So, when's Babs due? Week after you, Fat Boy.
PHONE RINGS
Mackintosh Textiles.
I'll just put you through.
Pat Fletcher.
HER WORDS ARE INAUDIBLE
He wouldn't touch my taterhash. I said, "You'll go hungry, Gary..." She's looking.
She's looking, Freda. She can look all she likes.
Know who she reminds me of? That
headmistress at our Gary's school. She has her hair like that. Common.
'The next stop will be Hadfield. Hadfield is the next stop.'
Perfect timing. Come on, it's the happy hour.
SHE SIGHS
MUSIC: "It's Now Or Never" by Elvis Presley
Cheers. Cheers.
CHEERS AND WHOOPS
# We're caught in a trap
# I can't walk out
# Because I love you too much, baby
# Why can't you see?
# What you're doing to me?
# When you don't believe a word I say
# We can't go on together
# With suspicious minds... #
# Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings Of the bluebird as she sings... # It's not all about money, Tim.
There's hundreds
of skilled workers in that factory, ten, twenty years' experience.
It's market forces. It happened in electronics a few years back.
It's not bloody Newsnight! If I can get that order Monday, big British
retailer, branches everywhere,
those skills will be safer right here. What'd happen if Mackintosh closed?
Pat, we've come out for a laugh... All those skilled people would end up on the dole or in call centres.
Everyone's just letting it happen. Labour, party of the workers(?)
God!
Manufacturing is on its knees. Excuse me, has anybody seen my wife? I seem to have lost her.
What are you doing? Anyone seen Pat Fletcher? Sit down, you daft sod!
It's all right. I've found her.
Come on, you. 'Scuse us, Paxman. There's a lot of dancing to do.
Just follow me.
All right, all right.
Who the bleedin' hell's that? I don't know.
If it's her across the road again, wanting the car shifting, tell her
to sling her hook. Hang on!
I've just gotta find the keys.
Roy!
Roy! Where are the keys?
The postman's waiting.
Try me trousers.
Oh...
Sorry about that. Bet you've been cursing me rotten. Pat Fletcher?
Sign on the dotted line... if you can find it.
Hey, Royal Mail.
Cheers, mate. First leg over I've had in a month and you turn up halfway through!
Be weeks before I talk her into it again now. ..All right, Mrs J, don't
worry. The beast is in his cage.
Jesus, Pat, I'm shitting through the eye of a needle. I feel like I've just given birth.
Well?
Is that it?
It's no different to the other one. Roy! It's top of the range. It's wool. Feel that. Hmm.
I said that cod tasted funny. I'm gonna sue that bloody chippie.
Could you lend us a few quid, love? I've no chance of getting to the bank.
Chuck us me purse.
How much d'you want?
Fully modernised cutting room supplying fifty machinists.
At full capacity we can produce 2,000 pieces per shift,
that's 16,000 pieces per week, which is more than any of our competitors.
Hiya, gorgeous.
Oh! I thought it were Kev for a minute. In your dreams.
Pack it in! You're putting me off me dinner. It's called love, Ade.
I have been in love.
- Your mum doesn't count. - No, but YOURS does.
- Ade, you going into this meeting? - Yeah. Hope she's paying overtime.
- What meeting's this? - Supervisors' meeting. What about?
She'll be cracking the corporate whip. Karl Marx lives(!)
Coopers and Farland are only interested in one thing - profit and loss.
- That's two things. - How much money we're making.
- At least we're back in work. - They're bound to make cutbacks.
Bad luck, Freda. Do you think so? They've laid off half the workforce
at Samuel Hall's.
At least she says hello, more than Mack ever did.
She's not in charge. She's just the bleedin' poodle.
I should be back about four. If anybody rings, tell them I'll get back to them at the end of the day.
If anyone wants to leave a message, put them through to my voicemail. I've finally got the hang of it!
Did you get half an hour? Yes. Well, took a bit longer. Is it OK?
There's a couple of spelling
mistakes, but the rest of it's fine. Let's hope head office likes it.
It all sounds quite frightening, I mean, it's a lot of changes.
I know. But if I wanna keep this place alive, this is the only way. Wish me luck. Good luck.
Oh, and, Grace, until after the meeting, Mum's the word. OK? OK.
Morning. Hiya.
Morning. ..Don't worry, it's nearly lunch time.
This is lovely. Thank you very much.
Keep the change. Thanks, love.
Pat! Sorry to keep you. Have you been offered anything? I'm fine, thanks. Come on through.
The quality is superb.
There have been customer complaints but I think I can turn this around.
If we increase productivity and win this new contract, we stand a good
chance of keeping the factory open.
The fact is, if we can't develop
this business to what it deserves to be, there's no future for us.
We've got a dedicated workforce, producing high quality goods to mostly satisfied customers.
But I want to be up-front with you from the word go,
things are going to change.
So, how many are going?
Barney!
- That's where this is leading. - No-one's said owt about it.
I'll rephrase the question. Are you planning any redundancies?
What?! We need to know. People are scared shitless out there. I can't promise there won't be job losses.
See. ..See?
So, what is this? Is it gonna be a restructure or a downsize?
Your old boss, Mr Mackintosh...
Mack. ..worked in a certain way. He'd inherited the factory from his father and...
he'd run the place in pretty much the same way for 30 years. Well, if it ain't broke...
The thing is, though - Barney? - it is broke.
The factory lost a major contract just before the closure.
It would have been three years' work, but Mack lost it. We're on the verge of losing another.
So...
we're looking to break into new markets, budget range.
If we can pull together and make this thing work,
the only redundancies we'll be talking about will be voluntary.
I can't lie to you. This is no longer a family business. Coopers took this place over to make money.
If they don't, they'll close us down. I don't want that to happen.
I want us to save as many jobs as
we can and the only way to do that is to make this place a success.
SMOKE ALARM BEEPS
SHE IS COUGHING
SNORING
I tell you what...
..I'm glad I didn't do chips.
PWOOM!
MUSIC: "Good Luck Charm" by Elvis Presley
Peace offering. Think you've had enough for one day.
Hair of the dog.
So, dare I ask?
No, no, don't tell me.
You had a tip-off, dead cert, 33-1, would have made us a fortune.
36-1.
So, how much this time?
No, in fact, don't even tell me. I've got enough on me plate.
If I'd known it only had three legs, I wouldn't have bothered. Why don't you have an affair or something?
It'd be hell of a lot cheaper.
And where would I find anybody as beautiful as you, hey?
You daft bugger, come here.
Don't we have weekends any more?
Thought I might as well get on with this presentation as lie listening
to you snoring your head off.
I know it's important to you, love, but don't overdo it.
Roy, it's my big chance.
How long've I been pushing Coopers for promotion, trying to get them
to take me seriously? I love it.
I know, but it's Sunday and I'm getting that beer garden feeling.
Give me half an hour.
Tight-Arse Terry never puts his hand in his pocket!
You should have seen his face when you took them drinks over. Silly
old bugger wants to live a bit.
If he tried to smile, he'd crack his face!
Go on! ..Oh!
SHOWER IS RUNNING
Cup of tea? Please.
Plenty of milk, I'm late as it is.
Well, what do you think? Mmm...
You'll knock 'em dead. Ta.
Oh-h...cheers.
'Next stop Manchester Piccadilly where this train will terminate.'
You've seen our operation,
you've seen the quality of our product.
You can't have too many complaints or I wouldn't be sitting here now.
The only real concern is the required increase in output.
Let me assure you the factory knows about this. They are ready
and waiting to double the output.
Jamie, these voluntary redundancies. How much they offering? No idea. Why?
I might take the money and run, you know, lie on a beach somewhere. I've always fancied Indonesia.
You can live on about three quid
a day, and the totty...! Isn't your baby due next month? Hey, exactly.
Sorry. Won't be a tick.
Hi. Hi. Sorry, I'll take a while to get up to speed with names.
Freda Wilson, fastest machinist in the West. You've probably heard about me. THE Freda Wilson?
Pleased to meet you. How do you do?
215A, 215B, 378A and D. Can you hang on a sec, Viv? ..Kingfisher rang.
I've just come from there. Paul Booth. Wants to speak to you ASAP.
Pat Fletcher...
Pat - Paul Booth. Good journey back?
Yes, thanks. I'm not one for keeping people on tenterhooks. We've made a decision. Right.
Took a bit of arm-twisting, but we got there eventually. Five year contract, with an option to extend.
The accountants need a signed agreement within five weeks,
so we're proposing a four-week trial period,
which means you're going to need to hit the ground running. What's your feeling? We'll do it.
Roy?
'Roy, I did it! I got the contract. Don't cook. Let's...'
MUSIC: "Love Me Tender" by Elvis Presley
Stand by your beds.
You can read, can't you?
We're going to be running production in two teams,
one concentrating on existing work, and the other working exclusively
on the budget range.
You have a copy of the production schedule... Who decides who does
what? I'd sooner stay on quality.
It's all quality, Freda. Budget doesn't mean sub-standard, it's just a different market.
Can't all afford to shop at Marks and Spencer, can you?
There's some new styles and new patterns, but the big difference
with the budget range is output.
We need to produce twice as many items in the same amount of time.
Do we get a rise for this?
You can't expect us to work twice as hard for the same money. I've drawn up a new roster
and there's going to be plenty
of overtime for those that want it.
It won't be easy, but if we want to get this contract and give
ourselves a chance of survival,
we're gonna have to pull together on this. Any questions?
OK, well, we've only got four weeks, so let's get on with it.
Do me a favour. Tell Freda Wilson I want to talk to her.
KNOCK AT DOOR
Come in.
Freda, have a seat.
If it's about before, I only said what everyone else was thinking.
I'm gonna be straight with you, Freda. You're a strong character, you've been here a long time,
but you're used to doing things in a certain way. Right. There's a lot to do.
I want everyone working flat out, no moaning, just heads down, getting on with the job.
You're not sacking me, are you?
Have you had a chance to look at the new designs? Yeah.
How would you feel about...
supervising the budget range? Involving what?
Making sure the girls bring the delivery in on time? Same pay, but if we get the contract,
I'll look at putting it on a permanent basis.
Well, look, I'll have to think about this because... Yes or no?
Oi! Come on, Schumacher!
Right, come on, open it up.
You lot, stop hanging about!
Come on, don't hang about!
Take that right up. Don't let them mess you about. Keep it going.
Keep going! Keep going!
Put your back into it!
'Keith, it's Mum.'
All right, Mum. What's up? No, nothing serious.
It's just your dad. He's gone missing again.
For how long this time? Three days.
Well, four if you count today. So, where is he? I don't know. I've looked in all the usual places.
You should know what he's like by now, Mum. The thing is, he's not been working.
Says he has, sets off every day,
but there's no money coming in.
Well, you know what this sounds like, don't you? Yeah.
I think he might be up to his old tricks again.
MUSIC: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross
Jeff, have you seen Roy today?
Sorry, Pat, I haven't.
Sorry. They're fixing the balancing on my forklift. I know I'm not supposed to... Sorry. Hang on.
Just don't make a habit of it, all right?
For three years I've gone without.
Getting this order's gonna be the death of me. Do you think we'll
make it? We can't afford not to.
Sorry, your card's been rejected.
No, that can't be right. There's
definitely money in my account.
Right, erm, sorry. It'll have to be Visa.
MACHINE BEEPS
That's it. Come on.
Second floor with that.
That's right, yes, I'd like to keep the joint account in both names,
but then set up a separate account purely for my wages.
Yes, that's right, my name only.
All right?
Thank you. Put them down!
A lot of the big problems in here are just down to logistics.
I'm going to speak to Graham Leach about delivery times,
but I need to be sure that everything we can do to speed up production on-site is being done.
I need someone to oversee the whole production, make sure all the sections are talking to each other.
Someone who I can trust who'll get the job done.
Someone reliable.
Me?!
Hey, he's coming.
# Top Cat!
# The most effectual - Top Cat He's intellectual
# Close friends get to call him TC Just as long as it's with dignity. #
CHEERING
You're all fired!
You brown-nosing bastard!
How'd you do it? Talent.
You shagging her or what? Piss off. Hey, this don't mean you're me boss. You're still a fat bastard!
LOUD ROAR
I've put the kettle on, if you fancy anything? No, I'm fine, thanks.
You're doing a really good job, you know.
You hear people talking, saying how good you are.
They've really taken to you.
Thanks.
Is that your husband?
Roy. Is he in the business?
Salesman.
Alarms, security systems. All sorts, really.
I bet he's really proud of you, running this place, turning everything around. Got any biscuits?
I'd love a cup of coffee.
Whey-hey!
I suppose you think that's gonna make everything all right. I suppose that's meant to impress me.
Where the hell have you been? No word, no call.
One of your poker weeks, was it?
What's the matter with YOU?
You knew I'd be back.
Anything could have happened. You could have been lying in the gutter! Lying in the gutter!
Pat, when have I ever not come back?
I always come back.
What's the problem? Why are you being like this?
You're never like this.
Look! One call, just one phone call,
but no, cos that'd mean thinking about someone else...
DOORBELL RINGS
Saved by the bell.
We see her walking along the deck and all of a sudden she stops.
And she's staring straight in the bar window.
I mean, right at us, right at us, so we're all there, waving like mad,
but she hasn't seen us. You hadn't seen us, love.
She's there giving it all this...
mmm...and a bit of that.
Rubbish. I wasn't! Yes, you were.
I'm not kidding, I'm not kidding.
Really sorting herself out, she was.
She comes in afterwards, the five of us creased up laughing on the floor.
It's a bloody two-way mirror!
Oh, yes. The whole bar had watched her tart herself up. She was mortified.
Tell you, you can't beat a cruise.
We're going again this summer, Club Med. You should come,
bit pricey, but I'm sure you can afford it with your wedge.
Can we have another one of these, my friend? Soon as you like.
Do you think I'm gonna lose it? Pat, I know where the bloody bank is.
I want to make sure it gets there. Leave us a few quid. You said if
I had a big win, we'd blow the lot.
You going into work? Or are you just going to lie around in your pit all day?
It's my bloody money!
That's the account number and the sort code.
It's in my name - P Fletcher. Is that OK? ..Thanks. Grace.
Make sure they give you a receipt.
Right, next problem.
Freda, what's the hold-up? We've got girls without cloth. The cutters can't keep up.
Honest, Pat, it's not us.
We're working flat out. Jesus, we'll
have smoke coming out our ears!
We've got too many machinists for the cloth that's being cut. We need that many to make this order.
Catch 22. We could pay overtime at weekends...at a pinch. Get this lot
in when the machine room's empty.
Cheers, Ade. You gonna keep us
company? We'd want time and a half. I wouldn't expect anything else.
Do a quick straw poll. Get everyone's agreement.
Can we do split lunch breaks? Make
sure there's always someone cutting. We'll have to eat cold leftovers.
It's only for a few days. They've never got anything decent as it is.
What's the alternative?
Suppose. I'll speak to the canteen, make sure there's plenty of hot food. Thank you. I appreciate this.
MUSIC: "Wild Thing"
PAT SINGS ALONG
# ..You make my heart sing
# You make everything...groovy
# Wild thing
# Wild thing, I think I love you
# But I wanna know for sure
# Come on... #
SHE SINGS TO HERSELF
DOORBELL RINGS
Mrs Fletcher?
Sorry to disturb you, I think this is yours.
Thank you. What the...? Bailiffs. All the information's in there.
What you doing? You can't barge in... Two bastard hours we've been out there! There's been a mistake.
Yeah. And it's your dickhead
husband that's made it. Tell me what he owes and I'll go to the bank.
Tomorrow, when they're open. I can ring to someone. Please! Look... he's ignored warning after warning.
Let me call someone. You can't do this. That's my jewellery!
You can't take that. It's nothing to do with me. You married him.
You can't do this. I'm calling the police. Call who you like.
Vince, give us a hand up here.
That's not even paid for. You can't take anything that's not ours. Write us a letter.
Vince, get the trolley.
'You know what he's like.'
Nothing's ever a problem. "Have a drink, have a laugh, it'll all sort itself out."
He just...buries his head in the sand. He's like a bloody emu!
Oh, Pat, you should have said something. We had no idea.
You don't like to advertise it, do you? Used to be like...
every day was different.
He was exciting, unpredictable.
No matter what he did, I couldn't stay mad at him.
Things are different now.
I'm trying to run a bloody business!
I'm sorry, I shouldn't burden you with all this. Don't be silly. What are friends for?
I never liked that sofa.
I'd laugh, Roy, only I'm starting to think the joke's on me.
It was our furniture!
What next?
The car? The house?
I'm tired, Roy.
Don't be upset. It's only bits and bobs.
It'll be all right.
We can soon... It WON'T, Roy!
Stop hiding away from it, stop pretending nothing's the matter!
Every single time there's a problem, something we should have sorted out together, YOU duck out.
Down the pub, down the bookies, leaving ME to pick up the pieces.
For once in your life, will you just say you are sorry?!
Used to march in there bold as brass, get my kit out and wow them.
Tell them how much they needed the system,
tell them it was gonna change their lives, protect them, their own bloody portcullis.
And now...even I don't believe the crap I'm coming out with.
And neither do they.
You can see them thinking, "Yeah, yeah, another salesman, spouting his shite,"
and I can't do a thing about it.
I can't win 'em over,
can't turn 'em round.
And all the time, the sale's going further and further away.
I've...I've had my day.
Pat, I'm not a quitter,
but I can't...
I can't do it any more.
There's always other things. It doesn't have to be this.
I sell. It's what I do!
Since I was 17 years old, I've been out there, flogging.
I can't go working in a bloody... garden centre for £3.50 an hour!
I've seen them,
blokes who used to matter,
mopping floors in Tesco's,
stacking shelves...
trying to keep a bit of dignity.
Well...
if that's dignity...
Tuck your side in. No, Roy, tuck it in, otherwise it'll be all lumpy.
Now, grab hold of this.
Donovan Dave, that's what it was - Donovan Dave, d'you remember?
He used to do Catch The Wind and all that stuff, big girl's blouse, he was.
Ah, bless him, he was all right. Anyway, it was his tent.
Well, his brother's.
You told me it was yours!
You've got to be joking. I could only just about afford the petrol.
I was trying to impress you. Four-star hotel would've impressed me more. Get off! You loved it.
Hey, except the night when you wanted to go for a piss
and you were afraid to go in case there might have been somebody lurking. I'd forgotten about that.
It wouldn't bother me now, piss in front of a line of cars!
Oh...
that was a great holiday.
Was it?
Or am I putting a rose tint on it?
Twenty-two...
no kids,
no worries.
Best sex of our lives.
It was bloody brilliant.
Roy, are you gonna put the kettle on?
MILK BOTTLES CLINK
Mm-mm?
Roy.
Roy?
Roy!
ROY!
MONITOR BEEPS
Grace? Yeah.
I'm at the hospital. Everything OK?
No, no...
it's my husband - Roy.
He's had a... How is he? Well, I don't know yet.
Grace... Yeah?
No-one's to know, all right? OK.
Tell them I'm at head office, a meeting, anything.
I don't want anyone distracted. We've got to have that order ready by tomorrow. OK. I'll ring you.
'Your husband's stable. We're running a series of scans to check the extent of the damage,'
but I have to warn you, your husband's had a very severe stroke.
Unfortunately, at this stage we don't know the full impact.
It all depends on which part of the brain has been affected.
There's nothing we can do for the time being, so is there any family
you'd like me to call? Friends?
No, thank you. OK.
Is this a bad time? We didn't know whether to come... We're not intruding, are we?
Oh, Pat.
It's OK.
Where to, love?
Trencherfield Mill.
Pat!
I thought you weren't coming in.
Hospital's got everything under control. Might as well keep myself busy. How is he?
Fine.
Bit too early to say yet.
How's everything going?
It's going well. We're on track in the cutting room. The last batch is being made up now. We're on target.
Oh, and Adrian from head office rang, just wanted to make sure
everything was A-OK. Thanks.
Go on, then! ..You got enough cloth?
How's that running? All right?
Is that working?
Hannah, there's a seat there, got your name on it. Don't stop!
COME ON!
This is what happens, is it?
Best sex we've had in years and you go and conk out.
What'd you go and do that for, eh? You daft bugger.
I tell you what, though,
if you think this has got you off the hook, you've got another think coming.
As soon as you get your strength back, I want a repeat performance.
BEEPING
What is it? What's happening? It's all right. It sometimes
does this. Did he move?
I don't think so. His oxygen
level's dropped. Did he knock it?
You might have accidentally leaned on it. Don't worry.
We'll soon have it back to normal.
We just need to be careful, any drop in oxygen could affect his heart. What would that do?
Well, there's a possibility of cardiac arrest... Have I hurt him? No, he won't have felt a thing.
How we doing? This is the last batch now.
Will you have it done by twelve?
By the skin of our teeth.
Everything on course?
Short of a power cut or World War 3, we might just make it.
Where ARE they?
Where are they?!
What time do you make it?
Four minutes past. Do you want me to ring Trudy?
Yes.
No, give them a minute.
All right, ring them.
They're here!
Come on!
Right, let's get loading.
Right, that's your lot.
We did it!
CHEERING
Thank you, each and everybody.
Hopefully we've gone a long way to securing the future of Mackintosh Textiles.
CHEERING
Thank you all very much.
ALL: Cheers!
The good news we were hoping for hasn't materialised.
Your husband's suffered a massive brain stem stroke, and I'm afraid this is as serious as it sounds.
What are the chances of recovery?
Roy's stroke was at the base of the brain,
where the nerve impulses that control voluntary movement occur - eating, walking, going to toilet.
I'm afraid it's highly unlikely that Roy will recover independent functioning.
He's going to need a great deal of care for the rest of his life. I'm very sorry, Mrs Fletcher.
MONITOR BEEPS
FASTER BEEPING
BEEPING SLOWS DOWN AGAIN
Good morning, Dave.
Good morning, Freda.
Good morning, Pat. Good morning.
Pat, it seems congratulations are in order. Kingfisher sent
a fax through. They're delighted.
Great. Take a seat. Thank you.
'They didn't think I could do it.'
I could tell by the look on their faces,
smug bloody pair.
Never seen a factory in their lives but they know it all.
I've shown them I can run
that factory as well as anybody.
You know what? I'm proud of myself.
For the first time in I don't know how long,
I can hold my head up and say, "I did that."
And they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks!
Just goes to show, doesn't it?
Finally making something of meself, after all these years.
It just goes to show, doesn't it?
Don't you think?
Train didn't turn up!
Thought I was never going to get here. Three messages.
All this travelling's getting ridiculous. Think I'm gonna have to move further in soon.
Where do you live? Failsworth. I wouldn't recommend it.
Dawson's? What did they want? Heard we're doing a budget range. Want a quote for 6,000 units a week.
I said we'd fax one over by lunch.
So, not Failsworth, then. Where's nice?
PHONE RINGS
'Hi, you've reached Pat and Roy. We're not in right now, so please leave a message after the beep.'
BEEP
'Pat, this is Nurse Farthing, from Bridgeton General.
'Please, can you call me as soon as possible? Extension 3155.
'Thank you.'
BEEP
# Maybe I didn't treat you
# Quite as good as I should have
# Maybe I didn't love you
# Quite as often as I could have
# Little things I should have said and done
# I just never took the time
# You were always on my mind
# Maybe I didn't hold you
# All those lonely, lonely times... #
Good morning. Good morning.
Good morning. Morning.
I'm serious. The responsibilities of being a dad, looking after...
That woman, she's here. The one whose car hit you.
Hello.
It's six o'clock in the bastard morning!
I had another fit.
You've been avoiding me.
Subtitles by Dorothy Moore BBC Broadcast 2003
E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk