread that he’ll

find some excuse.

18 EXT. EVENING. STONEFIELD. THE GROUNDS (PATIO). 18

GLEN:

Thomas Hardy.

DIGGORY:

Is there anything left to say about

that maudlin bore?

GLEN:

Excuse me but there is nothing dull

about Hardy. That is a

misconception.

TESS:

At least you’ve been published. I’m

seething with envy; I’d love to be

published.

EUSTACIA:

I publish myself on the internet.

TESS:

Oh, do you earn money doing that?

EUSTACIA:

No.

GLEN:

So what do you write?

EUSTACIA:

Lesbian crime.

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 9A.

Casey drops a potato in Glen’s wine.

EUSTACIA (CONT'D)

I’m here picking up tips from the

master.

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 10.

19 INT. EVENING. STONEFIELD - DOWNSTAIRS. 19

The door to the garden is open, letting in the eveing air.

Nicholas is waiting for Beth by the mirror. He is full of

unease - but can’t help finding himself handsome. His phone

bleeps; a text. He reads it anxiously.

NICHOLAS:

(calling)

Beth, why don’t I just pop out on

my own?

Beth, determined to force things, comes downstairs.

BETH:

But I’m ready. Come on.

She’s on her way to join him.

NICHOLAS:

Is that - I mean - are you wearing

that?

BETH:

Oh.

NICHOLAS:

Just looks a bit... hot.

Now Beth knows she is right. She takes her jacket off,

gutted.

NICHOLAS (CONT'D)

You know, Haddition’s always packed

with pissed Londonites on a Friday. I

doubt we’ll get a table anyway. Let’s

do it properly next week; make an

occasion. I’m always taking you for

granted. I’m vile I know; you should

kick me really, but

He’s about to leave. Beth speaks calmly.

BETH:

Who is she?

The question hangs in the air. Nicholas’ smile is frozen.

NICHOLAS:

What?

For a moment, he tries to find a lie.

NICHOLAS (CONT'D)

Oh come on, Beth.

BETH:

Tell me. Who?

GOLDENROD REVISIONS 20.10.09 11.

NICHOLAS:

Look, it’s nothing. It’s been once

or twice, that’s all. Beth, it’s

not anything.

Beth is raw with pain.

BETH:

(her voice raised)

Who is she?!

19A EXT. EVENING. STONEFIELD - THE GROUNDS (PATIO) 19A

Tess faintly hears. She stops mid chew, listening for more.

19B INT. EVENING. STONEFIELD - DOWNSTAIRS 19B

Nicholas coughs up.

NICHOLAS:

Just a researcher with Radio 4.

BETH:

What’s her name?

NICHOLAS:

Nadia, Nadia Patel.

This hits a nerve.

BETH:

Patel? She’s in your book.

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