Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.

Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?

Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register

01x03 - Deadly Nitrate - Part One

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Bookish". Aired: July 16, 2025.*
Watch/Buy Amazon



Gabriel Book, proprietor of an antiquarian bookshop, relies on his vast collection to unravel baffling cases.

01x03 - Deadly Nitrate - Part One

Post by bunniefuu »

We simply must be brave, mustn't we?
Heaven knows it'll be hard. It'll be

beastly. But we're strong people, Tony.
You and.

I. And what we feel for each other,
it'll endure. It will endure.

So I shall stay in my shop,

you amin yours.
And all I ask is that you don't grow to

hate me. How could I hate you, Madeline?
You mean

everything to me.
What the hell was that?

Billy, what was that?
Just a car backfiring, I think, miss Dare.

That sounded like a p*stol.
It didn't sound like a ruddy p*stol.

You alright my bet. Yeah, I'm fine.
I think I'm just a bit tired.

Of course, darling. You must be.
Tell you what, how about a proper dinner

after this like we
used to before the w*r?

Oh, yeah. That would be wonderful.
None of this canteen muck. No offence.

Sandra, are you okay? Yes.
Yes, Jesse. I'm fine. Don't fuss.

How was my pout at the end? Was it?
I could do with a dab, actually.

M only wears victory red. Besame, please.
Can we just stop faffing and get

on with it? Mary, thank you.
Yes, we do. Right.

Right. 'Ad astra per aspera',
we must have bodies.

Stu, stop it.
I've got to concentrate. Have quiet.

Lovelorn in London.
Scene 28. Take three.

Action. We simply must be
brave, mustn't we?

Heaven knows it'll be hard.
It'll be beastly.

I must be strong for my future.

Oh my.

And this is on his bedroom wall.
Rose red and rolled gold. I said to him,

Stewart, Stu, I said, you are just like this paper.
You're so strong and modern.

He handled this very roll.

Can I touch it? Uh,

I shouldn't really, but um Well,
since your extras in my cake shop,

this is the last thing he sees when he gets into bed.
Yes. And the first thing

he sees when he gets up in the morning
and his hair's all disarranged.

It's 14 shillings.

Tell you what,
it's a bit irregular, but um

I could let you have a sample for well six
pence, say, and then you could keep

a little reminder of
him wherever you go.

Oh, yes.

Keep the change. Thank you,

Mr. Book. Didn't expect a welcoming committee.
I thought I'd better prepare

you for what? There have been some
changes since you went away on your long

errand, Jack. Oh, by the way,
Lord Belborough's first folio. What did they say?

Is it genuine? As his teeth.

Oh dear.

What the hell? Close.

Hollywood. Or rather, the nearest
England can get to it. Yes, Jack. We're

going to be in pictures. All right, then.
Let's hear it whenever

you're ready. Life and death.
The whole world is here

in this little patch of London town.
You going to do it like that?

Life and death.
The whole world here in this little.

No, I think we'll just lose the line.
I'm already worried about the moustache.

You'll be smashing in
the background there.

Let's take 10.


Nerina. Rather jumpy this
morning, isn't she?

Our dear Sandra.
We worked on hours in the picture

business. Nerina. Oh, don't I know it.
And it must be so

hard to keep that from telling
on the faces of your stars.

If you'll excuse me.
Just the exteriors are being done here.

You understand? The rest is at LadyHurst.
That's the studios. You see, I

know all the jargon. Who's in it?
Morning, Mr. B. Good morning.

Stewart Howard. Yes, ma'am.

I like him. He’s passed me by entirely, I'm afraid.
He plays the hero. The

idealistic young bookshop owner in love
with the girl next door. Did you never

see him in that submarine picture?
He went mad and tried to throttle everyone. I

mean, it was proper sweaty.
A lash.

Well, who else? Patience.
You've literally arrived halfway through this

picture, and you've yet to set eyes on
our leading lady, who's also Stuart's

fiancée. His real life fiancée.
Sandra Dare.

She's using my room. Decantered
my things so she can do her mascara, sip

her, Vichy water, whatever it is these people do.
I had a cigarette card of her

before the w*r, of course.
Ah,

Mr. Book. Ah,
Not getting too much in your way, I

trust. Not at all.
Certainly an education.

Larry Olivier calls film an anaemic
little medium and such a crashing snob.

For he today would shed his blood with
me shall be my brother. Be he e'er so vile.

Churlish when they gave him the Oscar.
Jack, this is Mr. Mckendrick.

Delighted. Oh, and here's Nora.
The g*ng's all

here. So, you're the director

and the writer.
I thought you'd be older with a monocle

and a riding crop.
Must believe everything you read in the

film magazines, young lady.
I've seen you before.

Mr. Mckendrick had a lot of
green penguins from us last summer.

Oh yeah, you look different.
It's the shorts.

I'm not wearing shorts.
That's why you look different. Yes, you

a very busy bee. As I recall,
you're always running about the place, weren't

you, Mr. McKendrick?
Jesse. Jesse.

Ah, hello, Nerina.
In search of material for your next article.

Always.
Well, the bin's around the back.

Aren't you going to introduce me?
This is Mr. Book from...

Oh, the apostrophe man.
They subbed your sign.

I'm trying not to look. Would you by
any chance be a member of His Majesty's.

Press? Nerina Bean, Picturegoer.
If you have

juicy titbits, my door is open.
I'll bear that in mind.

Ice fingers, but they're not real.
Don't break a tooth.

It's lovely. And he has this

from his ceiling all the way
down to his skirting boards.

Does he talk
about her, fiancée?

Does he say, "I don't like her anymore.
She's too old for me."

No. Does he say she's
so old it's like

kissing a leg of mutton? No.
She's only 45. Thank you very much.

He says he was very excited about Lovelorn in London from the moment he saw

the script. And he's very excited about married life.
Though he also adds, "One"

"must keep an open mind because who
knows what fate may throw your way." Hear

that, Barbara?
Heavens go it back. Barbara

home is the hunter.
Oh my god.

Inspector,

is this a sad one, Morris?
Well, cuz I've been up all night with the razor

blade case. So, all right, let's have it.
Film struck

girl, extra, dead on the counter.
It's suspicious. I've shut down filming for

the time being.
Have the parents been informed?

Yes, sir. Uh, she and her family didn't get on.
Her friend said that's why she

spent so much time
at the, uh, pictures.

Inspector book.

We are at home to
death, it seems.

Oh, they're upstairs.

Royal appointment.
What are they keeping from us, Stuart?

All this waiting is making me tired.
Perhaps one should have a mask made.

A mask?
The permanent rictus smile.

They can do wonders with makeup.
Now have Boris Carlo's number if you'd like.

Dearest Miss Dare, you don't know me,
but I'm your most devoted admirer.

I wonder what they'll think.
Lovelorn in London.

Who? Them.

They'll buy it.
They love us, don't they? Both of us.

They'll throw bottles
at the screen.

Do you know what they shouted
at the test of Brief Encounter?

Why doesn't she just kiss him?
Only they didn't say kiss.

Relax, darling. There'll be another
smash by the nation's most blissfully

engaged couple. Remember?
And what a long engagement it's been.

Oh god, I can't wait to be back at the studio.
Haven't you enjoyed a little

field trip?
If we're back at Lady House, it gets

that dreadful Nerina Bean out of my hair.
The studio has gates.

The Fire breather of Picturegoer.
You know when you lift a stone or a

branch and suddenly all these ghastly,
filthy, damp little monstrosities are

exposed to the daylight, scrabbling back
into the shadows. Well, beneath them are

even worse filthy,
damp little monstrosities.

And under there is Nerina Bean
she's been rather sweet to me.

Mhm. Well,

we got good news for her, don't we?
Do we?

Deliveries. Oh,

our new three picture deal.
Picturegoer exclusive.

Well,

what do you want? Barley sugar boy.
I'm afraid there's been an accident.

The contents of a handbag.
Melancholy, isn't it? Evidence of a

little life spilled
on the floor.

Oh, what's this?
You kiss your excess lipstick onto your

favorite star.
It takes all sorts.

This interests me.
May I? Mhm.

Very carefully rammed.
Tenderly, I'd say.

Well, they are still on the ration.
They look expensive. There are only

coppers in this purse.
Trottie. Yes.

Did they have money, these girls?
Very little. So they didn't buy them.

I didn't notice the production
reviving fancy confectionery.

No, the fans bring them.
Letters and presents. Sad little things

they've knitted. They're left through there.
Billy brings them up to them.

Actually, he had a box of
chocolates with him just now.

Puncture mark. Barbara was breathless.
Trottie. Yes?

Yes. And twitchy

Strychnine. Oh, hell's bells.

Poor girl.
Someone's been at these.

Oh, darling. You shouldn't, You
You don't know where they've been.

Drop it. It's poison.
Don't be absurd. They're by royal

appointment. I'm afraid it's true, sir.
You You You didn't have any, did you,

mister? Oh, uh, no. No.

What about you, Mr. Howard? No. Not good.
Have you ever received chocolates

like this before, mister? Uh, yes.
All the time. My fans know

they're my favourite,
but I never eat them.

It seems reasonable to assume then
that you were the intended victim.

Intended victim?
What does he mean, intended victim?

We're investigating the death of Barbara Malcolm.
Yes, that unfortunate young

woman. Yes.

Oh my god. I have been sent some strange
things in my time, but why would anyone

want to k*ll me?
Billy, who gave you these chocolates?

Nobody. They were just with the usual mail.
I always have to deal with it.

Well, anyone could have got to them.
And Barbara and her friend presumably did.

Jesus Christ. We could have both died.
What were you thinking about bringing

that muck up here?
Sorry, Mr. Howard, but you told me to

Don't answer me back.

Going need to find
myself a new assistant.

You all right, my love?
It's a brutal question, Miss Dare, but I'm

afraid it must be asked.
Do you have any idea who might want to

k*ll you? Can't this wait?

Yes, of course. Excuse us. Sir, out.
I need to remind you that this

is an official m*rder investigation.
Don't talk to the press.

There once was an actress called Dare
whose allure was exceedingly rare. Her

chocolates were spiked with strychnine, not nice.
But 'twas Barbara that ate

them. Not fair.
I hope we did the right thing letting

those people into the lane.
Why did you?

I'm afraid it was money. Yes, my love.
Those little pieces of

paper that keep us out of
the small claims courts.

How much? 20 guineas

per week per diem

for 10 diems.

The devil's going on out there?
Bobby's swimming about like the cup final.

Ah, Mrs. Goodwin. Yes.
I'm afraid there's been an

accident. Oh.
Oh, nothing to do with Sandra Dare.

I hope. I heard she was in the neighbourhood.
Oh, so that's why we're

here. Always been a fan.

They don't want to hear about
your juvenile antics, woman.

Miss Dare is perfectly sound, I'm happy to say.
The Scarlet Pimpernel you had

from us last time, wasn't it?
I trust you enjoy it.

Oh, very much.
I promised you the sequel.

I'm teeing off at quarter 2.
Sorry.

Thinking I will repay.

What? That's the
sequel to The Scarlet.

Pimpernel. Jack. Oh. Um,

underneath Hardy Perennials,
the biography of Danton and the stack of

unpaid bills.
Got anything on, uh, how to cook?

I beg your pardon. That's what she needs.
Can hardly boil a ruddy egg.

How are your feet?
Oh, how much better.

Oh, I'll wait in the car.

Ah, that's just a bob.
Oh, and I put this to one side, too. Uh, on the house.

What is it? Oh, just a little play.
Ibsen, A Doll's House. It's about a

woman who realises she's rather
trapped, unfulfilled.

Thought you might find it enlightening.
Thank you,

Cheerio.

How's business been? Booming.

Goodbye to Berlin.
All the Stewart Howard fans are mad for it.

Is he in the film version?
That's what I'm telling them.

I, uh, better unpack.
Oh, Jack, be a darling and fetch my bag

from my room, would you?
It's the green one with the amber clasp.

Right.

You really think someone
tried to k*ll me?

It really looks that way. Good God.
At least we'll be back at Lady.

Hurst tonight.
You sure you're okay to sh**t?

Have to be, won't I? Deirdre, silly me.
My memory. Sandra, are you

ready? Ready? My exclusive.
Oh, excuse me. Um, I promised an

interview, Harold.
Um, Nerina, I can give you two minutes.

Necessary evil.
I suppose one must feed the machine. Mr.

Ah, finally.

If you'd be so kind, you know my motto.
If you've nothing nice to

say, come and sit by me.
And here you are, sitting by me.

Ah, yes, but I do have
something nice to say. Nerina.

Oh, Lovelorn in London is the
first of a new three picture deal.

A deal Stewart and I have signed on for.
Isn't that marvelous?

Marvelous. And you're
sh**ting interiors at Lady.

House, aren't you?
Not exactly MGM, is it? Ped. Oh, it'll

do nicely. You know the place
though, don't you?

Made plenty of pictures there in the past.
Like the one where you played the

simple crofter's daughter
who married a duke.

Yes. And the one where
you played a simple

fisherman's daughter who
married a jute magnet.

Yes. I always forget what dude is.
It's a kind of fibre. People make bags with

it. What's the first
film you made there,

Sandra? At LadyHurst.
H um I don't know. Uh

Springtime for Mary, I think.
Oh, about a simple blacksmith's daughter

who married. All right.

I think it was quite a bit before that.
Do you know our readers would be

fascinated to learn that not all Sandra
Dare's pictures were talking pictures?

I love those old inter titles.
Came the dawn and all that.

Or I can check the date later.
Deirdre, that is your real name, isn't it? The

one you used to go by.
Dear Piddock, perhaps you should

concentrate on the present Nerina.
Where?

Someone is trying to k*ll me.

Jesse and I are taking Sandra for supper.
Try to take her mind off things.

If that's not inappropriate
under the circumstances.

Well, one must eat.
Where are you going? Wheelers?

No, Camille's on the Strand.
Good choice.

Don't have the oysters.

I saw them taking that girl away.
I assumed it was an accident.

Poison chocolates. Really?

And they were intended for me.
And that poor sad girl intercepted them. Oh god,

how's that for an exclusive?
Tragic. And what an angle.

Oh, sorry. That was crass of me.
But still,

what an angle.
Well, there's your story, Nerina.

Are you ready, darling?
Oh, yeah. I was just leaving.

Congratulations on the new
contract, Stewart.

Thank you.

Much to chew on.
Always lovely to see you.

Bus to LadyHurst leaves in 5 minutes.


What are you waiting for?
The last post.

Mr. Masterson son,
what a pleasure to see you again.

Nerina Bean, looking lovely as ever.
What can I do for you?

Here we go. Ta.

We met through um Picturegoer.
Me and Barbara, I mean there's lots of

correspondents. You see,
like minded folk finding each other.

Some aren't to their fans.
Some and the other big names, too.

There's a hairdresser I know
who's potty on James Mason.

But you know, Stuart was our favorite.
That's why we Why we chose to get jobs

as extras to get close?
You're doing very well, my dear.

You admit to taking
the chocolates?

Yeah. I'm awfully sorry.
We just couldn't

resist them. We saw them there on the
table in the bookshop. And I mean,

chocs, come on. It's been years.
They were through there.

Yeah, just through there.
What did you do with the note?

Note? Well,
there was obviously an enclosure

of some kind. It's not there now.
What did you do with it?

I, I, I, I didn't see any note.

It was over there.
Look on the table.

It's funny how easy it
is to get close to them.

Sally Gray once brushed past me in
the powder room at the Walsingham.

You opened the box. Maybe the card fell out.
Do you have back issues?

Picturegoer.
I mean, of course.

January 35 onwards. Would you be so
good as to let us have them? Of course.

I know that look.

Oh, dog. You are a naughty boy.

This succession.

Well, I wouldn't say session, sir.
He gives you full pay for that.

He does. He really can't.
You're sure he knows about that? Yeah,

he does know where we are.
Thank you, Miss Bruce. You've been most

helpful., uh, uh, Constable.

Thank you.

Well?

oh Stewart, oh Stewart, my love,
there's so much I want to say to you. From that

moment on the submarine, I knew your
look of concentration, your strength, we

were destined to love each other.
Ship of Shame. Good picture, that one.

They were meant for him.

We imagine we control our passions,
but they direct us to the stars. We strive

despite adversity. They drive ordinary
people to extraordinary actions like…

like injecting strychnine
into strawberry creams.

So Stuart, my own best darling,
I implore you not to try. Follow your

heart. Break off your engagement and we
can be together, you and I, my sweetest

boy, in life or in the cold, cold tomb of death.
And if one proves impossible,

I'll take the other joyously.
Well, that seems pretty clear. If the

writer can't have him, nobody can.
So, we're looking for a film fanatic.

Fanatic being the word.
That would be the obvious explanation.

All right, then. Bring me up to speed.
What do we know about this film mob?

Stewart Howard,
proof that smouldering Latin looks

sometimes occur
spontaneously in Bermondsey.

He and Sandra have bound their careers
together, the nation's sweethearts.

But hope can know the truth of it.
He's an actor and he's young and ruthless and

rather over rewarded and appears to be
hopelessly in love with someone else.

Who? Himself.

Then there's the Honourable Jesse Mckendrick.
He lived in rooms on the

lane last year just for a few weeks.
Rich boy slumbing it for the summer.

Ran up and down like a billy goat.
He was always pounding the streets in his

plimsolls. Left when it got
cold, ran straight back

to daddy's place in Wiltshire, I think.
I'm sure I looked it up.

And then we must presume wrote his
script on the private lives of the

proletariat.
Thank you so much for joining.

Good neighbour, was he?
Didn't pay much attention to be honest.

I find that hard to believe.
Well, he was obviously taking notes on

how to run a bookshop.
And Miss Dare, she had a rich husband

who died, didn't she? Italian national.
Is that why they went to the States?

Well, if they'd stayed, he'd have been
interned as an enemy alien, so I suppose

they preferred the California sunshine.
That's made me think rather better of

her. I thought she was just
running away from the bombs.

What about Billy?
Clapper boy.

Positions, please.
And from the look of it, Stewart Howard's

now ex-whipping boy. Doesn't seem to be
much love lost there. They pose a lot,

don't they, these film stars?
Why is he marrying her? Do you think to

shows she's still here?

Thank you. Uh to show she
knows what the audience

wants. Stewart Howard's just arrived at the
top, ain't he? Sergeant's been there

for years, but she can only
stay there for so long.

Very perceptive of you, Jack.

What a brutal business this is.
It captures people in time, then they

change,

and it mocks them for it. Right.
I'm going to get on to the film

security people. See if anyone saw who
dropped the chocolates off. What will

you do now?
Jack and I are taking this note to

dinner.

Jesus Christ. Me? You.

You have no idea how draining it
is, Mr. Book.

Glad handing. Scribbling one's autograph.
Failing to

recognise someone whom you apparently
met at a village fete 10 years ago. And

the smiling. Great god. The smiling.
This is simply the next step. They can

only love one so much.
And there's only one way to go from there.

How can I bloody well eat after that?
Well, a crazed fan is only the most

obvious theory, but we don't
like to be obvious, do we, Jack?

What? Oh, uh, no. No, we don't.
So, if I might repurpose the inspector's

earlier question, can you think of
anyone who might want to k*ll you, Mr.

Howard? Take your ruddy pick.

There's quite a lot of angry ladies out
there, not to mention their husbands.

Saville Row tailors, producers,
directors, writers, my ex-agent, my

ex-ex-agent, uncle Tom Conway and all.
What about prison?

What? You started to eat
your dinner with your

spoon. Ah, old habits.

Dead giveaway.
Takes one to no one.

I was younger than you. Nothing too terrible.
But I shouldn't like it to get

into the popular press, Mr. Book.
I should think not.

What'd they get you for?
I went for a drive.

Where? Through a furrier's
window in Mayfair. You

went to the bank to make a withdrawal.
With a stocking over your face?

Yeah. My mother's.

I'm a Bermondsey boy, Jack.
Rough as a sailor's arse

despite all of this.

Do you think it could have something
to do with that? The prison?

Well, as you've indicated, it's a wide field.
Tell you what, why not take on

young Jack here as your new factotum?
Huh?

No harm in having a strapping young
fellow like him hanging around. And you

are looking for a new assistant.
Yeah, I can't. I've already got a job at

the bookshop. I'm sure I can
spare you for a few days.

And you know how Nora
loves to help out. Well,

splendid. Yes, it's a good idea.
You know, Mr.

Book, you should all come to Ladyhurst.
Help us get the details right and uh

keep an eye on things. We'll be delighted.
Thank you for these.

I'm a film star.

You all right? Yeah.

Why wouldn't I be?
I'll leave you to it then. Let me know

if anything interesting turns up.
Oh, and be careful. There is a k*ller on the

loose. Good night.

Good night. Yes, sir.
What's your poison?

Varsity sporting review.

There you are.

What's this? Come on.
It's usually around now that

you deign to share.

Three things then. Who would benefit
from Lovelorn in London collapsing? What

was missing from that box of chocolates
was lying there with all the other fan

mail. But no envelope.

Top of the class, Mrs. Book.
So unless the envelope was disposed of,

the chocolates didn't arrive by post.
So anyone on the film set could have put

it there. Precisely.
And finally, the chocolate

method, haphazard though it was,
has been tried and failed, which means

whoever's behind this is going
to try again. What are you

going to do?
We're invited to the film studios

tomorrow. And Jack has a new job.
The Stewart Howard stand in.

When are we going
to tell him?

Not yet. Shall I read?

Well, I know how you enjoy
it, so I'll humour you.

But then.

Oh, there it is.
Been fretting about that since we moved my

stuff to accommodate the stars.
Then fret not, dear. And recall our

solemn pact

The Cave of Fancy. I've seen some dives in my
time, but this

so dirty, so shady.

The pansies in my
garden abhor the shade.

Right, sir. It is sir. Is it?
Let's find you on my

list. Name, occupation,
marital status.

Engaged. Who are you?

Medical officer Strottford Perry.
Trottie to my friends. Late of the Garibaldi.

Brigade. And I don't mean the biscuits.
I can pull out shrapnel. I can strip a

toshanker in under two seconds.
And I once to pull it south of the erbo, which

I wouldn't recommend even to you, Sergeant.
And I never ever leave a man

behind. He's sitting there.
And I'm getting

married to him next Saturday.
And the chief constable's daughter is one of our

bridesmaids. So if I were you,
I'd just admit the error right away and cross him

off your list. What say you?

Saturday all right for you?
Forecast is good.

Quite alright. Trottie

Kiss me.

Uh-oh.

Where would I be without you?
I think we both know the answer to that,

my love.

Anyway,
you were going to read.

Of course.

She's noticed you.
Yeah, they always notice me. Girls

doesn't mean anything.
It's like when kids point a dogs in the

street and say, "Dog?" Yeah.

Well, you’ll be getting married soon, sir.
They've seen it in a column by Lerina.

Bean. But let me tell you
something, Jack.

I've never gone down
at one knee to anyone.

Sandra popped the question then, did she?
I can imagine that.

Most of the questions are
from a business manager.

Oh, so you've got
an arrangement then.

Shouldn't drink so much, should I?
Yes, an arrangement. But we all have those,

don't we? You have one with Book.
Book has one with Mrs. Book if we're talking

about unusual marriages.
Why' you say Book's marriage is unusual?

You're like him, Book. How?

Cuz you read.
Just go on, read me.

Well, um,

you keep coming here cuz you think this
is the sort of place that film stars go,

but here's the thing. You don't like it here.
You hate it. And you hate that

drink, too.
It's like a pudding from the w*r.

So, you're thinking, "How can I be the
chap I was?" You know, before I knew

that the camera loved me,
which is a terrible thing to know. It's not all it’s cracked

up to be. Can you believe that?
Yeah, I wouldn't mind a bit of it.

Careful what you wish for, son.
Got someone sending me poison in the post.

Remember,

I was a bit stuck when I met Sandra.
Typecast, not officer material. They

said it was a problem, Kid.
Sandra changed that. She pulled strings,

whispered in ears. Producers started
casting us as lovers. We were lovers by

then, of course.
Do you love her now?

Well, I don't hate her.

You want to be your own man?

Of course I do. But it's impossible, isn't it?
We're a pair like Hope and

Crosby, Fred and Ginger,
Garbo and Gilbert.

Except he left, didn't he? What?
John Gilbert didn't survive when the talkies

came. Yeah. So it's all an act then.
You and her?

golden couple.
All an act as much an artifice as Stewart

Howard himself.

Film is for dreamers. You see Jack, when
you sit there in the dark has to be

space for you up there in that kiss.
No scenes in the moonlight standing by

the rail of a ship. You just read in
the fan mags that the screen lovers have

broken off the engagement.
Can't stand to be in a room together

and there's no
space to dream.

Scene 49, take eight and

action. It was then I
knew we had fallen in love

from the pages of a book. But was that
love strong enough to thrive out in the

teeming world? Uh, can we, um, try it
again without him reading it? I can do

it in time.
Yes, of course. Reset.

Rolling. Sandra and

action.

I'm so sorry, Jesse. Uh, can I beg


Cut it there.
Cutting it there.



Is that coffee, sir?
No. Thank you.

Come along.

Eric Percival Banks.
She's she's been married before.

Good morning.
You're up early. Oh,

I thought you
might want a tea.

Hey kid,
you want to be in pictures?

Your name's not on the list.
Who are you?

We're antiquarian book sellers.
Isn't it obvious?

And I know we're being extra vigilant,
Jerry Love, but bear with me.

All right.

What's this?
The address of Barbara Markham's

parents. I'll go visit them.

No, no. There's the inquest first.
Just write them a kind letter.

I will. Thanks, Book.

You boys are in for the biggest
surprise of your lives.

Keep going. Better this way.
More dramatic.

Geordie, can I get some lights
on, please? Yes.

Amazing. It's absurd.

Ridiculous,
A bizarre exaggeration of reality.

It is wonderful.
What a thrillingly peculiar life you

lead, Mr. Howard.
It's an imitation of life.

Dog's blanket, but no dog.

Is dog cast yet? Yeah. But she’s not much cop.
No screen presence.

Think of a good replacement.
Yeah, I can.

Cans of cash. Your Tony's a
better book seller than I am.

He's fake. Like everything in here.
Well, I'm glad you had a chance to look

before the hordes arrived.
Let's get some breakfast. Canteen's in the next

block. Lead on, McDuff.

It's just past the
dressing rooms.

Do you know what you're doing next?
Or another Robin Hood remake? I mean, I've

got the pins, right?
Oh my god. What?

It's one of the extras.

No, I think not.

It's Nerina Bean.

The girl with the poison pen.