Script for "Theo"

SCENE 1

Shot opens, small boy, about 7 or 8 running down a rural road, piano
music playing in the background. Boy is wearing school uniform and
carrying a rucksack, he stops, gets out his packed lunch box and takes
out an apple. He then carries on walking, past greenhouses/allotments
to a farmhouse where he opens the door and runs into the living room;
his mother is waiting there for him.

NARRATIVE: My story starts here, that's me you can see there, I never
kept a diary when I was younger but I can remember those days so
clearly it seems like I am still seeing them for the first time. That's
my mum you can see next to me, she always had brilliant long brown
hair, it used to comfort me when I was small. She'd let me stroke her
hair because she knew how much I loved it. Mum was the only person who
I could really call my friend, a really close friend; I could really
talk to mum. She was all I had- ever since dad left. I don't really
remember my dad if you want the truth but I always dreamt of him, he'd
be the hero, he'd come and rescue me from the school bullies. I used to
tell mum about my dreams but she never talked about dad, except to call
him a . I suppose you could say that I was all that mum had as well,
she was diagnosed with cancer when I was about six years old, I thought
she was going to die when I first heard, but I eventually came to grips
with it. I'd comfort her when she was sad, and make her smile when she
was lonely.

KNOCK AT THE DOOR&;#8230;mother answers and a short black man with
grey hair enters, hugs and kisses are exchanged

NARRATIVE: There was also Mr Morris. Our next door neighbour, mum liked
him because he'd bring us vegetables that he'd grown himself and he'd
tell me stories and look after me when mum was busy.

MORRIS (speaks with thick Jamaican accent but not quite Creole): Hello
there young man, how ya doing today?

THEO (the son): Very well sir, Mr Morris, sir thank you

MORRIS (chuckles): why so formal kid? Anyone would think I was the
queen of England! Look now, I've got a little something for you
(Reaches into pocket and draws out a boiled sweet) Pamela love, is it
ok if I give young Theodore this?

PAM (the mother): Goodness Luke, I've told you before, I don't want to
spoil his appetite.

MORRIS QUICKLY SLIPS THEO THE SWEET ANYWAY

THEO (looks up): (whispers) thanks RUNS OF TO PUT SWEET IN TIN

SCENE 2

NARRATIVE: Mr Morris was the caretaker at my school, St Bernadette, mum
didn't like it; she said it was a rough school, I agreed. Teachers
seemed to pick on me, I'd be the one who had to explain things to the
rest of the class when I didn't know what the teacher was talking
about. One teacher had got fired once, she hated boys and once, she hit
a young boy, Fergi Brown, in front of a whole class. She'd hit me
before but I didn't tell anyone, no one would believe me anyway, no one
except for Mr Morris, I'd spend my break times in his office, helping
him clean the mops and wipe the blackboards clean. I was always short,
so he had to pick me up to clean to top bits. I never had a friend
other than Mr Morris until one day when I was drawing shapes in the
mud, a young boy who I'd never seen before came over and talked to
me.

BOY: Hi, who are you, you're friends with that old caretaker man aren't
you?

THEO: Yeah, my names Theo, what's yours?

BOY: Tom, Tom Beer, you shouldn't talk to that man Mr Morris, Niger my
dad calls him, says he's doin' the only job they're good for, he's just
a slave, see.

THEO: Hey, don't talk about him like that, you're dads stupid

TOM: Is not, who's your dad anyway?

THEO: I don't have a dad, he's a .

TOM: Nah, you're a if you ain't got a dad right? Anyway, I'm sorry I
was mean about mad old Morris, I don't know 'im, come over and talk to
us instead.

SCENE 3

NARRATIVE: I was reluctant from the start to make friends with Tom and
his gang, but I was so overjoyed to have found a friend that I just ran
blindly on. I found out that he was friends with the "rough boys" that
my mum had always complained about. Much to my surprise, they seemed to
be good friends to me.

TOM: 'ere, we could crash at mine after school, my mums not in so it'll
be ok
BOY 1: sounds good to me
BOY 2: yeah
THEO: we could come to mine, mum said I can invite friends home
whenever I like, she won't mind at all.
BOY 2: That Niger, Mad Morris won't be there will he?
TOM: Oi, I've told you before, if he's a mate of Theo's, he's a mate of
mine, and what I say, goes.
BOY 1: Yours it is then Theo

CUT TO Theo in classroom restlessly waiting for the end of school,
chewing on pencil, after a while a bell rings and all the pupils pack
up and run out of the classroom.
CUT TO Theo meeting up with the boys and going back to his house, he
opens up his tin of boiled sweets and offers them around, they refuse.
After a while, the boys look at each other and then start to hit Theo,
they hurt him badly, take what they can from his house and then run
away, laughing.
CUT TO Theo badly cut and bruised, crying, with mother on sofa,
stroking her hair, neither say anything but Theo looks deeply
saddened.

NARRATIVE: From that day on, I knew I could trust no one but my mum and
Mr Morris, I wouldn't be taken advantage of again.
CUT TO Theo asleep in bed
NARRATIVE: That night I dreamt of Tom and his friends, but Dad wasn't
coming to rescue me from them, I was crying out for help but he still
wouldn't come, I felt so alone. In my dream this time, I thought they
would defeat me, I knew dad wasn't coming, but then, they ran away, I
was confused until I looked up and saw&;#8230;Mr Morris.
Mr Morris continued to be the my dreams for a long while, he'd rescue
me from teachers and bullies, one day, he even rescued me from my dad.
Even though none of this was real, it felt so right, Mr Morris was my
true friend, I wanted him so badly to marry mum, he was a lot older
than her but it didn't matter, they obviously liked each other, and
most of all, I loved both of them. It had been a long time since I had
seen mum smile properly but I knew that Mr Morris could make her smile.
The next day, I questioned him about it.

SCENE 4

CUT TO Mr Morris preparing tea for Theo

MR MORRIS: No, you mother's a lovely lady, indeed she is, but I don't
think she'd have me. She's got enough on her plate already, worrying
about her cancer and her lovely son, the last thing she needs is a
stupid old fart like me messing her life up even more (raising
eyebrow).

THEO (smiles): But Mr Morris, I think mum loves you, she talks about
you all the time, she likes the way you are with me, like you're my dad
or something.

MR MORRIS: But I'm not your dad am I? I feel it's my duty to look after
you two you know?

ENTER MUM IN THROUGH THE KITCHEN DOOR, PICKS UP COAT

PAM: Right then Luke, I'm just popping down to the hospital, I won't be
long, nothing serious.

MORRIS: Ok love, I'll stay here till you get back.

PAM: Awwwww, what would I do with out you?! (Kisses Morris on the cheek
and dashes out)

MORRIS' EYES FOLLOW HER OUT, HE HAS A LOVING SMILE, HIS EYES ARE GLAZED
OVER, HE TURNS BACK TO THEO, THEO IS LOOKING UP AT HIM, EYEBROW RAISED
WITH A SMUG LOOK ON HIS FACE.

MORRIS: What?!

SCENE 5 - (Theo at home doing homework, obviously studying hard.)

NARRATIVE: For a while after that I was determined to do well at
school, to prove the teachers wrong, I spend hours doing work which
hadn't even been set, just to try and push myself that bit harder,
months passed and I was still keeping it up, it was - in a way, just to
impress Mr Morris.

ENTER MR MORRIS, WORRIED LOOK ON HIS FACE, THE MOOD DROPS

THEO: What is it?

MR MORRIS: Bad news I'm afraid (thinks hard) your mother's cancer had
spread, it's got worse.

THEO: (half cries) She wont die will she?

MR MORRIS: No, she's a strong woman, trust me, your mother's going to
be fine, she's just started chemotherapy today, that's something they
give to people with cancer when it gets really bad, but I know she'll
be ok, the doctors say it looks promising. She'll be back in a couple
of minutes, she didn't want me to tell you, thought it would worry you,
but now they've gone through with it, she feels fine.

THEO GETS UP AND HUGS MR MORRIS, MR MORRIS' SURE LOOK FADES AND HE
LOOKS GENUINELY WORRIED. SHOT FADES OUT THEN FADES IN TO MR MORRIS AND
THEO BOTH ON THE SOFA, THEO IS CRYING.

THE SOUND OF THE DOOR OPENING IS HEARD. THEO RUSHES TO THE DOOR, CAMERA
FOCUSES ON HIS FACE AS A SHOCKED EXPRESSION EMERGES, CAMERA SWINGS
ROUND TO SEE THEO'S MOTHERS, SHE LOOKS SAD, SHE IS TOTALLY BALD, EXCEPT
FOR A FEW PATCHES OF HAIR.

PAM: Awww Theo, I didn't want you to see me like this.

NARRATIVE: From then on, my motivation level just went down, it wasn't
that I didn't love my mum anymore, it was just that, without her hair,
she wasn't the person who had comforted me, the person ad me stories
when I was small, who stuck by me through everything, she was just a
shell, she seemed empty, and she knew it, I found her crying on her own
several times a week, she didn't know that I was there, and I didn't
feel like there was anything I could do. I loved my mum so much but she
seemed so sad that I couldn't even talk to her. What made things worse
is that I had a horrible feeling in my stomach that told me that I was
next, I'd been told so many times that cancer wasn't hereditary but I
still KNEW that I was going to have it. Things just didn't match up to
how I'd imagined things, I thought that mum would get better like she'd
done before, she'd marry Mr Morris like I wanted her to, but I could
see no signs of either of these things happening. I knew my mum was
dying but didn't believe that it would actually happen. And in a
horribly uncaring way, I wi would just be over with, that she'd just
die now so I wouldn't have to face the pain of waiting, everyday coming
home from school dreading the news that she'd finally gone. Mr Morris
was round at our house even more through these days. He'd bring me
boiled sweets and then go and talk to my mum for hours and hours, no
one else knew what a state my mum was in, no one at all.

SCENE 6- THEO at school, not concentrating, clutching his work, Theo
suddenly hears his teacher mention his name.

TEACHER: yes, Theo's homework on friction was brilliant, really top
notch, I don't know how you did it Theo, I've given you an A*

THEO'S EYES LIGHT UP AND HE SMILES, CUT TO THEO RUNNING HOME SMILING,
CLUTCHING HOMEWORK IN HAND READY TO SHOW MOTHER, CUTS SHORT WHEN HE
SEES HIS HOUSE FROM A DISTANCE, THE ATMOSPHERE IS STRANGELY SILENT.
THEO LOOKS WORRIED AND RUNS EVEN FASTER. HE APPROACHES THE DOOR BUT
THERE IS AN AMBULANCE ON THE DRIVE, TWO PARAMEDICS ARE LIFTING A
STRETCHER INSIDE, MR MORRIS IS STANDING IN THE DOORWAY WATCHING,
LOOKING SAD, HE LOOKS UP TO SEE THEO AND HIS EXPRESSION CHANGES. THEO
SHAKES HIS HEAD, LOOKS EXTREMELY SAD AND RUNS OF, MR MORRIS TALKS TO
THE PARAMEDICS THEN RUNS OF AFTER HIM.

CUT TO CLOSE UP OF THEO'S FACE, CRYING, ON HIS OWN IN A STABLE, THE
MUSIC PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND IS KATE RUSBY "WITHERED AND DIED". THEO
LOOKS AS IF HE IS REFLECTING UPON WHAT HAS HAPPENED. MR MORRIS POKES
HIS HEAD ROUND THE DOOR.

MORRIS: It had to happen sometime you know.

THEO: She's my mum, she can't just leave me like this, when I need her
the most, why didn't you do something?

MORRIS: There was nothing I could do, we are all very upset but in the
end, we've all got to get over it, she was a lovely woman, and she
wouldn't want people to be angry.

THEO SNIFFS AND LOOKS UP AT MR MORRIS ACCEPTING HIM

NARRATIVE: I had to go and live with Mr Morris after that, apparently
that had been sorted out a long time ago, I would be annoyed that I
wasn't consulted but, I knew that Mr Morris would be the best person to
live with, I had no other family. Everyday Mr Morris would treat me
more and more like his own son, he would give me one of his special
boiled sweets everyday. He was better than any other dad I could hope
for. He was old, yet he could see through the eyes of a child and live
with a constant sense of wonder like everything he was seeing was
totally amazing. He'd tell me stories and play French cricket with me
in the garden. We lived in almost absolute isolation. Still, It wasn't
until one summer evening that I really bonded with Mr Morris.
CUT TO THEO FINDING MR MORRIS' TIN OF BOILED SWEETS AND TAKING ONE,
LATER MR MORRIS CONSULTS THEO.

MORRIS: Theodore young man, there's one less boiled sweet in the tin,
there were seven in there this morning, and now there are only six, do
you know where it's gone?

THEO: (guiltily) No sir, haven't seen it, must have been eaten by a rat
or something.

MORRIS (laughs): Come one son, you've got a guilty conscience if ever I
saw one!

THEO: guilty conscience?

MORRIS: yes, let me tell you a story, long ago, in a far away country,
where my great great great grandfather lived, there was a king, his
crown was stolen and he had only four servants who knew how to get to
this crown. When he found that the crown was gone, he consulted these
servants immediately, he told them that in the next room, there was a
mysterious magical bell. Every single one of the servants had to place
both of their hands on this bell, once the person who had stolen the
crown had touched the bell, it would ring. So, separately, each of the
servants walked into the room, then came back out again, after all four
of the servants had come out again, the bell still hadn't rung, the
servants were s ing and laughing, the king silenced them and asked them
to all show their hands. The king viewed their hands, the first
servants hands were covered in thick black soot, so were the second and
third servants, but the fourths servants hands were clean, it was you!
Shouted the king, the clever king had covered the bell in soot, knowing
that the one who had actually taken the crown would not touch the bell
and so his hands would remain clean, and he, my friend, was the one
with the guilty conscience. And you know how to clear a guilty
conscience?

THEO: No sir

MR MORRIS: Confess, say you're sorry.

THEO: Sorry Mr Morris, I did take the sweet, I know I shouldn't have
done, sorry.

MR MORRIS(smiling): That's Ok.

THEO LOOKS DOWN AT HIS HANDS (as if to check for soot)

NARRATIVE: Mr Morris, or Luke, as he now let me call him, had become
the best friend and father who I never knew, I suddenly didn't care who
my real father was because I knew he didn't want anything to do with
me, Mr Morris, on the other hand, did. Spring turned into summer, then
to autumn and winter, years passed, and I never grew tired of Mr
Morris. And he never grew tired of me.
CUT TO 16 YEAR OLD THEO, WRITING
He was constantly telling me how I was becoming a man, and how I would
soon have to look after him, he was right, he was getting old, and at
16, I was fully capable of looking after myself, later that year, I
started to write my diary.

May 16th
Dear Diary, I don't know why I'm starting to write, but I just feel the
need to, so I can tell someone my thoughts-other than Luke. He's 56
now, but he looks so much older, its really sad to see someone you love
suddenly becoming unable to do the things that they've enjoyed doing
all their life. I found a picture of mum I'd never seen before today,
its got dad in it as well, I'd never seen a photo of him, but now I
have, I remember him clearly, I don't see any resemblance between me
and him, but when I held it up next to me and looked in the mirror, I
saw how similar me and mum look. I've photocopied the photo and I'll
stick it here. SHOW THEO STICKING IN PHOTO.

May 18th
Mr Morris had a heart attack in the night two days ago, he got into
hospital and he seems ok, apparently people who live the first night,
generally survive, I'm not that worried, I know he'll be ok. If he did
go, I don't know what I'd do, losing one person is bad enough, but
two&;#8230;&;#8230;&;#8230;

May 19th
Luke's coming home today, I knew he'd be ok, he's strong, strong like
he's always saying I am. I'm not strong. I couldn't cope. Not with
having a heart attack, or having cancer. I'm still really worried about
having cancer, I'm doing all the tests that I've read about in
leaflets, and I'm clean, but I'm still scared.

NARRATIVE: After Luke came home, I stopped writing my diary for a
while, I was so relieved that I just forgot about it, other things
seemed a lot more important, like staying with Luke, making the most of
him, because he'd always done the best he could for me. The diary got
thrown in my room under my bed, next to the old tin of boiled sweets. I
had my GCSEs to think about, I decided to leave school when they were
over. This to my surprise went down well with Luke, he said he didn't
even have GCSEs and he's fine. CUT TO THEO WORKING AT A TRAVEL
AGENT
I went to work at a travel agent, the work wasn't very fulfilling, but
I managed to get by. It was after the first few months of working here
that I found my diary again, suddenly it seemed right to put down my
thoughts again. That night I got home, and found what I had dreaded for
so long.

CUT TO THEO GOING THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR, THE HOUSE IS DARK, THEO CALLS
OUT FOR MR MORRIS. THERE IS NO REPLY, HE CHECKS ALL THE ROOMS
DOWNSTAIRS, AND WHEN HE STILL SEES NO SIGN OF MR MORRIS HE LOOKS
WORRIED, HE RUNS UPSTAIRS TO HIS BEDROOM AND FINDS MR MORRIS LYING ON
THE FLOOR, NOT MOVING AT ALL, WITH A SCARED LOOK ON HIS FACE.
THEO RUNS DOWNSTAIRS TO THE PHONE

THEO: Ambulance please.

FADE OUT THEN FADE IN TO AMBULANCE ARRIVING. PARAMEDICS GET OUT, THE
SCENE LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO WHEN HIS MOTHER DIED.

PARAMEDIC ONE: No pulse

PARAMEDIC TWO: Come on, up on the stretcher, cause of death?

PARAMEDIC ONE: Suspected cardiac arrest

THEO RUNS OVER

THEO: Is he ok?

PARAMEDIC ONE: Sorry son, he's gone

PARAMEDIC TWO: Has he ever had a heart attack before?

THEO GULPS AND NODS

February 5th
Mr Morris, Luke's, funeral was today, I was one of about seven people
there, one of which introduced herself as Luke's first wife. He'd never
mentioned being married before. The others were immediate family. Its
going to be a while before they can but his gravestone up, but he's
buried very close to mum, the only person in between them is a Mr A.
Shepherd.

February 17th
I've been visiting the site ever since, the gravestones still not
there, I'm not going to visit it for a while, it makes me sad, I can't
get over how sudden it was.

March 18th
I visited mum and Luke again today, Luke's headstone is up, it reads
"Here Lies Luke Morris, Loved by everyone who met him". It didn't seem
enough, there was so much you could write about Luke, this made me
think, if I died, what would be written on my headstone? I've achieved
nothing.

March 21st
I've found a lump.

FADE OUT, FADE IN ON THEO VISITING HOSPITAL.
DOCTOR WALKS OUT.

DOCTOR: I've looked at the scans, and I'm afraid it is cancer, however,
you've caught it early on and it appears to be Benign, we will keep
monitoring it and we should be able to remove it.

THEO: Thanks doctor

THEO SITS DOWN IN CHAIR, WIPES FACE, ALMOST CRIES
CUT TO THEO WALKING, KICKING STONES AND TWIGS AS HE GOES, HE WALKS DOWN
TO THE HOUSE, FINDS HIS DIARY AND STARTS TO WRITE.

March 24th
The results show that I do have cancer, its promising though, unlike my
mum, I've managed to find the lump quickly, I'm so glad that I did
regular checks on myself.

March 30th
I'm having the lump removed today, as far as the doctors can tell, it
hasn't spread, I suppose I'm lucky. Still, spending the rest of my life
with only one testicle isn't exactly a pleasing prospect.

March 33rd

It's gone, that little parasitic crab has gone, and I won't have to put
up with that fear anymore, I don't have cancer and I have the rest of
my life ahead of me, one thing I've learnt from this is that it didn't
matter that Mr Morris died because he had people who loved him and
people whom he loved. Mum died unhappy, just because she never got
round to doing the things she's always wanted to do. Now, I'm
determined to live life to the fullest and treasure every single day,
to make new friends and do the things I want to do, carpe diem, (CUT TO
THEO WRITING, GIVES A SMILE), carpe diem.

PLAYS OUT WITH ZWAN "DECLARATIONS OF FAITH" TO CREDITS