If It's Got Your Number on It
by Elaine Morgan
Episode Number:
12 Director: Gerry Mill |
CAST
| Edwin Ashton | Colin Douglas | |
| Jean Ashton | Shelagh Fraser | |
| Margaret Porter | Lesley Nunnerley | |
| Philip Ashton | Keith Drinkel | |
| Freda Ashton | Barbara Flynn | |
| John George Porter | Christopher Renshaw | |
| Mrs. Collins | Gwen Cherrell | |
| Peter Collins | David Lincoln | |
| Owen Thomas | Mark Edwards | |
| Larry | James Jordan | |
| Mrs. Gordon | Judy Evans | |
| A Woman in the Shelter | Elizabeth Kelly | |
| Ted Fiddler | Bill Waddington | |
| Doris Jackson | Diana Davies | |
| Mr. Watson | Ted Morris | |
| A Tramp | Arthur Webb |
LIVERPOOL,
NOVEMBER 1940
| A Munitions Factory | It
is quitting time, but some of the payroll envelopes have not been prepared. Doris departs at the closing whistle, but Freda is talked into working overtime by her supervisor, Mr. Watson, so they can finish the bookkeeping. |
| The Ashton Home | Margaret,
who has been breastfeeding John George, goes upstairs when the doorbell
rings. Mrs. Gordon comes in, collecting scrap metal for the salvage effort. Jean gives her one small pot, and Mrs. Gordon seems none too appreciative. As Mrs. Gordon is leaving, the telephone rings, but Edwin has difficulty hearing because of the lady's loud chattering. It is Philip on the line, telling his father that he will be arriving home on leave that very night. Mrs. Gordon suspects that it is his embarkation leave, but Edwin tries to calm Jean's fears by saying that is not necessarily the case. After the woman departs, Edwin remarks that she seems to enjoy the war, pushing people around. |
| The Collins Home | Mrs.
Collins mentions to her son, Peter, that she has noticed he is not seeing
much of Freda anymore. Peter explains that Freda's new job at the munitions factory has different hours than when she worked at the hotel. Mrs. Collins says maybe that is just as well, with him so young and the war making people's lives so uncertain. The older Collins son, Danny, is in the Navy, leaving the widowed Mrs. Collins with no one but Peter at home with her. She asks what Peter is reading, and he says an ARP book dealing with the properties of various gasses that the Germans could use on the civilian population. |
| The Ashton Home | The
air-raid siren is wailing as Philip arrives home on leave. He announces to his mother and Margaret that he can stay for seven days, it being his embarkation leave. John George is sleeping soundly in a wicker laundry basket that Margaret is carrying. |
| An Air-Raid Shelter | Two
airmen walk by Freda, and one of them, an Australian, pulls her along
with them into the shelter. An old tramp is lying there, talking in his drunken sleep, so the Aussie pulls him to an upright position to give them some peace. A nurse's aide enters the shelter, complaining that she helps bring people into the world while men are doing their best to send them out again. When the all-clear sounds, the Australian airman offers to see Freda home, saying he will join his pal, Larry, later on. At first she says no, that it is only a half-mile walk, but then she reconsiders and accepts. |
| The Air-Raid Post | Edwin,
Peter, and Ted Fiddler have finished their night's duty at the ARP. Edwin asks Peter (who lives only two doors away from the Ashtons) to come home with him for awhile, to say hello to Philip and, of course, Freda. |
| The Ashton Home | Philip
is eating when Edwin and Peter arrive. Freda rushes in, claiming to be retrieving a book for someone ("Doris," she fibs) who is waiting outside. Actually, it is the Australian, Owen Thomas, who is borrowing the book. He tells her, "I'll see you again then," just as Mrs. Collins passes by with a stern look and greeting. Philip has assembled a box of discarded items for the salvage drive, but he gives some of them—a mouth organ and some Penguin paperbacks—to Peter. Peter tells him that he may enlist soon, sensing that other civilians resent his "cushy" job as a draftsman. Margaret informs Peter that Freda will be working mornings next week, which would give him a better chance to see her. |
| A Coffee Shop | Freda
and Owen are sitting at a cozy table, enjoying coffee and cake. When Freda says she must be going, Owen convinces her to stay another ten minutes. He gives her a light from his own cigarette, but it is quite obvious from her wheezing and uncertain grip that she is not an experienced smoker. Owen confides that he has never met anyone like her before, that she is the only girl he has met which whom he feels comfortable talking. He says he must return to camp on Sunday, and for once he is actually sorry to see his leave come to an end. |
| The Ashton Home | Jean
is slicing bread at the kitchen table when Edwin enters, complaining about
how the government is being dishonest by exaggerating British victories. Jean grumbles to Philip, "See? That's how he goes on," and leaves the room. Undeterred by her disapproval, Edwin laments that people have blindly surrendered their minds to the war effort. Philip gently cautions his father against the dangers of a defeatist attitude. Jean returns to the kitchen just in time to hear loud talking from Freda and Owen. In the living room, Freda takes the first-aid kit and begins doctoring Owen's lower lip. She explains to Philip that his injury happened in a scuffle with Peter Collins. Freda adds that Peter struck Owen because he was kissing her goodnight. Owen introduces himself to Philip and begins to describe what transpired outside. A thoroughly bewildered Edwin comes into the room with toothpaste on his mouth and dressed in his pyjamas. Just as things are settling down a bit, suddenly Peter storms in, insisting on telling his side of the story. When Peter accuses Freda of kissing in public like a common tart, Philip confronts him for talking that way about his sister. Peter says that Freda is just like all the other girls, attracted to anyone who happens to be wearing a uniform. Philip strikes up a soldierly conversation with Owen, which causes Peter to feel even more like a disgraced civilian. Bitterly turning to leave, Peter declares, "Don't worry about me. I know what I'm going to do in the morning." |
| The Collins Home | Peter
has informed his mother that he plans to join the Navy, but she refuses
to allow it, contending that older brother Danny was military material,
but Peter is not the type. Mrs. Collins attempts to make Peter feel guilty about his plans to enlist and desert her with no means of support. That has little effect, so she tries another approach, claiming that it was Freda who put him up to this. When she says Peter would not have the stomach to be a serviceman, he accuses her of making him that way. |
| The Ashton Home | Margaret
and Freda are cuddling baby John George when the doorbell rings. It is a frantic Mrs. Collins, revealing that Peter wants to enlist and all but accusing Freda of being the cause. Mrs. Collins begs Philip to have a talk with him, to convince him not to go through with his plans. She tells Freda that she will forever blame her if Peter goes, and Freda lashes back at her, claiming it is always "Danny this, Danny that." Though he suspects that Peter will be miserable if he stays, Philip nonetheless agrees to try to talk him out of enlisting. After Mrs. Collins leaves, Edwin admiringly tells his wife, mother of three sons in the service, "You've got a lot of guts, Jean Ashton, you know that?" |
| A Coffee Shop | Impatiently looking at his watch, Owen is waiting for Freda to arrive. |
| The Ashton Home | Freda
rushes into the living room, fussing to her mother that she has no stockings
to wear and must borrow a pair of Margaret's. Over a game of chess, Philip and his father are having a spirited discussion of Churchill's handling of the war. Edwin leaves to find last week's New Statesman for Philip to read. Jean says Edwin sounds like a defeatist, but Philip comes to his father's defence, giving him due credit for analysing the war with both eyes open. |
| The Collins Home | Peter
tells his mother that he is on his way to talk with Philip Ashton. Mrs. Collins is silent and seemingly on the verge of tears, but Peter is determined not to succumb to her mind games. Finally she manages to call out, "Peter," but he proceeds to leave, explaining that he cannot sign up for service tonight anyway, it being a Sunday. |
| The Ashton Home | Peter
arrives just as Freda is hurrying down the stairs to meet Owen. He tells her goodbye, that he will be enlisting in the morning. Freda asks him why and hopes that Peter is not doing it on her account. Peter says everyone has changed but him—still living on "Civvy Street." Freda tells him that their faltering relationship has nothing to do with the war, but Peter is not so sure. He alleges that Freda would not even have looked at "that man last night" if he had been dressed in his everyday clothes. Freda defends Owen, saying he is basically nice, fun to be with, and does not talk incessantly about Hitler, rationing, and the raids. "Don't turn yourself into a tough guy, Peter," she says. "You're much nicer as you are." Edwin has forgotten his flask, so Jean asks Peter to take it to him at the ARP. Jean cautions Freda not to do anything stupid on Owen's last night in Liverpool. Philip comes down the stairs and invites Peter into the living room for a talk. He tells Peter that a technologist such as he is needed at home and should not join up just to impress the ladies or to show that he is not afraid. Peter confesses that he is afraid, and Philip assures him that every thinking serviceman is scared. He notes that anyone who would land a punch on that Aussie's lip is not lacking for courage. |
| A Coffee Shop | Owen
and Freda are chatting over coffee at a table. He tells her that someday he would like to take her to a really posh restaurant. Owen asks her to write to him while he is away, and Freda tacitly agrees, saying that she wants to go with him now to the train station. |
| The Ashton Home | The air-raid siren is wailing as Philip puts on his uniform coat to escort his mother to the Anderson shelter. |
| The Air-Raid Post | Edwin,
Peter, and Ted Fiddler are on duty at the ARP. Ted says there are some lights showing in a couple of upstairs windows, but he could not get an answer from the offending residents. There is a little back window, but it is too small for him to climb through. Edwin says, "Looks like a job for you, Peter." |
| The Train Station | Owen urges Freda to hurry back to the shelter, so they kiss goodbye outside the station. |
| The Air-Raid Post | A
bomb explodes near-by, but Edwin is protected from falling debris by the
sturdy desk overhead. He looks through the shattered window and sees fire and destruction in the street. Lying amidst the smoldering rubble is the lifeless body of Peter Collins. |
 |
 |
| Script
Excerpt 1 Owen/Freda |
Script
Excerpt 2 |
 |
 |
 |