♪ ♪ My whole life, my faith was just an accident?

I'll make him your ward, if you'll have him.

I think Cathy might be having an affair, with Mr.

Switch.

We're closing early.

Hello, Switchy.

CATHY: This whole time, you've been lying to me?

♪ ♪ Stay back!

GEORDIE: Hey, son.

Put the gun down.

(gun fires) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (thunder claps) (whimpers) (click) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Just put the gun down.

♪ ♪ Just give it to me, Dexter.

(gun fires) (audio distorting) CATHY: Geordie!

♪ ♪ (phone ringing in background) ♪ ♪ You're late.

I know.

Briefing started ten minutes ago.

GEORDIE: Mm, did you find Dexter's file?

That's it.

That's the little... Language!

(exhales) ...toe rag.

Thank you.

What did the doctor say?

LARRY: "No smoking."

He said, "No smoking."

Hm!

Thank you, Larry.

I knew we'd had him in before.

Starting when he was ten.

Theft, assault.

Any last known address?

No fixed abode, not for the most part.

Up!

Sorry, Mrs.

Keating.

I'm working!

You said it was itchy!

Right here.

(sighs) The farm out near Whittlesford.

Lived there with his aunt and uncle for a time.

It's worth a try.

Right, you heard the boss.

OFFICERS: Sir.

I'm nipping home.

No ciggies.

(door closes) (door opens) (sighs) Geordie.

(door closes) I nearly died.

Give me this one thing.

(sirens blaring) (sirens stop) ♪ ♪ (grunting) Police!

Up there!

Sir.

Dexter Sutton.

Where is he?

Not here.

Washed our hands of that boy.

Could've asked before you bashed my door in!

LES: So what's he done now?

This.

Nothing to do with us.

Bastard probably deserved it.

♪ ♪ I wouldn't do that, son.

Unless you fancy losing your pearly whites.

He's not here, Guv.

Like I said.

Tell Dexter we're coming for him.

He'll be quaking in his boots, I'm sure.

His name's Geordie, by the way.

The man he shot.

He has a wife and four kids.

Someone's paying for my door!

Tell you that for nothing!

ALPHY: I had the dream again.

GEORDIE: That bloody dream.

Mm.

Can't seem to shake it.

Well, you know why, don't you?

Please, enlighten me.

You're having a crisis of faith.

Uh... (sighs) I don't know, I don't know if it's that, exactly.

The angst, the self-recrimination.

Did you pray for me?

No.

Well, there we go, then.

Well, there wasn't exactly time.

A vicar who's on good terms with God would've made time.

(sighs) I prayed.

You never did.

Well, not prayed, exactly.

I just... (sighs) I hear the shot.

I'm lying there thinking, this is it.

And these words are going round and round in my head.

"Love the sinner, hate the sin."

Wow.

Three vicars, all trying to explain it to me.

And all I could think was, "I still don't bloody get it."

Well, it's simple.

Well, go on, then.

Whatever we do, we're all children of God.

We all deserve His forgiveness.

But you still punish the sin?

Of course.

But if you punish the sin, aren't you still punishing the sinner?

Well... (exhales) Yes, but... So you're not loving the sinner, are you?

You're saying you love him, all while shoving a noose around his neck and watching him swing.

Well, it's a bit more complicated than that.

Thought you said it was simple.

Okay, so... England lose at football.

To who?

I don't know.

(stammers) Hungary.

Home or away?

(exhales) Does that matter?

Home.

How much do we lose by?

One-nil, yeah?

But, but you still love England, don't you?

You still love them as a team, you still root for them.

No-- unforgiveable.

Geordie, come on.

Losing a game that we invented, on home turf-- to Hungary?

(chuckles): It was a metaphor.

Even so... (sniffs) If an old heathen like me can have godly thoughts, you can, too.

Earl Grey?

You brought the tea service.

Of course she brought the tea service.

Leonard.

(whispers): We have the thing?

About the situation?

Oh, yes, of course, the, um, the thing.

What thing?

More to the point, what situation?

It's nothing.

Nothing of note.

Nothing, really, at all.

What is the thing, Leonard?

Mm... She'll get it out of you eventually.

You know she will.

Marcus wants to see us.

About Raymond.

Don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing.

What do you think we're doing?

You know very well.

I haven't got a clue.

Marcus has asked me to be Raymond's legal guardian.

So, so you and... Oh!

Have you ever heard of anything more ridiculous in your entire God-given life?

I think it's rather marvelous.

Jack Chapman, you take that right back!

It's better than the alternative.

There'll be a home Raymond can go to, a good home.

Not a family, though.

Two men isn't a family, Jack.

But it isn't just two men, is it?

I mean, it's two men.

And you and me.

And Alphy, and the Keatings.

It's the people in the village.

Old Mrs.

Salter from next door.

Mrs.

Salter is a sour-faced trout.

Maybe not Mrs.

Salter, then.

You can teach him to cook.

I'll teach him golf and medieval history and... ...how to make a perfect Old Fashioned.

(chuckles) Grandpa and Grandmama.

Grandmama?!

No, thank you very much.

You have no idea how much I love you, Jack Chapman.

I have an inkling.

Grampy Jack.

Grampy Jack.

I like that.

I like that very much.

You off?

There's a thing.

About a situation.

And it will all end in disaster.

GEORDIE: Have you tried doing a round of the pubs?

Yeah, Dexter likes a bit of a drink, by all accounts.

On it, boss.

Who brought that in here?

Don't look at me.

LARRY: Probation services haven't been much help, either.

We can try talking to the uncle and aunt again.

He's just had an operation, Alphy.

He's his own worst enemy.

(sighs) (Larry continues on phone) Cath.

Larry?

Nap time!

Love to the boys!

(receiver clatters) I tried to stop him.

He stabbed his aunt.

He wouldn't stop.

♪ ♪ Alphy.

You'll find God again.

I know you will.

(door closes) What was that for?

I'm sorry.

You've nothing to be sorry about.

Yes, I do.

You know I do.

Cathy... No.

Just let me say it.

I was stupid.

Mr.

Switch made me feel appreciated.

I, I think that's what it was.

And, and glamorous.

And nothing happened.

Cathy... I swear!

Cathy.

It was just silly.

It was a, it was a silly fantasy.

I hope you can forgive me.

You don't pull the whole wall down if there's a crack in the plaster, do you?

Someone very wise once told me that.

Who was that, then?

Well, her name escapes me now, but... (sighs) ...she was very beautiful.

And glamorous.

And clever?

(weakly): Cleverest person I've ever met.

(panting) Geordie?

What's wrong?

(whimpers) (sighs) (exhales) Oh, my God!

Alphy?!

(door opens) Cathy?

Get help, please!

Get a doctor!

♪ ♪ We're here, Geordie.

♪ ♪ You want me to pray for you?

(murmuring) Okay.

ALPHY (echoing): Go forth from this world in the love of God, who created you... Go forth from this world in the love of God, who created you... ALPHY (echoing): ...in the mercy of Jesus Christ, who redeemed you... (voice trembling): ...in the mercy of... It was me.

Your dream.

It was me.

Geordie.

Geordie!

Geordie?

Hey, Geordie?

Geordie!

We need some help in here, please!

DOCTOR: Out of the way please, quickly.

NURSE: Please step aside.

In the mercy of Jesus Christ, who redeemed you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens you... ...may you dwell this day in peace.

(whimpering) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ALPHY: I saw God once.

I was ten, or thereabouts.

Reverend Potts sat me down and told me I had a new family.

I was going to a new home.

They'd always wanted a son, this couple, and... Even though they were white, they thought they could make me into the boy they'd always wanted.

But from that very first night, I could tell.

They knew they'd made a terrible mistake.

They didn't want me.

And knowing that, seeing that, it... Well, it broke me a little bit.

And so I did something really stupid, I, um, took a necklace that was hers.

I stole it.

Put it under my pillow.

Because if they were going to get rid of me, I wanted to make damn sure they had a good reason.

And it worked.

They brought me back to the home.

No one ever told me why, but I knew.

I wasn't good enough, Geordie.

Not good enough to have a family.

Not good enough to be loved.

I knew from that moment on, I'd always be alone.

(voice trembling): And that's when it happened.

I, I saw this, this light, this beautiful white light all around me.

You know, it was warm.

And gentle, and... All that pain, all that loneliness and the anger, it just... It went.

Just left me.

He spoke to me.

It doesn't matter now what He said, but... The upshot is, now I'm not seeing Him anymore.

I'm not seeing the light.

♪ ♪ (sighs) Please don't leave me, Geordie.

Please don't leave me.

I can't lose you, too.

♪ ♪ (door opens) ♪ ♪ Mum?

(crying): Oh, Esme!

♪ ♪ ROWAN: "I, Marcus Hayes"... That's him, not me.

Yes, we know.

ROWAN: ..."being the lawful parent of Raymond Hayes, "do hereby appoint Daniel Marlowe "to be guardian of said child "and vest in him all such power, duties, and responsibilities as are vested in a guardian under the law."

Et cetera, et cetera.

I don't know what to say.

Don't say anything, just sign it.

(pen clicks) LEONARD: Wait, wait.

So if Daniel signs this... Congratulations, it's a boy.

Just like that, just... We are with child.

Not until he's carked it, of course.

No offense.

None taken.

Could you just... Do you mind if we just, um... Deep breaths.

(breathing deeply) (door closes) This all feels very sudden, don't you think?

Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel.

That was all a bit sudden, but, uh, she didn't mind.

Jesus was a baby.

Raymond is a little person, with thoughts, and opinions.

What if he doesn't know about the birds and the bees?

I can't tell him-- I barely know myself.

This is... Impossible?

I'm a homosexual, Daniel.

I hope so.

Or I've wasted an awful lot of time.

And a criminal, at that.

Every criminal deserves a second chance.

Oh, nonsense.

You were the one who said that!

You built a whole business around it!

You and me.

With a child.

It seems so very unlikely.

Says the man who believes in miracles.

When I came here, I had no one.

I had nothing.

I liked books more than people.

I was terrified of people, to be honest.

But then I found a family, and love and... You.

♪ ♪ Perhaps that's enough.

You had no one, I had no one.

Soon, Raymond will have no one.

We were all alone.

We all found each other, Leonard.

It's, uh... It's rather wonderful, really.

And the birds and the bees?

I know the basics.

Shall we?

(both talking softly) ♪ ♪ (car approaching) ♪ ♪ He's done it again, Alphy.

Dexter.

♪ ♪ LES: I told him not to be stupid.

I told him to calm down, but he won't listen-- he never listened.

He's gonna keep hurting people.

He's not gonna stop.

You have to stop him.

(engine starts, people talking in background) It's funny, isn't it?

I spent so long trying to prove myself.

Show Geordie I've got what it takes.

I hardly know what to do with myself.

Yes, you do, Larry.

(people talking in background) Do you think he's proud of me?

Of course he is.

He never said.

Geordie taught you everything.

You know exactly what to do.

Move that lot back.

This is a crime scene, not a bleeding circus.

Sarge.

Where would Dexter go, Mr.

Browning?

I don't know.

He's not mine, he's my sister's.

Would he go to her, do you think?

She's dead, years back.

What exactly happened, Mr.

Browning?

He turns up, three sheets to the wind.

He's got a temper on him at the best of times.

But he was, his, his eyes.

I, I'd never seen them so cold, it was like he had the devil in him.

He crowed about it, you know?

About your wife?

About the copper-- made a joke of it.

Said he had half a mind to go down there, to the hospital, finish what he started.

♪ ♪ Wake up, my love.

Please, wake up.

We've got to get old together.

You and me.

Walking along the meadow, arm in arm.

Kids driving us to distraction.

You, sneaking a little kiss when you think no one's watching.

I don't, I don't work without you, Geordie.

(crying): None of us work without you.

What will I do without him?

You'll cope.

That's what we do, isn't it?

Sometimes... ...I felt lonely.

You know, even with him by my side.

(sobbing): But I had no idea... ...how lucky I was... ...to have someone all of my own.

To love and be loved.

When was the last time you ate?

Oh, I couldn't.

You have to keep your strength up.

There's a pub across the road.

(sniffles) Sherry?

It's fortifying.

Ten minutes, that's all.

I think we can get suitably fortified in ten minutes.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (tires skid, woman yelps) MAN: You bloody idiot!

♪ ♪ (door closes) ♪ ♪ Police!

Move!

Move!

I'll do it.

I'll kill you, too.

Move!

LARRY: Dexter!

Stop!

Larry!

(grunts, knife slices) (grunts) (grunting) (gasping) (knife stabs, hit lands) (grunts) (yelps) (coughs) ALPHY: Larry?

Larry?

Larry?!

I got him.

(panting) I think I got him.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (breath trembling) ♪ ♪ MARCUS: Thing is, Raymond, I think God is calling me to come up to heaven.

Can you tell Him you're not ready?

LEONARD: You don't keep God waiting if you can help it, do you?

I don't want you to go.

I know.

(voice breaking): I don't want to be on my own.

We don't want that, either.

So how about you come and live with us, Raymond?

DANIEL: We'd make the spare room up, with cars, and trains... (door opens) ...and whatnot.

(door closes) Oh, Lord.

I've had some thoughts.

And a few sherries.

Now is not the time.

I was on my own for a long time.

And I was terribly, terribly lonely.

There's nothing worse than loneliness.

So, when the time comes, we want you to know that we're waiting, Raymond, and we'd be ever so pleased to be your family.

♪ ♪ I know this is an awful lot to take in.

You must have an awful lot of questions about, well, an awful lot of things.

Do you have any questions?

Can we get a dog?

Yes!

No.

We don't know the first thing about dogs, Leonard.

We cannot get a dog.

We will absolutely get a dog.

♪ ♪ (engine revving) (tires skid) (engine stops) (car door opens) (door closes) I don't see it.

(loudly): I don't see the light.

(softly): Don't think I ever did, not really.

I was just trying to find meaning where there was none.

You were never with me.

I was always alone.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ I think I'm dying.

♪ ♪ (whimpering) You hear me?

You bastard!

I need help!

I need help!

♪ ♪ (groaning) ♪ ♪ LES: He ain't here.

I'm telling you, he ain't here!

♪ ♪ He do this?

LES: Always was a bit touched.

I done my best by him-- we both did.

Jesus himself would've turned his back on the boy.

♪ ♪ LARRY: He left the gun.

What is that?

A prayer of some sort.

(gasping) Thought you had a duty.

He was my friend.

He was a copper.

He was doing his job.

Still a copper!

He had kids, for God's sake.

I'd do it again, you know.

Get that smug bastard right in his face this time.

Boom!

(chuckles) You don't give a damn.

Yeah, why should I?

No one gave a damn about me!

Rotten, stinking world, full of rotten, stinking people.

There's no miracles, no God.

We're born alone, we die alone.

Like that copper of yours.

(groans, sniffs) ♪ ♪ (murmuring) Dad?

♪ ♪ Esme.

(door opens) Mum?

Quickly.

What, what, what, what is it?

Come on.

♪ ♪ Cathy.

Cathy.

You came back.

You came back to me.

(sighs) Cathy.

What, you just gonna leave me here?

Is that what you're gonna do?

Why did you come here?

What do you want from me?

(panting) Is it forgiveness?

Hm?

Is that it?

Well, you have to, don't you?

You have to forgive me.

And then what?

You're absolved?

While the rest of us... You, you took a life.

(crying): And you ripped my heart out in the process.

(laughs) You're as bad as the rest of them.

I... I kept having this dream.

(laughs) About praying.

Yeah.

(panting) And I thought it might be the start of something.

Like light, like a goodness.

But it wasn't the start of something.

It was the end of it.

Of all of it.

Of everything.

♪ ♪ (knock at door) ♪ ♪ (door closes) Boss, it's me.

Go and get you some water, my love.

♪ ♪ (door opens) LARRY: You had me going a while there.

Dexter.

(door closes) I'm sorry.

Dexter.

We'll find him, don't worry.

I'm so sorry.

Where's Alphy?

He went home.

I hope you can forgive me.

And if you can't, well, God will, won't He?

That vicar.

He will, won't he?

What, what are you doing?

Lie down.

You're gonna hurt yourself.

He was sorry.

The boy was sorry.

ALPHY: Go forth from this world in the love of God, who created you, in the mercy of Jesus Christ, who redeemed you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, who strengthens you.

Please don't let me die.

(breathing weakly) May you dwell this day in peace.

(door closes) (panting) (murmuring) Alphy.

♪ ♪ Geordie!

♪ ♪ (Geordie murmuring) ♪ ♪ Hey, hey!

Geordie.

(grunts) Just let me tell you a story, Alphy.

There was a boy who nobody wanted.

Yeah.

He was passed from pillar to post.

He was all alone in this world.

No one loved him.

No one cared.

So he lashed out.

He stole to get attention.

Yeah, made himself mean and hard.

Because, if no one was going to love him, he'd sure as hell give them a reason not to.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

(Dexter groaning) GEORDIE: Everything but the cardboard box on the doorstep.

I'd spent my whole working life trying to right people by punishing them.

Just clap them in handcuffs the minute they walk over whatever terrible cliff they've made of their lives.

But then I met Sidney.

And Will.

And you.

And I started to realize all of us walk off a cliff at some point in our lives.

All of us fall.

It's how we pick people up afterwards.

That's what matters.

How we help them to stand back up.

Love the sinner, hate the sin.

What was it God said to you?

When you saw Him.

"Even when I feel furthest from you, I am near."

♪ ♪ How about that?

Kept it under his pillow.

♪ ♪ (breath trembling) I'm sorry.

I am sorry.

Forgive me.

Please, forgive me.

♪ ♪ Please forgive me.

(siren wailing) Help's on its way.

(sighs) (siren continues) ♪ ♪ (people talking in background) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ It's overdue, as is... Let me stop you there.

Why?

I have a feeling I know what you're going to say.

I don't think you do.

You're going to say, "This is long overdue.

As is this apology."

(chuckles) Yeah, I, I thought it would be charming.

Hm.

Come on, it's a little bit charming.

A shilling.

You owe me a shilling for the fine.

(exhales) (coins rattling) What exactly are you apologizing for, anyway?

All of it.

For being... Self-absorbed, hot and cold, troubled, unavailable?

I'm not self-absorbed, am I?

Oh, God, am I self-absorbed?

And after the apology, what happens next?

I'd casually ask you for a drink.

Go on, then.

Now?

Well, you're here, aren't you?

(clears throat) Hey, Meg.

Yes, Alphy?

I don't suppose you fancy a drink?

Mm, very casual.

And after that?

Well, I was thinking along the lines of, I don't know, marriage and babies.

I meant, what after the drink?

(both chuckle) Dancing.

Hm.

I like dancing.

Mm-hmm.

Tomorrow, then?

You still owe me a shilling.

(coins rattling) (bells ringing in distance) Tomorrow, and I'll pick you up.

You're forgiven, by the way.

♪ ♪ Marriage and babies, you say?

Imagine the look on your dad's face.

(both laugh) ♪ ♪ (engine stops) You know who I blame?

Sidney Becket.

Who?

Used to be, my vicars were on time.

(car door closes) Punctual, not dilly-dallying with girls.

Then they got into jazz and motor vehicles, and it all went swiftly downhill.

We're not dilly-dallying, by the way!

I think I'm going to marry her!

Straighten your hair!

You look like you've been run through a hedge backwards!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Welcome-- please.

♪ ♪ Will the godparents step forward?

(Daisy cooing) Are you crying?

It's the dust.

You've been a big old softie this whole time.

Dost thou, in the name of this child, renounce the devil and all his works?

BOTH: I renounce them all.

ALPHY: Dost thou believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth?

(door opens) LEONARD: Sorry!

Sorry!

DANIEL: He was doing his hair.

Excuse me for wanting to look nice.

I think you look lovely.

Thank you, Raymond.

Sorry.

As you were.

(Daisy cooing) Dost thou believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth?

Daisy, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

ALL: Amen.

(Daisy coos) Sometimes we may wonder... ...where is God?

Even Jesus thought he had been forsaken.

But through Christ, God is always with us.

He speaks to us through the shapes of our lives.

He speaks to us in the celebrations and the silences.

Through beginnings and endings.

♪ ♪ Through meetings.

And partings.

♪ ♪ In the sunset.

And the sunrise.

♪ ♪ God is in the big sorrows.

And He's there in the little joys.

He's in the path of our lives, through every twist and turn.

♪ ♪ Sometimes, we may worry.

That we're going in the wrong direction.

To an edge we'll fall from.

But if we do fall... ...God will be there to catch us.

Let us all promise to be there for Daisy as she navigates the path of her life.

Let us be with her every step of the way, as Christ will be, through faith, hope... ...and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

(puppy whining) What the... Dickens!

(dog barks) Milburn!

LEONARD: Dostoevsky!

(Cathy chuckles) Dostoevsky.

DANIEL: Leonard's idea.

I would never have guessed.

(laughs) "Love all of God's creations, both the whole and every grain of sand."

We prefer Dusty.

We really do.

(chuckles) (dog barking) RAYMOND: Grampy Jack?

Yes, Ray-Ray.

There's a rope swing over there.

Would you push me?

Absolutely.

Absolutely not.

Those things are dangerous.

They break!

Only bad things happen on rope swings.

(dogs barking) JACK: Hang on.

What is that?

MRS.

CHAPMAN: You're gonna spoil him rotten.

I do hope so.

Who's for tea?

LEONARD AND JACK: Mm.

Who's for sherry?

Yes!

LEONARD: Ooh!

(Cathy laughs) Good boy, Dusty.

(Dusty whimpers) CATHY: Don't go overexerting yourself, Geordie Keating.

I'm watching you!

(others talking in background) So, how's Meg?

Good.

You seeing her again?

Maybe.

There was a kiss, wasn't there?

Maybe.

You sly old dog.

(chuckles) Did you try my line?

No, I did not try your line.

It's a good line.

It's a terrible line, Geordie.

It's all the way you say it.

Go on.

Hang on.

Just let me get myself in the mood, hm?

Are we in a library?

Because I can't stop checking you out.

Awful.

It's better than yours.

(chuckles) The whole apology thing.

Well, it worked, didn't it?

We'll see.

(chuckles) Did you hear?

What?

Skeleton's gone missing from Peterhouse.

♪ ♪ You're retired, Geordie.

I know I'm retired.

You chose to retire.

And I am enjoying every minute.

Mm-hmm.

What, full pension, snooze in the afternoon.

Mm.

Not a care in the world.

♪ ♪ It's a dinosaur, the skeleton.

There we go.

Mm-hmm.

Police have stopped looking into it.

Have they, now?

Mm, not worth their time, apparently.

Mm, well, they have a lot on their plate.

You know, maybe we could... We could what?

Just discuss it over a few pints.

♪ ♪ For old times' sake.

What do you reckon?

You're buying.

Backgammon?

(chuckling): Since when have we ever played backgammon?

It's the game, Alphy.

It's the game.

♪ ♪ (click) ♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: Visit our website for videos, newsletters, podcasts and more.

And join us on social media.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪