Parasites (TV story)

***Parasites*** was the tenth episode of *Series 2*, and the twenty-third overall of *Survivors*.

## Synopsis

The community experience the true meaning of the word parasite.

## Plot

Collecting herbs by the canal, Mina encounters John Millen, a middle-aged man who is leading a barge down the canal with a horse that is tied to it. Mina explains to him that the herbs are edible. She explains to him about coming from Whitecross. Millen warns her not to close the windows of the barge, since there's ethanol alcohol inside and the fumes are flammable. He has other supplies, including wellington boots salvaged from an abandoned lorry. Mina offers to trade for the boots and Millen agrees if she cooks him dinner when he visits. He suggests male goats and sugar beet in exchange and they arrange to meet the next day. She confirms her husband died in the Death and he notes he used to work at an airport.

Pet checks on Lewis, who is doing the planting alone while most of the community are on salt detail. Greg encounters Mina on the way back to Whitecross and she tells him about her arrangement with Millen. She realises she never asked where he came from. Back at the community, Ruth removes a splinter from Lizzie. She notes John is busy reading.

Greg and Charles argue about the need to expand the community in order to continue research projects with the mill and the methane gas. Greg thinks they need to make the settlement attractive to young people. Ruth joins them and they discuss the barge's visit. Next morning, Greg, John and Lizzie are fishing down by the canal. They see the barge approaching and Greg sends the children home. John goes and tells Charles, while Lizzie informs Mina, who declines to come.

Greg and Charles greet the two men on the barge, Jeff Kane and Les Grice. Kane is rather uncouth and seems to know little about the barge or the horse. Greg asks if John and Lizzie can look over the barge, while Charles takes Kane and Grice back to the settlement for food. He presents them with beer, which can't be kept in bottles because they'd blow up. They are puzzled by the reference to Mina and the fact Charles assumes they know her.

Charles finds Pet, who tells him she knows Kane from somewhere. Inside, Kane stresses to Grice that they have to pretend they know Mina and makes a comment that suggests Grice was a prison guard, also recalling being welcomed back from Borstal. John finds a gun in the barge and playfully points it at Greg. Greg tells him to point it away. John does so but thinks it isn't loaded...until he pulls the trigger and it discharges. He is surprised there are still bullets around.

Kane and Grice share a meal with Charles and Greg. Kane attempts to bluff his way through a conversation about their business. He shows no interest in Charles' offer of goats but would be interested in their beer. He asks to be put up for the night and Greg offers the tree house. Kane is keen to look the place over and see what they've got. Greg asks about their shotgun ammunition, explaining about John's mishap. Meanwhile, Mina is still waiting for Millen's arrival.

Grice warns Kane that Millen will be missed. Mina arrives and recognises that Kane is wearing Millen's hat. They pretend they have taken over from Millen, after his woman took sick and he had to go back to the settlement, before making a feeble attempt to give her a message that he'll see her next time. Mina asks about the hat and Kane rather aggressively says that they swapped. Meanwhile, Greg and Lewis look over the barge and pick out boots. Greg notes that drinking their alcohol would blind and then kill you.

Kane and Grice go over what they've learned. Grice thinks they should leave. They examine the methane experiment; Kane has also purloined a bottle of the alcohol. Meanwhile, Ruth goes to check on Mina. She explains that it was a different man running the barge when she encountered it yesterday. She says he told her he didn't have a wife. Ruth advises her not to read too much into it. Mina also mentions the hat. She goes and checks out the canal, encountering Greg and asking if there was anyone else on the barge and explaining to him.

Kane tells Grice that the settlement is begging to be done over, like all the posh houses he used to rob. He says he never had any interest in working and his father was an honest man who was poor. Meanwhile, Mina explores the barge and finds nothing except John's pigeon, which she takes with her. Back at the settlement, Greg and Charles discuss what Mina's said. They both dislike Kane and Grice but Charles is still willing to trade with them.

Charles and Ruth prepare a meal. Pet appears and says she remembers where she knows Kane from: Her father was a juror on an armed robbery case three years ago where a security guard was killed. Kane was one of the accused and got a life sentence. Later, Greg, Pet and Charles are sharing an uncomfortable meeting with Kane and Grice. Mina arrives with a knife, having found Millen stabbed to death. Kane tries to deny that he killed him and stole the barge. Mina tries to stab him but Grice stops her. The two men leave.

Kane and Grice take up their beds in the tree house, bringing the ladder up to stop anyone following them up. Grice wants to just leave but Kane refuses to let anyone tell him what to do. Back at the house, Greg, Charles, Ruth and Lewis discuss what to do. Lewis just wants to let the pair leave but Greg and Charles disagree with the idea of offloading them onto another settlement. Greg suggests confiscating their guns from the barge. Kane hears movement and decides to get leverage.

Next morning, Greg and Charles are about to head to the tree house. Lewis offers to negotiate, wanting to resolve things peacefully. They tell him to let Kane and Grice know that they can leave, but will have to leave the barge behind and throw out their guns. Lewis approaches the tree house but Kane mocks him. He demands two horses and also reveals they have John and Lizzie hostage and will kill them in ten minutes. He then shoots Lewis dead, draining the last of his alcohol and throwing the bottle out.

Greg and Charles bring the horses and Kane and Grice ride off with the children. Retrieving their guns, Greg and Charles shadow the horses' progress through the woods. Kane and Grice reach the barge and set off with their hostages. Charles notes Grice looks exhausted. Pet and Ruth check on Lewis' body. Ruth realises the bottle is wood alcohol and viciously notes she hopes they drank it. At the barge, Kane is growing increasingly delirious, while Grice, who is pulling the barge in place of a horse, says it feels like sun stroke. Kane says to pull the barge in, as he is going blind. John and Lizzie take the opportunity to slip off the barge and runs off. Grice fires after them without effect. He and Kane take refuge in the barge. John and Lizzie join Greg and Charles. Greg realises what has happened, moments before the barge explodes from the fumes being mishandled.

Mina shows a picture of mistletoe to John, Lizzie and other children, describing it as a parasite, somebody or something that lives off and preys on others and is poisonous. She dismisses them and heads back into her home. Tearfully, she finds Millen's hat and recalls their conversation.

## Cast

* Greg Preston - Ian McCulloch
* Charles Vaughan - Denis Lill
* Ruth Anderson - Celia Gregory
* Pet Simpson - Lorna Lewis
* John Millon - Stephen Dudley
* Lizzie Willoughby - Tanya Ronder
* Mina - Delia Paton
* Lewis Fearns - Roy Herrick
* John Millen - Patrick Troughton
* Jeff Kane - Kevin McNally
* Les Grice - Brian Grellis

## Crew

* Written by Roger Marshall
* Produced by Terence Dudley
* Directed by Terence Williams