Close to the Enemy

Halt.

We were given no warning. We were given only five minutes to pack...

What did he say to you?

What did your father say to you?

I don't speak English.

Not one of my questions have been answered!

Not one! I've said what I think at each interrogation.

I make my position clear again and again.

However many times you ask me,

I'm not going to change anything. It makes no difference at all.

This way.

Tell me its name.

My name is Mr Emmanuel.

Do you understand me now?

You're still not going to talk to me?

That is not very polite.

But then I understand.

Some things, they must never be lost.

- You didn't thank me. - Thank you.

Goodbye, little one.

There's no need to be afraid.

I've just come to take you to breakfast.

You must be starving.

My German's not very good, I know.

But I think you understand English.

Don't you?

A little, anyway.

- Prison. - No...

you're not in prison.

There were a lot of rations went on to that plane.

If you eat one of those, I'll tell you where we are.

Well, I'll tell you anyway.

You're in London.

Well, you're on the edge of London in Enfield, to be exact.

If these are the centre of London...

well, then we're here, north,

and your father, in case you were worrying,

will join you in a couple of hours.

Brigadier wants to see you, sir.

Right. Now, enjoy your breakfast.

Blimey!

It's time we got out of here, gave Enfield back to them.

Burning stuff already?

We've got to start getting rid of some of it.

We're drowning in files.

I thought you of all people would be glad to see the back of it,

having had to spend so much time reading the bloody stuff.

And if we missed something interesting?

Too bad.

So, you've seen the little girl?

Yes. I've done your baby-sitting for you.

Good. I know you're meant to be going on leave this week

and it's very overdue, so this is not an order,

but I want you to do a little more baby-sitting

of a rather more important kind instead.

And who do you want me to babysit?

The father.

And the little girl, of course.

He could be very important to us.

He's a scientist or an engineer.

I never know what the correct term is when you're talking about high speed.

A jet-plane man anyway.

Brilliant, apparently.

Speaks quite good English shouldn't be difficult.

- What's the problem? - He doesn't want to work with us.

We had to move fast before the Russians got him.

They've grabbed nearly 1,000 scientists so far,

and the Americans are grabbing them and so are we.

We snatched him out of bed in the middle of the night, in fact.

Though I'm sure we did it in as civilised a way as possible.

Oh, of course.

But he's a little bit irritated with us nonetheless,

maintains he won't co-operate with us under any circumstances.

You've got to make him change his mind.

I'm getting demobbed in six weeks,

which I'm sure you haven't forgotten.

And that is definitely going to happen, sir.

This will only take six days.

If I were to do it...

it'll be under one condition.

Of course, but you don't know where you're going to be doing it yet, do you?

We're using the Connington Hotel.

It's a funny old dump, but with some surprisingly good perks.

I want you to take this German and get him wining and dining,

and anything else he shows a real liking for,

and completely turn him around using the hotel.

In six days?

The morons from MI19 are eager to get their hands on him

and give him their full treatment,

as if shining lights in his eyes and not letting him get any sleep

is going to make him like us.

I've told them they can't have him for a few days. Six.

I imagine your condition is you want to run it exactly how you like.

Yes.

With nobody breathing down my neck, not from MI5 or...

Or any other bloody outfit, naturally.

So, when do I start?

Four o'clock this afternoon, back entrance to the hotel.

Chap called Ringwood. Oh, and we don't use uniforms in the hotel,

so you'll have to get out of that.

- Only one thing matters. - Get him to work for us...

- ... doesn't matter how I do it. - That too, of course.

But, most of all, don't lose them,

or let them slip away to the Russians or the Americans.

I can get you much closer round the front, sir.

No, no, this is fine. This is the entrance that I need. Thank you.

Where on earth did you get that?

Those must be the only toffee apples in London.

Pow!

There are all sorts staying here, sir, yes.

Because it is quite cheap. But they don't all look like that.

Hello, sir. You must be Captain Ferguson,

or at least I hope you are.

I was given a very loose description.

- Yes, you must be Ringwood. - Indeed, that's me, sir.

Do you want me to call somebody to help you with your luggage?

I hardly think that's necessary.

Yes. It's all bit gloomy down here.

Because of the bomb site, they keep these boarded up.

Very different upstairs, though.

The dust doesn't reach there.

Quite a difference, isn't it?

Every building is gone on this side, so it's bloody bright.

Oh, this sun. Reminds me of the Riviera sometimes.

Yes.

Not the only thing that reminds one of the Riviera round here, sir.

It's a funny old mausoleum this place,

but it does have its compensations.

Now, if I can find the right key,

this is your bedroom, 246.

Your office is directly across the way here, sir.

Except of course it is not your office, really, sir.

You're going to have to explain that one to me, Ringwood.

So, you see, this is our real operation.

The other office is just for show for anybody who's pestering us.

We let them look at that one.

Who are these people that are pestering you?

Somebody from the War Crimes Unit just poking around,

but hopefully we've got rid of them, fingers crossed.

They've got rather different priorities to us, haven't they, sir?

It's our secret floor.

I think I can safely say nobody in the hotel knows about it,

except for the two or three that have to know, of course,

and the cleaners too, naturally.

But they are completely reliable.

And we have the capacity to listen to several rooms

we've parked people we're interested in.

We can monitor who they're talking to,

what they're saying, what they're thinking.

Yes, we did a lot of that at Enfield, at Trent Park.

- Yes. - A captured German officer.

The old methods are usually the best, aren't they, sir?

You've got a hell of a lot of files.

They dumped a lot of stuff on us, a load of interviews from Germany.

- Well, has anybody read them? - Good question.

Not quite sure about that, sir.

Here are your people, sir, if you want to have a listen.

He's very important, is he, sir?

Yes. He's a jet-plane man.

Whoever gets the best jet engine, Ringwood,

wins whatever's going to happen next.

So, we have to make sure he designs it for us.

Not the Americans or the Russians,

but us.

- Yes. - Ah, hello.

I'm Callum Ferguson, this is Mr Ringwood.

Could we come in for a moment?

So, you are our jailers, are you?

Well, I hope that's not going to happen, for both of our sakes.

It's not too bad in here, is it?

Ah, well, at least it's clean.

No smell of damp.

No springs sticking up through the mattress.

Not on a first feel anyway.

And hello again.

Tell me, did you manage to eat one of those sausages?

Was there something particular you wanted to say to me?

Yes, as it happens.

I was hoping you both might have dinner with me tonight.

- No, I don't think so. - No?

No. Apart from everything, we have nothing to wear.

I'm sure they don't all dress for dinner at this old place, do they, Ringwood?

Not all of them, no.

My daughter has only one change of dress.

How is she expected to manage?

Well, we can't have that, can we?

Now, Mr Ringwood will go shopping for you very soon.

Won't he?

- Sir. - She's here again.

Bloody woman from the War Crimes Unit.

Brigadier Wainwright.

- Remember me? - I certainly do, Miss Griffiths.

I've sent you rather a lot of messages, so I thought...

You would try and snatch a quick word with me.

- Exactly. - Well, jump in, Miss Griffiths.

This is perfect timing for a very quick word.

I've got an appointment down at the camp which I'm a trifle late for.

I see you're getting rid of some paperwork.

Oh, that's nothing. It's just a little housekeeping.

A few bills from the canteen.