Life After Life

Again and again and again,

Ursula thought about how much she loved her brother Teddy,

how sweet he'd been.

Got you!

After war was declared, Teddy joined the Air Force.

Ursula was grateful to be rising through the ranks

in the civil service.

It meant she could get up every day and actively fight Hitler...

..if only from a chair in the office.

She would never be in charge.

That was still for the Maurices of this world.

A quick word with you, Ursula. Do you want some tea?

I was about to seek some out. That sort of day. No tea, thank you.

Listen, I'm sorry, but I can't meet Tedders and Jimbo tonight.

Maurice! Erm, "Mr Todd" while we're working.

We agreed. Mr Todd, plans have been made.

Yes, and they have to change.

Although it seems to have escaped everyone in our family's notice,

I'm rather important round here.

Then say you have to leave early. Oh! For goodness' sake!

You realise it might be the last time you see them?

Why do you always have to be so macabre?

Because there's a war on! Yes, there is,

which means I don't have time to gad around town with Teddy and Jimmy.

MAN WHISTLES ALONG TO PIANO

# Show me the way to go home

# I'm tired and I want to go to bed

# I had a little drink about an hour ago

# And it's gone straight to my head... #

Woo!

I just want him dead.

I think about it all the time,

how I would love to be the one that just kills him.

Not to worry, my lovely. We will do it for you.

See, I will shoot him, Teddy will bomb him,

and then we'll bring you home his moustache.

And do what with it? Burn it. No, donate it to the British Museum.

THEY LAUGH

I keep thinking I'll wake up and it was all a dream,

that I'm not trapped in this endless nightmare.

Oh, chin up. It won't last forever. Nothing does.

I wish I could go instead of you.

I really do. It isn't fair.

It would take one of his generals being awfully heroic.

They'd have to shoot him in the back.

And then they'd be shot. And would it even make a difference?

Goebbels would just run things. I think it WOULD make a difference.

It's Hitler that people are obsessed with.

Maybe you will bomb him, Teddy.

Get one of his houses or something. You know, squash him. I'll try.

It would be wonderful to be the chap

who gets to shoot him right between the eyes. Bang!

I'd like to buy you all a drink.

People have been buying us drinks all night.

I'm starting to see double. Beautiful boys.

Full of life. But evil's evil, isn't it?

And the gods have always enjoyed a bit of sacrifice.

Same again? Same again.

HE CHUCKLES

Don't you wonder sometimes,

if just one small thing had been changed in the past -

I mean, if Hitler had died at birth

or if someone had kidnapped him as a baby and brought him up in,

I don't know, a Quaker house...

THEY CHUCKLE ..surely things would be different.

Do you think Quakers could kidnap a baby?

If they knew what was going to happen, they might.

But nobody knows what's going to happen.

And, anyway, even if they did, could you kill a baby?

Yes,

if it would keep you safe.

Jimmy, this was a poor choice of establishment. Depressing.

What? No, no, no, no, no. There's music downstairs.

Excellent fun. Wanted to show it to you.

Oops! Oops!

HE LAUGHS

Come and see. But you have to shhh.

It's a secret.

THEY LAUGH

I suppose we should follow him.

Yes, he seems in danger of becoming unwieldy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

BAND PLAYS JAUNTY TUNE

Oh!

# Kiss me goodnight, Sergeant Major

# Tuck me in my little wooden bed

# We all love you, Sergeant Major

# When we hear you bawling, "Show a leg!"

# Don't forget to wake me in the morning

# And bring me round a nice hot cup of tea

# Kiss me goodnight, Sergeant Major

# Sergeant Major, be a mother to me... #

Evening, soldier. Just enjoy it.

It's story time, everyone!

CHEERING

Let's go! Shall we?

# Private Jim came in one night Full of cheer and very bright

# He'd been out all day up on the spring

# He bumped into the Sergeant's man

# Pops his arms around his neck

# And in his ear he whispered tenderly

# He said, "Kiss me goodnight, Sergeant Major"... #

Were we wrong to leave Jimmy there? Is he going to be all right?

He seemed in his element.

Did you have any idea that he likes to frequent places like that?

No! Do you care? No.

He could be dead in a week.

He should do what he wants. Izzie will be thrilled.

HE CHUCKLES

"Noble tradition, all that.

"All the best poets and so forth."

This is me. You should leave me here.

Be as safe as you can.

Will do.

Fly very carefully.

Try not to die. I'll do my best.

Teddy?

AIR-RAID SIREN BLARES

Oh, bad luck to cross on the stairs, Miss Todd.

You're going the wrong way. I forgot my knitting.

Ursula's nightly ritual involved gathering in the basement

with the other tenants of the boarding house.

Miss Todd. Sorry. Hello.

BABY CRIES

EXPLOSION, BABY SCREAMS

Ursula thought of Teddy in his plane...

..somewhere over Germany right now.

VIOLENT RUMBLING

Shall I take Emile for a moment?

Why don't I take Emile? I'm sorry.

Hello!

SHE SINGS

You're very good with babies, Miss Todd.

You shouldn't wait much longer.

WHISTLING OVERHEAD

SMASHING, RUMBLING

HIGH-PITCHED TONE

Hello?

Hello there, my love.

We'll get you out of here in a jiffy.

SHE MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY

What's that, my darling?

Baby. Oh, we'll find your baby. Don't you worry about that, my love.

Don't go.

So glad I'm not going to die alone.

You're going to be fine, my darling.

Stay awake. Keep talking.

You know...

..I saw Hitler once. Did you? Really?

I was in the mountains.

I waved.

Should have stayed in Germany.

Tried to get him. Well, someone's going to get him.

Don't you worry about that, my darling.

I don't know why we live.

We just die. You're not going to die. Squeeze my hand.

It's so kind of you to be with me.

I just want a good death.

How do you have a good death?

Hurry! Over here!

I want my Ted.

Ursula worked at the Home Office by day,

cataloguing London's injured and dead,

and at night, she volunteered as an air-raid warden,

seeing the casualties of the relentless bombing raids first-hand.

If they can't tell you their name,

then you call them "my lovely", "my darling", "my dear" -

any term of endearment like that.

It comforts them. Yes, all right. You're doing superbly.

It's just a little trick. Course.

Apparently, there's quite a lot of people unaccounted for.

Get down!

RUMBLING

Thank you. Go and see if there were some lucky ones in there.

AIR-RAID SIREN BLARES

Hello?

MOANING

Hello?

Hello. I'm coming.

Hello, my lovely. My name's Ursula.

I'm with the volunteer Air Raid Precautions department.

What's your name, sweetheart?

SHE MUMBLES INDISTINCTLY

Again?

Baby. Baby?

His name is Emile.

Emile?

We'll find him. We'll find him.

But, first, I'm going to get you to a stretcher, all right?

Oh, God.

There's a woman in there, alive, only just.

We should hurry. I didn't get her name.

I was looking for her baby. Did you find her baby?

Deceased, I'm afraid. I'll take you to the mother.

Hurry! Stretcher here, now!

Oh, shit. Sorry.

PLANE DRONES OVERHEAD

Surrounded by death,

Ursula had never wanted to live more.

If only this were the world.