'Tempt Not A Desperate Man'

Aftershock Week: Episode 1 of 5

We see a trembling child (Pearl Snow 8/9) as she runs across a clearing and heads towards a passageway snaking between two blocks of flats. A close up of Josh Walcott (early 20s), his eyes are open but he is slowly dying. Frank Porter (50s) is digging in his garden in front of his neat terraced house on the Junction Estate. When he goes inside he sees something that terrifies him.

Dorothy Bakewell (50s), a police community support officer, wheels her bike to the Mill car park – the chain is hanging off and her hand is cut and bloodied. Julia spots her and as she goes outside the phone rings. It’s Frank – he desperately wants to see Daniel. Daniel only decides to go to avoid having to fix Dorothy’s broken chain. Dorothy is a friend of Julia’s who is shocked to discover she is a community support officer on the Junction Estate.

Dorothy and Julia catch up as George cleans the wound on Dorothy’s hand. Dorothy explains her son Max is on a gap year in Thailand and it’s costing her a fortune. Dorothy is anxious about her new role and Julia tries to bolster her confidence.

Another close up of Josh’s face. We hear his heartbeat slower than before. We see his fingers move – he’s still alive. Daniel arrives at the estate. Frank is already at the door waiting for him.

As Daniel enters the house we see what has been causing Frank so much alarm. Pearl is standing against the wall. Frank swears he doesn’t know how she got there and called Daniel as soon as he saw her.

Outside the Campus Surgery, Ruth finds Lenny Scott (early 20s), a cleaner at the university, sitting against the wall. Ruth approaches and asks if he is ok. He asks her for a headache pill and she takes him inside.

Daniel tends to Pearl’s cut knee. Frank is horrified when Daniel suggests calling Pearl’s mum, swearing he never invited Pearl in. Pearl makes to leave and Daniel walks her home.

Dorothy is on the estate putting up posters inviting the community to come and meet her. Marie Wilkins (30s) stops to chat but the conversation is interrupted by a reverse charge call from Max asking for more money from his gap-year in Thailand.

On the walk home Pearl tells Daniel that she goes to Marie’s after school. When Daniel says she will have to talk to a police officer she gets distressed claiming she hasn’t seen anything.

At the Campus, Ruth lets Lenny stay in the sick bay and they seem to be getting on well.

At Marie’s, Daniel explains who he is and finds out that Marie looks after Pearl as a favour. Marie gets distracted and asks Pearl where her new white cardy is. Marie brushes Daniel off without giving him contact details for Pearl’s mum. He takes his mobile out and leaves a message for Frank’s probation officer to call him.

Lenny tells Ruth about his plans to be a boxer and how he is waiting for his licence to turn professional. Lenny reassures her that boxers never fight outside the ring though.

Daniel is back in Frank’s living room. We find out that he is a registered sex offender and having Pearl in his house breaches the conditions of his release. Franks is adamant that he has done nothing wrong and pleads with Daniel not to call the police. Daniel is torn. However, as he is putting something in Frank’s bin, he is stunned to find a child’s white cardigan stuffed in there.

We see Pearl again as she’s running back to Frank’s house. Then we see a close up on Josh - he blinks – he’s still alive. Pearl arrives near the crime scene as Dorothy appears. She holds out her hand to take Pearl home but Pearl runs off.

A security guard arrives at the Campus surgery but Ruth and Lenny are still there. Lenny admits he had a blackout but hadn’t said anything as he fears for his boxer’s licence. He begs Ruth not to say anything as he impulsively leans forward and kisses her.

Back at Frank’s house Daniel is livid. Frank says he found the cardigan stuffed in the hedge and he put it in the bin as he knew the implications of it. Pearl arrives at Frank’s house looking for her cardigan; she tells a relieved Daniel that she put it in the bush outside. She took it off because it had blood on it. Daniel and Frank find out that she saw someone get hurt and it was their blood.

Pearl agrees to show them where the hurt man is. As they set off Frank’s probation officer calls but Daniel fobs him off realising he had jumped to the wrong conclusions. The three of them set off down the dark passageway.

We see another close up on Josh’s face – his eyes are closed now. Pearl, Frank and Daniel arrive at the clearing as Pearl re-lives what she witnessed. In a flashback from Pearl’s perspective, we see indistinct figures of youths closing in on one another. A sequence of fractured images and sound play out as Pearl watches. A spray of blood splatters her white cardigan as Josh’s body slumps against the wall.

Daniel spots Josh. He runs over and begins treating him. Frank can see Dorothy nearby and calls for her to help. The sight of Josh freezes her to the spot. Frank takes her phone and calls for an ambulance then turns to help Daniel with Josh. They battle in vain to save Josh while Dorothy calls the ambulance again and Pearl stands far away on the grass.