Greater Love (TV story)

***Greater Love*** was the second episode of *Series 2*, and the fifteenth overall of *Survivors*.

## Synopsis

Trust and friendship among the group becomes tested and frayed.

## Plot

John and Lizzie debate over who gets to carry a pail. Both are enjoying life at Whitecross: John notes there's lots to do and Lizzie is going to be taught how to milk a cow. Greg returns to their cottage where Jenny is relaxing after giving birth to their son. Greg has been hedging. Jenny notes the children are happy and tells Greg she wants to stay. She also thinks they should give their son a name and suggests David. Greg agrees to stay.

Greg joins Charles in the main house. Charles discusses getting more people and dividing labour. He realises Greg has decided to stay and asks if it was for him or his family. Greg admits it was the latter. Pet joins them and they drink a toast to David. Meanwhile, Paul is working in the stables and notices Ruth watching him, saying she can't work with her doing that. Ruth suggests he doesn't and they kiss. Paul wonders if people can still love each other, given how Charles talks. Ruth says she loves him. Paul thinks she'd never have looked at him in the old days. Ruth says the old distinctions have gone although Paul considers it more exciting.

Ruth finds Lizzie consoling an upset John. Jack had his horse Tommy put down after he broke his leg. Ruth says it's better than leaving someone in pain. Up at the house, Arthur discusses an old census with Charles and Pet. Charles recalls he tried to take a new census once but was overtaken by events. He agrees to Arthur having another go. Greg comes in looking for Ruth, saying Jenny's ill. Ruth examines Jenny with Greg watching. Ruth says her temperature's up and her blood pressure's low, asking Greg to give them a few minutes.

Later, Ruth emerges and tells Greg that he thinks some of the placenta has been left behind: Jenny needs an operation to remove it. Ruth can't do it without more equipment like forceps and sedatives. They later consult with Charles, Arthur and Paul: They'd need to get to a hospital for supplies and it would have to be a big city hospital that is likely to have big stocks. Paul suggests Birmingham and Greg insists that he goes. Ruth says it's too late to set out now and she has to make up a list. Pet calls Greg to see Jenny. After he's gone, Paul decides he'll go first thing in the morning so Greg can stay with Jenny. Arthur tries to volunteer as well but Paul insists.

Next morning, Charles and Ruth see off Paul. Ruth gives him a last few warnings and he says he'll take the motorway. Ruth and Pet check in on Greg and Jenny; the latter is sweaty and in pain. Greg is annoyed to hear Paul has gone but Ruth says it was his choice. Jenny warns Pet about having a baby. Ruth admits to Greg that she feels inadequate and says she misses Abby. Meanwhile, Paul passes an abandoned ice cream van.

Arthur is questioning a sardonic Jack for his census. Arthur asks if he has any skills other than being a carpenter. Jack eventually gives his full name and previous address, saying he was a docker and a shop steward. Meanwhile, Paul is on the return journey but both he and the horse seem more lethargic. Arthur reads a story to John, Lizzie and some other children while Pet prepares a bottle and feeds the baby. John and Lizzie ask when they'll get to see Jenny and the baby again.

Paul's horse has gone lame so he leaves it in a field and proceeds on foot. Ruth comes from checking on Jenny, giving Greg and Arthur an update: She is worried about peritonitis. Arthur realises it's both John and Paul's birthday in two days. As it gets light, Greg looks out for Paul. Arthur is sitting with Jenny, who is sleeping. Paul approaches the settlement looking ill. John and Lizzie see him and tells Charles. Charles, Greg and Ruth meet him but Paul tells them to stay back, since he's got a fever. Ruth thinks Paul needs to stay isolated somewhere overnight and says they'll organise something for him in the hay barn. Paul puts his bag on the floor for Ruth to retrieve, saying he's felt like this for two or three hours. Ruth will give him an antibiotic injection.

Ruth gives Jenny the sedative while Greg and Pet look on. She says she'll remove the placenta then use the antibiotics. She goes to get the barn set up. She checks on Paul, directing him to give himself an injection. Paul tells her to make sure they get the horse back. Meanwhile, Charles tells John, Lizzie and the other children that no-one must go near Paul in the barn. Pet joins them as he explains Paul might have a germ they can catch.

Ruth tells Greg that Jenny is sleeping. Charles arrives from checking on Paul, although it was too dark to see much. Ruth says she removed the placenta from Jenny but they'll have to wait. Charles reflects on how life has changed and wonders if they'll be brutalised. Greg says he knew a man who'd lived through a concentration camp and was no longer affected by the horrors. Charles pours everyone a drink that he says he was saving for better days.

Next morning, Ruth goes to check on Paul, who is almost incoherent but has pain in his neck and feels spots in his armpits. Ruth tells him to give himself a stronger drug which he struggles with. She tells him he saved Jenny. She goes to see Charles and Pet, who are preparing cakes for John's party. She says Paul has lumps on his lymph nodes and tries to recall what symptoms you get from plague. Meanwhile, John and Lizzie are playing and Jack and Arthur shoo them away from the barn where Paul is. Another boy sees them walking off and goes into the barn, being spotted by an old woman who calls for Ruth. Ruth tells Jack that the pair will need to burn their clothes and then wash themselves with sacks of DDT. Charles admits their quarantine isn't working.

Ruth relates her findings to Charles, Greg, Jack and Arthur. This isn't the Death or bubonic plague, but a mutated version. She says diseases get spread by rats and fleas, which will be infected when Paul's lumps separate. Charles asks if they should all leave, saying they can't do that. Greg says Jenny can't be moved. Pet fetches Ruth. Charles says Paul could wipe them all out. Arthur says he'll still be dangerous after death. Greg accuses Arthur of wanting to kill Paul and isn't convinced he's dying. He reminds Charles of his earlier comments, saying they'll be brutalised if they don't think of anything but survival.

Ruth finds Greg, Arthur and Jack preparing an isolation suit so Greg can go in and treat Paul. Ruth accepts the wisdom but says she'll be the one to do it. John and Lizzie see her and think it's fancy dress. Greg sits with Jenny, who is starting to come round. Ruth treats Paul, who is semi-conscious. She says Jenny's going to be fine and she'll have to give him another injection. She tells him she loves him and Paul repeats it.

Pet checks in on Greg and Jenny, saying she's rounding up the children for John's party. Greg tells Jenny to go back to sleep. In the barn, Ruth stands by Paul in tears. Jack entertains John and Lizzie with magic tricks and Arthur says that'll go on the census. Charles finds Ruth outside; she asks for the tinder box. Pet, Jack and the others sing "Happy birthday" to John. The children play I Spy. John chooses B, which Lizzie realises stands for bonfire. Pet and Arthur fall silent. Ruth has set fire to Paul's body: She walks away from the barn into the fields.

Jenny tells Greg that she wants to call the baby Paul. Greg tells her about Paul being in isolation. Arthur and Jack check the area around the barn and Charles organises a search for Ruth. He, Jack, Arthur, Pet and Greg return to the house for the night. Next morning, they resume the search and Greg finds Ruth sitting in silence by a tree. She says she found a barn for the night. Greg tells her Jenny's all right and so are the woman and child in isolation. Ruth says there'll be no vaccines for the child and wonders what the point is. Greg says what Paul did is the point. He recalls people claiming things for themselves in the aftermath of the Death but now they're aware they have to better to each other. Ruth admits she was going to kill herself. Greg tells her she didn't.

Charles tells Greg, Jenny, Ruth, Arthur and Jack that from now on towns are out: They got a bit smug about surviving and they have to accept they have no special right. Ruth disagrees: Jenny wouldn't be alive if they'd stuck to that rule. She suggests anyone who has to go out of the community for something is placed in quarantine when they come back and so will any strangers who turn up. Jack says he'll make something. Charles agrees but reminds her it wouldn't have saved Paul. Jenny asks Arthur about putting the baby on the census. Arthur says he just needs a name. Greg says they're calling him Paul.

Ruth returns to the community with Paul's horse. She runs into Jack, who is sorting out more wood but decides to stop and help her first.

## Cast

* Greg Preston - Ian McCulloch
* Charles Vaughan - Denis Lill
* Jenny Richards - Lucy Fleming
* Pet Simpson - Lorna Lewis
* Paul Pitman - Chris Tranchell
* Arthur Russell - Michael Gover
* Ruth Anderson - Celia Gregory
* John Millon - Stephen Dudley
* Lizzie Willoughby - Tanya Ronder
* Jack Wood - Gordon Salkilld

## Crew

* Written by Don Shaw
* Produced by Terence Dudley
* Directed by Pennant Roberts