Time Travelers Wife, The - pilot

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE

EPISODE ONE

Written by Steven Moffat

Based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger

NETWORK DRAFT 3, 5th March 2020

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE) 1 CLARE ABSHIRE. Red haired, she appears to be in her mid-to- late thirties. She sits, talking directly to the camera. This is obviously home made - like any actor’s self-tape. Behind her, indistinct, a suburban home. CLARE Why is love intensified by absence? 2 HENRY DETAMBLE. Seems a fair bit older than Clare. A bit ravaged, so it’s hard to tell. A sharp, careworn face, thinning gray hair - Henry Fonda in his later years. A man who has been through rather too much. For the purposes of this script we will call him OLDEST HENRY. Again, he’s talking to camera, in some dimly seen domestic setting. He is frowning in thought, like someone just asked him a difficult question. After a moment: OLDEST HENRY How does it feel? How does it feel? (Considers, shrugs) VIDEO FOOTAGE (HENRY) FLASH - Nighttime: a younger version of Henry (short dark hair) is standing naked in a ditch - clearly he’s just splashed into place. He’s surrounded by bushes and trees. There’s shouting, barking dogs, gunfire. He looks around, wildly. OLDEST HENRY (CONT’D) - or in the middle of a highway - FLASH - Daytime: a highway. Naked Henry (longer dark hair, though we only glimpse him) is hurling himself out of the way of a speeding truck. He rolls to safety on the verge. OLDEST HENRY (CONT’D) - or in a field full of cows. FLASH - Daytime: a field of cows, who are milling round a hapless naked Henry (short, graying hair.) Normal. Like nothing. Like your attention wandered for a moment. And the book you were reading is gone, and your coffee’s gone, and the room’s gone, and you’re ankle deep in a ditch -

OLDEST HENRY (CONT’D) And of course, you’re naked. Back in time, and naked. Now cutting fast round glimpses of Henry in action. Just expressionistic glimpses of future episodes. FLASH - A church congregation, staring. Naked Henry (short dark hair) is at the front of the church, covering himself up as best he can. FLASH - A back street at night. Naked Henry (long dark hair) dives for cover behind some trash-packed skips - and collides with a couple making out. FLASH - A barn in the daytime. Naked Henry (short dark hair) tumbles out of a pile of hay. A bunch of startled farmers are raising their shotguns at him. (NB Throughout these clips, we never get a good look at the various versions of Henry - he is a naked blur, leaping out of the way. And we can’t be coy about how we shoot the nudity - there’s going to be far too much of it.)

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE)

CLARE The bed clothes will go slack. Or the shower will keep running, or the bacon will keep frying, or you’ll hear a coffee cup smash on the floor, and you realise, he’s gone.

FLASH: Clare and Henry’s house. Clare (early thirties) steps into the kitchen. In the foreground, a sink is overflowing - quick pan down to a pile of Henry’s clothes on the floor. CLARE (CONT’D) It’s happened again, he’s gone. FLASH: Clare’s apartment. Clare (early twenties) sets a glass of wine down in front of an empty dining room chair. CLARE (CONT’D) He’s just a pile of clothes. FLASH: Clare and Henry’s house. Henry’s clothes are draped over a sofa and a book has fallen - open and face down - on the floor. Clare (early thirties) picks up the book, takes an envelope from the table and carefully marks Henry’s place, before the closing the book. CLARE (CONT’D) And then it starts. The waiting.

FLASH: Clare and Henry’s house. Clare sits at the dining table, eating. The chair opposite is conspicuously empty.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (HENRY)

OLDEST HENRY Time travel - it’s not a

superpower. It’s a disability. It’s what’s wrong with me. I can’t keep hold of the current moment, I just ... slide off. I fall back in time.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE)

CLARE When he’s gone, I wait and I worry. I wonder where he is, when he is. If he’s in danger...

FLASH: Clare’s workshop. Clare (early thirties) is in her work clothes, paper making - arms up to her elbows in a huge bowl, filled with a slurry of paper pulp. She works fiercely, frowning, absorbed. Her voice continues over this.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (HENRY)

OLDEST HENRY Sometimes you ping straight back where you were, to your book and your coffee, and it’s fine. Five minutes, nothing, a nap.

FLASH: We’re back in Clare and Henry’s house, as Clare (mid- thirties) uses the envelope to mark Henry’s place in his book - and startles, as naked Henry (short dark hair) stumbles into shot. She smiles, hands him the book. He hugs her, clinging to her hard. OLDEST HENRY (CONT’D) Sometimes it’s days, weeks, months. And you have to survive. Three things I got good at - stealing, running, and fighting. You need to be good at those when everywhere you go, you’re naked. Now a quicker series of cuts. These are more visceral, brutal. FLASH: A back street, nighttime. Naked Henry (longer dark hair) is beating the crap out of some young guy.

FLASH: A clothes shop. Naked Henry (short graying hair) is reaching his arm through a smashed window, grabbing what he can. An alarm is sounding. FLASH: A kitchen in someone’s house. The curtains flap in the breeze from the forced-open window, and naked Henry (short dark hair) is eating hungrily from the fridge. The Home- owner, gun leveled, is nervously approaching him from behind. FLASH: The same back street as before. Now Henry (longer dark hair) is pulling on some ill fitting clothes, while the guy he was beating up lies naked on the ground.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE)

CLARE, now laughing, at something someone’s just said.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (HENRY) HENRY, also laughing.

OLDEST HENRY That’s a difficult question.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE)

CLARE Seriously? You’re asking me that?

VIDEO FOOTAGE (HENRY)

OLDEST HENRY When did we first meet? First meet? Define “first”!

Another roar of laughter.

VIDEO FOOTAGE (CLARE)

CLARE I married a time traveler. It’s ... complicated.

She smiles. On her smile, we dissolve to:

OPENING TITLES 12 As the titles begin, it’s like another flashback (which is what it is.) We see:

EXT. THE MEADOW - DAY 13 A beautiful, wide meadow under a perfect blue sky. The sun is shining like it only does in your memories. At one side of meadow, and lovely grand old house. At the other side, the beginning of a wood. Running between the two, from the house to the trees, is a tiny red-haired figure, charging through the long grass. The titles begin ... Closer: a little girl, with flame-red hair. She’s six years old and this is very clearly YOUNG CLARE. In her arms she carries a pile of folded men’s clothes (folded about as well as you’d expect from an enthusiastic six year old.) On a top of the pile of clothes is a big pair of men’s shoes. They jostle as she runs. 14 Now she’s dashing through the trees, ducking branches, skirting ponds. It’s magical; a fairy tale wood; a forest from your childhood. EXT. THE WOODS - DAY EXT. CLEARING - DAY 15 Now she’s stepping into the clearing. It’s about ten feet in diameter. There’s a big rock in the centre of it, and the land swells and dips, so creating a degree of privacy from the direction of the house. Young Clare dashes to the “private area” of the clearing, carefully - a little proudly - sets down the pile of clothes. We hold on the pile of clothes, the pair of men’s shoes on top. Now widening to include, next to them, the tiny pair of shoes on Young Clare’s feet (this is effectively the cover of the book.) The image freezes. Pulling out from this image to include what is now the full title card. THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE. EXT. CHICAGO/WASHINGTON SQUARE/NEWBERRY LIBRARY - DAY 16 We’re tracking along with a young, red-haired girl. In fact, it’s Clare (aged 20.) To one side of the screen we fade up the words. Clare is 20

These words stay up (and should appear in the exact font used for the original publication.) She’s heading towards - We pan ahead of her to: The Newberry Library - grand and old and sitting at the edge of the square. Clare is now skipping up the steps... INT. NEWBERRY LIBRARY/CAGE STAIRCASE - DAY 17 “Back stage” at the Library. A grim stone staircase, wound round a grim, metal, cage like structure. This cage is oddly purposeless - as if an elevator had once been intended, but never installed. Now skipping down the steps is HENRY. Much younger, much healthier - an almost loutish confidence. He has long, collar length hair. Trouble bristles from him. Now more words fade up, adding to the ones already there: Clare is 20, Henry is 28. Henry heads to a pair of double doors, leading into the main part of the building. He hesitates at the door, looks back at grim, gray cage, extending up through the centre of the winding staircase. A troubled frown. Like it’s bad memory. Or perhaps something more complicated than that. He shakes off the feeling, pushes open the doors. (We now lose the words.) 18 A double height room, crammed with a succession of looming, gray metal book cases. The cases are mounted on rails, and can be slid together or apart. They have iron turn-wheels on the end of each of the book case, used to move the massive units. These are the stacks. Henry is heading along the narrow canyon between the stacks. He’s in a good mood - an almost truculent cheeriness. As he passes one the of the cases, he runs his hand along the books. He’s always at home here. Loves this place. Now stepping from between the stacks, MATT. INT. NEWBERRY LIBRARY/THE STACKS - DAY

Matt is about Henry’s age, also works here. He’s phlegmatic to Henry’s cheeriness - and at the moment, has an armful of clothes. They face each other for a moment. MATT Are these yours? I found them in * the stacks. HENRY 28 * Yeah. Thanks. * Henry bustles on past him, clearly anxious to be through with this conversation. MATT Henry ... I’ve been meaning to ask * ... why do you sometimes take off * your clothes and run around naked * in here? HENRY 28 * ... it’s complicated. MATT Okay, I’m listening. * HENRY 28 * It’s a long story. * MATT * Time isn’t a problem for me. HENRY 28 * Lucky you! Henry flashes him a cheeky smile and heads on.

INT. NEWBERRY LIBRARY/THE SPECIAL COLLECTION - DAY

HENRY emerges through a side door, into: “Front of house” at the library. Wide and tall and marble and gleaming. The grand corridor is lined on one side with book- crammed reading rooms, visible through interior windows. At the midpoint of the corridor, it widens into an oval where there is a reception desk. Stone staircases sweep up and down from this point. This - according to the sign above the desk - is the “Special Collections” department. Henry: the jaunty, coin-jingling walk of someone absolutely at home. He glances into one reading room as he passes. A number of people sit round a table, while a MAN stands at the far end, giving a presentation.

The next room: almost empty. A BLONDE WOMAN sits with her back to us. Henry glances, passes on - - stops. That cascade of blonde hair. Promising. He backs up, knocks on the reading room door, opens it. HENRY 28 Ah, excuse me - The blonde turns from the books she has spread on the table. She is much older than Henry was expecting. He smiles. HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * No. He withdraws, closing the door. * Now he reaches the stairs, turns to head down them. As he does he hears a voice - clearly pitched to attract his attention. ISABELLE (From off) Perhaps Mr DeTamble can help you. Henry turns on the stairs. ISABELLE - a squat, sardonic woman, obviously the RECEPTIONIST - is eyeing him from behind the desk. She is mid- conversation with a red-haired woman. As the red-haired woman turns, following Isabelle’s look we see that it is CLARE. (We don’t focus on Clare for the moment, but the moment she sees Henry, she just stares.) ISABELLE (CONT’D) Unless he’s been called to urgent business elsewhere? Henry comes back up the stairs, with a resigned smile. HENRY 28 * You mean unless he’s trying to * slink off home early? ISABELLE You read my mind. HENRY 28 * It’s written all over your face. ISABELLE Kelmscott Press Chaucer . HENRY 28 * Who wants to know?

Isabelle nods her head to the woman standing next to him at the counter, moves away. * HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * Hi. Can I help you? It’s Clare. And she is staring at him - like she’s in a state of revelation. Stricken at the very sight of him, silenced by * him. * Henry: blinks, not sure what to make of that. Tries his best * friendly smile. * HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * So. The Kelsmcott Chaucer, yeah? * More staring. Henry, unnerved by the eyes now searching his * face. * CLARE ... Henry? * HENRY 28 * Oh. Hello. * (She’s just staring) * Sorry, I don’t, um - * CLARE Clare. Abshire. Clare Abshire. * The way she says her name - like she’s expecting it to mean * something. But there’s nothing. Just a pleasant struggling to * make sense of this conversation as politely as he can. * HENRY 28 * Well. Hello Clare. Good to meet * you. * CLARE * Meet me? * Henry blinks - surprise, confusion. What?? * HENRY 28 * - um - okay - * CLARE * Well, yes, meet me, of course. * Sorry. Didn’t think this would be * so ... head-fucky. * HENRY 28 * So what? * CLARE * Wasn’t expecting this. Not today. *

10.

* * * * * * * *

HENRY 28

Expecting what?

CLARE

You. You.

(An involuntary giggle, slightly hysterical - claps a hand to her

mouth.)

Look at you! * Henry: starting to think he’s dealing with a crazy. Looking * around, embarrassed. * CLARE (CONT’D) * No, it’s okay, I’m fine, don’t * worry. * (Another yelp of * realisation) * Jesus! DeTamble? She said Mr. * DeTamble. That’s your name, Henry * DeTamble . * HENRY 28 * Yes. * CLARE * That’s going to take a bit of * getting used to. * HENRY 28 * ... okay. So the Kelmscott - * CLARE * It’s all right, I’m not mad. Gimme * a moment, I’ve got this. I’ve been * practising. * HENRY 28 * To come to a library? * CLARE * (Almost like a prepared * speech) * You have a birthmark. Like a * strawberry. Like you stood on a strawberry and squished it. On your left foot. She reaches over and with the toe of her shoe, prods the inside of his left foot. It’s strangely - and deliberately - intimate. CLARE (CONT’D) Also, you have a scar just below * your hairline. Can’t see it right * now, your hair’s too long. * (MORE)

11.

CLARE (CONT’D)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

(Momentarily distracted by

the hair)

Actually it’s really long. Is it supposed to be that long? (Abruptly back on subject) You’ve never told me how you got the scar. I’ve asked you but I don’t think you like talking about

it.

Henry: she has his full attention now. Studying her face,

starting to get it.

HENRY 28

We’ve met then?

CLARE

Yes. Well, no. I’ve met you . (Hesitates; a beat - and drops the big one) I saw that birthmark fourteen years

ago. * On Henry as this impacts. Oh. Oh! Now he’s processing that. CLARE (CONT’D) * And now you’re standing there * looking like you’ve never seen me * before - * HENRY 28 * I haven’t. * CLARE * I know. * He looks hard at her, studying her face. Is it possible, does * she really know? He looks around, checking no one is over- * hearing. Lowers his voice. HENRY 28 * Do you understand why I don’t recognise you? CLARE * Yes. * HENRY 28 * So. I take it know about my ... * problem? * CLARE * Yes. * HENRY 28 * Who told you?

12.

CLARE

You told me.

Henry thinks about that: okay ... HENRY 28

We can’t talk here. We should get a coffee. CLARE Or a drink. HENRY 28

Okay, a drink. CLARE Dinner.

HENRY 28

That escalated quickly. CLARE Fourteen years.

20 *

EXT. WASHINGTON SQUARE/NEWBERRY LIBRARY - DAY

Henry is showing Clare out. They stand together outside the glass doors. Exquisitely awkward in a very precise new way. HENRY 28 CLARE Yeah. Tonight. They stare at one another for a moment, in such different places. So. Tonight.

Clare: guarded, teasing, fizzing with knowledge she can’t share - but studying his face, as if she isn’t quite sure she’s got the right guy. Her eyes keep going to his long hair. Henry: scared, thrilled, ravenous to know more, apprehensive. HENRY 28 * Sorry, I’m not quite sure - um - CLARE No. Me neither. HENRY 28 * I’m usually good at reading women.

13.

CLARE

Women?

* * *

HENRY 28

People . Both.

She frowns at his crassness. Then just laughs.

CLARE

Later! She eyes him for a moment - a slightly quizzical look, hard for Henry to read - and starts down the steps. He stares after her fascinated, already. And then he winces, remembering how he played it. HENRY 28 * (Cringing) Both! Closer on Clare as she walks. She starts to smile, amused. Clare’s POV. Henry on the steps. He’s got his head in hands, clearly embarrassed. Thumping his damn fool skull with one fist. Clare laughs, heads on out of frame Closer on Henry. He pulls himself together. Turns to go back inside. As he does, he glances over at Clare - and watches. Henry’s POV: Clare is walking away through the park, and now she starts to run. Now she’s jumping and whooping and hollering for a joy. A moment ago she was a composed and mysterious woman - and now she’s exploding with happiness, like a little girl in a play park. On Henry: a slow smile, spreading. Something amazing is about to start. And then happy. And then grinning. She can’t resist it - she looks back. INT. HENRY’S APARTMENT - DAY 21 A tiny studio apartment - living room/bedroom/kitchen with a tiny bathroom off it. It is apocalyptically untidy. No television - and everywhere, books. Stacked, shelved, lying opened the floor. It’s a cave of books and scuzziness. The door is just banging shut behind Henry, who has just arrived. He looks round in despair. HENRY 28 * Okay ... ! *

14.

Fast cutting round: Henry vacuuming the living room - - Henry washing dishes - - Henry sniffing the bedsheets, assessing their romantic viability - - Henry pulling off the bedsheets - - stuffing the bedsheets in the laundry basket - - searching a largely empty airing cupboard - - pulling the bedsheets out of the laundry basket - - putting the bedsheets back on the bed - - spraying a deodorant from a can over the bedsheets - now he’s in the bathroom - - and he notices - - two toothbrushes in the cup above the sink! He quickly snatches the pink one - - swipes a lipstick off the shelf - - a little make up mirror is also snatched up - - a compact, a diaphragm case, box of tampons, more make-up accessories - His hands full of the incriminating items, he stands in the middle of the bathroom - where to put them?? Close on a little drawer, as he yanks it open. Inside it: more of the same - old lipsticks, etc. Grimly, he contemplates the evidence that he’s done all this before - - and then tips the fresh batch of evidence in, and slams the drawer. He stands, turning to go - - and stops. Shock moment! In the middle of the floor, a huge crimson explosion of blood. It has sloshed over the walls too.

15.

He just stares at it. Clearly unsettled, but certainly not surprised. He takes a breath, opens the cupboard under sink, and pulls out a cloth, ready to clean up the mess - - but we turn back to look at it, it’s gone. Not a trace of the blood anywhere. On Henry: again it’s unnerving, but it’s not surprising. He tosses the cloth back in the cupboard, and walks calmly across the clean-again floor and out of the bathroom. We hold on the impossibly unsullied tiles for a moment - CLARE (Prelap) You’ve never brought me flowers before. INT. BEAU THAI RESTAURANT - EVENING 22 CLARE, sitting in a booth in the restaurant (she’s date- ready, in a velvet wine-colored dress and pearls.) She’s beaming at a brightly-colored bunch of flowers being held out to her by - - HENRY. (Now dressed differently - a slight disheveled jacket and tie.) The restaurant around them is bustling, cheerful. CLARE * Do you think that’s going to work? * HENRY 28 * I don’t know - far as I know, we’ve * never been on a date before. If * this is a date. Are we on a date? * She slides something across the table to him. * Closer on it. A pale blue children’s diary. * HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * What’s this? * CLARE * Dates. 152 of them. * He stares at the book. He’s still got the flowers in his * hand, he hasn’t even sat down yet - * - but he reaches a hand for the diary, opens it. A list of * dates, in childish handwriting The first date reads: *

16.

* * *

September 23rd, 1992. He flicks a page. More dates. Bloody

hell!

HENRY 28

152. * Henry’s eye running down the page. All the years. 1993. 1998. * 2005. * Tries to get his head round this. Fails. * HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * (Indicates flowers) * What should I do with these? * CLARE * I think you put them in water so * they die slower. * HENRY 28 * Sometimes can you just dump them on * a table? * CLARE * Yeah, I think so. * He discards the bunch of flowers on the table. Sits. He picks * up the book again. * Henry is studying the book now, the childish handwriting. As * Clare watches him handle the book - barked knuckles. Clare, * now noticing - * - Henry’s clothes are little disheveled. Looks like he’s had * to dust himself off. * CLARE (CONT’D) * You been in a fight? * HENRY 28 * Sure, how do you think I got the * flowers? You made this list? * CLARE * Actually, you dictated it to me. So * I’d know when you’d be showing up. * You told me a few years ago that * you memorized it from the list I’m * giving you now. Which you dictated * to me in the first place. So I * don’t really know how the * information even exists, it’s like * a Moebius list - * HENRY 28 * (Hand to his head) * No, stop, slow down. *

17.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CLARE

Yeah, it’s confusing. I’ve had longer to think about it. Has this never happened before? Meeting someone in the wrong order?

HENRY 28

No.

CLARE

Didn’t he warn you about this kind

of thing?

HENRY 28

(Looks at her sharply)

Didn’t who warn me?

CLARE

The guy who trained you.

Henry: surprised at this question, wary of it.

CLARE (CONT’D)

I know there was a guy who taught you about the time travel stuff - all the rules. When you were a kid. Another time traveler.

HENRY 28

Did I tell you who it was?

CLARE

You haven’t so far. Maybe today’s

the day.

Clare is properly curious on this point - hoping she’s * finally getting this piece of the puzzle. Trying to tease and * flirt it out of him. * Henry just looks at her, then back at the book. * HENRY 28 * (Reading one of the dates - * slight alarm) * September the 11th, 2001? * CLARE * Yeah. That was a day. * HENRY 28 * Looking forward to that one all * over again. So. Getting this * straight. In the future - my future * - I’m going to start showing up in * your past. *

18.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

CLARE

Yeah.

HENRY 28

For fourteen years.

CLARE

152 times.

HENRY 28

What age am I? Back then? Was I?

Will I be?

CLARE

Yeah, tenses are fucked, don’t go there. Oldest I’ve seen you, forty something. Youngest, maybe about thirty. All jumbled up, though, I never knew what age you’d be. You’re gonna suit gray though. Last time I saw was two years ago.

HENRY 28

What’s that smile?

CLARE

It’s a remembering smile.

HENRY 28

Remembering what?

CLARE

How old are you now?

HENRY 28

28.

CLARE

You look like a baby.

HENRY 28

Why you? Why specifically you, so

many times?

CLARE

Well, not a baby. But it’s like you’ve been all ... you know ... tightened. You’ve gone all bouncy and shiny. You’ve been renovated .

HENRY 28

I suppose that must seem a little

...

HENRY

CLARE

Weird.

Hot.

19.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HENRY 28

Hot?

CLARE

Hot, yeah. Somebody pimped my date.

HENRY 28

Is that what we’re doing here, are

we on date?

CLARE

Yes.

HENRY 28

I mean a date date.

CLARE

Yes.

HENRY 28

How am I doing?

CLARE

Astonishingly well.

HENRY 28

Oh. Good.

CLARE

About as well as it is possible for a human being to do, in fact.

HENRY 28

Great.

He’s momentarily dumbfounded. Game on, and he’s now

struggling to focus.

CLARE

No more questions?

HENRY 28

All of a sudden I’m distracted.

CLARE

Concentrate - ask me something.

HENRY 28

Any ... um ... hobbies? Favourite books? Any unusual sexual proclivities I should know about?

CLARE

One.

HENRY 28

What?

20.

CLARE

I’m going to marry you. * On Henry. This information lands on him like a grand piano. * He can’t find words. * CLARE (CONT’D) * Oh. I was gonna build up to that. * But, oops, there it is. I’m your * future wife. * He can’t stop swallowing. She just smiles complacently at * him. * HENRY 28 * Who says? * CLARE * You do. You told me. You explained * you were visiting me from our * marriage in the future. Sorry to * spring it on you, but in the * future, we’re a married couple. * Henry: still not finding words. His eyes dart round the * restaurant. Suddenly it seems to be full of old married * couples. * Finally. * HENRY 28 * ... congratulations. * Clare explodes with laughter. * CLARE * Seriously. Congratulations?? * HENRY 28 * What am I supposed to say? * CLARE * Don’t think much of yourself, do * you? * HENRY 28 * I don’t know - ... I can’t - ... * CLARE * Congratulations?? * HENRY 28 * There is literally no precedent for * this conversation. * CLARE * That’s for sure. *

21.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HENRY 28

Sorry. It’s a lot to ... process.

CLARE

Ooh, hold my hand when you say

process.

HENRY 28

Married??

CLARE

Yep.

HENRY 28

You’re my - ...

CLARE

Yes I am.

HENRY 28

My wife ?

CLARE

Your future wife, yes.

HENRY 28

... I met you four hours ago. We haven’t even ordered yet.

She roars with laughter again. Henry glances nervously * around. People are glancing towards them - the nervous young * man and the joyously laughing young woman. * Now Clare has reached across the table, taken his hand. She’s * warmer now, kinder. * CLARE * I know. I get it. Fourteen years * for me. Earlier today for you. It’s * weird. So ask me question. * He stares at her, searching her face. This is so much. Too * much. * HENRY 28 * If we’re going to get married - and * remember, I’ve only got your word * for that - * CLARE * Well, technically, I’ve only got * your word for that. But then, if * you think about it, what does any * couple ever have? * (A tight little smile) * Please don’t do that. *

22.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

HENRY 28

Do what?

CLARE

Swallow when I say ‘couple’.

HENRY 28

Did I swallow?

CLARE

Audibly. The next table looked

round.

HENRY 28

If we’re going to be married - if we, basically, just got ... engaged ... it seems reasonable to ask ... how did we meet?

* Clare glances down at the list in the still opened blue book. * She smiles, amused. * CLARE * You mean, how was it for me? * 23 Almost identical to the opening shot of the title sequence. The heartbreaking blue sky, the meadow, the house at one side, the wood at the other. Again, there is the little red-haired figure racing through the long grass. EXT. MEADOW - DAY Closer on her: YOUNG CLARE dashing through the meadow. This time, though, she isn’t carrying clothes. In one hand she grips a little, plastic horse. We now fade up the words - Clare is 6 - at one side of the screen. They remain there for now. 24 Now Clare is dashing through the trees in the wood. Ducking under branches, skirting round the pond. EXT. WOODS - DAY EXT. CLEARING - DAY 25 Now she’s arrived at the clearing. The boulder in the middle, the swell and dip of the land.

23.

She scurries down into her private little area. She plops herself down on the ground, examines her horse. Squints at it, critically. She pulls a little comb from her pocket, combs its sparse few hairs. Now a coughing. A retching. Like someone being sick. Clare freezes in alarm - no one ever comes, no one - and now looks towards the trees, where the noise seems to be coming from. Clare’s POV. We close in on the surrounding darkness of the trees. The retching, the spluttering ... Now more words are added, so the screen reads: Clare is 6, Henry is 36. YOUNG CLARE Mark? Mark, is that you? The retching stops, as if reaction. YOUNG CLARE (CONT’D) This is my place. You’re not supposed to come here. She reaches down, pulls off one of her shoes and hurls it towards the retching noise. HENRY 36 * (From off) Ow! Silence. Then, from among the trees, a familiar voice - HENRY 36 (CONT’D) * (from off) Hello, Clare. YOUNG CLARE Who are you? HENRY 36 * (from off) It’s Henry. YOUNG CLARE ... Henry? HENRY 36 * (from off) * I’m just being sick. Traveling * makes her sick some times, you know * that. *

24.

* *

YOUNG CLARE

Who are you? (from off)

* * *

HENRY 36

Haven’t we met yet, Clare? Don’t

you know me?

Clare, now terrified. Just a little shake of her head. YOUNG CLARE No. HENRY 36

(From off) That’s okay, that’s fine, don’t be scared. I’m a friend. I promise you, I’m a friend. My name’s Henry. YOUNG CLARE I don’t have any friends called Henry. HENRY 36 You do now. Clare ... could you be very kind? Could you go and get me some clothes?

* *

Young Clare frowns, considering.

EXT. MEADOW - DAY 26 Again the shot of the meadow - the sky, the house, the woods. This time the little red-haired figure is charging along in the other direction, towards the house. Cutting closer on the rear of the house. YOUNG CLARE racing towards the back door. 27 YOUNG CLARE comes crashing into the kitchen. A fabulous riot INT. MEADOWLARK HOUSE/KITCHEN - DAY of a country kitchen - brass and glass and streaming sunshine. In young Clare’s world, everything is huge and fascinating and rich - the world through the eyes of an excited child; as thrilling and detailed as illustrations in a storybook. A succession of golden memories. At the counter is NELL, the housekeeper, chopping vegetables. * NELL What’s all this running about indoors? It’s not a scolding, it’s a tease. These are good friends.

25.

YOUNG CLARE

Nell, you know what an imaginary friend is. NELL Sure. YOUNG CLARE I found one in the wood. NELL Well that’s very clever of you. YOUNG CLARE

And I’m gonna dress him up cos he’s naked. She tears off. Nell, bemused for a moment - then laughs it off. 28 She races past a doorway - then darts back for another look. YOUNG CLARE’s POV. A large, rambling living room. Three people there. ALICIA ABSHIRE - a four year old girl. She’s skipping around INT. HALLWAY/LIVING ROOM/STAIRS - DAY

in the centre of the floor, lost in a game of her own. LUCILLE ABSHIRE - Clare’s mother. She stands at the window, staring out, abstractedly - ignoring her playing daughter. She adjusts her hair, as if she’s looking at her reflection in the window more than the view through it. She seems sad, remote. Alicia glances round, notices Clare at the door. Smiles, * thrilled to see her. Clare gives her a little wave and dashes off. * Now she’s climbing the staircase. Huge stairs, tiny legs. INT. MEADOWLARK HOUSE/UPSTAIRS LANDING/MARK’S BEDROOM - DAY YOUNG CLARE dashes along. She hesitates by another open door. Peeks through. Her older brother Mark’s bedroom. 29

MARK ABSHIRE - eight years old. He’s doing his homework at his desk and taking it very seriously. He’s working at a

* *

brand new Intel Pentium PC.

26.

There’s a games console in the corner (Nintendo SNES) or a * poster of Michael Jordan on the wall. * PHILIP ABSHIRE - Clare’s Dad. He’s leaning over Mark’s shoulder, frowning seriously at his son’s work. A clock-ticking, studious silence. Young Clare - clearly bored and unimpressed. She slips away from the doorway. With a slightly nervous backward glance at her father, Young Clare tiptoes across the hall to another door, pushes it carefully and quietly open...

INT. PHILIP AND LUCILLE’S BEDROOM - DAY

Clare eases herself into ... ... her parents bedroom. The double bed, and it’s gleaming brass bedknobs looms huge - - but even huger is - - the wardrobe! She approaches it. The wardrobe towers over her - a dark creaking monument. She swallows hard. Probably she has nightmares about this wardrobe. She reaches a hand, starts to open it. Oh, stop creaking, stop creaking! And there they are, revealed - Dad’s shirts, like a line of headless ghosts in the shadowed interior. She reaches randomly for one shirt - hesitates. Changes her mind, reaches for another. Now she’s squinting critically along the array. Which one would be the perfect shirt for her new friend? 31 The shot from the Opening Titles. YOUNG CLARE racing through the long grass, clutching the pile of clothes. The big leather shoes jostle on top. EXT. MEADOW - DAY

27.

EXT. WOODS - DAY

Under the branch, skirting the pond -

EXT. CLEARING - DAY 33 As before YOUNG CLARE dashes to the “private area” of the clearing, carefully - a little proudly - sets down the pile of clothes. We hold on the pile of clothes, the pair of men’s shoes on top. Now widening to include, next to them, the tiny pair of shoes on Young Clare’s feet. CUT TO: * EXT. CLEARING - DAY 34 * YOUNG CLARE stands with her back to HENRY and her face in her * hands. * HENRY 36 * (From off) * Okay. I’m ready. * Young Clare’s POV: a hero shot, closing in on Henry. But this * isn’t the Henry we know, this a whole different man. His hair is short, a touch of gray at the temples. But it’s more than that. He’s more civilised, calmer, urbane, almost presidential. As if the younger loutish version of himself has been remodeled on George Clooney: a man in a very different phase of his life. He’s dry, where his younger self was flip: gentle where he used to be harsh: strong where he was aggressive. To all intents and purposes this is a different character. (From this point - for this script - we will refer to him as OLDER HENRY.) Thanks to young Clare he is wearing a very ugly plaid shirt and also has a slight cut on his forehead. HENRY 36 (CONT’D) * I’ve had a lot of practice. She stares at him, unnerved, wide-eyed. She finds herself taking a nervous step back. YOUNG CLARE You’re bleeding. HENRY 36 * You threw your shoe at me. YOUNG CLARE * I’m not saying sorry. *

28.

* * *

HENRY 36

Why should you?

Henry sits on the ground, starts to pull one of the shoes.

YOUNG CLARE

(Pointing) What’s that mark? HENRY 36

It’s a birthmark. It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt. YOUNG CLARE It looks like you stood on a strawberry and squished it. HENRY 36

(Smiling) Yeah, someone else said that. (Frown, remembering) Oh! YOUNG CLARE What’s wrong? Henry looks at her, a little incredulous. Smiles at the madness of it all. HENRY 36

It wasn’t someone else.

35 *

EXT. CLEARING - DAY

A little time later. OLDER HENRY and YOUNG CLARE. Sitting with their backs leaning against the rock. Old friends already, chatting. Young Clare is brushing her horse’s hair. YOUNG CLARE Have you seen dinosaurs? HENRY 36 *

I tickled a dinosaur’s tummy once. Actually twice. But it was in a Natural History museum. YOUNG CLARE Real ones. HENRY 36 I travel in time, but not that far back - I tend to stay in the time since I was born.

* *

29.

YOUNG CLARE Is that not dinosaurs? HENRY 36

(Gives her a look) No, Clare, that’s not dinosaurs. YOUNG CLARE Do you have kids in the future? HENRY 36 No, I’m afraid not.

YOUNG CLARE

Do you have a wife? HENRY 36

Yes.

YOUNG CLARE

Is she pretty?

HENRY 36

Yes, she’s very pretty. YOUNG CLARE What’s her name? HENRY 36

Well. Funnily enough, her name is Clare. YOUNG CLARE Like me. HENRY 36 (Suppresses a smile)

Yes. Like you.

YOUNG CLARE Was it love at first sight? HENRY 36 (Looks at her, uneasily)

God, I hope not.

YOUNG CLARE

Do you kiss her?

HENRY 36

Well - yes -

YOUNG CLARE

Why?

30.

HENRY 36

Because it’s ... nice. Because I love her. YOUNG CLARE Why do you like kissing people?

* *

HENRY 36

(Flailing, trying to get out of this conversation) Why do you brush your horse’s hair? YOUNG CLARE It’s not brushing. I’m grooming her. A world of discomfort as he stares. Oh, Jesus, any word but that one. HENRY 36 * Okay. Moving on. Clare ... in a * little while, I’m going to disappear. YOUNG CLARE Can I watch? HENRY 36 *

Yes, you can. And when I go, I’d like you to do me a favor. I’m gonna leave these clothes behind. Could you put them somewhere for me, maybe under this rock. If you could put them in a box, then they’d be nice and dry for me. YOUNG CLARE Are you coming back? HENRY 36 I’ll be back lots of times. Some of those times have already happened for me. You’ll see me looking younger, maybe older - YOUNG CLARE Can’t you bring your own clothes? HENRY 36 I can’t bring anything. Those are the rules. YOUNG CLARE Why are there rules? HENRY 36

I don’t know.

31.

YOUNG CLARE Who told you the rules? HENRY 36

You ask a lot of questions, don’t you. YOUNG CLARE You said I could. HENRY 36 There was ... the very first time it happened to me, there was a man. YOUNG CLARE Who? HENRY 36 Another ... well, another time traveler. YOUNG CLARE Are there lots of time travelers? HENRY 36

He explained it all to me. YOUNG CLARE Who was he? HENRY 36

It’s a very long story, Clare. But Clare has put down her plastic horse. Settled in to hear the whole thing. YOUNG CLARE Good. I like stories. Henry looks down at Clare. Her face tilted up at him, expectant. There’s no way he’s getting out of this. He looks down at her in mild consternation. On YOUNG CLARE’s sweet little smile, which becomes - 36 - the fangs of a crocodile, its mouth stretched wide open. Now on a little boy. He wears modern (1985) clothes, and he’s looking at this with a very similar look of mild consternation. This is YOUNG HENRY. INT. THE STONE AGE - DAY

32.

Now a woman, also modern (1985) dress is taking his hand. This elegant, glamorous woman is ANNETTE DETAMBLE - Henry’s mother. ANNETTE Come on, Henry - it’s closing in a a minute. She leads by the hand, and as they leave the display, we realise we are in a museum and the crocodile is a part of display of large reptiles ... INT. FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - DAY 37 YOUNG HENRY is walking the wide corridor between his parents RICHARD and ANNETTE, holding their hands. He’s happy, excited - this has been a thrilling visit! RICHARD What did you think, Henry? Your first museum! ANNETTE You loved it. Didn’t you, Henry? On little Henry. A pleased, happy smile starting to glow. 38 Henry being tucked up in bed by ANNETTE. Now the words fade up and remain on screen: Henry is 7 YOUNG HENRY Can we go back? ANNETTE Of course we can. A cheeky smile from YOUNG HENRY. YOUNG HENRY Tonight? ANNETTE Soon. Sleep tight. She kisses him on the forehead and goes. We stay on Henry as the light goes out. Henry lies in the semi-dark - eyes bright and alive in the semi-dark. He smiles - and closes his eyes. INT. LITTLE HENRY’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

33.

Closer shot on eyes, as they snap open again - now alarmed! Young Henry’s POV: a glowering caveman, pointing a spear right at him!

Panning to - a fierce cavewoman! Panning to the fangs of a wolf! Rolling focus from the wolf fangs to ... ... a red glowing EXIT sign. Wider: and we realise we are back in:

INT. THE FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/STONE AGE AREA - NIGHT YOUNG HENRY, naked, back in the museum, only now it’s dark, and only lit by the redness of the EXIT sign. He’s in front of the stone age exhibit. Where is he?? What’s happened?? How did he get here?? A fierce whisper from somewhere in the dark. FIERCE WHISPER Hey! Kid! Henry! YOUNG HENRY looking around, wildly. And a teeshirt (clearly promotional merchandise for the museum) lands on his head, thrown from the shadows. FIERCE WHISPER (CONT’D) Put it on. YOUNG HENRY pulls the teeshirt over his head. FIERCE WHISPER (CONT’D) a trash can by the door which I mention because you’re going to be sick in a moment. Young Henry frowns at this news. And then his eyes widen - yep he’s going to be sick. He bolts to the trash can, starts throwing up. Now on his mysterious advisor - a shadow among shadows, stepping closer. Young Henry, looks up from the trashcan, now finished vomiting. You’ve time traveled. You’ve gone back in time about three hours, and you’re back in the museum. There’s

34.

YOUNG HENRY How did you know I’d be sick? WHISPERED VOICE I’m a time traveller too.

Now stepping from the shadows - - Henry! It’s the long haired version of Henry, similar to the one who met Clare in the library. He smiles at his younger self. HENRY 28

I’ve had a lot of practice. Now words are added on screen, so it reads: Henry is 7 and 28

INT. FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY - NIGHT 40 In a grand hall, HENRY and YOUNG HENRY wandering among dinosaurs. Huge replica dinosaurs, lit by EXIT signs, loom over them, incongruous among stone staircases and arched windows. Young Henry is just noticing that Henry is wearing the uniform of a museum guide. YOUNG HENRY (Whispering) Do you work here? HENRY 28 * (Normal voice)

You know, I don’t think we have to whisper, we’re good. No, I stole these clothes. Like I stole you that teeshirt. You see, I time traveled too. You came back about three hours, I came back - remind me, what year is it? YOUNG HENRY 1985. HENRY 28

21 years.

YOUNG HENRY Are there lots of time travelers? Henry - not keen to answer that one - has ducked under one of the velvet ropes, and approached a large model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

35.

HENRY 28

Hey, big guy. How are you doing up there? He reaches up, tickles the dinosaur’s tummy. HENRY 28 (CONT’D)

He’s not very ticklish, is he? You want to try? Young Henry approaches. Henry picks him up, holds him up to * the dinosaur. Young Henry reaches up, tickles the dinosaur tummy. HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * No sense of humor. No wonder they all died out. YOUNG HENRY * When do I meet the other ones. The other time travelers? HENRY 28 * 41 A cafeteria in darkness, deserted except for the two Henrys. YOUNG HENRY sits at one of the tables, his legs dangling from the high stool. HENRY is in the act of breaking into one of the food cabinets, grabbing armfuls of packets of chips. Now deposits * them * HENRY 28 * (Deposits the chips in * front of his younger * self) * Eat up. In a few minutes you’re * You’re hungry now, right? Time travel always makes you hungry. INT. FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY/CAFETERIA - NIGHT gonna feel a little sick again. Then you’ll snap right back where you were. That’s how it works. YOUNG HENRY Okay. He starts ripping open the packets. Henry contemplates his * younger self for a moment. * HENRY 28 * So today’s the day I start teaching * you. I must be feeling grown up. *

36.

* * * *

YOUNG HENRY

How do I get home?

HENRY

It’ll just happen. Sometimes you don’t go straight back. You go to some other time first. Once I went three different times in a row. But mainly you ping right back home. YOUNG HENRY Can I go to the future too? HENRY 28 Yeah, sometimes. Not so often, but it happens. YOUNG HENRY ... What do we do? HENRY 28 What do you mean, what do we do? YOUNG HENRY We’re time travelers. Do we solve crimes? HENRY 28 No. Sorry, Henry, no - we don’t solve crimes, we commit them.

Young Henry stares at him, frowns.

HENRY 28 (CONT’D)

We steal, we fight, we run. Wherever we show up in time, we’re naked and sick. We don’t have a choice. YOUNG HENRY Are we the bad guys? HENRY 28 Survivors are always the bad guys. And it’s my job to teach you how to be the baddest guy out there. YOUNG HENRY So I’m gonna see you again? HENRY 28

* *

Lots of times.

YOUNG HENRY

Do you promise?

37.

HENRY 28

I promise. When I was your age - exactly your age - there was a guy who came back in time and trained me. And now I’m gonna train you. YOUNG HENRY So there’s lots of us? Henry looks at his younger self - infinitely sad. And tells him the terrible lie. HENRY 28 * Yeah. There’s lots of us time travelers. YOUNG HENRY Good. HENRY 28 * How does that all sound, Henry? Me training you? YOUNG HENRY Scary. HENRY 28 * The world’s a scary place. So you know what you gotta be? Scarier. Young Henry frowns at him. Doesn’t like this - is disturbed by it. HENRY 28 (CONT’D) *

There’s only one measurement in this life that matters. The total amount of shit you do not give. (Frowns, considers) Suddenly I’m not sure I think that any more. I’m having a very grown up day! What’s that about?

* * *

* Now Young Henry blinks, seems to choke a little, to splutter. * HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * It’s okay. You’re going home. (Winks at him) Next time. We hear a whumpf! - not a sci-fi noise, more like a sucking inrush of colliding air - and when we cut back to Young Henry - - he’s gone. The teeshirt he was wearing flops on to the chair.

38.

Henry looks at the vacant chair. Reflects, sighs. The bad old days. He grabs a chip, munches on it ... ... and coughs for a moment, realises the moment is coming. Settles back in his chair, so used to this ... HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * Okay ... And suddenly the chair and the table are gone, and he’s rolling naked in the dirt -

EXT. BACK STREET - NIGHT

... he’s somewhere in a city, at night. A cacophonous thunder and clatter. Instinctively he ducks, looks up. A train is roaring over his head. Wider: he’s just below the elevated railway - and he’s too exposed here!! He scrambles to his feet now. With the ease of *

long practice, he throws himself to the nearest cover - - behind a pair of skips, where he collides with a couple, making out (this is the scene we saw a glimpse of at the beginning.) HENRY 28 Oh, shit! Carry on, don’t mind me. He stumbles back from them. The young man rounds on him,

* furious. He’s brutish and enraged - this is HARVEY. Beyond him, a young woman, shocked and embarrassed, pulling down her skirt - DONNA. HARVEY What the fuck are you doing, what the fuck ... ?? HENRY 28 * Yeah, gimme a moment. Henry drops to his knees, starts vomiting. HARVEY What the fuck - ... HENRY 28 * Could you give me the date and time please. HARVEY What are you saying?

39.

HENRY 28

Just the date and time, all I need. Could you tell me that?

He splutters up some more vomit.

HENRY 28 (CONT’D)

Oh, this is a big one. HARVEY You want the date? DONNA June the 26th. HENRY 28

Thank you.

DONNA

8.15.

HARVEY (Screaming at her) Shut up talking to him. He’s naked! HENRY 28

2006?

Donna nods.

HENRY 28 (CONT’D)

Okay. Okay, so I’ve been gone two hours. My clothes won’t still be here ... HARVEY Your clothes ... Henry looks up at Harvey, looming over him. HENRY 28

So I’m gonna need yours. Harvey laughs, incredulous. He hunkers down to look kneeling Henry in the eye. HARVEY You’re gonna need what? HENRY 28 * This is gonna hurt. (Smiles, pleasantly) You, not me. He has dipped his fingers in the puddle of vomit in front of him -

40.

- and now flicks it right into Harvey’s eyes. The acid stings, Harvey screams, Henry lunges. On Donna, also screaming, horrified -

- and it’s a swift and brutal take down. Henry slams Harvey to the concrete, starts punching. It’s so fast and efficient it’s almost perfunctory. Business as usual. The scariest thing of all: Henry’s face - no ferocity, no anger. Just a mild frown of concentration, like he’s mending the sink. He has done this to hundreds of Harveys over the years. DONNA Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! Still utterly business-like, he looks up at Donna. HENRY 28 * What’s your name? DONNA ... Donna. HENRY 28 * Well, Donna - Almost absently, he slams Harvey’s head on the ground, putting him out. Harvey lolls slackly HENRY 28 (CONT’D) * - what’s gonna happen now, I’m

gonna take your boyfriend’s clothes and just go. Then, if you want, you can put him in the recovery position and call the cops. Give them my description, by all means, but I’m naked, you’ll find details surprisingly difficult to remember. (Starting to strip Harvey) I like his tie. Were you going somewhere nice? DONNA Don’t hurt me. HENRY 28 Okay. Those your flowers - did he give them to you?

* *

Donna momentarily baffled - - then looks to the bunch of flowers laid down next to her.

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