Danny Brocklehurst reveals the story behind this episode:
"I abandoned the first draft halfway and went back and started again."
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This is by far the darkest episode of the series. I love it, simply because writing it was such a painful process. I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted Jack's secret to be exposed, but couldn't find the path through. I abandoned the first draft halfway and went back and started again.
It got better and better with each draft. The story is one of redemption. Another theme I'm very fond of. We all do bad things in life, but should we be punished for them forever. And sometimes, is living with what we have done punishment enough?
Darkness
Mark Womack brings to Jack a darkness and a sense of suppressed history. This thing that happened has been pushed right down and that's where it lives. Because that is the only place he can deal with it. But when love comes to our door, all bets are off. We might think we can live as an island, but deep down, we all want the warmth and comfort of companionship. And when Nancy offers him this, the redemption process begins.
One of my Clocking Off episodes was based around the idea of what you would do if you discovered your best friend had done something truly terrible. Would you cover for them, report them, tell them to flee? It's an area I like to explore.
Jack's story is similarly intriguing - how do you deal with someone else's past? How do you react when you discover something you'd rather not have known?
Exposed affair
"We run the scene in jump cuts to emphasise the disjointed nature of Harry's thought process."
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The Harry and Kathy story really motors in this episode because it's when she returns home after coming out of the coma. The affair is exposed but she doesn't know this.
My favourite scene is where Harry corners her in the garden and lays the law down. Neil Dudgeon plays this so brilliantly that I never tire of watching it. We run the scene in jump cuts to emphasise the disjointed nature of his thought process and it works really well. Marc Jobst directed this episode and he poured love and enthusiasm into every frame.
The sequence where Jack takes his son to Birmingham coach station to return him to his mother is heartbreaking. It's also a testament to the skills of director of photography Nick Dance and editor Fiona Colbeck.
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