Peter, hi.
[Peter, on phone] Hi. Did I wake you?
No, no, I'm awake.
I can't remember where you said to meet now.
[Peter] Coast Guard station.
Is it near the sea?
[Peter] Yeah, the Coast Guard station is near the sea, yeah!
I think I know the place. There's a kind of prom, and some iron men, an ice-cream man.
I'm sure I'll find it. Um...
Do you know if the ice-cream man does coffee? [Peter] You're there already, aren't you?
No-o-o!
[Peter] I can hear the seagulls. Be there soon as I can.
[sighs] Thanks for that.
Is that what you're wearing?
What's wrong with it?
Nothing. It's very smart.
It's just...
What?
What... I don't do I?
I don't know what’s appropriate.
Appropriate?
Very... you know... quadrupedian.
I was admiring the ice-cream-van too. What do you think?
The cream looks... really creamy.
My friends and I were admiring your paint work.
Great detail.
My son paints these.
Maybe this is one of his?
He does the jingles too.
You do a cappuccino?
Thanks!
Been here long? I was admiring the ice cream van
That's not one of mine.
I don't do smiley ice creams.
I appreciate that.
Do you wanna go in mine or yours?
Yours, then.
I'll drive, then.
What do you think of this?
Is it the new jingle?
I'm the wrong age bracket, really.
No, it's not a jingle.
What with the overnight bag?
I thought we might need to make a night of it.
No, no, I got to get back.
Sue's got stuff to do.
Everything alright at home, is it?
Fine thanks.
Just a funny way of putting things, that’s all.
What?
I got to be back because Sue's got stuff to do. Haven't you got stuff to do?
Isn't this... stuff?
Work. She's got work.
Right, what are you doing? It's like being in the car with Jack.
It's a word game. An app... lication.
What was that about Jack? Are you not relating to him properly?
Am I what?
Girl in China played a computer game for three days and nights
without a break. Dropped dead of exhaustion. You wanna watch your Jack.
What are you doing on your phone at a time like this? We should be talking.
Since when do games stop people talking? Talk is what we did when we played Scrabble.
We didn't play Scrabble.
What? We were always playing Scrabble. - It wasn't Scrabble, it was Scrabble-like.
It was called Scribble or Scrubble.
It was a cheap rip-off of Scrabble.
The letters came on a cardboard sheet. We had to press them out.
Oh yeah, and you were always insisting on having the dictionary on the table.
Well at least we played each other, and not the bloody phone.
That's the amazing thing. I'm not playing the phone. There's this guy called SkinnyThesaurus.
And he's absolutely brilliant.
Fine... talk to your digital mate.
What?
I sure I'm going deaf— I don't hear half of what you're saying.
Alright.
Yeah, I'm fine. We gotta come back in the morning.
It's not even ten to yet.
The official who does it is on a job-share type of thing. Austerity.
They finished early child-minding. We'll have to make a night of it.
No no, we'll go home and come back in the morning.
But it's already getting dark. A-roads in the dark!
Oncoming full beams, nightmarish! We'll get some sleep.
We'll have to find somewhere to stay. - Oh, that's okay, I already booked somewhere.
I never thought this was a realistic itinerary. I booked somewhere the day we heard.
All about you.
There we go again, I didn't hear that either. It's almost as if you want to say things, but don't want me to hear them.
It's like a kind of passive-aggressive thing.
I said, I didn't bring a toothbrush.
Oh, well I noticed you didn't have a bag, so I got you one when stopped for petrol. Which do you want?
Cyberman... or
Dalek?
Obviously the circumstances could be better.
But on the other hand, how often do we get to sit around enjoying each other’s company?
Let's us two make the best of it, eh.
This is cozy.
Can't beat a proper fire, can you?
Excuse me... We couldn't have the music down a bit could we, or off?
I always say, the only good thing about “jazz” is that it scores highly on Scrabble.
In fact you can't play the word “jazz” in Scrabble.
There's only one Z in the set.
Oh, is that right?
That's very interesting, that.
There's only one Z.
I haven't played Scrabble for years. I don't suppose anybody does these days, do they?
It's all Grand Theft Auto now, isn't it?
Arthur likes Scrabble. Don't you, Arthur?
Peter, you'd love a game of Scrabble, wouldn't you?
There's a set over there, look. Under the Cluedo.
You need to count all the tiles.
You don't want to get halfway through a game and find you got tiles missing.
Off we go to bed.
Oh, eh, it's only half past eight. Come on.
Have a game of Scrabble. You used to love Scrabble.
- I used to like Thundercaps.
I moved on.
What are gonna do?
Say my prayers.
It's a big day tomorrow.
[toothbrush electronic voice] Ex-ter-mi-nate!
You don't fancy making this a bit more interesting do you?
How do you mean?
A bet!
Flutter, a wager
Or maybe not. You’ve obviously got a massive, what’s it, lotsa words.
Vocabulary. Lexicon. Word-horde.
[chuckles] That's very good. What do you think?
Uh, what if we said...
Five?
You're a confident man, Arthur.
I haven't got five hundred to spare, unfortunately.
I've got two hundred... Is that okay?
Or two-twenty, in fact. But call it two hundred, never bet your last pound.
Two hundred.
Sure, why not.
Ladies first.
Oh, and I can bingo!
That's when you can play all seven of the letters in one go.
You gonna get an extra 50 points for that. - Oh, that's good isn't it? Bingo, eh?
You learn something new every day.
“Xi”. That's a word is it? Is that a word?
It's a letter in the Greek Alphabet. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon...
So, it's not a word, it's a letter?
No, it's a word. It's... it's a word for a letter in the Greek alphabet.
“Mu...” What?
“Muzjiks”. Is that not a word? I know I have heard it somewhere before, but if you haven't...
Dictionary!
Arthur, it looks like a word. Play on!
I could change it to “Muzak”.
“Muzjik: an indentured Russian peasant.”
I knew I heard it before.
Where? - Where what?
Where did you hear that? It’s a very unusual word.
Not exactly in everyday use, is it?
Come on down to Muzjik 'R' Us for all your indentured-peasant needs!
Arthur, it's a word.
What's it score?
A hundred and seventeen.
That's really good.
Murmansk, by the way.
I think I heard it in Murmansk. When I was in the merchant navy, we were in and out of Murmansk.
It's what they call a storyteller in West Africa when I was on the go. - Just play the word.
“Esrom”.
I think it's a font.
Actually it's a cheese, made by Trappist monks. The stinkiest cheese in the world.
Oh, looks like I bingoed too!
It's an Italian card game. You have two teams... Yeah, I know what “scopone” is.
I was going to play “quartz”.
You beat him to the Q. Is that right, Arthur?
What's “qi” when it's at home?
It's, um, life energy, in Chinese philosophy.
My aromatherapist was talking about qi.
I have aromatherapy for stress.
You'd know about it if you ever listened to a word I said. - Well, I didn't know about it, did I?
He doesn't know anything about me. - I know you do aromatherapy.
You don't do aromatherapy, you have it. - Like chickenpox?
I have stress. You can probably see where I get it from.
“ti”... A drink with jam and bread.
That's not how you spell it. - No!
“tea”?
“ti”! Do re mi fa so la...
He's right. - I know I'm right.
It's a firearm with a...
You know this don't you?
What did you do that for?
What?
What do you get for that? Six. Six points!
Why did you do that?
I was gonna use that “men”. I was going to turn it into “anadyomene”.
Sixty-seven points! - Where are you going?
What's wrong?
It's only a game.
I'm going to take a leak.
Sorry.
Go on then.
I’m sorry about this.
He's on edge. - I can see that.
He's not always like this.
He used to be a singer, can you believe?
A singer? - Sessions. You know.
Remember back in the day, when they used to do those Top 20 hits, but not by the original artists?
Pickwick?
Pickwick, “Top of the Pops”.
No!
He was the Pickwick singer.
He has been them all. Ken Dodd, Freddy Mercury...
Never sings anymore. - Oh, that's a shame.
We lost our son.
He went missing.
We haven't seen him since
He was nineteen.
That's why we’re here. The police have found a body.
It might be the body of our son.
Oh that's terrible. I’m sorry about that.
You’d think it's...
It's the not knowing that’s the hardest.
But tomorrow maybe we will know, and maybe we’ll wish we were back not knowing, eh.
Hope is a great friend. - Yeah.
He was Bonny Tyler once.
Bonny Tyler?
Yeah.
Sang the Pickwick version of 'It's A Heartache'. You’d never have known it wasn't her.
We thought it would all be
over with today.
But when we got here,
the official who runs the morgue— can you believe this?—
is on a job-share.
Had to leave early. Childcare.
So... “anadyomene”.
I’m going to take “amen” off the board.
Alan doesn't mind, do you, Alan?
No, no, not at all. Part of the fun is the magic of lovely words.
Dad?
Are you alright? - Yeah.
You know me, I can't sleep without a walk.
I used to go out looking for him.
Just walking the street, you know.
It's just a habit now. A ritual.
I know
Bonny Tyler.
What?
[singing] “It's a heartache... Nothing but a heartache...”
What is?
Arthur, downstairs. Bonny Tyler, Pickwick.
“Top of the Pops” compilation album. - Nah
[sings] “It's a fool’s game... Nothing but a fool’s game...”
It was for him, anyway. Two hundred I took off him.
You did what?
I beat him.
You hustled him. You hustled Bonny Tyler.
I didn’t hustle him. I smashed him.
Did you use your extra Z on him? - What?
You can't play “jazz” in Scrabble, because there's only one Z in the set.
And?
Did you play “jazz” that night?
You played it off “zygote”.
Top right-hand corner, triple-word score. Scored off the board.
They're going up there themselves tomorrow.
Up where?
The morgue.
They got a son went missing. Gonna take a look at the body.
Is that the same body we're gonna look at, the one that might be our Michael?
That's right.
Their son goes missing, they’re going to look at the body, and you hustled them out of two hundred quid?
Who are you?
When you put it like that...
It started off as a game. Then when I found out, I seemed to...
I got the feeling that...
If I let them beat me it, would be our Michael, and if I won, it would be their lad.
I know it's mad.
What are you doing here? This is where we...
Were you waiting for us?
No... We're here for the same.
My lad went missing too.
You didn't say.
I didn't like...
You were telling me about yours.
It was good of you to listen.
If I'd had known...
You weren't to know.
Mister Mellor?
I'll cope.
I thought you were a woman. Childcare issues.
No, I have a three-year-old and, eh, I'm on my own.
Well... Just the two of us. Alright, sorry.
I'm not sure I’m ready. - No, that's fine... that's fine.
What my dad did last night... You'll have to excuse him.
It takes us all in different ways.
Oh, we know that, don't we, Arthur?
It's nice to have something to take our minds off it, to be honest.
We should be apologizing to him—really.
Well, if I can make it up to you... - No, it’s alright.
He probably thought you were millionaires.
Rock stars.
We had all of those records. He used to get them for us.
You told him about that?
Well it's not a secret is it? I mean
it was then, but...
What are you doing?
I know it was, what was it... I think it was a couple of hundred quid.
No, don't be daft. - What are you talking about?
Dad's side bet. He shouldn't have done that.
Bet?
He said it was... a couple of hundred.
You bet hundreds of pounds on a game of Scrabble?
Not hundreds! Two hundred.
I thought he was... - He took you?
He took you for the fool you are.
He cheated. - I'm sure he did.
No.
He’s just a lot cleverer than you are. You keep that, son.
That's the price a fool has to pay for acting like a fool.
That's the Fool Tax.
It wasn't him! - I knew it wouldn't be.
All the best then. Come on.
Are you sure you wouldn't...
No.
Let's hear the new jingle.
Small Faces—yes!
Or, in my case, Arthur-somebody...
Not particularly “yes” at all.
I never thought of that. He probably sang this as well.
Why? - Why what?
The second-best of everything.
You didn’t let us touch the real albums— only the Pickwick ones.
We played Scrubble, not Scrabble. - It was the same.
We didn't get proper Lego. You always got us some snide Lego.
Oh, now, that was just as good
Never Air-Fix, always Revell.
Revell was more rock ‘n’ roll.
You didn't get us Action Man, but something called Action Joe.
And he didn’t have grip hands.
Yeah, that wasn't good.
Subbuteo? No. Chat Valley Big League.
Yes yes, you made your point.
Go on. - What?
Well, you also didn't have a mother, did you? Just a dad, so poor substitute there.
Left hand down.
I can manage.
I could back a bloody panzer out of here.
What was that?
I said, get back in the car, get out of the cold.
Sure.
Your father’s back.
It wasn't your uncle Michael.
I think he's relieved.
Well, it's hard to know what’s for the best, isn't it? I mean...
Well, obviously the best would be
if they found him and he was alive and well,
having a lovely life.
Or would it? I mean...
that'd be hard, wouldn't it?
To find out that he’d been happy all this time, and just, you know...
shunning you.
Let you go all through this...
Like the sightings.
You know, people contact your granddad and say they've seen Michael.
Some have said they talked to him.
There was one in Argentina.
Imagine.
I'm not saying it’d be better if he was dead.
Just saying, if you have to choose...
Everything okay?
Are you visiting long?
Don't worry about it.
Alan.
It's lovely to see you. Have you eaten?
There's plenty of leftovers. I'll get you a bowl.
That'll be lovely, if you’re sure there's enough
I'd be just as happy with a bit of toast and Marmite. - No, no.
You know you can't take Marmite into Canada?
Because Marmite has a secret ingredient.
And the Canadian government took the view
That not telling them the secret ingredient was tantamount to asking them to import something without knowing what it is.
That's why the people of Canada have no Marmite. Imagine.
The second largest country on Earth,
more or less nine million square miles, and not one jar of Marmite.
How do they survive? - Vegemite.
A poor substitute.
But then sometimes a poor substitute is all there is.
Is Jack out there? - Yeah.
Upstairs.
Gaming. - That's a worry, isn't it?
Why would that be a worry? He's at home.
He's not on the streets. Hasn't gone missing.
You didn't hear about the girl in China then?
I did hear about the girl in China.
Imagine that is a worry. - I know China is different, but...
Exactly. We don’t want him to end up like her. - You should watch him.
I do try.
This business is probably affecting him more than you think.
Do you think so? - No!
I think you might be right. - He's got exams, he doing A-levels.
They're stressed. They're all stressed.
They're supposed to be stressed.
If you can't be stressed about your A-levels, what can you be stressed about?
He doesn't seem stressed. He seems more soft to be, you know, playing that game.
Which does beg the question... - The girl in China question?
Exactly!
You know why he's saying Jack's stressed?
No.
'Cause he's stressed himself.
Is he?
Classic transference of anxiety.
He was stressed on the drive then, was he?
Oh yeah. Very defensive, quite guarded.
Do you not find him a bit passive-aggressive?
I do, sometimes. But you have to make allowances.
Oh.
A present.
That's kind of you, Alan.
What is it?
It's a thing... for doing labels.
He was putting labels on everything when we were kids.
“Jumpers only”.
“Please fold towels before replacing”. “Please replace after use”.
It helped keep things running smoothly, you know.
But also the font—look, it has an elegant precision.
You don't really see that font anywhere else. I don't know what it's called, but I thought you'd appreciate it.
Well...
It's getting late. - Yeah, it is.
Obviously, you're welcome to stay.
‘Cause you would be.
Only, erm...
we don't really have a spare bed, do we? Just the bunk in Jack's room, so...
I'm sure that will be fine.
Which is you?
The one with the big cleavage, that's you?
There’s total sexual equality among the undead.
Doesn't make any difference what gender you are.
So why choose to be a girl with enormous breasts?
Stop saying things like that. - Not breasts.
Bosoms.
Assets. Glands.
Bazoombas. Which do you prefer?
Other players are more polite to you if you're a girl.
You look a bit choppy, if you don't mind my saying.
What?
It's not running very smoothly, is it?
It's slow, and then it's jumpy. You want me to change the settings for you?
I'm in the middle of an action. - Only take a mo’.
Granddad? - What?
That's my bed.
Yeah?
You didn't expect me to climb up there, did you?
Or did you? I could give it a go.
No, no, no I didn't expect that.
I'm saying my prayers.
Jack? - Mom?
Nothing. Nothing.
We just...
... don't normally see you for breakfast, that's all.
Jack?
Alright. Alright.
Granddad’s up there, and he's playing on my computer. Where else am I supposed to go?
I'm sure it's very difficult for you having Granddad in your bedroom.
But... it's very nice for us, having you for breakfast.
Oh, I'll give you a lift if you like.
Bye then.
Why doesn't he want a lift? You drive past his school every day.
There's a girl. - Oh.
He walks past two bus stops to be at the same bus stop as her.
And he stands next to her, but he doesn't speak.
Really. How do you know that?
It's a guess.
Yeah man, last night was... colly.
We were going more or less all night.
Oh, we just listened to music, jammed,
wrote a few new songs. It was a good night, man.
Jaaack!
Breakfast.
Do let me know if that’s not to your satisfaction.
Half a million registered players. I'm never short of a game.
Does that mean you’ll be staying another night then?
Unless it's a problem.
No, no it's not a problem.
It's just...
No, it's not a problem.
Most of them play the board, not the man.
Always play the man.
Go for two-letter words.
They're your real friends.
There are 101 two-letter words. Five of them are letters of the Greek alphabet.
“Mu”. M-U. “Nu”. N-U.
“Pi”, obviously.
And “xi”, X-I.
And then you got your unusual ones, like “oe”, O-E. Which is a wind on the Faeroe Islands.
Did your father ever tell you about your great-grandmother's shop?
She had a shop, sold all sorts.
Liquorice all-sorts? - No.
All sorts of things—bread, the papers... Hairnets were big business,. I seem to remember “Harpic”.
Are you telling me a bedtime story?
I'm telling you your family history.
Coal. She sold coal.
People would ask for 5 pound of potatoes and a bag of coal. She'd go downstairs and get them the coal.
Why? Why didn't she just keep it upstairs?
Ah, that's the point.
One day someone from the Coal Board— coal was nationalized then— heard about this and thought,
“We don't deliver to that shop, so how come she sells coal?”
Go on.
Well, it turns out there's a seam in the cellar.
The cellar of the shop. One wall of it, had a coal seam running off it.
If you asked her for coal, she'd go down there, pick up a pickaxe and chop out a bit of fresh coal for you.
She was a part-time freelance coal miner, your great-grandmother.
That story... is completely... untrue.
That story is a true as my name.
Sorry, um... I was just, um... - No, good idea.
Give it a go. Which one do you like best?
I never been in there before. No.
Stand straight.
It's hard to gauge the fall of the trousers without proper shoes.
It's got to be Oxfords, really. You might get away with a Chelsea boot. Have you got a Chelsea boot?
I don't know what you're talking about. - Ah.
When this is done, the thing you have to remember about these buttons is, “sometimes, always, never”.
What?
The buttons a man keeps fastened— “sometimes, always, never”.
Now take it off, and we'll make it sing.
You know how this suit needs a bit of a tidy-up, a trim.
Same thing goes for your hair.
You look spruce. Doesn't he look spruce?
Well, I wasn't sure it was him.
Is it one of your Granddad's?
Haven't got a spare gun, have you? So I can shoot myself.
Don't matter, your father matters. It's not endearing.
And it's not effective.
I know it's inconvenient with your Granddad.
It's not inconvenient, it's disorientating.
Awkward?
Destabilizing!
Confusing?
Not confusing. Unsettling?
Disquieting
Tense.
Anyway, it can't be helped.
And eh, well...
You look spruce.
Well, I wouldn’t want to play Scrabble with you.
Really?... Wouldn't you? - Or your Mom.
Jack? Give you a lift if you like.
So, his brother went missing, and ever since then... - The prodigal son.
What? - Well, the prodigal son goes missing, and then comes back.
And the dad kills the fattened calf and everything.
Gives him a ring, and the other son, the one who stayed behind to help him, he gets nothing.
I hate the prodigal son.
Then you're like my dad.
Erm, are we in the way? - No
No, it's fine.
Are you... eating with us? - Is that okay?
Yeah. Then you can carry on after food.
I will beat him by then.
Good.
Good game plan.
Play the man, not the board.
She’s a girl, Granddad. - Me too, as a matter of fact.
“Zo”?
You can't have that. “Zoo” has got two Os. - You know, actually, “zo” is a word.
Are you sure?
Definitely, “zo” is a word.
What's that? - “Oxycamphor”.
What's an “oxycamphor”?
It’s a chemical.
I'm a chemist, Alan, remember?
I'd check that if I were you. - You're not checking anything.
She is a chemist.
If she says oxycamphus is a chemical, it's a chemical!
I don't mind people checking.
Anything that spins the game out, to be honest.
“Gue”, by the way, is a traditional stringed instrument from the Shetland Islands.
Impressed, but I still want to check it.
I also want to know, if a dictionary tells us, why Jack would ever
know the name of a traditional stringed thing from the Falklands.
Shetlands. And what's “yo”?
You can't have “yo”. What is it?
Clearly it's half a yo-yo. - It's a greeting.
Greetings are allowed.
Thank you, mister Jack's dad.
There it is—“oxycamphor”. You were right.
She knows damn well she's right. What are you talking about?
What was the next one, “yo”?
Don't look that up.
I just said it's a greeting, and greetings are allowed.
You were forever using “hi” and “ho”. You know “yo” is okay.
Did you really play “ho”, Granddad? As in Ho's and Cars?
I said don't look, Dad.
Dad! You're not even playing.
Dad?
Sue?
Sue, is that you?
Peter.
It's me, your Dad.
Sorry. - You're alright?
Yeah, I was just passing.
You don't have to get out, it's fine.
My house, your house. - I was finished anyway.
Cuppa tea?
I just wanted to say, about last night...
It's fine, no problem. Come on, cuppa tea.
I don't know how we keep rubbing each other up, you know, the wrong way.
I think it's to do with Michael, isn't it? - Probably.
Hey, come look at this.
Don't worry about me trying to communicate with you, or anything.
Where have you seen these words before? Erm... in a game of Scrabble.
Our Michael used to play them.
What?
All the players use those words.
They're two-letter words.
You got them written down here. - It's him, I'm sure of it.
He's fast and got lovely words and he always maximizes the score.
And he's not sentimental. You know he doesn't play a word because it looks nice. It's him!
“Zo”. He played “zo” that night.
You said there was no such word, and that's when he walked out.
What?
You said there was no such word, and that's...
Are you blaming me?
Who? What?
I told you to stay in the bathroom. I did stay in there.
But I was turning into a prune in that bath.
Anyway... What's to hide, done nothing wrong.
I know you. I met you.
You're married. - Not anymore, son.
Looking for our Nigel was the only thing that kept us together—and once we found him,
recriminations, boredom... You name it.
What? What have you been...?
You had sex?
Did you have sex in my bed?
Well, we weren't gonna have sex in Jack's bed, were we? It's a bunk bed. I'm not Tarzan.
Anyway it didn't feel right, did it, to have sex in the kid’s room.
You had sex in my bed?
How could you do that? Even I don't have sex in my bed.
Don't you? - Son.
You must ask yourself why you’re making so much fuss. I mean,
what harm are we doing? Anyway, you should be proud of your Dad.
Let me tell you he's a very considerate and accomplished lover. - Oh God, shut up!
No, seriously... - Please!
Please. - He's got everything.
No one... - Please, stop talking!
I'm gonna go.
And when I come back, this hasn't happened, okay?
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
You see the thing is, the traffic is horrendous.
I mean, maybe...
So let's reschedule.
Then I can get my ducks in a row.
No, I don't mean literal ducks.
No—I don’t do ducks.
I don't do chipmunks either.
Chipmunks, uh, I mean, chipmunks aren't even an indigenous species.
And we already agreed on squirrels.
Squirrels eating ice cream
Who's not gonna love that?
Oh.
No problem.
Granddad's gone!
Gone? Gone where? Gone gone!
Bags are gone, the lot. Not answering his phone.
He's left.
Did you say something to him? Have you had a row? - What? No!
Ask him. I never said anything to him apart from goodnight.
We have to find him. - What do you mean, we have to find him?
He's a missing person.
What are you on about, he's a missing person? He's a grown man. He gone back to his own home.
I don't know why he left it in the first place. - Mom?
We should find him. - Definitely, eh.
What? Have you both gone crazy?
He didn't live here.
That, or the fact that he's not here, does not make him lost.
On the contrary, it means he's gone back to where he's suppose to.
How do you know that if he's not answering his phone?
Maybe you go around and check?
He's lived in that house for 50 years.
Not once in all that time have I ever considered going to see if he's still living there.
What?
Dad?
Is he in? - No he's not.
Do you know where... - Where is he?
I don't know where he is. Do you?
He's not in there, I've looked. - I know, but
Can I have a look around? I've never been inside. He's funny about it.
Well, if he's funny about it, it's not for me to be serious about it, is it?
But... Well, I thought there might be, you know, a clue.
If he's not said where he is, maybe he doesn't want you to know where he is.
We were supposed to going to this thing in Chester. He bought me tickets.
A present. Why would he buy them and not turn up?
Why does he do most of the things he does?
Has he told you about this, um, Skinny what's-his-name?
Thesaurus? - He doesn't know anything about him.
Says he wants to meet him. Everyone knows you should never arrange to meet someone you only know from the Internet.
It's dangerous.
There was that girl, wasn't there, from Barnsley. Ran off with some guy who turned out to be 30 stone.
She was only fourteen.
I don't think anyone’s been sexually grooming my Dad. - No
But what if this Skinny fella turns out to be a kid?
And people, um, think it's your Dad doing the abducting.
Jesus!
Is this you?
Yeah. That's me and... - Michael.
The one who ran away.
Is that him? - That's him.
The prodigal son!
I'm fine.
I'm not fine at all.
Arthur?
Arthur, I'm... I'm so... sorry.
I don't know... I don't know what I was thinking.
I need you.
I'm so sorry. Can you come and pick me up?
I saw these pictures and, that's his...
I remembered being in the morgue. All right, it's okay.
What was I thinking of?
Is he mentally enfeebled in any way?
No more than he ever was.
Confused at all?
No more than the rest of us. - I can take his details.
I'll get you a photo.
If I get an unidentified body or injured person that matches the description, then sure, we can give you a call and ask.
Don't do that.
I don't wanna do that.
To be honest, he's hale and hearty. He's past the age of consent.
Unless he's waving around unlicensed firearms or driving around without due care and attention, then I don't see...
I know, I know...
You know, one night my son went missing.
He got in a big nark and walked out of the room. We were watching “Top Gear”.
I told him to stop talking over it. Off he went.
Banged the door and he never came back.
State of panic. Rang all his mates.
I was driving around the streets looking for him. Wife in tears, you have no idea.
Yes I have.
I'm driving around and I'm literally shaking.
Called the station, got people on it. Didn't know what else to do.
And then I went up to his bedroom. - Ah
No, no. I went up to his bedroom...
And he was fast asleep.
He'd gone straight to bed.
There he was, all cosy.
It happens.
Not all the time.
[singing] “It's a heartache, nothing but heartache...
“Hits you when it's too late...
“Hits you when you're down.
“It's a fool’s game,
“Nothing but a fool’s game...
“Standing in the cold rain,
“Feeling like a clown.
“It's a heartache,
“Nothing but a heartache
“Love until your arms break...”
Jack's found him. - What, is he here?
No, he's not here, - He synced his phone with my desktop.
The app “Find my Phone” turned on. So if I go here...
That's him. That's where he is.
Where is that? Somewhere near... Ainsdale.
Well then he's fine, isn't he? He just got to get away from it all.
That's where used to go on holiday when we were kids. What if he gone to meet someone?
What?
He talked about going to meet some guy off the Internet. He's not going to meet some guy of the Internet.
What a guy off the Internet doing in Ainsdale?
That explains why he's not answering his phone. He's got no signal.
You don't even care.
You don't even care one little bit. - What would you want me to do?
He's gone on a jolly, he just said.
I know my Dad better than you.
And I know he's okay.
But I'm gonna go up there.
But I'm doing it for you, not him, okay?
“Lissom”?
What's that?
Just a nice word.
I'm just...
playing with words.
Do you know what my favorite word is?
No, I don't.
“Soa-p”. [makes lips pop like soap bubble]
“Soa-p”.
Go on. Give it a go.
“Soa-p”.
Small pleasures eh?
Dad?
Alan?
Dad? - You broke his heart, you know.
All he ever talked about was you.
Doesn't matter what conversational gambit you try.
The tide, the weather...
European fishing quotas, the sudden appearance of bottlenose dolphins...
The mating habits of the North Atlantic gray seal...
It all comes back to you. I wish he was here. - I'm his other son.
What? - The one who didn't run away.
The one he's been staying with.
The one he went to possibly identify the body with.
I've got a son, Jack. He's quite close to my Dad.
My wife Sue. - No way.
We were a bit worried about him. We worried he might have gone in a distracted state and done something, you know.
Hang on a minute... How do I know that you're his son?
How do I know that you're not the tax or the police?
Why would the police to be after him? - I don't know.
He's an awkward bugger. - He's my Dad.
We're worried about him. Just tell me what you know.
Yeah, yeah... Now I see it.
You're the very image of him when you get narky.
He's out. - I know he's out.
That's why I'm worried about him. - Why are you worried?
He's a very experienced sailor, isn't he?
Is he? - Yeah.
Storms and gales—he's had the lot, him and that little boat.
Yeah, very experienced, very experienced.
What are you looking for?
What have I been looking for all these last years?
When I put on my coat and walk, and walk, and walk...
What do you think I was looking for?
I remember you doing it,
but I didn't know what you were doing at the time.
I thought all dads did that, you know.
I didn't know where else to look,
apart from everywhere.
They tell you to think about everything you know about them.
But it turns out
I didn't know that much.
Only the Scrabble thing.
And I don't even know if he liked Scrabble that much. It just...
It stuck in my mind because he walked out in the middle of a game.
I should have gone after him.
You were in a nark.
I should have gone after him.
That's true, I never thought of that.
I hate Scrabble.
You think it’s gonna be about the words, but it's about the numbers.
You think you gonna be playing “lagoon” and “lambent”,
or “soap”.
But it's all “mu”, “pi”...
“za”, “zu”...
Nobody leaves home over a game of Scrabble.
It wasn't about the Scrabble.
Scrabble was just the occasion.
It was Mom.
As soon as Mom died,
he was just angry all the time.
Something bad happened to him when I should have been protecting him.
Dad, we don’t know that.
And then this... SkinnyThesaurus started.
I mean, look at this.
He plays exactly like our Michael, same words sometimes.
I've been playing him, I know I have.
He's found me, or I found him.
And if he is...
you know... I've been playing a ghost.
All good players play the same way. - Yes, until the other day, and then... look.
Look at this.
“Marauder”, down the side there.
Would you waste a “U” on a word like that? “Marauder” is the name of our caravan.
He's trying to talk to us. - Dad...
So I messaged him. - Dad...
I gonna meet him. - Dad... Everybody knows you shouldn't...
What do I got to be scared of? The only thing I'm scared of is dying before I sort this out!
Hello, son.
Fancy a game?
Where did you get that? - eBay.
We've been playing each other for weeks, haven't we?
What?
You're him, aren't you? SkinnyThesaurus?
I'm sorry.
I'm all there is. Pickwick “Top of the Pops” sons.
It's alright—I'm the “Chat Valley Big League” of dads.
This is bloody useless, isn't it. The pieces are too flimsy.
They get crumpled when you try to pick them up, look.
But that's all there is. If you wanna play, that's it.
We have to make the best of it then.
Yeah.
It's clearing up. - Yeah, it's okay.
Nice day.
Well... not nice... ordinary.
He's not coming back.
The prodigal son.
Not today. - Give him a minute. Traffic is terrible.
The other son.
The non-prodigal one.
Do you know what he got for his troubles?
Days.
Mornings.
Afternoons.
At home,
with his family.
Ordinary days, like this one.
That's what he got.
Alright? - Yeah, you?
Not bad.
Are you coming?
The end!