Lights of London - Part 1

***Lights of London - Part 1*** was the first of a two-part story, the third episode of *Series 2*, and the sixteenth overall of *Survivors*.

## Synopsis

Cities worldwide have been devastated, but London still seems to be the hub of civilisation.

## Plot

In a well-equipped hospital theatre, a doctor has just finished a procedure. He admits to his nurse Nessie that he can't go on. Nessie says they need "that girl". The doctor agrees but is against the idea of her being brought there by force. Elsewhere, a man and woman, Amul and Penny, turn up at a farm run by a young man, Stan, in a police land rover. Some time later, Greg and Jenny see the pair approaching Whitecross on a horse and cart. Greg checks the pair are well. Amul says they come from Dunnett Farm near Epsham and there's twelve of them there. They explain they went to the Grange looking for them, identifying Greg by name and saying they met Abby and she had Peter with her. They say some of their group, including Abby, are ill and they want Ruth's help.

Greg and Jenny consult with Charles and Ruth. Ruth is eager to go and help but Greg is suspicious. Charles says they'll get a route from her. Charles and Ruth go back to Amul and Penny, and Amul gives the route which Charles writes down. Greg and Jenny are slightly suspicious of their claim to have gone through a town. Greg refers to Abby as plump. Realising they're being tested, Amul and Penny give an accurate description of her. They turn down a request for supplies and Ruth leaves with them.

The group head back to the farm; Stan lent them the horse and cart. He is puzzled by Ruth's questions of people being ill, saying there's only four lads there. Amul and Penny tell Ruth that Abby's in London: They have brought a sickness with them, the "London sickness", and may have passed it on to Ruth, meaning she can't go back to her friends. It involves extreme tiredness. They encourage Ruth to come to their hospital in London. Penny says Abby sent for her. Stan says they brought him petrol and cigarettes. Ruth tries to refuse to come with them, saying they already have doctors and the local communities need her. Amul insists she'll come one way or the other. Ruth asks if Stan's going to intervene but he thinks London sounds great and intends to go there. Penny says Stan will send a message to Whitecross. As they transfer back to the land rover, Amul warns Stan to clean the horse and cart before using it again.

The trio travel on, with Amul and Penny trying to justify their deception. They have been told to tell Ruth nothing about London. At Whitecross, Greg and Jenny ponder going to Dunnett Farm to see Abby. As the land rover arrives in London, Penny dismisses the smell. They park and Amul and Penny brandish guns to scare off rats: They can't get any closer. The group run into a building, chased by rats. Amul says they travel in packs unless they're dying. They see fires that have been started by the piles of bodies. They head down a tunnel to an underground railway and think they hear a noise. After they've moved on, a young man, Wally, emerges from the shadows and mutters to himself that they won't get rid of him.

The group load their belongings onto a cart to push along the rail track. Anul and Penny admit there's a danger of flooding from the river. They find themselves at a station full of people and gallons of petrol, greeting a man named Benjie. Anul turns on an alarm to scare off the rats before going outside again, telling Ruth to stay in the light. A searchlights illuminates them as they run to a building where another man, George, lets them in before signalling for the alarm to be turned off. Penny introduces Ruth to him. They have a makeshift cinema set up. Ruth is still unhappy but Amul says someone there will answer all her questions.

Amul and Penny take Ruth to the community's leader, Manny. He is friendly but Ruth isn't won over by his cheeriness. Manny makes a phone call to someone but is disappointed by the response. Ruth still refuses to respond to his hospitality. He admits that Abby was there but Peter wasn't and she left about a month ago. He doesn't think she'll have lasted long. Ruth is angry at being abducted. Manny leads her through to a well-decorated dining room while Penny demonstrates hot running water from the taps. Manny says they've picked up a radio message, the first in a year, from Cairo, where only twelve people are left. Unimpressed, Ruth demands to know why she's there. Manny explains the doctor was meant to join them but is dealing with an emergency. Ruth asks to be taken to him.

The doctor and Nessie are treating a patient with oxygen. Penny leaves Ruth with them. The doctor shows Ruth the patient, who has the London sickness. It involves a fever and acute fatigue. The doctor was an administrator before the Death. He explains he heard about her from Abby and wanted her help. As the only doctor left in London, he met up with Manny, who got some generators going, and together they put the community together. The patient, Mac the radio operator, wakes up: He is aware of his surroundings but unable to talk. The doctor says there were about 1000 of them there, but with dysentry and other diseases, the number dropped to 500 and has remained stable ever since. 10% tend to be sick at any time. Mac drifts off and dies: The doctor can't explain it. He notes that the population there is the lowest limit where people won't die out within a few generations: Settlements like hers are too small. Ruth doesn't think they've a chance of surviving there. The doctor falls asleep but Nessie says it's tiredness, not the sickness. He insists Ruth be given the night to come to her decision.

Penny shows Ruth to a room and says she'll have some supper sent. Ruth asks for a few minutes. She turns the shower and radio on, washing herself for the first time in ages. Next day, Greg turns up at the farm on horseback. Stan greets him but hasn't heard of Abby or Peter. He eventually remembers the three people Greg describes but says they went on to London and recalls them borrowing his horse and cart and using a land rover. He says they left maps to give out but Ruth didn't leave a message.

Ruth wakes up and sees a cleared out stadium out the window. Manny makes an announcement of Mac's death over the radio. Ruth joins Amul outside and recognise the area where they are as the Oval cricket ground. Amul recalls seeing matches there. They're turning it into a planting ground. The rats are kept out by an electric fence. Nessie calls over the radio for Ruth to join her. She tells Ruth that the doctor is sleeping. Ruth feels she doesn't have any decision but agrees to help out while she's there. Nessie introduces her to the patients. Ruth talks to a young girl, Maisie, who has had a tooth removed and thinks she can get out today. Maddy announces Mac's funeral over the tannoy. A woman, Barbara, whose arm is in a sling, asks Ruth when she can be out and about: She had a cut that became infected. Ruth thinks she should stay in. Thinking she already knows everything, Barbara says she was an old civil servant and is planning "the big move" to the Isle of Wight: Ruth is there because they need a doctor at either end. She admits they don't know much about the other end and it will take at least two years.

Charles and Greg have set off across the countryside to London on their horses. They make plans to follow a river and get there by nightfall. Meanwhile, George is returning along a tunnel. Hearing someone behind, he sends his companion on and hides. Wally appears and George steps out, holding him at gunpoint. George tells him to go, saying he was voted out. Wally reluctantly leaves. Inside, Manny complains to Amul about the failure to find coal and is annoyed to learn Barbara is still in the medical ward, suspecting Nessie was responsible.

Manny goes to see Nessie, who calls him Emmanuel: The two have a spiky relationship. Nessie indicates that Ruth countermanded the doctor's instructions. Barbara appears dressed, saying she's discharging herself and going down to the office. Nessie tries to suggest there's something wrong with Manny. She goes to see Ruth in her room but Ruth says she was just playing safe with Barbara. Nessie wonders if Ruth is just slipping into the job or making her mind up. Ruth asks if there's a difference and reveals she knows about the big move and that she's meant to join the advance party. Nessie says the doctor wanted to keep it from her. Ruth says she can't get out of London on her own. Nessie thinks Abby did, since she didn't come back sick, but Ruth suspects she's dead.

Manny finds the doctor sleeping and they discuss Ruth's progress. The doctor tells him Ruth hasn't agreed to stay yet. Manny wants to force her but the doctor thinks she'll be no use unless she stays by choice. Meanwhile, Greg and Charles have arrived in the city. They enter the underground and check the map for where they're supposed to go. As they progress along the tunnel, Charles is attacked by rats and he and Greg try desperately to fight them off.

## Cast

* Greg Preston - Ian McCulloch
* Charles Vaughan - Denis Lill
* Jenny Richards - Lucy Fleming
* Ruth Anderson - Celia Gregory
* Penny - Coral Atkins
* Amul - Nadim Sawalha
* Manny - Sydney Tafler
* Doctor - Patrick Holt
* Nessie - Lennox Milne
* Wally - Roger Lloyd-Pack
* Stan - David Troughton
* Barbara - Wendy Williams
* George - Lloyd McGuire

## Crew

* Written by Jack Ronder
* Produced by Terence Dudley
* Directed by Terence Williams