- Taylor: You, in !
- [Carlin moves in]
- Hunt: Feet on the mat, legs apart, and face the governor !
- Taylor: Name and number to the governor !
- [Hunt and Taylor standing right and left of Carlin, hands on the back, staring at him]
- Carlin: 4737, Carlin, Sir !
- Governor: Fighting, Carlin...
- [Whittle mumbles to the Governor]
- Governor: ... Now then, Carlin, you were transferred to me because you assaulted an officer at your previous borstal... Though heaven knows what they expect me to do with you; however, I will have no violence in this institution. There is no violence here. Do you understand ?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir !
- Governor: Yet no sooner you settled in here. The marks are visible on your face. I'm a generous man, Carlin, but I will not have any trainee take liberties. If you are brought here again, you will be in very serious trouble. Do you understand ?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir !
- Governor: Now, have you anything to say ?
- Carlin: Well, not really, Sir. Except, I wasn't fighting, I fell. Wasn't used to the concrete steps. However, I can understand the officer thinking I had by the state of my face. So I have no excuse really, I mean, what else can he think ?
- Governor: C of E, are we ?
- Carlin: Oh yes, Sir. My religion is a great comfort to me.
- Governor: Good, so it may have some guidance for your reform... Three days solitary in the block. Loss of earnings for two weeks.
- Hunt: About turn ! Out ! Out !
- Taylor: [and Hunt, shouting] Come on Carlin, move it, move ! Pick your feet up ! Move, on the double, I said, on the double !
- [Carlin runs through the hallway and is pushed by another officer in the arrest cell]
- Mr Sands: Carlin! Carlin!
- [Carlin stands his ground]
- Carlin: Sir?
- Mr Sands: OK, Carlin. You're really for it this time. Banks and Richards have both named you. You get three years for this, scum.
- Carlin: I don't know what you're talking about, sir.
- Mr Sands: You fuckin' well know, toe-rag. I run this wing. I'm not letting it disrupted by a back-street villain like you. You'll sign a statement downstairs.
- Carlin: I've got nothin' to say. I'd like to see the House Master.
- Mr Sands: You will, Carlin. You will.
- Carlin: And the governor, sir. I've got a witness.
- Mr Sands: Shit witness. I'm having you lad. You banged that officer at Roly. You must have thought you walked quietly away from that one. But he's here. He's me. He's every fucking screw in this borstal. Every one of us. Come on!
- [prods Carlin]
- Mr Sands: Fancy taking a poke at me? Come on, big man.
- Carlin: I've banged no screw, I retaliated. There was two of 'em, kicking the shit out of me.
- [Mr Sands slaps Carlin]
- Mr Sands: Well, retaliate here. Come on!
- [Mr Sands slaps Carlin again]
- Mr Sands: I'll have you.
- [Prods Carlin]
- Mr Sands: [grabs Richards] Who was it, Richards? Who was it? Carlin? The coon?
- Richards: I slipped, sir.
- Mr Sands: I'll give you fucking slipped.
- [throws Richards to the ground]
- Mr Sands: [to everyone] Right, on your feet! Who did this?
- [everyone mumbles, "Don't know, sir."]
- Mr Sands: Come on! Who did it?
- [everyone mumbles, "No-one, sir."]
- Mr Sands: Where's Banks?
- [everyone mumbles, "Don't know."]
- [Eckersley, Richards and Banks approach Davis]
- Banks: Davis, up!
- [Davis stands up but Banks kicks him. Eckersley laughs]
- Banks: Davis, yer nothing. I'm the Daddy 'ere, I run this wing. You pay yer dues like the rest. Payday, you deliver a quarter of your snout to Stripey 'ere, every week on the dot.
- Davis: I don't smoke...
- Banks: [slaps Davis] You fuckin' well do now, slag! There's no dolly mixtures here, poofter! I'm the Daddy and don't you ever forget it, right?
- [slaps Davis]
- Banks: I said right?
- [shoves Davis and leaves]
- Mr. Greaves: Cut that out, Davis, or I'll give you something to cry about, you mardy ass little toe-rag. You touch that bell again for no fucking reason, I'll have you down the block before your feet touch the ground. Now get your subnormal head down!
- [the inmates are marching outside in unison to the canteen. Banks, Richards and Eckersley at the very front of the line. Mr Greaves, who is supervising the group, walks ahead of them to speak to Banks]
- Mr. Greaves: Banks.
- [Banks looks to his right to face Mr Greaves]
- Mr. Greaves: Look to your front, Banks.
- [Banks looks straight ahead]
- Mr. Greaves: Carlin's been allocated to your wing.
- Richards: [to Eckersley] Did you hear that?
- Mr. Greaves: [to Richards] Shut it, Richards!
- [Faces Banks again]
- Mr. Greaves: Three of them together. So you'll have a bit more company. won't you?
- Banks: Yes, Sir.
- Mr. Greaves: ...and one of them's a jungle bunny.
- Banks: Yes, Sir.
- [Richards laughs and makes monkey noises]
- Mr. Greaves: [to Richards] I said quiet, Richards! Another sound from you and you're report!
- Richards: Yes, Sir.
- Mr Sands: [to Angel] Hands by your sides! Attention! Name and number?
- Angel: 4736, Angel, sir.
- Mr Sands: Louder.
- Angel: [Slightly louder] 4736, Angel, sir.
- Mr Sands: Straight out the banana trees, eh? Well, you take it from me, nig-nog, you go stealing white man's motor cars and you get white man's stick, right?
- Angel: Yes, sir.
- Mr Sands: Now, get this cell scrubbed. At the double!
- Mr Sands: Carlin?
- Carlin: Yes, sir?
- Mr Sands: What happened to yer face, Carlin?
- Carlin: I fell, sir.
- Mr Sands: Where?
- [Carlin tries to talk but Mr Sands interrupts him]
- Mr Sands: Quiet! Speak when I tell you! Somebody hit you, eh? Answer, somebody hit you.
- Carlin: No, sir.
- Mr Sands: We know about you, sunny. Who was it?
- Carlin: I fell sir. On the stairs. Wasn't used to the concrete steps. Me own fault.
- Mr Sands: I want none of yer tricks here, laddy. Understand that?
- Carlin: Yes, sir!
- Mr Sands: Any more of this and yer in trouble, real trouble! Understand?
- Carlin: Yes, sir.
- Mr Sands: Well move yerself, you light-fingered guttersnipe! Move!
- [Carlin moves]
- Mr Sands: Yer on governor's report!
- Archer: You know when I was in the Scrubs, sweating it out in that filthy cell, I had this matchbox. And it said on this matchbox that it takes 60 muscles to frown but only 13 to smile, so why waste energy? You see, I'm doing me time in a matchbox.
- [Mr Sands finds Banks on the floor]
- Mr Sands: [grabs Banks and slams him against a wall] Dozy bastard, Banks! You let him do you over, you twat!
- Banks: I slipped, sir.
- [Mr Sands slaps him]
- Mr Sands: Don't come at me! Who d'yer think yer talking to? Carlin! I want you to name Carlin!
- Banks: I slipped, sir.
- [Mr Sands slaps him again]
- [Angel, Davis and Carlin are all lined up against a wall]
- Mr Sands: Right. I'm Mr. Sands, this is Mr Greaves. I'm the senior officer and I run 'A' wing. I run it. Right, Carlin?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir!
- Mr Sands: I come down very heavy on anyone who doesn't grasp that fact. Right? Right?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir!
- [Mr Sands walks up to Angel]
- Mr Sands: Angel, you're in a single room. Some of the lads are what you might call... "prejudiced". You're well advised to keep yourself to yourself. It's your first borstal, innit lad?
- Angel: Yes, sir, apart from the Scrubs...
- Mr Sands: [interrupts Angel] Forget the Scrubs! The holiday's over.
- Mr. Greaves: Move!
- [Angel moves]
- Mr Sands: Davis, you were foolish enough to run away from an open borstal and you'll soon be wishing you were back there. You're in a single room. Now move!
- [Davis moves]
- Mr. Greaves: [at Davis] Move it!
- Mr Sands: [at Carlin] Carlin, you're in a dormitory. Now, move!
- [Carlin moves]
- Mr Sands: That's it! In there, on the left.
- [Carlin goes to the dormitory on the left and stops. Mr Sands walks in]
- Mr Sands: [points at an empty bed] That's yours, Carlin.
- [Carlin moves to the empty bed]
- Mr Sands: You know the ropes and you know why you're here. I'll jump on you from a great height if you so much as breathe. Got that?
- Carlin: Yes, sir!
- Mr Sands: There's a lad, a big lad called Pongo in that bed. He heard you were coming. Now, grab that bumper and get to work on that floor. I wanna shave in it!
- [Carlin grabs the broom and scrubs the floor. As he scrubs the floor, Mr Sands deliberately drops Carlin's gear]
- Mr Sands: Carlin?
- [Carlin stops momentarily]
- Mr Sands: We don't leave our bed space in that condition in here. Make up your bed and your gear away. On the double!
- [Carlin puts the broom away and unpacks his gear]
- Mr Sands: Next time, you're on report.
- [Mr Sands discovers Angel's room is a mess shortly after Angel's beating]
- Mr Sands: What's this then? On your feet, lad! What do you think this is? Stand up! Name and number?
- [Angel stands up slowly]
- Angel: Angel, sir.
- Mr Sands: Number?
- Angel: Can't remember, sir.
- Mr Sands: Can't remember? Your number, lad, that's all you are, a number! A number! Four digits. That's all you are! 4736! Name and number?
- Angel: 4736, Angel, sir.
- Mr Sands: Who did this?
- Angel: What, sir?
- Mr Sands: Don't give me lip, boy! Who did this?
- Angel: No-one, sir.
- Mr Sands: Fighting?
- Angel: No, sir.
- Mr Sands: Fell?
- Angel: No, sir.
- Mr Sands: Damaging government property are we, you black bastard?
- Angel: No, sir.
- Mr Sands: Come on, then what the hell are we doing then, you black Brixton slag.
- Angel: Nothing, sir.
- Mr Sands: Fighting, you're booked for fighting. Governor's report, right?
- Angel: I wasn't...
- Mr Sands: Right?
- [Carlin walks into the lounge, takes three snooker balls from the snooker table and puts them in an extra sock. The two people playing snooker look confused]
- Carlin: Carry on.
- [Carlin continues moving and stands at a corner. Richards is kicking Woods]
- Woods: [to Richards] Ah! Leave it out, Stripey! I ain't hurting you!
- Richards: You're in my bleedin' way!
- Archer: Oi!
- Woods: It's all right, Ben.
- Richards: What's up with you, weirdo? You want stripin' do ya? You might get left alone 'ere, but I'll cut you to bleedin' ribbons if I get any of yer poxy lip 'ere!
- [Carlin whacks Richards with the sock containing the snooker balls. Eckersley tries to report this to Mr Sands but Carlins orders him not to]
- Carlin: Back, grass! I said, get back, shit head.
- [Eckersley backs off, Carlin kicks Richards and returns the snooker balls]
- Carlin: Yeah, well, carry on.
- Duke: Keep it moving, there's no sandcastles on Margate beach. Come on Archer, no slaggin' for you, you long streak of cabbage.
- Archer: I am older than most of the trainees here.
- Matron: [Updating the documents of a trainee] Yes.
- Archer: The books available in the library, they're either trash westerns or hack adventure stories. Now, I can't read that muck. See. I don't know whether I'm supposed to be Roy Rogers or Nanook of the North. My needs are... different.
- Matron: The library caters for all trainees here, not single individuals.
- Archer: Besides censoring our mail, you also veto what books are allowed to be sent in to us?
- Matron: I do.
- Archer: Then why haven't I been allowed the two Dostoyevsky novels you received for me?
- Matron: They're safely locked away. You'll have them when you're released.
- Archer: I shan't need them then.
- Matron: [Matron reminds Archer to address her by her title] Matron.
- Archer: Have you read them? They are classics.
- Matron: Archer, read them or not. Crime and Punishment and The Idiot are hardly suitable reading matter for a young boy in this establishment.
- Archer: [In a mocking tone] Boy?
- Matron: Trainee.
- [Matron stands up to place the document she was working on to a filing cabinet]
- Matron: You're feet are disgusting Archer. You're impudent and foolish. I know of vegetarians who don't eat meat, but that doesn't stop them from wearing shoes.
- Archer: Can't be very sincere people then, can they, Matron?
- [Matron returns to her desk]
- Matron: Is that all?
- Archer: Yeah. Well, I think it's all going to be resolved soon anyway. The feet, I mean. And the diet. Yeah, I'm thinking of being a Sikh.
- Matron: The governor might have something to say about that.
- Archer: Matron, do you know what I used to do with my girlfriend?
- Matron: Are you being insolent, Archer?
- Archer: Hold hands. We used to hold hands.
- Matron: Is that all you wish to discuss, Archer? I have work to do.
- Archer: [Heading his way to the door] Yes, I think so. Yes. I keep getting through the days somehow. You know, Matron, when I was last in the block, seven days solitary down there... madam. After much insistence, they gave me, besides the belting, my right to a book. It was the bible.
- Matron: Good, you'll come to no harm with that.
- Archer: It was printed in Yugoslavian and there didn't happen to be an interpreter in the cell.
- Matron: Well, that goes to show, Archer, that Christianity is universal.
- Archer: Make the report, Matron.
- Taylor: So this is 'The Daddy' - the 'ardcase. Carlin, is it? Don't look much to me, Carlin... you're the little toerag who thumped the officer at Rowley... fancy yerself do ya, Carlin? Thumpin' officers, eh?
- [after Eckersley framed Davis for 'stealing' his radio, Carlin gives Davis some advice when speaking to the governor]
- Carlin: Look, just tell the governor he lent it to you and you're weighed off. You're going to get time in the block this time, mate. It's just a matter of how long. So whatever you do, don't antagonise the old bastard.
- Davis: Yeah, it's not looking fair, though, is it?
- Carlin: Here, are you listening to this, Archer?
- Archer: Yeah, but I don't know what it means.
- Carlin: [to Archer] Bleedin' fair!
- Carlin: [to Davis] Did you do time in the block at Butlin's Borstal?
- Davis: No, I didn't.
- Carlin: Well, you're gonna get it here, mate, and so am I. You just keep your mouth shut and sit through it. If you cause trouble, they'll belt the shit out ya, and you don't seem like the sort of bloke who's gonna stand a lot of their bastard handouts.
- Archer: Watch Tasty Reg down there. He's a winner. A fully pledged humanitarian with a BA in hatred.
- Governor: Apart from absconding, your record at your previous borstal was clean, Davis, and I have taken that into consideration. However, I will stress that if I deal with you leniently here, it will certainly not be so light should you appear before me again. C of E, are we?
- Hunt: [Davis appears reluctant to answer] Answer the governor!
- Davis: Pardon, sir?
- Governor: Denomination Church of England?
- Davis: Yes, sir.
- Governor: Good. Three days in the block. Loss of privileges for one week.
- Taylor: [Mr Taylor opens the door] About turn. Quck march. Out. Out!
- [Davis turns and exits the room]
- Duke: I was happier in prison. Now I've gotta finish MY time with a bunch of snotty young hooligans.. two years of this lot before I retire.
- Archer: How long you done?
- Duke: A long time.
- Archer: That's a hefty sentence, Mr Duke. One way or another, in prisons.
- Duke: Public service, Archer... haven't you realised that some of the lads actually LIKE being in here?
- Archer: Uh, yeah, it's called institutionalised.
- Duke: They're secure.
- Archer: Ah well, in here you act, you're punished and you're free.. but outside, out there, you act, you get punished by your own guilt complexes and you're never free.
- Duke: And what little book did you get that from?
- Archer: his one. Certainly not from what's on offer here... Mr Duke, I er... I don't wish to underestimate your lifetime's work, but, er.. the punitive system does not work. I mean, my experience of borstal convinces me that more criminal acts are imposed on prisoners than by criminals on society.
- Duke: Convinces you, eh? Fancy half of that mob charging up and down YOUR street? Fancy YOUR mother tackling that lot on the rampage? No you bloody well don't.. so what do you do about it, eh? Come on, what do you do about it?
- Archer: I'd talk about it first, like we are.
- Duke: Talk's bullshit, you lock them up!
- Archer: I'd also consider what happens to their guardians..
- Duke: Watch it, lad.
- Archer: No come on, I'm serious Mr Duke.. well, take yourself..for a weekly wage you have been locking up men and boys for most of your working life, right? Now, hanging down your leg is a chain, your key-chain, and the length of that chain indicates the time you have spent in the service... right, you may not have been fortunate in terms of promotion, but the length of that chain gives you rank over other officers of.. similar rank only.. but at the same time it acts as a constant reminder that although you have spent your life in the prison service, you are still only a basic officer... now, who gets the stick for that? Us. Who pays for that daily humiliation?
- Duke: Stand up, Archer.. and wipe that fucking grin off your face before I knock it off.. name and number!
- Archer: 4721, Archer, sir.
- Duke: I give you my fucking coffee, and think you can sit there and have the piss out of me?
- Archer: No sir, I didn't... I, I never get the chance to express myself.
- Duke: Then it's as well you don't, lad!
- Archer: I was only concerned with men being stripped of their dignity, cons AND screws.. we aren't much different in here, you know!
- Duke: You're on report for insolence.
- Archer: Yes, sir.
- Duke: STAND UP STRAIGHT!
- [Banks wakes up Carlin and slaps him]
- Banks: Right, Carlin. I run this fuckin' gaff and yer dead if you come any of it 'ere!
- Carlin: Leave off, will ya? I don't give a fuck who the Daddy is. I don't want trouble so just piss off and let me get on with me time, all right?
- Richards: We'll give you time, ya bastard.
- [Banks punches Carlins, jumps on his bed, headbutts him and continues to punch him]
- Taylor: You, in !
- [Carlin moves in, stands in front of Hunt's desk, Bedroll in his arms]
- Hunt: Get up straight, boy, attention ! Name and number.
- Carlin: 4737 Carlin, Sir.
- Taylor: So this is the daddy, the hard case. Carlin, is it ?
- Hunt: Is it ?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir.
- Taylor: You don't look much to me, Carlin
- [Stands up in front of Carlin]
- Taylor: You're the little toerag who thumped the officer at Rowley. Fancy yourself, do you, Carlin ? Thumping officers, eh ?
- [slaps Carlin in the face]
- Taylor: I retaliated.
- Taylor: Speak when I tell you, lad.
- Hunt: So they sent you down here to be sorted out. You have heard of us, Carlin, eh ?
- Taylor: [slaps Carlin in the face] Heard of us, have you ?
- Carlin: Yes, Sir.
- Taylor: And what did you hear ?
- Carlin: Nothing, Sir.
- Taylor: Well, I tell you here and now, lad, nothing was not the correct information. Because we're having your stinking hooligan guts for garters. Right ?
- Carlin: Yes, sir.
- [Taylor grabs Carlin in the crotch, pushes him against the tin cabinet on the wall and punches him twice in the stomach with his fist. Carlin moans in pain and drops the bedroll]
- Hunt: Pick it up !
- [Taylor punches Carlin on the back, Carlin sinks to the floor]
- Hunt: I said pick it up !
- [Carlin grabs his bedroll and rises]
- Hunt: Name and number.
- Carlin: 4737 Carlin, Sir.
- Hunt: Get him out of here.
- Taylor: Out, Carlin, move it. Go on over there.
- [pushes Carlin out of the door in the hallway]
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