The Ploughman's Lunch Page #16

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JAMES:

(to Susan)

Will it be fun?

SUSAN:

It was last year.

JEREMY:

We might be able to dig out a couple

of Suez survivors for you.

JAMES:

Perhaps I will, then.

JEREMY:

(Kissing on the

cheek first Susan,

then James)

I'm off. Let's meet. You promised

to tell me about Norfolk.

JAMES:

I'll ring you.

A brief pause and a slight awkwardness after Jeremy leaves.

SUSAN:

(into microphone)

I think we're ready now, thank

you. And how was Norfolk? Did

you get on with my mother?

JAMES:

I think she liked me.

SUSAN:

Did she talk about me?

JAMES:

No. We talked about history, and

Siberian Geese.

The lights go down.

We SEE a series of FILM CLIPS about Suez: crowd scenes in

Cairo; footage of the Fleet on its way from Malta; the

actual invasion; parachutes; Eden at Downing Street; Lloyd

at the airport; the protest meeting at Trafalgar Square;

fighting in Suez streets.

James sneaks occasional looks at Susan throughout. We SEE

her in profile, lit by the screen.

SUSAN:

(As the first

pictures come up)

It's not in chronological order.

There's an hour of stuff, of which

the director has to choose four

minutes. What'll happen is that

I'll choose it for him ... Does he

look like a man on speed?

Our two minute sequence is presented to represent an hour

of film. When at last it is over and the lights come up,

there is a moment of stupefaction. Susan yawns and prepares

to leave.

SUSAN:

Do you think she's invited you up

for her sake or for mine?

JAMES:

(kissing Susan's

fingers)

I haven't really thought about it.

SUSAN:

(smiling, mischievous)

Well, you should.

James kisses Susan. She complies rather than responds.

Susan disengages herself gently and gathers her things.

She stands.

SUSAN:

Well, must get on.

INT. NEWSROOM - EARLY MORNING

A day or two later. People are drifting out to go down

the corridor to the morning news conference. James is one

of the last to leave. On his way out he meets Charles,

the newsreader from Scene two.

JAMES:

Charles! I didn't know you were

back. Have a good holiday?

CHARLES:

Not too bad, thanks. How have you

been?

JAMES:

Working hard on that book I was

telling you about. Coming to the

meeting?

CHARLES:

I'm not sure I can face it.

JAMES:

Keep me company.

INT. CORRIDOR - EARLY MORNING

James steers Charles out of the newsroom and along the

corridor. Only slowly does it become apparent that Charles

is in a state of distress.

JAMES:

How's Mary?

CHARLES:

She's fine. Well, actually we've

broken up. It's all over.

JAMES:

No. That's terrible, Charles.

What happened?

CHARLES:

(on the edge of

tears)

Look, I'd rather you didn't ask me

questions. I can't talk about it.

They have reached the News Conference Room, but Charles

walks on down the corridor to nurse his grief out of sight.

INT. NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM - MORNING

The News Conference Room. Ten minutes later. The same

Editor. The same matter-of-factness and slight boredom.

EDITOR:

....as it happens they got all

their facts wrong anyway. I checked

up. We reported the big peace

march on Hyde Park last October,

and a march on NATO headquarters

in the spring, and the death of

whatsisname last month, the old

CND man...

He looks round. It is not clear that anyone is listening.

EDITOR:

What really gets to them, though

they'll never admit it, these types,

is that we give both sides, theirs

and the government's.

Multilateralists and unilateralists.

Hawks and doves. As far as they're

concerned, there's only one side

to the question. Nuclear weapons

are bad. Full stop. End of

discussion. Anyone who says there's

more to it than that is... what

was it...

(He picks up a

newspaper cutting)

'Under cover of an authoritative

news service, propagating a military

definition of reality.'

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