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SERIES OVERVIEW
Enter the world of HELLFIRE… … a world ruled by power and sheer greed … a world plagued by political intrigue and corruption … a world of public virtues and private vices … a world built on public opinion, cynicism, celebrity and pornography … a world where the people that count will stop at nothing No, this is not the 21st century’s globalized world. This is Georgian Britain in the 1700s! An Empire, a country, a society that strives to cling to its own vainly proud sense of wholeness through the perpetuation of rituals (and the perpetrations of unspeakable wrongs); but in fact, rotting to its core – pervaded, as it is, by incurable rifts within its own confines as well as across the Atlantic, where the colonies eventually set out for severance from the King’s yoke. HELLFIRE is the untold story of an old world reluctantly giving way to the new. HELLFIRE is a wonderfully debauched epic through the darkest sides in the hedonistic lives of the 18th century’s most pivotal characters, whose public and private lives ignite war, murder, intrigue and betrayal against a backdrop of love, sexual excesses, secret societies and an obsession with ultimate power.
THE STORY – After he inherits a huge estate of uncounted wealth, FRANCIS DASHWOOD quickly rises to the fore of the political forum, whilst at the same time dabbling in clandestine plots and religious intrigue as the ill-fated Jacobite rebellion explodes across Britain. Soon Dashwood’s desire to experience the pleasures of all things focuses his attention on how best to manipulate the minds of two Royal households; influencing the future map of the world through the sexually ambiguous rituals of his Hellfire Club, he attracts an acolyte of rake friends who all suckle at his purse for as long as it can be milked. As the smoke of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s defeat clears, one of soon-to-be America’s founding fathers, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, arrives in England intent on bathing in the eye of the political ambiguity that ultimately sews the seeds of revolution in the Colonies. From his Craven Street lodgings, close to the hotbed of London’s clubs, inns and brothels, Franklin soon attracts a circle of influential visitors who make him a real celebrity. Fermenting the anger of a Hanoverian monarchy as unpopular as ever among its subjects, Franklin grasps his cause célèbre and immerses himself and Dashwood in a pantomime of mayhem and financial dealing as they bate the establishment and reap the rewards. But power comes at a steep price. One after another, Dashwood loses his (so called) friends, political allies, a wife, a lover and – worst of all – his lust for life. Franklin too gets fatally drawn into a spiral of events that will change the direction of his life forever, not least his relationship with Polly, a young lady whose otherworldly foresight and charm eventually entwine Ben.
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Stumbling across the mystery of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s lost treasures and the Jacobites’ continued attempts towards a coup d’état enforced with French help, Dashwood and Franklin thus inaugurate a most unusual partnership to manipulate the orgiastic pleasure-seekers of Britain’s elite, basking in the spotlight of opulence as their populace starve. FORMAT – HELLFIRE is originally designed as 1 season of 10 one-hour episodes for a primetime period drama series. However, the narrative material flows from such a rich and layered tapestry that it lends itself easily to be expanded into 2 or 3 seasons. Structurally, the 10 episodes can be roughly subdivided in two halves; the first 5 episodes focus on events that mostly unfold during the 1750s, following the aftermath of the blighted Jacobite rebellion (when Dashwood is in his 30s) and the intrigues and the rise to power of Dashwood’s infamous Hellfire circle, also joined by Franklin. The climax of their ascent is reached in episodes 5 and 6 with the dramatic coronation ceremony of the new king, George III. This is the key moment that propels our protagonists to climb the pinnacle of their political success: it’s also the one moment that opposes all of them to their lifelong enemies while attending publicly a grandiose historical event. This confrontation marks the chronological midpoint of our overarching narrative, of which we witness the subsequent twisted developments in the remaining episodes. The second half of the series follows the Hellfire Club’s apparent demise first, and then Dashwood and Franklin’s conniving alliance in double-crossing and conspiring plots in the late 1760s and into the early 1770s. Given that the main storylines follow events that in real history unfolded over several years, rather than trying to compress such long time-spans into one-hour slots, the individual episodes will be pegged each to key turning points in the lives and adventures of the protagonists and the related historical facts. The episodes have been developed to fit a 50- to 60-minute slot. Springboards and detailed story outlines of all 10 episodes are available in this bible. The structure of each episode has been broken down into a number of beats that is slightly higher than usual in this format; this reflects the specific approach we have taken with the narrative tempo (a recent example of a series that does this in a very effective way being House of Cards). Each episode encapsulates ongoing serial drama for recurring characters as well as one or two “stories of the day” that provide major turning points in the characters’ arcs and bridge the time ellipsis between the events. This makes the overall storyline quite compact and compelling, even though it covers a 20-year span. NOTE – Although thoroughly researched and inspired by historical events and figures, and true facts, the series is a genuine work of fiction, not an attempt at historical reconstruction. In other words, we have amalgamated some of the characters, some historical facts happened the way we tell them, others happened differently, and still others never happened at all.
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GENRE – In the strict sense, HELLFIRE is a period drama set against the backdrop of more or less well-known controversial historical facts. But HELLFIRE aims to draw on a broader canvas (and from deeper levels): the grand theme at play is nothing else than the universal plight of the individual torn between its social role, function and imposed expectations on the one hand; and its own personal aspirations and wishes on the other. A dilemma that the 18th century world portrayed in HELLFIRE turns into the very existential foundation of modern day man. In this sense HELLFIRE extends beyond the traditional narrative framework of period dramas. And in doing so, it breaks the genre’s boundaries to trespass into other territories: spy drama, political drama, war drama, erotic drama.
STYLE – Visually, HELLFIRE will neither mimic slice-of-life representations from 18th century paintings, nor will it follow in the wake of the hyperrealistic, shaky camerawork that has become so trendy in recent years’ drama series. HELLFIRE will draw systematically on the huge potential of recent developments in digital cinematography to alternate between and show the two sides of the reality it depicts in an attempt to capture the ambiguously wavering nature of this world: that is, the ritualistic component of a hedonistic society that seeks obsessively to fixate an image of itself as a thing of beauty vs. digging deep into its darkest recesses. However, it is important to emphasize that HELLFIRE is not about “representing” such a world; but about the personal, emotional, human struggles of the protagonists.
So, what’s the reward for the viewer? While sharing a partly similar background, HELLFIRE is unlike other costume dramas that, nonetheless, we deeply appreciate. Although rooted in historical facts, unlike John Adams, HELLFIRE will not aim at reconstructing an era, nor will it be or look like a “biographical” recount of the protagonists’ lives and deeds. Unlike Showtime’s The Tudors, HELLFIRE will not simply sex up well-known historical figures. Unlike Versailles or Victoria, HELLFIRE will not be a celebratory tale of extraordinary historical figures who play at kings and queens weaving with the languid spinning-out of dry court conspiracies. HELLFIRE is about the thirst for power, the sex and the excess, the shallowness of a society whose foundations lay on appearances, the hypocrisy and selfishness of dissolute men and women that – despite all – we still celebrate in our history books today and whose darkest (and yet most fascinating) sides we set out to unveil. HELLFIRE is lavish, ambitious, frolicsome and yet boisterous, glittering and yet pitch black… HELLFIRE is more!
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CONTENTS
On the following pages of this proposal you will find: - The profiles of the two lead characters (i.e. Dashwood and Franklin) - “Top secret” info re: the Hellfire Club - Short episode summaries of all 10 episodes charting the main arcs of the story - Roll of remaining characters (recurrent, semi-recurrent and other relevant characters) - Brief descriptions of the main settings (including a few iconic pictures) - Details re: filming on main location - The writers’ bios
If you like what you read in the sections listed above, in Part 2 of the bible you will find: - Detailed arcs/story outlines of all 10 episodes - Useful additional information in the form of appendixes o Some historical background on 18th century Britain and the American Colonies, only as relevant to our story o A complete list of characters (sorted by episode) o A complete list of locations (sorted by episode)
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THE SERIES PROTAGONISTS
SIR FRANCIS DASHWOOD, BARON LE DISPENSER (from age 30 to 55) Sex, drink, debauchery, fast women and even faster carriages! As the sex symbol of his age, Sir Francis Dashwood wants to taste the fruits of all things. His primary interests are extravagantly collecting art and antiques, erotic garden design and planting his seed in as many ladies as possible. A larger-than-life character with an even larger fortune in his deep pockets, he likes fashionable clothes and fine French wine. Unlike most rakes of his day though, he lacks any self-destructive drive or blasé attitude; always smiling and positive, he may wallow in physical pleasure but can also be caring and tender with the weak, which – unlike most of his colleague politicians and aristocrats – makes him very popular and well liked by the masses. A soft spot that, coupled with the excessive trust he concedes to his so called friends, will eventually cost him a dear price on a personal level. Despite this, once Dashwood sets a goal in his life he can be ruthless until he achieves it, if only for the pleasure of disparaging his enemies. Relationships: Hellfire Club members (Bute, Dashwood, Wilkes) – Dashwood embraces them all as “friends” but that’s not to say that he trusts them as he clearly shares a common misgiving about some members and dislikes the caustic atmosphere between others – if only because it clashes with the hedonistic philosophy of the club. Dashwood knows how to drip feed any friendship with enough attention to sustain it and yet, in many respects, he keeps all but a few at arm’s length. Wentworth – Wentworth is a self-promoting snake, Dashwood a self-promoting pleasure-seeker. Both feather their own nests and indeed, run with the fox whilst chasing with the hounds to further their own ends. Wentworth would see Dashwood strung up from the gallows if it served any useful purpose; as it doesn’t, the two rub along whilst the convenience lasts. Dashwood wouldn’t trust Wentworth an inch; he despises him, yet sometimes it’s better to keep a snake in view rather than let it strike you in the long grass, especially when Franklin is in danger. Wentworth most likely looks at Dashwood with some envy but, although he may see the signs, he’s way too arrogant to admit it and looks down on everyone. Lady Sarah – Although they marry out of mutual convenience, Dashwood respects his wife and is genuinely distraught when she catches an incurable illness. It must be added that, despite being a rake, Dashwood tends to view women – at least those who for one reason or another become important to him (e.g. his wife, his lover Martha, his mentor Lady Wortley, Polly, Margaret) – with more respect than men and unlike Sandwich, for instance, does not see them as inferior to men. Martha – More than just a lover, Dashwood sees in Martha and her singing talent the perfect embodiment of his passion for life, art and all things of beauty. Martha
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10 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY shatters all this when she joins a Reformation Society that sees in the likes of Dashwood the incarnation of evil plaguing social morality. And while Dashwood wouldn’t care much about she cheating on him with other men, this… he sees as a betrayal.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (from age 33 to 58) While history may have accustomed us to a thrifty and honest plain dealing image of Benjamin Franklin as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, in London in the 1760s he quickly gains a widespread reputation as a peevish and envious man, a slanderer, a master of deception that splits friends into opposing factions and unites enemies; someone who, when crossed, uses any tool available to destroy those who block his way… thus earning nicknames such as “Dr Doubleface” and “the Old Treachery”. HELLFIRE reveals this unsettling, more shadowy image of Franklin. One sure fact is that during the seventeen years he spends in London, Franklin’s astounding income of £2000 yearly allows him to live more lavishly than most. He may preach his famous virtues by day, but is a philandering sex addict by night and since he likes living the good life frugality and chastity surely don’t top his list of priorities. No wonders, then, that he feels so at home in Britain. And while he is supposed to be working as the primary agent in the interest of the Colonies, Franklin commits most of his efforts to his plans for extensive land speculation. A series of misadventures, and even a trial for treason, make him revile his London years when he leaves for France in 1775. Relationships: Polly – Whilst Franklin and Polly ultimately become the most unlikely of star- crossed lovers, a slow burning fuse brings them together under a cloak of intellectual addiction and a love that blossoms from trust and lasts until Franklin’s death. Although there’s a clear spark between them, Franklin and Polly hurt one another unintentionally as their friendship hiccups along. To complicate things further, Franklin is also like a surrogate father figure and a pedagogue to Polly, a breath of fresh air feeding her thirst for knowledge. William – Although Franklin does everything he can to advance his son’s education, career and social advancement, they hardly ever get along well. William will cause Franklin the most painful disappointments of his life. Margaret vs. Deborah – In Margaret Franklin probably finds (and appreciates) all the unrestrained exuberance that he can’t find in his wife Deborah back in Philadelphia. When Franklin settles in her house, Margaret finds in him a much welcome male presence she missed out on for most of her life. Franklin feels the emotional failure of having left his unhappy “marriage” behind in Philadelphia: he still cares for his estranged wife and yet hasn’t the heart to divorce her. He writes to her about the love he has for his family, yet that love is really for Margaret and Polly who, to some extent, he takes as an opportunity to put right the failings of his marriage.
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King – Although Franklin owns a few slaves, he treats them with humanity and kindness. To King in particular, he grows particularly affectionate and his relationship with him makes him realize the barbarity of slavery.
Dashwood and Franklin’s friendship Two geniuses of their age, who, from their very first meeting, are intrigued by one another; although they’re from very different backgrounds, their irreverent view of life brings them together. Dashwood sees a certain (colonial) vulgarity in Franklin, whilst Franklin senses the snobbery typical of (British) elitism in Dashwood. They’re drawn to each other through a mutual disrespect for authority (other than their own), a shared sense of humour and a network of common friends. They develop a deep brotherly affection, although this is hardly ever discussed between the two of them. Above all, they’re honest with each other and in a time of constant intrigue and deception everyone needs genuine friends they can count on.
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THE HELLFIRE CLUB
Over the course of the 18th century a proliferation of “gentlemen’s clubs” spawn amongst the inns, bagnios (brothels), chocolate-and-coffee houses of London. Many quickly gain a less than salubrious notoriety: from the extreme violence of the Mohocks to the bizarrely flatulent Farters and indeed every taste in-between, including transvestite sex clubs known as Molly Houses and notorious gambling dens such as Whites. To some they are simply an expression of like-minded individuals gathering together; to others they are a disgrace, exuding everything wrong with Georgian Britain. They all share an eagerness to indulge in all possible aspects of debauchery, liberation and sexual excess known to man, whilst women are encouraged to join as equals, satiating their intimate needs with as much intensity as their male counterparts. Clubs take many names, yet the notoriety of Sir Francis Dashwood’s Hellfire Club eclipses them all. In the eyes of future generations it will exemplify all that is sexually and morally corrupt with the Georgian world. Like other clubs in London and Ireland, the Hellfire Club soon attracts aristocrats with Jacobite sympathies. In fact, many believe it to be little more than a snake pit of spies wallowing in orgiastic devil worship in a vain attempt to curry favour with the elite prodigy. Sir Francis Dashwood, its leader, treats his peers with a neo-classical cult whose membership is made up of royalty, members of the aristocracy, French and American spies and, indeed, some of the sharpest intellectual minds ever pushing the boundaries of blasphemous aberration, mocking God, King and Country in unison whilst steering the world in a direction only they understand. The Club first comes into being at the George and Vulture Pub in London, less than a year after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which leaves Britain riddled with insecurity and the fear of a French invasion. When the George and Vulture is burnt to the ground under “mysterious” circumstances, Sir Francis leases the ruined Abbey at Medmenham (on the River Thames) from club member Francis Duffield and relocates the Club there. Suitably, its male members dress as monks become known as the Knights of St Francis and, locally, as the Medmenham Monks. In a fit of moral outrage, Dashwood’s Victorian descendants will burn the books and diaries that chronicled the “despicable goings-on” of the Hellfire Club, which underlines the perception that the elaborate “ceremonies” performed at the Abbey are more than just a little saucy. In its heyday the club attracts considerable public attention; so “known about” are its “meetings” that onlookers crowd along the river bank as hecklers call out the names of notable members arriving, much to the amusement of the assembled throng, all waiting for prostitutes and aristocratic ladies dressed as nuns to be ferried in from London by barge. In need of more privacy, Sir Francis commissions the excavation of an elaborate warren of tunnels under the hillside opposite his country estate at West Wycombe. Cornish tin miners are employed to assist – a popular occurrence in itself as the construction also gives work to local farm workers during what
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13 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY becomes, in effect, a very difficult time. Dashwood’s friend and club member Benjamin Franklin would later write of his visit to the West Wycombe Caves that he had “as much fun below ground as he did above”. The top of the hill is already adorned by a church, whose tower Dashwood has enlarged and embellished with a golden orb, inside which several adults can regularly cavort as the vicar preaches fire and brimstone to the blissfully unaware church congregation below. The orb also doubles as a heliograph, which, invented as it was by the ancient Greeks, quenches Dashwood’s thirst for both the neoclassical and “gossip” (read: “intelligence”) from across the Channel. Messages flow quickly between West Wycombe, London and Paris, especially when Dashwood’s good friend Benjamin Franklin becomes the most notorious American (or British?) spy in France. Orgies and sexual rituals? A devil-worshipping cult? Spies? The Club motto expresses everything so very succinctly: “Do what thou wilt”… They do. * * * In essence the club lavished its members with high sexual theatre, elaborate banqueting and the opportunity to share the secrets of their age and thus affect the World around them in ways that reverberate to this day. Unmasking the names of its members is understandably challenging since they were all sworn to secrecy: some, such as Wilkes, Dashwood, Bute and Sandwich, are known with some certainty; yet club members referred to each other as brother this or brother that which afforded them a degree of anonymity. Many clubs existed before and, indeed, exist to this day, that in some way either emulate our perception of the Hellfire Club or simply “steal” its name (i.e. the Marvel Comics clandestine society that confronts the X-Men). But none stir such controversy around political intrigue or indeed embrace sexual excess with such hedonistic fervour as the Monks of Medmenham, the Knights of St Francis… the Hellfire Club.
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THE SERIES ARC
01 THE “45” (1744/45) Sir Francis Dashwood secretly supports the Jacobite cause. When the rising led by Bonnie Prince Charlie is crushed, Dashwood becomes the leader of the political opposition. In the process he saves Young Polly and entrusts her to Aunt Margaret in London. In Pennsylvania, Ben Franklin (an old acquaintance of Dashwood’s) rises to positions of prominence. Charlie flees to France after burying his treasure somewhere in the Highlands. 02 RATTLESNAKES FOR FELONS AND A CRICKET BALL (1748/51) Franklin criticizes the massive deportation of British convicts to the Colonies. After making sure that Polly and Margaret are provided for, Dashwood’s political aspirations are squandered by rigged elections and by Prince Frederick’s suspicious death. 03 MONK BUSINESS (1757/58) Dashwood inaugurates his Hellfire Club whose members indulge in all kinds of orgiastic and satanic rituals. The inner circle of the club is reserved to Dashwood’s political acolytes who plot a new strategy to access power. Franklin is appointed colonial agent and sent to petition the king: in London he is welcomed by Polly and Margaret on Dashwood’s instructions. 04 THE BILBO CATCHER (1958/59) While Franklin enjoys huge popularity touring Britain and Scotland, Dashwood reaches Charlie in France with a plan to kill the king and the whole Royal family and reinstate him to the throne. However, the new head of the Crown’s secret services (Wentworth) is after him. 05 CLOSE STOOL (1759) Franklin’s loyal slave finds the location of Charlie’s treasure. Franklin’s dalliance with Margaret makes Polly (now a teenager) jealous. Dashwood’s real plan is to manipulate Charlie into killing the king, arrest him and then assure that Young Prince George – whom he and his friends control like a puppet – becomes the new sovereign. Unexpectedly, though, the king dies. 06 ANNUS MIRABILIS (1760) While mentoring Young Prince George for his Coronation, Dashwood and his friends desperately try to find Charlie and the Jacobite schemers to abort the murderous plan. But this time Charlie is determined to see the end of it. At the last moment, Dashwood finds in Wentworth an unexpected ally.
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07 ANOTHER “45”, OR: HARD CIDER (1760/63) With Dashwood and his friends all in government posts, the Hellfire Club now literally rule the country. However, following a scandal caused by the revelations of radical ex-friend John Wilkes, their power is short-lived. 08 SILENCE IS GOLDEN (1765/68) As lifelong friends turn their back on him and switch allegiance, Dashwood disbands the Hellfire Club. When his lover Martha and those who have remained loyal to him are all murdered on the same day, he knows it’s time to fight back. He finds a new ally in Franklin who, in the meantime, has become estranged to his own son and wife, and to Polly as well. 09 AGENT 72 (1769/71) Having retrieved the Jacobite treasure in Scotland, Dashwood and Franklin hatch a plan to fund both a revolution in the Colonies and a big land speculation project (by bribing the members of the Board of Trade), helped by Wilkes and by a French spy (d’Eon). Breathing down their necks, Wentworth sends his hit-men to take down Franklin. 10 NO LIBERTY, NO KING (1772/74) Wilkes leads a reformist campaign to be elected MP and hordes of protesters who wreak havoc in the streets of London. Franklin escapes Wentworth’s hit-men only to face trial for treason when his incendiary letters to fellow colonists are intercepted. When their speculation project is finally approved, Dashwood arranges for Polly and Franklin to sail off to America with the treasure just before the order of arrest against Franklin is issued. Relentless, Wentworth is after them, determined to catch them by all means necessary… will he stop them once and for all?
* * * * *
Note – The dates above are provided for general reference to related historical events only. While the storylines may link to and follow the logical unfolding of some such events, nevertheless they do not necessarily adhere to their actual chronology. In particular, the narration tends to develop around the 1760 turning point and mostly focuses on Franklin’s years in Britain (1757-75) and his connections with Dashwood and the Hellfire Club.
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EPISODE SUMMARIES
01 – THE “45” On his way to Derby, Sir Francis Dashwood and his small militia save a young girl (Polly) from two shady mugs who’ve just raped and killed her mother. These are deserters from Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army, which is encamped outside Derby. Dashwood pledges his and the Tories’ support if his army takes London where panic is reigning and the King is ready to flee abroad. Dashwood returns to London and entrusts young Polly to the care of her aunt Margaret. Dashwood secretly informs PM Newcastle about Charlie’s plans, but is he to be trusted? Little does Dashwood know that one of Charlie’s aides, Wentworth, is in fact a spy for the government and suspects that Dashwood is double crossing them. A few years previously, whilst grand-touring in Italy, Dashwood was introduced by Lady Wortley to the exiled Bonnie Prince Charlie – who had just been named as the head of the secret Masonic Order of the Temple. Dashwood pledged his support in case of a Jacobite rising. In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin is made Grand Master of the Lodge; he quickly rises to positions of prominence. After marrying the wealthy Sarah Ellys, Dashwood becomes leader of the independent Tory opposition and plans a future strategy with his acolytes: Frederick (the Prince of Wales), Lord Bute and the Earl of Sandwich. Meanwhile, the Jacobite army retreats and is heavily defeated in Scotland; Charlie hides for months in the Highlands and eventually goes back to France after burying his treasure in a secret location, to be guarded by one of his most loyal men (Cluny). In London, hundreds of Jacobite prisoners are jailed and executed in the Tower, thousands are deported to America – Flora MacDonald, Charlie’s most loyal aide, awaits her fate. Dashwood and his friends’ mirth is blighted by a fire that destroys their gentlemen’s club. An anonymous message makes it clear that someone wants to teach them a lesson.
02 – RATTLESNAKES FOR FELONS AND A CRICKET BALL To Charlie’s dismay, France signs a peace treaty with England: resentful, he takes to the bottle and becomes abusive towards his wife Clementina. The deportation of British convicts causes unrest in the colonies, where crime rate soars; Franklin publishes a caustic pamphlet against this practice that piques the King but amuses Dashwood who sends him a gift. Dashwood met Franklin 15 years before when the American found himself stranded and penniless in London: helped by Dashwood, the two became good friends and joined the Masonic Lodge.
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Dashwood makes sure that money is delivered regularly to Polly and Margaret who now live a fairly happy life in London. Dashwood’s fierce parliamentarian battles win him huge popularity among the public and a new ally: the radical John Wilkes. When the Prime Minister tries to bribe him, Dashwood manages to free Flora from prison on parole: her gaoler is Thomas Chippendale, one of Dashwood’s trusted men. Unexpectedly, Frederick and Dashwood’s coalition lose the elections, probably rigged by the King and the Whigs. To his parents’ joy, Frederick dies soon afterwards: Dashwood suspects his friend has been poisoned and ponders whether to give up his political aspirations once and for all.
03 - MONK BUSINESS At his lavishly refurbished estate, Dashwood hosts an initiation ceremony to induct John Wilkes into his Hellfire Club. In a half-ruined abbey, Dashwood and his acolytes, dressed as monks, welcome dozens of young prostitutes and aristocratic ladies led by Lady Wortley and Sandwich’s lover Fanny, who are dressed as nuns. Under the influence of alcohol and drugs, they indulge in orgies, rituals and excesses of all kinds for days on end. Having become a troublesome political inconvenience, Charlie is first arrested in Paris and then expelled from the country altogether. However, Charlie retreats to a remote country manor where he instructs Archibald Cameron, a loyal Jacobite, to reach Scotland and retrieve his treasure. Before dismissing the “monks” and “nuns” at the abbey, Dashwood gathers his inner circle of friends (Bute, Sandwich, Wilkes, etc.): they all swear a secret pact to destroy the current Whig government. Bute, in particular, has been formally appointed tutor to young George, son of the late Frederick and Princess Augusta, and heir to the throne. Dashwood suggests that Bute works his way into the Princess’s bed as a means to access power at the first chance. Alarmed by the frequent incursions of French and Indians in Pennsylvania, Franklin proposes a plan of union that meets the firm rejection of the Governor. When the colony is also denied parliamentary representation and taxation on the owners (the Penn family), the Assembly nominates Franklin as their agent to petition the King directly. When Franklin and his son William finally disembark in London, one of their two black slaves escapes. Dashwood purchases and refurbishes the whole building in Craven Street for Polly and Margaret. They are to welcome a new lodger quite soon: Franklin.
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04 – THE BILBO CATCHER At Dashwood’s abbey a new member of the Club (Potter) introduces the black mass and satanic rituals. Bute and Sandwich dislike him and Wilkes at first sight. Franklin settles in Craven Street pampered by Polly and Margaret. Polly in particular is immediately spellbound by the American’s personality and likes to be at the centre of his attention. Dashwood recommends Martha as a singer at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, with Margaret to work as costume maker for all the company actresses. Margaret will also be Augusta’s personal dressmaker at Cliveden. With Chippendale’s help, Dashwood finds Cameron who has just relayed Charlie’s message to Flora. Dashwood easily extorts from Cameron details of Charlie’s whereabouts. Soon after, Cameron is arrested by Wentworth’s men. Franklin is awarded an honorary degree and receives an invitation to Scotland. Dashwood suggests he should accept it because a journey to Scotland could turn into lucrative business for future speculations the two of them are planning together. Franklin heads off to Scotland accompanied by his son William and his slave King. As she has finished her parole time, they take Flore with them as well. Meanwhile, Dashwood reaches Paris and blackmails d’Eon into helping him with Charlie. Dashwood has a plan to reinstate him to the throne. With Margaret often busy at Cliveden, Polly gets to spend some time with Young George (Augusta’s son and legitimate heir to the throne) who confesses to her how lonely he feels. Back to England, Dashwood tells Bute and Augusta he has convinced Charlie to kill the king. Meanwhile in France, Charlie receives a macabre gift from Wentworth: Cameron’s severed head.
05 – CLOSE STOOL At Cliveden, Dashwood explains his plan: when Charlie and the Jacobite rebels kill the old king, he will have them all arrested. This way, young George will be the new king, with Augusta as regent to pave the way to power for Bute, Dashwood and their friends. Polly and George almost kiss when they are interrupted. Augusta and George are summoned by the king who wants George to live with him at St. James’s Palace: moreover, he has arranged George’s marriage with a Prussian princess. While George storms away, Augusta orders the king to stay away from her son. Following Lady Wortley’s death, Dashwood has arranged for her daughter to marry Bute, and for Fanny to replace her as “Mother Superior” at the Hellfire Club abbey. According to Dashwood’s plan, d’Eon has obtained a new job at the French embassy in London. He will facilitate Charlie’s action from there.
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Franklin’s slave (King) tails Flora to the location of Charlie’s treasure. When Franklin returns to London, he reports back to Dashwood about their finding. Franklin’s suggestion to have William marry Polly meets his son’s stubborn rejection, also because William has made another woman pregnant. Trying to console a shattered Franklin, Margaret ends up kissing him passionately; upset by this, Polly runs away from home only to get caught by a pimp who tries to sell her to Lucy Cooper’s brothel. Polly spends an ugly quarter of an hour until Dashwood comes to her rescue. Dashwood receives a coded message from d’Eon. All is set for the execution of the plan. Charlie will act in few months’ time. Unbeknownst to them though, Charlie is planning to exterminate the whole royal family – young George and Augusta included. The unexpected happens when the king dies suddenly on his close stool. What will they all do now?
06 – ANNUS MIRABILIS The war against France going well, Britain now controls one-third of the entire globe and most trade routes. London goes agog while the preparations for the upcoming coronation of the new king are in full swing. Bute, Dashwood and Augusta arrange young George’s marriage with a Prussian princess he has never met (Charlotte): Polly is forbidden to keep seeing him. Franklin attends another wedding: his son William gets married to an army colonel’s daughter. But he still won’t reveal the identity of his illegitimate son’s mother. Dashwood secretly meets d’Eon: it is imperative that Charlie is told to abort the takeover plan but, apparently, he cannot be found anywhere. When Dashwood leaves, Charlie shows up, having heard everything; he instructs d’Eon to proceed with his own plot and coordinate all the Jacobite schemers he has recruited. Charlie plans on funding his coup with the treasure still hidden in the Highlands. However, when Cluny tries to retrieve it, to his horror he realizes the treasure has vanished. When the news reaches Charlie, his whole world crumbles. Fearing the worse, Dashwood has no alternative but to seek an unlikely alliance with Wentworth. All is ready for the coronation: carriages battle their way to Westminster Abbey. Having finally met for the first time, King George III and Queen Charlotte are escorted in sedan chairs, followed by an endless procession of guests. As the crown is placed on George’s head, Martha starts singing Zadok the Priest – “And all the people rejoiced and said God save the King!” – mesmerising everybody with her voice. The king’s champion rides in in full armour and dramatically throws his gauntlet to challenge anyone who dare dispute the new sovereign’s right to the throne: mingled in the audience, all the Jacobites are waiting a sign to act. Dashwood and Wentworth spot Charlie at the back of the abbey, his hand slowly reaching out for his sword…
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07 – ANOTHER “45”, OR: HARD CIDER … Charlie suddenly turns on his heels and walks out. Dashwood and Wentworth rush outside, but he has vanished without trace. The danger now averted, they join the spectacular coronation banquet in the nearby Westminster Hall. It doesn’t take long before the king’s “friends” are called to form a new government. Bute is the new Prime Minister, with Dashwood as Chancellor and all their other friends in prominent positions. Dashwood in particular works alongside Wentworth to set up a new, efficient secret service. The whole Hellfire Club celebrates at Dashwood’s estate: after so many years of failed attempts, they now rule the country. Wilkes – who now runs a liberal newspaper (the North Briton) – is falling out with the Club’s members: tired of the Hellfire antics, he pulls an unwelcomed prank that costs him his expulsion. Dashwood helps Franklin to find William’s illegitimate son (Temple) and to petition the colonies’ cause as well: however, both this and his speculation deals meet firm rejections. At least, Franklin convinces Bute to name William governor of New Jersey. Bute’s government is soon criticized by everybody: he first negotiates an unexpected peace with France, and then imposes wildly unpopular taxes. One in particular, on cider, stirs violent riots that Bute represses with force. In issue number 45 of the North Briton, Wilkes openly denounces the short-sightedness of the government, Bute’s affair with Augusta, and a weak new king controlled by the Hellfire Club. Moreover, he plans an alliance with the Whigs proposing reforms and meet the colonies’ requests. While Dashwood laughs up his own sleeve, Bute and Sandwich retaliate furiously, showing publicly a pornographic novel written by Wilkes who is thus arrested for blasphemy and high treason. As riots erupt in his support, Wilkes reveals secrets on the Hellfire Club to Wentworth who, in exchange, helps him to flee to France. Since he owned the only copy of Wilkes’ novel, Dashwood realizes that Sandwich could only have gotten hold of it via Fanny who stole it from the abbey. Furious at her “betrayal” of his trust, Dashwood “literally” kicks her out of his house.
08 – SILENCE IS GOLDEN Following the Wilkes scandal, Bute’s government is short-lived. Dashwood soon realizes that all his lifelong friends and allies are turning their backs on him and switching allegiance in order to maintain their newly acquired power status. Smelling a rat, Dashwood hastily burns any compromising documents and disbands the Hellfire Club. Meanwhile Franklin has returned to Pennsylvania. Baby Temple is entrusted to his wife Deborah, with whom Franklin grows more and more estranged. When Britain imposes new taxes on the colonies to face war debts, a very vocal Franklin is once again appointed as colonial agent to petition the king.
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When Martha joins a Reformation Society, her relationship with Dashwood goes through a rough patch. Unbeknownst to Dashwood, she is also having an affair with another woman. Paris sends a new attaché to the French embassy in London, calling d’Eon back. Knowing that his enemies in Paris are planning to arrest him, d’Eon refuses and stays in London, hiding a bundle of compromising documents to keep them in check. Back in London, Franklin is surprised to learn that his adored Polly got married in his absence to a pathologist. Putting up his usual good humour and not wanting to disappoint Polly, he accepts her invitation to be their first son’s godfather. While d’Eon miraculously escape a poisoning attempt, Potter dies in a suspicious fire in a church near the Hellfire abbey, while Chippendale’s assistant is pushed off a scaffolding to his death when decorating Dashwood’s house. On the same day, Martha is shot dead in the street right in front of Dashwood. Shocked, and reading the multiple murders as threats clearly addressed to him, Dashwood knocks on Franklin’s door to seal a secret pact with his American friend.
09 – AGENT 72 Dashwood sets out on an unplanned trip to Scotland accompanied by Chippendale. There he reaches Flora’s family who are going through very hard times. Coming to their help, Dashwood arranges for them to emigrate to America, where they will run a new estate he has purchased there. Meanwhile nearby a remote loch, King digs up Charlie’s treasure undisturbed, escorted by Dashwood’s militia. In London, Franklin reports to Parliament that the colonies will enforce an embargo on all British goods and imports until all taxes are abolished. Back home, he consoles Polly, whose husband dies when she is five months pregnant with another child. Returning from Scotland, Dashwood and Franklin develop a plan to fund both a revolution and a huge land speculation project in the colonies with the rescued treasure. However, they are ignorant of the fact that, as they speak, Wentworth intercepts the letters Franklin has addressed to his fellow colonists in Pennsylvania. Soon Wentworth proposes a deal to Dashwood: the French are willing to return Wilkes in exchange for d’Eon. Knowing that Dashwood has regular dealings with d’Eon and assuming he still holds a grudge against Wilkes for the scandal surrounding his illicit club, Wentworth encourages him to turn d’Eon in and, in exchange, Wentworth will surrender Wilkes to Dashwood so they can settle the score. Dashwood accepts… or so it seems.
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Under pressure from Wentworth, Franklin decides to take a short holiday and heads off to Bath. Once Franklin has left, though, Dashwood finds out that Wentworth has sent his hit-men after him. Attempting to save his master, King manages to catch up with Franklin’s carriage right when two naked highwaymen assault the convoy. Meanwhile, Wentworth’s hit-men are getting nearer and nearer… Meanwhile, Dashwood and Chippendale play Wentworth, managing to free Wilkes and kidnap d’Eon.
10 – NO LIBERTY, NO KING Franklin and King manage to mislead Wentworth’s hit-men who kill the two highwaymen instead of them. When they finally return to Dashwood’s house, a party is celebrating Wilkes’ comeback. As part of his revenge strategy, Dashwood involves Wilkes and Franklin. Dashwood pledges support to Wilkes’ reformist campaign to be elected MP at the upcoming elections with the aim to ease the burden both on the British population and the colonies. As concerns d’Eon, Dashwood has copies of his letters accusing the King of France of planning a British invasion – in short, if d’Eon wants to get out of all this alive, he must do Dashwood’s bidding thenceforth. Wilkes leads hordes of protesters in the streets of London and has himself arrested on purpose. Following Dashwood’s instructions, d’Eon and his men distribute money, food and “candles” in all the poorest districts of London: thousands gather outside Wilkes’ prison shouting in his support: “No liberty, no King”. For several nights on end, the whole city of London is illuminated by candles lit by Wilkes’ supporters. King George III is terrified; as are Wentworth, Bute and Sandwich. Troops open fire killing unarmed people; the soldiers are chased by angry mobs and stoned in the streets. Eventually, the King relents. Wilkes is acquitted from his charges and gets elected MP. Wentworth’s chance to frame Franklin comes when Franklin publishes compromising letters for which he is dismissed as colonial agent and trialled for treason. As he awaits his verdict, Polly relays the sad news of Deborah’s death to him. Meanwhile, Flora and his husband arrive from Scotland and are temporarily lodged at the estate. At Craven Street it’s time for goodbyes… Dashwood has arranged a carriage for Franklin, Polly and her children; snivelling, Margaret has decided to stay and parting from Polly breaks her heart. Franklin wants to set his slave free but King is resolute to return to America with him. An order of arrest is issued against Franklin. When Wentworth’s men break in the Craven Street apartment they only find Margaret. A cargo ship is halted by a blockade on the River Thames; Wentworth and his soldiers hurry on board in search of Franklin. Among the passengers they only
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23 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY find Flora and her husband, headed to a new life in the colonies along with King and Chippendale… The Jacobite gold they were trying to smuggle has seemingly disappeared: but is this so? On board another ship, Franklin and Polly (with her children) have sailed away from another port and are already safely crossing the Atlantic. At his estate in West Wycombe, Dashwood and Wilkes toast to a successful stratagem, taking in the beautiful view of the grounds and lake at sunset.
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THE OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE WORLD OF HELLFIRE
DASHWOOD’S CIRCLE (aka the Hellfire Club, aka the Prince of Wales’ Set and, later, the King’s “Friends”) Bute, Earl of (John Stuart) – A dissipate rake driven by compulsive, self- seeking ambition. He plays a key role in selecting the members of the Prince of Wales’ Set and, later, the inner circle of Dashwood’s Club. He likes sex and drinking, but not art and occultism. As Lord of the Bedchamber, he seduces Princess Augusta (the Prince’s wife), and after the Prince’s death, helps her bring up her son (the future king) – and so indirectly controls the government. Hated by everybody in Britain, always with a bodyguard in public, Bute opposes every reform and hates the American colonists. Frederick (“Fritz”), Prince of Wales – Heir apparent to the throne of the much unpopular King George II, Fritz grows estranged from his parents who consider him a scandal for the Royal family for being a spendthrift and a womaniser. Banished from court and up to his neck in debts, he sets up his own rival court (i.e. the Cliveden Set) with the help of his wealthy friends, Dashwood and Bute, and spends the rest of his life opposing his father’s government and policies, also (not so) secretly supporting the Jacobite rebellion. He marries Princess Augusta and becomes a devoted husband and father. He likes cricket, fishing, hunting and rowing. Sandwich, Earl of (John Montagu) – The most universally disliked man in Britain, an inveterate gambler and ardently antireligious. A lecherous rake, also known as “the rapemaster general”, he specializes in seducing virgins to enjoy the corruption of innocence for its own sake, frequents London’s brothels on a daily basis and hires prostitutes to whip him as a pastime. Apart from weird sexual habits, he shares with Dashwood a love for the arts and archaeology and, as an opposition Tory MP, a fierce hatred for the ruling Whig governments (i.e. Pelham and Newcastle). Mischievous as few, unlike Dashwood, Sandwich is staunchly antidemocratic and despises the general public. His countless lovers include the notorious Fanny Murray, Nancy Dawson, Kitty Fisher, and all the most popular courtesans. John Wilkes – The opposite of Bute, Wilkes is an ultraliberal reformist whose verbal wit and snappy replies do not spare public criticism and even insults to anybody, causing him endless troubles. Supporting the independence of the American colonies means a further aggravation. Desultory, vociferous and profane, although he dabbles in pornography and enjoys the excesses of the Club, he soon grows tired of it and is disliked at first sight by everyone except Dashwood, whom he eventually befriends. He marries in order to extort money from his wife, but he is also the most caring father to his little daughter. Thomas Potter – Son of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a professor at Oxford, Potter’s main interests are occultism, Satanism, necrophilia, opium, alcohol and beating his wife to death – all of which make him disliked by even the
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25 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY most disgusting members of Dashwood’s club. When (rarely) sober, he is friends with Wilkes. Thomas Chippendale – The most famous interior designer and furniture maker of Britain is also Dashwood’s most loyal associate, often trusted with the most delicate and secretive tasks. A man of few words but significant action, he develops a soft side for Flora during the time he acts as her gaoler, but never finds the courage to tell her.
FRANKLIN’S CIRCLE Polly Stevenson – Having lost her mum as a young girl to the savage fury of two rapists and murderers, Polly is saved by Dashwood to whom she is grateful for the rest of her life. She is sweet-natured but can also show an edge that the harsh experiences of her childhood have taught her to utilize. Porcelain skin, rosebud lips, always a twinkle in her eye, her otherworldly beauty is eclipsed only by her sprightly love of life, all the enthusiasm of young age and her uncommon wit. Prevented by her status to pursue an infatuation with no less than the heir to British throne, Polly is attracted to genius, which is why she is immediately ensnared by Franklin’s personality the minute he enters her house, despite the age difference. She teases him, returns his affection, knits him garters. Her love for him will always remain platonic, which doesn’t mean she can stand his affairs with other lovers. She ends up marrying a doctor she probably doesn’t love. Margaret Stevenson – Kind and tender and yet loud; self-conscious and yet rather blowsy, often wearing too much make-up. Polly’s caring aunt tries to be a mother figure for her niece and wants for her the social standing and a kind of life she missed out on. In fact, she is an up-and-coming self-made middle class widow turned nouveau riche who makes a fortune as a dressmaker much sought- after by virtually every courtesan and aristocratic woman in London, thanks to her undisputed talent but also to the generosity of Dashwood’s purse. William Franklin – Franklin’s illegitimate son follows in his father’s footsteps in pursuing a political career. Once in Britain, he makes a woman pregnant and initially refuses to acknowledge his son, which infuriates Franklin. A rift that will become an unbridgeable chasm when he later – as appointed governor of New Jersey – supports the Crown against the Colonies. King – Franklin’s African slave. Loyal and trusted, King develops a lifelong bond with his master for whom he would even put his own life at stake. Deborah – Franklin’s mistress at a very young age, when she marries him she finds herself having to mother his illegitimate son (William). While she enjoys the growing popularity and status that Franklin bestows on their family over the years, she grows more and more estranged from him. Not following her husband to Britain – where he will stay for 17 long years – doesn’t help either.
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CHARLIE’S CIRCLE Charles Stuart (aka Charlie), the Bonnie Prince – Born in exile and raised as a young man with one mission in his life – i.e. to restore the Stuarts to the British throne – Charlie becomes literally obsessed with it and cannot think of anything else. In constant need of funds and allies, his absolute mistrust of everything and everyone doesn’t help. Eventually, his inability to cope with the collapse of the Jacobite cause makes him an inveterate drunkard. A fugitive for the rest of his life, banished from Britain, France and virtually everywhere else in Europe, he becomes more and more a pathetic figure. Flora MacDonald – Fair and dignified, Flora is the personification of loyalty and integrity and the only female field aide in Charlie’s army of Jacobites. An intriguing character she doesn’t hesitate to send her brother to the gallows for betraying her and Charlie and she endures the hardship of imprisonment in the Tower of London unflinchingly. She always wear a white rose pinned to her hair. Archibald Cameron – One of Charlie’s loyal highlanders, Cameron escapes the gallows only to find himself embroiled in even worse circumstances. A man who always tries his best but is hardly up to the task. Cluny McPherson – Another trusted highlander in Charlie’s rank, his loyalty can only be measured in the several years he remains hidden in an inhospitable cave to guard Charlie’s treasure. Clementina – Charlie’s most miserable wife. Chevalier d’Eon – A French spy who keeps tab on Charlie, he doesn’t hesitate to sell state secrets to the enemy whenever it comes to save his own skin. Gossip has it that he often assumes the disguise of a woman leading many to be confused about his or her actual gender, in keeping with his total ambiguity.
THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT AND THE ENEMIES Paul Wentworth – A viper in the nest who once benefitted from Dashwood’s friendship, he joins the Jacobite cause only to then switch allegiance and become the master double-crosser at the service of the Crown making Dashwood his number one enemy. With his limitless smugness and preference of skulduggery over direct confrontation, it’s not surprising that the British secret service flourishes under his tenure. Newcastle, Duke of (Whig Prime Minister) – A fierce defender of the Hanoverian dynasty, he makes suppressing Jacobitism his life mission. A talent for always leaning whichever way the wind blows and outmanoeuvring rivals paves the way of his political career although the new king (George III) considers him a “snake in the grass” and a “knave”. King George II – The last “foreign” British monarch, George is short-tempered and boorish and lacks any talent to dissimulate it. Scarcely interested in it, he leaves the running of domestic affairs to his prime ministers. He hated his father
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(George I) as much as he hated his son Frederick, but has a penchant for his grandson (George III) who he wants with him at all cost. King George III – Raised by Bute who, as a substitute father, gives him the affection he lacks, he responds with dog-like devotion but grows up shy and lonely with no friends – which is why Polly’s presence means so much to him. Being born and educated in England, he is the first Hanoverian king liked by his people… at first.
WIVES AND MISTRESSES Princess Augusta – Arriving in Britain at age 16 and speaking no English, Augusta has a rather happy marriage with Frederick and supports him in all his feuds with his family. When Frederick dies she takes on her husband’s mission and plots against the king with her lover’s (Bute) help. Such are her resolution and constant need to use and control other people, that she fails to realize she is the one being used. Lady Sarah Ellys Dashwood – A rich widow, with Dashwood Sarah marries into status rather than love. While, like many women of the time, she is perfectly aware of this, all her efforts are focused on keeping up appearances in public and she finds a listening ear in her friend, Princess Augusta. However, Dashwood’s feelings for her, albeit platonic, are genuine and when she becomes very ill he hides her from public view (and gossip) and refuses to abandon her in a hospital. Lady Wortley Montagu – Wife of the British ambassador in Turkey, she flirts with Jacobitism and has affairs with several (much younger) grand tourists, Dashwood included, often inducting them into the freemasonry. Intelligent, elegant, better educated than most men, she is the embodiment of a female rake, but her enjoyment of bodily pleasures is cut short by a horrible disease that defiles her looks, forcing her to wear a mask in her later years. Martha – A high-class prostitute, she soon leaves the “business” thanks to Dashwood and to her voice to become a successful opera singer attracting a large number of “fans”. She settles in and lives in Dashwood’s London house, while his wife suffers from mental illness. Fanny – Possibly the most popular prostitute and social climber of her day, she first ensnares Sandwich – until he dumps her for Nancy – then asks for Dashwood’s help to then betray him at the first chance of a better deal. Nancy – Second only to Fanny in the art of collecting affairs with wealthy and powerful men. Lucy Cooper – The lewdest “innkeeper” in London, she inherits the popular Madame Sulphur’s brothel where she services practically every man in London. Bound by a close business relationship with Dashwood (and maybe something else), she is the main supplier of “raw material” to the Hellfire Club. She doesn’t hesitate to chastise any misbehaving client, but she’d never dare anything against Dashwood.
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SETTINGS
Dashwood Estate in West Wycombe
The Abbey by the river, the first Hellfire Club den until it relocates to…
… the Hellfire Caves, dug underneath a hill in the Dashwood estate grounds
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Main locations in Britain – London, surrounding Home Counties, Scottish Highlands In London: Craven Street, Margaret’s house – Polly lives here with aunt Margaret. On his arrival in London, Franklin takes lodge here too, and will live at this address for 17 years. Chippendale’s lodge in Covent Garden – Also works as a gaol for a few years when Flora MacDonald is freed on parole. Westminster Hall – Here Dashwood and his friends fiercely fight against their political opponents. St. James’s Palace – The Royal palace and the residence of King George II who repeatedly tries to convince his grandson to live with him. Newcastle’s office – Official and secret meeting are held here. It works as a hub for spying activities until a more efficient system is put in place. The Tower – All the Jacobite prisoners are jailed and executed here. Madam Sulphur’s bagnio – Truly, a second home for many of our protagonists (Dashwood, Sandwich, Bute) who frequent the brothel on a daily basis. Divan Club – The gentlemen’s club where Dashwood and his friends entertains themselves (and countless prostitutes) before moving to Dashwood’s estate. Carpenter’s chocolate-and-coffee shop – Dashwood and Franklin’s favourite hangout, where they often enjoy a curry together while talking business. Inns, Royal Society, Dashwood’s house in Hanover Square… In the Home Counties and elsewhere in Britain: Cliveden House – Frederick’s country house and private court, i.e. Cliveden Set). Stanton Moor – a cosy country cottage near a Neolithic stone circle in the woods. Derbyshire – Jacobite army camp outside Derby. Avebury – Another Neolithic stone circle embedded in the low hills of Wiltshire. In Scotland: The Cage – An inhospitable cave on the hills, near a loch. Flodigarry – Flora’s remote village in the Isle of Skye. Main locations in the American Colonies – Pennsylvania assembly, Philadelphia Grand Lodge, Franklin’s house Other locations – Rome (Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Jacobite palace), Paris (Opera Garnier, jail, nunnery), a countryside manor in France
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FILMING AT WEST WYCOMBE
The Dashwood Estate (i.e. palace and grounds) at West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, is available and often utilized for filming, especially period pieces – although it has so far always doubled up for other locations. Notable feature film titles include: Oliver Parker’s THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (2002, Miramax), Saul Dibb’s THE DUCHESS (2008, Pathe), Matthew Vaughn’s superhero blockbuster X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011, 20th Century Fox) and Madonna’s W.E. (2012, Optimum). TV series and movies include: CRANFORD (2007, BBC Worldwide), LITTLE DORRIT (2008, BBC) and DOWNTON ABBEY (2010-16, ITV/Carnival Films). The Estate is located just outside London and only a few miles from the Pinewood Studios. Further details and contact at: www.westwycombeestate.co.uk
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ABOUT THE WRITERS
Paolo Russo Paolo is Co-creator (with Roland Moore) and Head Writer of the TV series BURNS (taken from Jimmy Burns’ best-selling book “Papa Spy”, Bloomsbury) to be starred by Jack Huston. Huston has optioned the series and will co-produce with Abi Harris as CYSA Productions. In 2011 Paolo began collaborating with director Matthew Huston and Minor Hour Films, having co-written the feature films LET ME INSIDE and CLOUDED BORDER currently in development. Paolo co-wrote the feature film THREE DAYS OF ANARCHY, on which he also served as 1st Assistant Director. His screenplay was supported by the EU Media Programme and was awarded almost €3M through the Italian Film Fund. Nominated to the Tokyo IFF Gran Prix, the film went on to receive wide critical acclaim at more than thirty festivals: Rome (MedFilmFest and RIFF), Miami, San Francisco (NICE), Mar de Plata, Riga, Stockholm, Ajaccio (Best Film, Best Actor, Best Actress), Mumbai, Blagoveschensk among others. Paolo wrote and co-directed a short against racism (BIANCO SPORCO) premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and a documentary broadcast by RaiSat. A former script reader and story editor, Paolo has also adapted the scripts of worldwide videogame hits for Microsoft, Valve and Nintendo among many others. He teaches Screenwriting at at Oxford Brookes University.
Andrew Blackall Andrew wrote and produced ANTIQUE SECRETS WITH PAUL MARTIN, currently being distributed on DVD and download by Quantum Leap. As part of the series SHRINE OF THE TIMES, he wrote, produced and directed a short factual documentary in which Sir Edward Dashwood (descendant of Sir Francis Dashwood and current resident of West Wycombe Park) talks to Paul Martin about the Hellfire Club. This led to the making of a short film, CLUBS & STYX, starring David Bailie (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), and to Andrew’s collaboration with screenwriter Paolo Russo to develop HELLFIRE, the series. Andrew originally trained as an actor under Stella Greenfield and has worked on many productions both as an actor and indeed a writer, producer and director. He fronted the last Midland Bank mortgage campaign, modelled in an extensive photographic series for XL Magazine and appeared in a myriad of commercials and corporate films. On the popular ALL NEW ALEXEI SAYLE show Andrew appeared as a character whose catchphrase was “I’m not happy!”. Andrew has also appeared on a number of chat shows alongside guests as varied as Eric Clapton and John Cleese, and in the flagship episode of THREE IN A BED as himself, which gained the accolade Sunday Times Critics Choice.
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Andrew has also contributed to Media Fairs at Oxford Brookes University and has recently judged a student film festival for Best Western at Anil Puri’s Grimsdyke House. Andrew owns a successful Guest House (The Lodge) in the middle of the Avebury Neolithic stone circle, which has appeared in several television series including most recently Tony Robinson’s WALKING THROUGH BRITAIN. Andrew continues to work freelance and has developed a number of productions under the i-media-tv ltd. umbrella. He lives in Flora’s Temple, which is located in the grounds of the Dashwood estate in West Wycombe.
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EP. 01 – THE “45”
DERBYSHIRE, 1745 – Winter has set in on an idyllic Stanton Moor. Young POLLY (10) joyfully dances around the snow-covered Neolithic “Nine Ladies” stone circle followed by her dog. Without a care in the world, she hops through the woods, back home to the ramshackle and yet cosy cottage where she lives with her mum. Chimney smoke attracts the attention of two shady mugs who are hiding nearby. Mother and daughter are baking cakes together; noticing that Polly stares at the beautiful brooch pinned to her chest, her mother unpins it and gives it to her. Their dog starts snarling angrily and then runs outside. Suddenly, his barking stops. Polly’s mum gets alarmed and hastily hides the girl inside a wooden chest. In burst the two men: as she lifts the top of the chest slightly, a distraught Polly sees her mum trying vainly to wiggle out of her rapists’ clutch. Beaten and bloodied, the woman lies on the stone floor; in agony, she casts one last desperate look at the chest while one of the mugs, rifling through the kitchen, draws out a pistol sword. Not far from the cottage travels a regal coach escorted by a small militia. They halt as soon as they hear two shots being fired. A man leans out of the coach: Sir Francis DASHWOOD (35). As the two mugs raid the other rooms in the cottage, Polly quietly crawls out of the chest; shocked by the sight of her dead mum, she inadvertently knocks over one of the cake tins. Jumping out of a window, Polly runs past her dead dog and through the woods away from the murderers who are giving chase. As she reaches the stone circle, they manage to grab her eventually just as a shot is fired into the air behind them. They turn to see Dashwood’s militia pointing a line of muskets at them. Distressed and speechless, Polly huddles in a corner of the travelling carriage. Dashwood’s convoy enter DERBY: the streets are all covered in mud and muck. As they slowly travel past the Jacobite army’s encampment, several soldiers cast stern looks at the two mugs who, hands tied, are dragged on foot by Dashwood’s militia. Bonnie Prince CHARLIE (25) storms out of his tent, arguing furiously with Lord Elcho, the commanding officer of his army. They stop as they see the convoy and are approached by Dashwood. As Polly tentatively steps out of the coach, Charlie mistakes her for a thieving urchin and slaps her. Dashwood explains what happened and hands over the two mugs, whom Charlie identifies as two deserters from his army. FLORA MacDonald (23) – one of Charlie’s most loyal highlanders – recognizes one of the murderers of Polly’s mum as her brother, and wants him hanged for treason. Charlie takes Dashwood to Exeter House because he does not trust his advisers anymore. The underlying feeling amongst Charlie’s officers is that they should have secured Scotland, not attempted a march on London. Furthermore, a campaign of briberies has fuelled desertion.
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At the camp, Flora tries to cheer up Polly, stroking her cheek tenderly. Polly cracks a tentative smile and gives Flora her mother’s brooch, which she has held on to all this time. Flora brings news of a £30,000 bounty on the prince’s head, dead or alive. Dashwood notices a white rose pinned to her hair. Dashwood pledges the Tories’ support if the army takes London where, he assures, panic is reigning: the King is ready to flee the country, and terrified PM Pelham and his brother Lord Newcastle (the Secretary of State since Walpole) are ready to switch allegiance the very minute Charlie enters the capital. Charlie orders one of his aides – Paul WENTWORTH – to London on a reconnaissance mission. As Dashwood’s coach is driven away, Polly sees the two deserters “drop” from an improvised scaffold. CLIVEDEN – Visibly annoyed, PRINCESS AUGUSTA (36) tells a disappointed Dashwood that neither her husband (Frederick, the Prince of Wales) nor their mutual friend John Montagu (i.e. the Earl of Sandwich) have returned home from their ‘duties’ in London yet. One other friend of theirs who is there is the Earl of BUTE, whose presence does not seem to surprise Dashwood at all. As it is vital that he meets them as soon as possible, Dashwood is forced to leave Polly at Cliveden House for the night. Polly is entertained by YOUNG GEORGE, Frederick’s son; scrutinized by the boy’s mum who is clearly horrified by the presence of such a ragged and muddied country little girl in her sumptuous palace – George shows a mesmerised Polly some of his toys, such as the ninepins and a bilbo catcher, of which she never saw the likes. LONDON – All the houses are being boarded up, preparing for the worst. Dashwood secretly meets Lord Newcastle to pass intelligence on the Stuarts’ army. Bonnie Prince Charlie is furious due to French funds that were supposed to secretly finance his so far successful expedition being continuously delayed. He assures Newcastle that Charlie will never be able to lay siege on London. Welcomed by one of the keepers (LUCY COOPER), Dashwood enters one of London’s most infamous brothels: Madam Sulphur’s Bagnio. He strides across dingy rooms full of prostitutes on display, certainly not surprised to see so many MPs and clergymen among the clients, evidently not at all worried by the imminent threat of a besieged London. Eventually, he spots his friends: PRINCE FREDERICK (38) and SANDWICH (27), who is spanking a young prostitute named FANNY (14)… Dashwood clearly knew he would find them there. As Sandwich raucously welcomes him in, Dashwood puts his index finger to his lips. Lord Newcastle hastily consults one of his secret informers… Wentworth! Can they trust Dashwood who they suspect to be a Jacobite sympathizer? True it is that a few years back he was enrolled as a spy and sent to Russia (while ‘officially’ on his Grand Tour of Europe) where he managed to seduce no less than Catherine the Great and return with invaluable intelligence. However, Dashwood is also friends with George’s estranged son, Frederick, who has been opposing the King’s government for years… Or is his just a ruse to double cross them for political gain?
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(FLASHBACK) ROME, 2 YEARS EARLIER – LADY WORTLEY Montagu (50) introduces Dashwood and his friend the Earl of Sandwich to the abbé Nicolini, a catholic Jacobite. A recent Papal Bull has banned freemasonry, considered to be an acolyte of perverted and depraved, whose secrecy can only conceal evildoing: Nicolini mockingly observes that the Bull confirms just how much several governments have come to fear freemasonry, now considered a threat to their security. Nicolini then formally inducts Dashwood and Sandwich into the English Lodge by awarding them the medal of Harpocrates, which portrays the Greek god of silence with a finger to his lips. Dashwood and Lady Wortley have a sexual affair – she has left her husband, a former ambassador to Turkey, and has her face disfigured by a skin disease. In bed they comment on the longest conclave ever (6 months) that just elected the new pope Benedict XIV. Along with other foreign ambassadors and noblemen, Dashwood and Sandwich pays their homage to the new Pope in the Vatican. While walking out of the papal apartments, they pass by the Sistine Chapel crowded with pious visitors lightly scourging themselves as a sign of penitence in the darkness of the chamber. Shortly afterwards, Dashwood comes back wearing a black cloak and handling a big horsewhip; barging into the Chapel he shouts “the Devil, the Devil!” while violently scourging the penitents, who flee in a panic, much to Sandwich’s amusement. Eventually, Nicolini introduces Dashwood and Sandwich to Prince Charlie. During a sumptuous ceremony, to the tune of ‘When the King Enjoys His Own Again’ (i.e. the Jacobite anthem) Nicolini proclaims that freemasonry descends from the crusading knights and the Stuarts are their legitimate champions: Charles is named Knight of the Red Feather, i.e. Superior of the Masonic Order of the Temple. In private, Dashwood reveals to Charlie secret intelligence from London: at odds with Spain, a dwindling British Parliament is no longer able to prevent a war. As a consequence, the British army (mostly consisting of Dutch and German mercenaries) will soon be sent to fight abroad, leaving the mother country virtually defenceless. Dashwood implies that – should Charlie invade Britain – the Prince of Wales’s party would support the Stuarts, with Charlie acting as Regent until the return of his father, the Old Pretender. (BACK TO PRESENT) – As they travel back, Dashwood tells Frederick that Bute was with his wife when he stopped at Cliveden. Frederick shrugs: they know all too well that he depends on Bute almost completely: after his father, King George II – who considers him a scandal for the royal family – denied him financial allowance and banished him from Court, Frederick was up to his neck in debts. Bute relieved them all and helped him set up his own court at Cliveden House; therefore, as far as he is concerned, as long as Augusta doesn’t nag him for frequenting Madam Sulphur’s brothel, Bute can keep fucking her as long as he wants.
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CLIVEDEN – The Prince of Wales’ set – namely, Dashwood, Sandwich and Bute – finally discuss the situation. During his meeting with Dashwood, Newcastle has agreed to promote Sandwich to Colonel; he will immediately join the Midlands regiment so he can make sure, on the field, that Charlie’s army does not face much opposition on his way to London. Meanwhile, Dashwood and Bute will expedite a secret but formal treaty between the Jacobite Tories and Charlie in order to hasten full French support (i.e. money and troops), if the rising is to succeed. Augusta barges in, interrupting: Polly won’t stop screaming. Polly finally speaks to Dashwood; she has an aunt somewhere in London who may take care of her. LONDON – After travelling through London’s ghostly and deserted streets, Dashwood’s convoy eventually reaches Craven Street, where Dashwood gives custody of Polly to her Aunt MARGARET. Before leaving, he smiles and throws them a bag full of gold coins. PHILADELPHIA – Benjamin FRANKLIN is initiated into the St John’s Lodge, thus becoming Grand Master of Pennsylvania. LONDON, A FEW DAYS LATER – Dashwood marries SARAH Ellys. As they exit the church, followed by their friends, they cross the street and enter their London house in Hanover Square… right opposite. At the Divan Club – Dashwood’s rather licentious gentlemen’s club at the George and Vulture Inn – Dashwood, Frederick and Bute are joined by Lady Wortley to toast to Dashwood’s marriage and to celebrate the supposedly imminent demise of King George II. They smoke hookahs and admire naked girls and courtesans parading in front of them: they then award an apple to the most beautiful. Also among them is Fanny. Sarah receives Princess Augusta’s visit: as they sip their tea, Sarah admits that, although she does not love Dashwood, she is just content with the status and the reputation that the new marriage will assure her. After all, in marriage a woman should seek respectability rather than a way to release “animal instincts”. LONDON – At the Divan Club, Dashwood’s friends make fun of him for having recently married as pious and chaste a woman as Sarah. Dashwood jokingly retorts that his very pious wife is also the widow of a very rich baronet; and he has great plans regarding the use of her huge wealth. The merriment is cut short by the abrupt arrival of Sandwich, who is bearing bad news… SCOTLAND – … After retreating back, Charlie’s army is heavily defeated at Culloden. Desertion is now rife, even among the Scottish clans. Bolstered British troops are sent to massacre what remains of the army and even the population, in retaliation for Scotland’s support to the Jacobites. Hundreds are arrested. Relentlessly chased by British troops, Charlie retreats in the Highlands helped by a haggard group of loyal highlanders, including Flora, Cluny MacPherson and Archibald Cameron. Disguised as a maid, he manages to reach the Isle of Skye.
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During an unlikely search for new recruits, Flora and Cameron are ambushed and arrested unceremoniously by a British platoon led by Wentworth. When Flora tries to wiggle out of the soldiers’ clutches, Wentworth stops her and slaps: then, noticing the brooch pinned to her chest, he tears it off unceremoniously, in spite of Flora’s protestation. LONDON, PARLIAMENT – The House emergency recess has been called off: the assembly is gathered to approve an extraordinary mandatory address of loyalty to George II. When Dashwood, who leads the opposition, objects that the address thwarts the liberty of subjects, Pelham and Newcastle brand him a Jacobite. Not only is this something Dashwood denies but he vehemently retorts that they have not supported his bill to reduce mercenary militia who are the ones to actually blame for the poor conduct of the British army against Charlie’s army. SCOTLAND – Charlie and his loyal aide Cluny McPherson hide for weeks in “the Cage” – an inaccessible cave in the Highlands. TOWER OF LONDON – Hundreds of Jacobite prisoners are jailed in the Tower. While many of them are loaded onto ships to be deported to the American colonies, many others are publicly executed. Among them, Flora awaits her destiny keeping her fierce composure, sporting the usual white rose pinned to her hair. In her cell, infested with mice and beetles, Flora receives an unexpected visit by Newcastle in person who teases her, by remarking how Charlie, who certainly knows she is kept in the Tower, will do nothing to get her out even after all she did for him. PHILADELPHIA – Franklin spends most of his time at the Junto (also known as the Leathern Apron Club): the Penn family’s apparent lack of interest in running the affairs of the colony, means that Franklin and his fellows quickly rise to positions of prominence. The secret society steers business in Pennsylvania and helps its members to climb the social ladder to power while blackmailing and dissuading others. LONDON – Headed to the Divan Club to plan their next moves, Dashwood, Sandwich, Frederick, and Bute hastily discuss whether, given Charlie’s defeat and the ruthless campaign of repression under way, the planned alliance between their group of Tories and the Jacobites had better be called off. When they arrive at the Club, they are taken by an unwelcome surprise: the George and Vulture Inn has been set ablaze. SCOTLAND – A privateer eventually moors not far from the “Cage”, carrying a much awaited cargo destined for Charlie. However, Charlie learns from the crew that after the defeat in Culloden the French have decided to withdraw their support; the ships unload 35,000 louis d’or supplied by Spain only. Charlie would like to use the money to fund another rising right away, but clearly his idea has no legs in the wake of the recent turn of events. They bury the coffers near Loch Arkaig. Cluny McPherson will stay in the nearby “Cage” to watch the gold; meanwhile, Charlie boards the frigate heading back to France. LONDON, CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Polly has now settled into her new life with Aunt Margaret, who caringly looks after her.
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DIVAN CLUB – As Dashwood and his friends watch what remains of the club engulfed in the flames, a ragged rascal approaches Frederick with a message for him: as Sandwich threatens to beat him, the boy swears he was just given thuppence by a stranger to give the envelope to the Prince of Wales in person. Frederick opens the envelope to find an unexpected greetings card signed by… Newcastle. A white rose corolla accompanies the card; as a puzzled Frederick picks it up, the petals fall on the floor. Dashwood remembers Flora’s rose and understands the meaning of Newcastle’s message.
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EP. 02 – RATTLESNAKES FOR FELONS AND A CRICKET BALL
WEST WYCOMBE – Works at the Dashwood estate are in full swing: the mansion is being redecorated by Thomas CHIPPENDALE (30), the garden and lake redesigned and caves are excavated in the hill. PARIS – Charlie puts Cardinal Tencin under pressure: the prelate owes his cardinalate to the intercession of the Stuarts, therefore Charlie expects him to lobby the king. He has been in Paris for more than two years now without ever receiving a response from King Louis regarding his plan to invade England at the head of a French army. To Charlie’s utter dismay, France signs instead a treaty that sanctions peace with England. LONDON – Dashwood and Sandwich are both members of the Royal African Company that earns them quite a lot of money through the commerce of slaves. Sandwich gives Fanny her own apartment, complete with a wardrobe full of dresses and a black servant. Meanwhile, Dashwood makes sure that enough money is delivered to Margaret and Polly on a regular basis. Still languishing in the Tower, Flora awaits her sentence: she is to be hanged in public. PHILADELPHIA – British cargoes keep deporting Jacobite prisoners and other convicts to the colonies. Soon the crime rate soars: robberies, housebreaking, rapes, stabbing. Any attempt by the Pennsylvania assembly to legislate for preventing or discouraging any further deportation is firmly countered by the Governor who retorts that such laws are “against the public utility, as they tend to prevent the improvement and well peopling of the Colonies”. Disgusted, Franklin sarcastically remarks that such a tender concern from the Mother Country calls aloud for the highest returns of gratitude and duty. He then sends out an article for publication in his Pennsylvania Gazette. LONDON – Franklin’s caustic article piques King George II and his government leaders (PM Pelham and Newcastle): since all commerce implies returns, Franklin argues, the colonies should send thousands of rattlesnakes to Britain in exchange for the ‘human serpents’ deported to the colonies (i.e. the convicts). Dashwood, on the other hand, is amused by Franklin’s sarcastic wit. Frederick and Bute ask Dashwood whether he knows “this” Franklin. (FLASHBACK) 15 YEARS EARLIER – In the Docklands, young Benjamin Franklin (21) disembarks the London Hope, which just sailed in from Philadelphia. A cloud of sea coal shrouds London. On a business mission on behalf of Governor Keith who promised him a loan to open a printing shop if he went to England to buy supplies, Franklin soon finds out that Keith has deceived him, as he has no credit to offer.
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Stranded in London, Franklin is soon sucked into a dissolute life of drinking and frequenting low women; he also has a mistress, a much older catholic widow who lodges him in her squalid quarter. One night, when walking out of a tavern drunk, Franklin bumps into two members of the patriotic Society of Beefsteak; on hearing his American accent, they start beating him savagely. Luckily, Dashwood (aged 20) and his friend the Duke of WHARTON are passing by and intervene, thus fighting off the thugs and saving poor Benjamin. A young link-boy offers to light the otherwise pitch dark street as they accompany him home. Dashwood introduces Franklin to the licentious pleasures of Wharton’s Hellfire Club, attended also by masked ladies of the aristocracy among who is a younger Lady Wortley (35). The underground popularity of the club is spread by articles published in Applebee’s Journal, a copy of which falls in PR Robert Walpole’s hands. Dashwood and Franklin soon become good friends; the young American’s wry irony drives it home with Wharton and Dashwood when he admits he does not understand how the British can stand a king who is German, speaks German and mostly lives in Germany. Through Wharton’s intercession, Franklin gets a job at Denham’s, a printer, and as a writer for pamphlets. At just 23, Wharton is already the leader of the Opposition Whigs against the growing power of Walpole in Parliament. On one occasion though, the two are in agreement: Walpole opposes the bill that would allow the South Sea Company to take on (and thus wipe out) the entire national debt and launch an unprecedented speculative scheme on the stock market. He argues that the scheme promises stellar dividends that could never be paid: moreover, if successful, the plan would make the South Sea Company’s directors the masters of the government and, de facto, dictators; if it fails, it would bankrupt the country. Wharton adds that the scheme is essentially evil, as it is designed to enrich the few and impoverish the many. Despite this, the Parliament rushes the approval of the bill and an unstoppable speculative frenzy takes over the whole country. Eventually, the South Sea “bubble” explodes, resulting in hundreds of estates being mortgaged to cover losses and the country nearing bankrupt. A huge riot in Haymarket raises fear of further unrest. Walpole needs a scapegoat to divert the people’s attention from the stock market crash: he finds it in Wharton’s club. A Royal Proclamation is followed by a Parliament Bill against Blasphemy that blames the current state of the country on moral decadence and corruption. Disgusted by the whole bubble affair, Franklin publishes an anonymous article in a clandestine pamphlet: in it he denounces the excesses and abuses of power of arbitrary government. Impressed by the pamphlet and by his flirting with the Jacobite cause, Wharton and Dashwood induct Franklin into the Lodge and entrust him and Denham to return to Pennsylvania with a huge, secret task. The Penn family owns the colony by means of a grant dating back to the Stuart dynasty: the message relayed by Franklin contains a plan of union of the American colonies drafted by the exiled James III (the Old Pretender). Once
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44 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY united, the colonies should ally with the Jacobites and rebel against the Crown to eventually reinstate the Stuarts on the throne. Franklin and Denham sail off to Philadelphia. (BACK TO PRESENT) PHILADELPHIA – At the peak of his career, Franklin retires from business; thanks to his profits from various sources, he is now the richest and most influential man of Pennsylvania. When he decides to buy three slaves from the Royal African Company, he is given two more (King and George) as a gift from Dashwood. CLIVEDEN – While enjoying a game of cricket, Frederick’s set decide that – now that Charlie is definitely out of the game – it is time to openly challenge the king’s Whig party at the upcoming elections. Dashwood acts as intermediary for an alliance between the Tories and the independents who support the Prince of Wales. LONDON – In fierce parliamentarian battles, Dashwood argues that the role of Parliament is to limit the power of the court (e.g. by abolishing the placemen, i.e. officers of the crown who hold seats in the Commons) and government, in the name of freedom within the law. Instead, he insists on advocating pledges between MPs and the electorate – which would also help cut corruption at the source. A proposed new tax on gin inspires riots across the whole of London, violently repressed by Lord Newcastle. Frederick, who opposes his father’s government as usual, publicly condemns the bill. To countervail increasing unpopularity, PM Pelham withdraws the bill before the Parliament votes it but, in retaliation, he dismisses all the politicians who opposed it in the first place. CLIVEDEN – Dashwood’s proposed bills for public works are passed in the Commons: road works to link Cliveden to West Wycombe are started and create jobs in a time of widespread unemployment. These achievements hugely accrue Dashwood’s popularity among the common people and win Frederick’s coalition another up-and-coming ally, i.e. the independent liberal JOHN WILKES. OXFORD – Dashwood’s political influence is formally acknowledged by institutions as well, as he is made an honorary Doctor in Civil Law by Oxford University in a lavish ceremony hosted by Professor Thomas Potter. CLIVEDEN – Mostly thanks to Dashwood’s popularity, Frederick’s electoral success seems assured. In return, Dashwood is promised the role of Treasurer of the Navy. LONDON – At the Tower an enthusiastic crowd look on as Lord Lovat is taken to the block where the executioner is waiting for him. Aside, his hands tied and watched by two guards, stands Cameron who is next. As Lovat set his head on the block, his death sentence is read aloud: hearing that he openly sided with the Jacobites during the Rebellion the crowd becomes agitated, boos and starts throwing all sorts of rotten vegetables while Lovat laughs uproariously. Suddenly,
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45 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY a bank of scaffolding collapses, killing several people and causing panic. In the ensuing chaos, Cameron manages to escape his guards’ clutches and flees. Unexpectedly, Dashwood is summoned by Newcastle: worried by the consequences of a dreaded scandal regarding the widespread corruption among government officers and MPs, Newcastle tries to bribe Dashwood into a government role. When Dashwood declines with a smirk, Newcastle beseeches him to name anything in exchange: without hesitation, Dashwood replies he wants to personally draft the names of those to be included in the announced Indemnity Act meant to release several Jacobite supporters who were charged with minor offences. At the Tower, when she expects to be taken to the gallows, Flora is instead released on parole and entrusted to a gaoler: Chippendale. She puts up at his modest house near Covent Garden. Newcastle instructs Wentworth to “take care” of both Flora and Cameron once and for all. PHILADELPHIA – The Pennsylvania Assembly is dominated by a vast Quaker majority. Being pacifist, they reject the formation of an army to counter the more and more frequent assaults by the French and the Indians. Franklin then proposes a voluntary militia. LONDON – To his and his acolytes’ dismay, Frederick loses the elections. The king’s Whig party is confirmed in power, with Pelham still at the helm. This is a huge political setback for Dashwood. In Parliament, amongst general bewilderment, Dashwood claims he has evidence (Wilkes) that the Whigs rigged the elections. Denouncing bribery and favours, Dashwood threatens to start a campaign to expose all the corrupted MPs publicly, much to Pelham’s and Newcastle’s terror. PARIS - Resentful and suspicious, Charlie feels abandoned by everyone. The only person who remains loyal to him is his young wife CLEMENTINA who has just given birth to their daughter Charlotte. However, Charlie neglects them and takes to the bottle, becoming extremely abusive. CLIVEDEN – During a game of cricket, Frederick is hit hard on the head by a ball. As the blow causes a painful abscess, in the following days the prince’s conditions worsen considerably and he is confined to bed with high fever. When he starts coughing uncontrollably, the doctors attempt to bleed him as a last resort, but eventually the abscess bursts and Frederick dies. While Augusta tenderly dabs the sweat from his dead husband’s face, Dashwood and Bute notice a cat in the house dying painfully after lapping broth from the bowl that Frederick was fed from. At court, King George II and the queen celebrate the news of their son’s death: “May the monster rot in the deepest hole in hell!” Dashwood and Sarah pay their respects to widowed Augusta and her eight children. On their way back to Wycombe on their coach, Dashwood ponders whether this marks the end of his political aspirations once and for all.
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EP. 03 – MONK BUSINESS
DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – At sunset, several men walk down the steps of a temple-shaped building and in to the lush gardens: among them are Dashwood, Sandwich and Bute, all dressed like monks, the words “love and friendship” embroidered on their caps. Last to exit the temple are two black men in livery who carry a wooden chest displaying a stylized vagina engraved on the lid. LONDON – Dozens of nuns are loaded onto two regal barges moored on the Thames embankment. Back at the estate, the procession of monks slowly paces down the green slopes following a path lined with granite tombstones on both sides, until they reach the ruined abbey on the riverside. Awaiting there are another monk (Potter) and Wilkes, in a white sackcloth. As the procession halts, the chest is carried inside the abbey where it is welcomed by a dozen votaresses in a huge dining hall – among them Fanny and Mary Walcot (Dashwood’s half-sister) can be recognized. Wearing a black mask, the Mother Superior points to a majestic door at the other end of the room, through which the two men and the chest disappear. The two barges full of nuns silently drift up the River Thames. On the riverside near the abbey, Dashwood approaches Wilkes and points to the river. Wilkes complies and takes a few steps into the shallow water to bathe himself. As soon as Wilkes wades ashore all dripping wet, Dashwood leads the whole procession into the abbey. As they arrive in the entrance hall they halt in front of a statue portraying Harpocrates – the Greek god of silence, with a finger to his lips – where the masked Mother Superior and Mary have been waiting. As darkness falls, the two barges dock right near the abbey, now illuminated by countless glistening torches. Overhead, the Milky Way gleams, surrounding a sliver of silver moon. Potter invites the nuns to disembark as a huge audience of local villagers enjoy the spectacle from the other side of the river. Addressing Wilkes, Dashwood talks him through a vow of secrecy, warning solemnly that the penalty for divulging details of anything that is going to happen in the abbey will be death. Wilkes recites a formula and is presented with a monk habit. Happy with the vow, Dashwood’s so far austere display turns into a broad grin as he loudly announces “Hither the victims!” Mother Superior and Mary walk out to show the newly-arrived nuns inside the abbey. As the rest of the assembly spreads out along the hall walls, the nuns are arranged in two standing circles in the centre. At a clap of hands by Mother Superior, four drummers begin banging an obsessive, hypnotic rhythm, and the two circles of nuns perform ring-a-ring-o’rosies. As they do so, several votaresses who are holding vessels take position outside the rings and start pouring potions into their mouths, which the nuns drink eagerly. As they twirl faster and faster to the tempo, clearly under the influence of the drugged drink, some nuns lose their balance and stumble, falling on the floor; others embrace and start kissing in trios. Meanwhile, the votaresses keep pouring liquid from the vessels all over
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48 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY them. The hall is immersed in total frenzy when an enormous gong is struck, its deafening, thunderous noise reverberating in the abbey and bringing everything to a sudden halt. Dashwood appears on a balcony above the dining hall: silence falls, all eyes on him. After reciting a few verses in Latin, he calls for the “sacred objects” to be brought forward. The big door at the end of the hall opens – above it, the frescoed words “Do what thou wilt”. The two black men emerge carrying the chest. Mother Superior approaches them and orders to lift the lid: she takes out a pewter platter (a replica of an ancient phial with a penis engraved in the centre) and hands it over to Wilkes. Dashwood orders the “initiated” to leave the hall: eleven monks (including Wilkes, Sandwich and Bute) walk out of the big door. At Dashwood’s signal, Mother Superior takes out two more “sacred objects” from the chest: a big egg and a big phallus. From nun to nun, the “sacred objects” are ritually handed around until they return back to Mother Superior. As she raises them high above her head, the gong is struck again and Dashwood disappears from the balcony. Visibly woozy, all the nuns head for the big door. Along a corridor covered in pornographic frescoes and stained-glass windows, are lined several cell-like door-less niches, furnished with small beds, sofas and sex chairs. In each one, monks and nuns are having sex: two monks with one nun; one monk with two or three nuns. After a while, Fanny, Mary and the other votaresses join too. PARIS – Charlie participates in the Parisian mundane life by attending the Opéra with one of his lovers, Mme Talmond. Visibly drunk, he makes a scene in public, unbeknownst that the French government is keeping tabs on him as the CHEVALIER D’EON watches his every move. PHILADELPHIA – Franklin’s militia’s success in countering the assaults by the French and the Indians makes him a hero among the population but even more disliked by the Penn family, with whom he is now clearly at odds. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – In the big dining hall, the monks and votaresses are now banqueting in a relaxed atmosphere: aphrodisiac foods, wine and a small orchestra playing. Dashwood announces that feasting will continue for nine days, after the Ancient Greek Eleusinian Mysteries ritual. Still half-naked, most nuns lie at the monks’ feet, teasing them and engaging in fellatios. Sandwich and Fanny exchange food in their mouths. Meanwhile, Wilkes reads out obscene verses from a pornographic novel he has written, to everybody’s amusement. Dashwood is intrigued by a very young nun, MARTHA (17). PARIS – When walking out of the Opéra with Mme Talmond, Charlie is approached by several policemen. As he opposes fierce and noisy resistance, they proceed to a spectacular arrest by grabbing him by his arms and legs in front of an astonished crowd, among who is the Chevalier d’Eon. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Some monks and nuns are still banqueting and having sex in the hall and cells. When Martha confesses that she likes to sing, Dashwood convinces her to perform: everybody is blown away by her voice.
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Dashwood leads the other monks to the cellars where he keeps a detailed log of every bottle of wine they take away. When Sandwich feels sick, Dashwood suggests he goes to the “Temple of ease” (i.e. the outhouse in the gardens). PARIS – D’Eon and the Head of the Parisian police visit Charlie in his cell. Letting alone the fact that he is in huge debts with half of Paris, the Bonnie Prince has become a troublesome political inconvenience: therefore they will let him go on condition that he leaves France immediately never to return again. CHIPPENDALE’S LODGE, COVENT GARDEN – While she is alone with Chippendale’s housemaid, a stranger breaks into the house attempting to kidnap Flora. Flora reacts promptly, snatching the pistol from her aggressor and shooting him in the knee. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Noticing Mother Superior on her own, Dashwood approaches her: when they withdraw to a quiet room, she tells him she is very ill and will die soon. Dashwood walks near her and gently takes off her mask, revealing Lady Wortley’s face, horribly defiled by the disease, a tear streaming down her made-up cheek. Dashwood wants to send for Dr Bates but Lady Wortley insists it is to no use. With a tender smile, Dashwood lovingly wipes her cheeks and assures jokingly that, if he weren’t so wasted, he would seduce her right now, to which Lady Wortley replies with irony: “Courtship is play to you, but it is death to us”. They are interrupted by sudden ruckus. They follow several other nuns and monks outside to an area of the garden lined with tombstones; one has been overturned, the ground dug up, the remains of a corpse visible. On the grass, Sandwich is punching another monk (Potter) while hurling all sorts of abuses at him. Dodington eventually intervenes to break them up. Asked for an explanation, Sandwich retorts that Potter was having sex with the cadaver and should be expelled – Bute agrees. Among general sneering and expressions of disgust, Dashwood reminds Sandwich and everybody that the motto of the Friars is “do what thou wilt”; therefore Potter’s expulsion from the club would be unwarranted. PHILADELPHIA – It is the Grand Anniversary of the Lodge, organized by Franklin. His son William is in attendance too. He is celebrated for his appointment as Postmaster General for North America. Thanks to his influence, he introduces night watchmen and street lighting to improve safety in a town more and more troubled by all kind of felony and larceny. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – The twelve Friars of the inner circle gather in the chapter room of the abbey. Most of them are opposition MPs (being summer, the Parliament is now in recess): they all swear a secret pact to develop a common political strategy with the aim of destroying the ever ruling Whigs. CLIVEDEN – Princess Augusta is glad to have a dear friend such as Sarah; she assures her that, should the time come, she will be her lady-in-waiting. Sarah thanks Augusta for letting her stay at Cliveden all this time; she could not stand all the works still ongoing at their estate in West Wycombe as it is not good for her health. Right then she has a violent coughing fit.
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PHILADELPHIA – As the celebrations continue, Franklin and a few other freemasons discuss a big land speculation project that requires the establishment of new colonies in the region comprised between the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes. Since this region stretches beyond the current boundaries of the colonies, they need a plan to obtain no less than the King’s assent. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – The feasting now over, monks and votaresses are lined in the hall for one last ritual: one by one the nuns approach Dashwood who shucks a few seeds from a pomegranate and gently slides them into their mouth. Like several Persephone’s from the Greek myth, the nuns will now be released but the pomegranate seeds symbolize they will be forced to return to the abbey on every new such occasion. The twelve Friars of the “inner circle” take turns in masturbating and collecting their seed in the phiale. PHILADELPHIA – Franklin and his young lover’s amorous foreplay is unexpectedly interrupted by a crisis situation. Alarmed by the French incursions along the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, a conference of the colony representatives has been called to urge the Iroquois Six Nations to join the British in the inevitable war against the French and their American Indian allies. It is the right time for Franklin to propose the long-awaited plan of union of the colonies. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – After dismissing all friars, votaresses and nuns, Dashwood empties the phiale, by pouring the Friars’ “seed” as a libation offer to Harpocrates’ statue. PHILADELPHIA – Summoned by the Governor of Pennsylvania, Franklin is told that the British Board of Trade has rejected his plan of union, fearing it may lead to independence. The British authorities put forward their own plan, according to which the colonies must fight united for King and Country, but will not have parliamentary representation, nor will they be able to tax the proprietors (the Penn family). The offer meets Franklin’s defiant refusal. Franklin’s report of his meeting with the Governor prompts the Pennsylvania Assembly to appoint Franklin as agent charged with petitioning the King directly. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Accompanied by Chippendale, Dashwood pays visit to Margaret and Polly (now 15). Dashwood has bought the whole building for them and instructs Chippendale to refurbish it – including the addition of a fully fitted bathroom (which most dwellings do not have) – as quickly as possible; a very distinguished guest from the Colonies will be arriving soon and will stay there for a while. When Dashwood asks Polly what she wishes as a present for her upcoming birthday, she replies she would like books. CHIPPENDALE’S LODGE, COVENT GARDEN – Dashwood and Chippendale return to the latter’s lodge. The housemaid reports about the aggression and Flora’s reaction; they have dressed the thug’s leg and locked him up in the coal room for the last few days on rancid bread and water. Chippendale and Dashwood check on him; he has lost a lot of blood and his wound looks pretty bad. Turning the screw even more on him, Dashwood extorts information from the man: he was sent by Newcastle. Dashwood wonders why: there must be a very good reason for them to want to catch Flora again, and through such
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51 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY unorthodox means. Dashwood insists: does the thug know who he is? No. Can he read and write? No. Dashwood instructs Chippendale to call Dr Bates and take care of the stranger; and also to keep an eye on Flora to find out anything he can. As Dashwood takes his leave, Chippendale picks a handsaw and approaches the bloody stranger. FRANCE, COUNTRY MANOR – Despite the ban, Charlie is still in France. Archibald Cameron finally reaches his secluded hideout. Glad to have one of his most trusted men back with him, Charlie instructs Cameron to wait a few months, and then go back to London in order to contact Flora and the other Jacobites who are still there. It is vital they go back to Scotland, authorize Cluny to leave his hiding in the “Cage”, locate the buried treasure and reach him with it. CLIVEDEN – Eventually back with his acolytes – Bute, Sandwich, Wilkes – Dashwood comments on the recent news from across the Mediterranean (France has just invaded the British-held island of Minorca) and the Atlantic: winds of war are blowing across the Colonies and a war against France now seems inevitable. Moreover, he has it on good authority that Bute has been formally nominated tutor of young Prince George (i.e. Frederick and Augusta’s son) as well as Lord of the Bedchamber; which means they are back in the game: because young George is still a minor, should “anything” happen to aging King George II, according to the Regency Act, Princess Augusta would access the throne. Bute being her lover means that through her they could control the government: therefore, he will better focus more and more on his role as young Prince George’s tutor. While travelling in their coach, Sarah feels ill again. She coughs up blood and starts gagging. Alarmed, Dashwood orders the coachman to hurry and sends one of his men for Dr Bates. PHILADELPHIA – Franklin prepares to sail off to Britain with his son William and his two black slaves, King and George. Fearing the journey, his wife Deborah decides to stay in Philadelphia. Franklin tells her not to worry, that he will surely be back in a few months’ time. While they show affection to each other, they hardly look like a happy couple. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – As Chippendale’s team are busy refurbishing, Polly receives her gift from Dashwood: dozens of books and shelves that two labourers build into her own personal small house library. NEWCASTLE’S OFFICE – PM Newcastle and Wentworth are confabulating when to their utter surprise a man plods into the room on crutches: Flora’s aggressor. His leg has been amputated and his tongue cut and cauterized. CLIVEDEN – Under Augusta’s supervision, Bute tutors Young George. WYCOMBE – Dr Bates visits aguish Sarah in her bed while Dashwood looks on. WAPPING (London Docklands) – Franklin and his son William disembark while the two black slaves help the dock labourers with chests and luggage. As Franklin is welcomed by Chippendale, one of the slaves (George) runs away tipping two labourers into the river in the process.
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04 – THE BILBO CATCHER
DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – In the Abbey of the Hellfire Club, the monks attend what looks like a black mass staged by Potter who, after chanting a litany to Satan, grabs a diamond-studded dagger, cuts his forearm, drips his own blood into a golden chalice and offers it to his friends to drink from it: a toast to Bute who has just married Lady Wortley’s daughter. While Sandwich seems to quite enjoy the rite, Bute is disgusted and Wilkes stands aside, sneering. Later, only a few monks remain in the Abbey, enjoying the company of their nuns/prostitutes. Potter has left, so has Wilkes. Sandwich makes fun of Bute for not wanting to drink Potter’s blood. However, the two agree on their dislike of Wilkes: they regard him with distrust because he has no title, no money of his own (just his wife’s) and because he’s an extreme radical. Dashwood retorts that he is also an atheist and utterly immoral, reasons enough to like him. He is also sure that Wilkes will be useful to their objectives sooner or later. Before leaving for London, Dashwood stops at the mausoleum on the other side of his estate and lays a white rose on a tomb with Lady Wortley’s bust on it. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Franklin, his son William and their loyal slave King are welcomed by Margaret and Polly, although Margaret is clearly uncomfortable with having a ‘black’ man staying in her house. Franklin’s wit eventually lessens the awkwardness of the situation; Margaret and Polly are literally in awe of their distinguished guest who is soon to meet no less than the actual king in person. Margaret takes her leave as she is getting late for an appointment. As they settle on the first floor Franklin entertains Polly who surprises him with her clever questions. Polly definitely likes being at the centre of this man’s attention. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – Margaret has joined Dashwood who is discussing with the impresario, recommending Martha as lead singer in a new stage production with Margaret to work as dress maker for all the singers involved. FRANCE, COUNTRY MANOR – Clementina narrowly escapes the fury of drunk Charlie. She grabs young Charlotte, jumps into their carriage, whips the horse and rushes away. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Margaret makes a cup of tea for Franklin who is writing notes in his diaries. The two engage in amiable conversation in a somewhat flirtatious way. William has taken lodge at the Law School College. Franklin confides he is looking to make some significant financial investments: Margaret tells him that Dashwood is surely the right person to talk to. LONDON HOUSE – Dashwood shows Martha around a magnificent palatial house complete with servants. From now she can live there: Margaret will be her personal dress maker. Martha is on cloud nine for all this. Excited, they rush to the bedroom, undress and have passionate sex. PARIS – Charlie barges into a cloistered nunnery, causing panic among the nuns, as he strides along the corridors banging on all cell doors. Eventually, through a small door hole he sees Clementina and Charlotte hiding in one of the
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54 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY cells, all shaken up. Two older nuns try to stop him in vain until a male voice is heard, peremptorily ordering “His Highness” to stop… It’s d’Eon. In a quiet corner of the cloister, d’Eon tells Charlie to make no mistake: he had agreed on not revealing the prince’s whereabouts to his superiors (although Charlie had been officially banished from the country) on condition that he did not show up in public anymore and, most importantly, in exchange of substantial bribes. Instead, Charlie has stopped giving him money for months and now… this! D’Eon offers him a new deal: he will not turn him in to the Gendarmerie provided he helps the French government in planning an invasion of Britain (and that he keeps paying d’Eon for his silence). Charlie does not answer. COVENT GARDEN – Flora asks permission to go for a short walk. In a narrow lane nearby the house, she is met by Cameron. Making sure nobody can see them, they confab for quite some time. Unbeknownst to them, Chippendale is eavesdropping from behind a corner. PUB – Potter and Wilkes celebrate. Potter has managed to “buy” Wilkes just enough votes to be elected MP in the Aylesbury constituency. ROYAL SOCIETY – In a formal ceremony attended by dozens of the best minds in Britain, Franklin is awarded an honour degree for his experiment that demonstrates the electrical nature of lightning using a kite. Franklin, amiable as usual, donates the framed kite to the Society and jokes they can invite him any time they want since he lives literally next door in the Strand. In the crowd, Dashwood applauds his old American friend as the President announces that Franklin has been invited to Scotland by philosopher Henry Home. For now, Dashwood invites him to attend an extraordinary parliamentary session about the war against France that is now enraging. PARLIAMENT – Eerybody cheers at the news of more than 20 French ships sunk, captured or forced aground thus foiling a planned invasion of Britain. PM Newcastle cries that “not a shot should be fired in the world without the British government knowing why”. This is why Admiral Byng is to be held responsible for ‘failing to do his utmost’ thus losing Minorca to the French and should therefore be court-martialled. Among general consensus, a dissenting voice surprises most, even an amused Franklin in the audience stalls: Dashwood defends Byng blaming the Admiralty for the poor manning of the fleet and accusing Newcastle himself to seek to protect himself from public anger over the defeat. In a private meeting, Newcastle refers to old King George II that because of Dashwood’s intervention most MPs are now “inclined for mercy”. Furiously, the King rejects the request of clemency for Byng responding that ‘You of all people have taught me to look for the sense of my people elsewhere than in the House of Commons’. DOCKLANDS TAVERN – Chippendale and Dashwood find Cameron intent on guzzling a few tankards of ale. When they tell him they know he met Charlie, Cameron sober up instantaneously, visibly worried. They reassure him they are still on his side, he can trust them. However, he is not safe on his own in London as he still is a wanted man who escaped the gallows. Dashwood tells him he can
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55 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY protect him but he will have to stay put until told otherwise and, above all, he must tell him how to find Charlie. He has a choice: die a loyal highlander or spill the beans and live. Cameron eventually caves. Dashwood instructs Chippendale to take Cameron at Madam Sulphur and hide him there. Meanwhile, Dashwood will be gone for a few weeks. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – The ground floor of the house is filling up with Margaret’s dummies as she is more and more busy sewing dresses for the opera singers. As he walks out the house, Franklin pays her compliments for her skill. A disappointed Franklin learns from the Clerk that the Privy Council have postponed his meeting to discuss colony matters to a future date to be determined. They provide no explanation for such a decision. ST. JAMES’ PALACE – George II receives Augusta and George II, accompanied by Bute. The King wishes his grandson and heir to move in there with him. Taken aback by the unexpected request, Augusta and Bute politely oppose the decision. PARIS – Dashwood finds d’Eon in a squalid shanty while he is having sex with a male prostitute. Dashwood quickly dismisses the boy and waits for d’Eon to wear some clothes. The two know each other. Dashwood cuts to the chase and blackmails the French: either he tells him right away where he can find Charlie or the Parisian Court will soon know about the time they were both in Russia during their Grand Tour as young spies for their countries, and d’Eon sold French state secrets posing as a female courtesan in order to get into to Princess Catherine’s favourite Grigori’s bed. FRANCE, COUNTRY MANOR – Thanks to the information revealed by d’Eon, Dashwood finally reaches Charlie’s secluded residence. Although initially shocked to see him there, Charlie calms down and listens attentively to the reason Dashwood bothered to travel all the way to France in order to see him: Dashwood has a plan for Charlie to finally ascend to the British throne… CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – While Margaret is busy working, Polly and Franklin enjoy some time together. Polly begs him to teach her to play chess. He agrees on one condition: once she learns, they will play once a week; whoever wins will give the other a learning task to accomplish or a riddle to solve. CARPENTER’S CHOCOLATE-AND-COFFEE SHOP – A few days later. Dashwood has returned to London. While wholeheartedly enjoying a delicious curry, Franklin tells Dashwood about his big projects for land speculation: at the English Lodge he has already attracted several fellow freemasons to join the partnership but they need a huge sum of money for their initial investment and insiders that can help them with the political establishment. Dashwood seems eager to help; to begin with, Franklin should accept Henry Home’s invitation and visit Scotland as soon as possible. A little puzzled as to how this could be, Franklin is nonetheless glad that Dashwood will arrange all the necessary for it. CHIPPENDALE’S LODGE, COVENT GARDEN – Chippendale informs Flora that thanks to Dashwood’s connections, her parole time is now over and she will soon be free to return (escorted) to Scotland and rejoin her clan in the Isle of Skye.
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WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – To Wentworth’s surprise, Dashwood leisurely walks into his room. Trying to show that he knows about it, Wentworth asks Dashwood if he enjoyed his “short holiday in Paris”. Unfazed, Dashwood replies that he is there to prove once and for all that he is not a Jacobite and he is instead loyal to the king: he knows where they can find Archibald Cameron. MADAM SULPHUR’S– Chippendale tells Cameron it is now safe for him to leave the brothel. They have arranged for him to meet a fellow Jacobite at Blackfriars Bridge. BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE – At night time, Cameron is met by Wentworth under the huge scaffolding of the bridge under construction. He clearly still believes that Wentworth is a genuine Jacobite. Before he can say anything, Wentworth ironically recalls the last time his head narrowly escaped the block. This time it won’t happen. As Cameron laughs at what he thinks to be a joke, Wentworth calls for his guards who rush in and arrest a bewildered Cameron. He has a choice: die a loyal highlander or spill the beans and live. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Margaret brings a cup of tea to Franklin who is immersed in his bath tub. She admits she is a little sad that he is going to leave tomorrow for Scotland. In saying so, she caresses his naked skin tenderly. Unbeknownst to them, Polly sees them through a door left slightly ajar. CLIVEDEN – Meanwhile, Bute is in bed with Princess Augusta who is still upset by the king’s plans regarding her son. While Bute feels her up, she imagines their future together: young George will eventually succeed his grandfather, but Bute will always be “her king”. They make love unbeknownst that George is peeking from behind a door left slightly ajar. Chippendale introduces Flora to Franklin. As she climbs into Franklin’s new coach, King whips the two horses. Off they go, headed to Scotland. As they wave them goodbye, Margaret and Polly are approached by Dashwood on his coach. They are both expected at Cliveden; Dashwood will take them there. CLIVEDEN – Augusta intends to appear in public in London more often from now on, therefore she wants Margaret to sew the most beautiful dress, no expense spared. She instructs Margaret to follow one of her maids to her personal wardrobe; she will provide her with the most exquisite fabrics and French fashion designs. As Margaret and the maid take their leave, Augusta leads a bemused Dashwood to a spacious drawing room where Bute, Sandwich and few others have been waiting. Meanwhile, Polly and Young George get to spend some time together alone, wandering around the huge palace. He takes her to his old playroom: as he has not used for a long time, it is now all cobwebby. When Polly sees the bilbo catcher they played with as kids, they reminisce about the time when they first met a few years ago. NEWCASTLE’S OFFICE – Newcastle urges Wentworth to forget about Prince Charlie for the time being. The top priority is now the interception of diplomatic correspondence that can reveal French naval and military strategy. While compliant, Wentworth observes that more resources should be made available to
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57 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY set up a properly structured intelligence service. In any case, he points out, they have already taken care of Charlie for now. PARIS – Charlie receives an anonymous parcel. CLIVEDEN – Augusta reports about her recent encounter with the king. She fears George II is planning to take her son away from her and, somehow, to exclude her from the Regency. She urges Bute and his friends to ally with Pitt (the Paymaster General) and bribe as many MPs as necessary to form a strong opposition party to support her. Young George confesses to Polly that he feels so alone; his whole life has already been planned by the adults that surround him. Polly gently caresses him on the cheek and gives him a soft kiss. Franklin’s coach barrels up and down green hills. Franklin’s personality is such that he manages to make Flora hint a smile. CLIVEDEN – Dashwood explains to Bute, Augusta, Sandwich and everybody that the proposed alliance with other MPs may not be necessary after all. He announces that, thanks to their old friend Charlie, they finally have a feasible plan to… kill George II. PARIS – Charlie opens the mysterious parcel: inside he finds… Cameron’s head! In the end, he died a loyal highlander…
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05 – CLOSE STOOL
DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (HOUSE) – Despite her vibrant protests, Princess Augusta won’t be let in by the house servants. Dr Bates intervenes, explaining that Sarah is currently ill – nothing serious, of course – and needs rest. Augusta demands peremptorily to be received by Dashwood but is told he is not in the house. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – In the secret chamber, Dashwood illustrates the details of his plan to his acolytes, except for Potter and Wilkes who are not in attendance. Even though only Charlie knows the exact hiding location, he can use the gold he was given for the uprising of the ‘45 to buy enough deserters and mercenary troops now that the war against France has left London virtually undefended. This will convince Jacobite highlanders and MPs to join Charlie’s faction. FRANCE – Meanwhile, Charlie strikes a deal with d’Eon. The Frenchman is to ask to be officially reassigned to London. From there he will recruit deserters and mercenaries thanks to Charlie’s diplomatic ties and contacts in the army. After the coup, Charlie promises d’Eon an important political role and to fill his pockets with gold. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY – cont’ed) – Dashwood goes on revealing that once Charlie has eliminated George II and his family, they will have him arrested and enthrone young George as the new king: this way they will be the saviours of the Crown and will have the whole country’s support. However, they are not to say a word about the plan to either Wilkes (who is anti-Jacobite) or Potter, who is completely unreliable. LONDON, COURTS – A jury trial is debating the case of Wilkes and his wife; the prosecutor accuses Wilkes of marrying the woman only for her vast riches and then trying to leave her destitute. A violent altercation ensues; the judge rules the couple will stay married. POTTER’S HOME – When his wife reproaches him for squandering all her money, Potter drunkenly starts beating her harder and harder until… she lies on the floor, dead. EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY – Franklin receives a regal welcome by the scholarly community. Hume bestows on him the highest honours on behalf of the city and of the Philosophical Society. He also announces that the University of Saint Andrews will award Franklin an honorary degree. EDINBURGH, HUME’S HOUSE – Franklin makes preparations to go to Saint Andrews. He entrusts Flora to William and to his slave King to take her to her final destination: the Isle of Skye. LONDON FOUNDLING HOSPITAL – As a nurse takes away a newborn baby all bundled up, Fanny thanks Dashwood for helping her to “get rid of this nuisance”. Dashwood – who is founder and director of the hospital – asks her why she didn’t just ask Dr Bates to have an abortion at the club. In fact she did, but by the time
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60 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY she realized she was pregnant, Bates told her it was too late for that as it would be risky for her. The minute Fanny told Sandwich, he dumped her for another “nun” called Nancy. MISS SULPHUR’S – Sandwich and his new lover Nancy are enjoying all kinds of sexual games in the company of a bunch of young prostitutes. As one of them nestles her head in his lap to give him a blowjob, Sandwich screams in pain. Sandwich curses the young girl and complains about her with Lucy Cooper who simply shrugs. Nancy points a red spot on the skin of Sandwich’s penis: he pushes her away angrily and drinks up his wine. CLIVEDEN – Fabrics and sprockets are scattered all over sofas and tables. Margaret is helping Augusta to try on a corset that is visibly smaller than her size; Augusta insists that she must make her rather chubby shape look slimmer. They are interrupted by Bute and Dashwood who barge in unannounced. Two male valets hurry along corridors opening door after door, checking in every room, followed by Bute and Dashwood and, a few steps behind, Augusta. In the old, quiet playroom, Polly and young George are enjoying a moment of intimacy. George confesses how glad he is that she is coming to Cliveden so often in the company of her aunt. Jokingly, he suggests he should have Augusta hire Margaret as her personal in-house dressmaker so she could both move in. They both laugh, then look into each other’s eyes in awkward silence, George slowly leaning in to kiss Polly when… the door to the room bursts open. Polly steps away from George hastily by reflex. The two valets stand upright by the door like a pair of soldiers as Bute and Dashwood step in followed by Augusta. George’s granddad, the king, has summoned him to court officially. WILKES’ HOME – Wilkes’s young daughter (Dorothy, 5) drops a china cup while playing with a doll; her mother slaps her violently. Seeing this, Wilkes intervenes to defend the little girl. While the servants take Dorothy to another room, they can hear husband and wife screaming and throwing furnishings at each other. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – Walking out of the king’s private office, an upset Augusta joins her son, Bute and Dashwood in the antechamber. The king has arranged for young George to marry Princess Sophie of Wolfenbüttel – niece of Frederick II of Prussia – and to move him into a grand establishment at St James’s Palace. Dashwood comments wryly that the king is actually trying to marry her son into Prussian troops to offset France. Bute and Augusta do not like the idea but how can they oppose the king’s decision on the matter? Right then, George II comes out of his office accompanied by Newcastle. While Bute and Dashwood try to mediate a delay in the decision, young George steps forward resolutely, looks his granddad in the eyes and vehemently assures him that he will not be “bewolfenbuttelled” before storming out. Taken aback, Bute and Dashwood run after the prince, leaving Augusta, a dumbfounded George II and Newcastle alone in the room. Augusta approaches her father-in-law and whispers slowly in his ear: “You shall never take my son from me!”. As she walks out, the ailing king has an uncontrollable fit of cough. Alarmed, Newcastle tries to aid his majesty.
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LONDON – Potter listens attentively to his father, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The old man assures he has taken care of the problem his son caused: the wife’s corpse now lies at the bottom of the Thames, justice’s silence has been bought. The Archbishop slowly approaches a shaking Potter with a glacial look in his eyes: if he ever causes any similar trouble again, he will kill him with his own hands. SKYE – William, slave King and Flora finally reach Flodigarry, on the northernmost tip of the isle. They are welcomed by the members of Clan MacDonald among who is Allan, her long-time fiancé. Before leaving, William gives Flora a wedding gift from Franklin. LONDON, FRENCH EMBASSY – D’Eon is shown his new office as Secretary to the French Ambassador. SKYE – Flora and Allan ride on mule along hill ridges bordering small lochs. Unbeknownst to them, someone is following them on the hill opposite to theirs… King. He sees them stopping outside what looks like a cave entrance. Allan dismounts his mule, enters the cave and after a couple of minutes, walks back out along with a ragged man… Cluny. MISS SULPHUR’S– Sandwich now frequents the brothel on a daily basis. He is being treated by Doctor Bates with mercury; this is the only remedy against syphilis: as a side effect, much to Nancy’s disgust, Sandwich’s teeth are already quite blackened. SKYE – King tails Cluny, Flora and Allan from a safe distance. They stop nearby a small loch where Cluny and Allan start digging the ground. After a while, they stop, having hit the lid of a coffer. They open it: it’s full of gold coins. They take out a few coins, put it in a satchel and give it to Flora. Then Cluny and Allan fill up the hole in the ground once again. Before leaving, Cluny sticks a wooden Celtic cross in the ground to mark the spot. MARTHA’S APARTMENT – Naked in bed, Martha excitedly tells Dashwood about the preparations for her big debut at the opera. Dashwood smiles, kisses her, rolls her over and begins to make love to her. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – A few weeks later, Franklin returns to London. Enjoying their first day back together again, Margaret and Polly take good care of him washing his clothes, shopping with him in street markets, preparing him a luscious meal. At dinner, Franklin entertains a mesmerized Polly in a game he devised with poems he composed in Scotland thinking of her joyful character: he recites a rhyming couplet to which she must reply in tune: F: “Hearts to warm towards a friend / kindness on kindness without end”, P: “What Franklin says appears so fine / I wish his thoughts and words were mine”, F: “Easy converse, Sprightly wit / These we find in Dame and Knight”, P: “Our prayers and sentiments the same / I love the Knight adore the Dame”. Then Franklin shows a packet to Polly: it’s a present for her from Scotland. She must wait to open it until she is alone in her room and promise to always keep it safely with her; even in the extreme case that Franklin died, she should “never ever” part from it as though it was his most precious relic.
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Margaret is busy with her dummies and fabrics in the ground floor workshop. Franklin compliments her as usual for her craftsmanship. Then he suggests that it would be a good idea to match Polly with his son William and encourage them to get married. CARPENTER'S CHOCOLATE-AND-COFFEE SHOP – Dashwood welcomes Franklin back to London. As they sip their chocolate, Dashwood promises that he will put in a good word so Franklin will soon be able to meet the King-in-Council and discuss the long delayed colony matters. Dashwood asks whether the “real” goal of his visit to Scotland was attained: Franklin looks smilingly at King, who, quietly sitting in a corner of the shop, nods positively. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Meanwhile, in her room, Polly unwraps Franklin’s present. It’s… the wooden Celtic cross. A little puzzled, but much intrigued, Polly examines the mysterious object and notices a few letters and numbers etched out on the back of the cross in a combination that do not seem to correspond to any known phrase or meaning. Smiling, Polly arranges the cross on the top of her chest of drawers, standing next to an oil lamp. WILKES’ HOME – On returning home, Wilkes finds his servants fleeing the house in a rush. Wilkes makes it just in time to stop his wife from doing the same: Dorothy has caught smallpox so “to hell with that little monster!”. Wilkes slaps his wife, disgusted, but as soon as she stands back up she runs out. Wilkes walks into little Dorothy’s bedroom; he sits on the bed, tenderly caressing her. LAW SCHOOL – Franklin visits William. He congratulates him for completing his law degree so successfully; thanks to his powerful friends he will be able to recommend him for a good career right away. Franklin mentions his idea about marrying Polly. Nervous, William curbs his father’s enthusiasm, revealing that he has made another girl pregnant. Franklin is shocked, insisting that he wants to know who this girl is so that he might contact her family and put things right with them. “Why?”, William asks. “Because it’s the right thing to do”, assures Franklin. “Just like you did with me?”, retorts William bitterly, leaving Franklin speechless. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Margaret brings a cup of tea to Franklin who is immersed in his bath tub, dejected. The two look into each other’s eyes and finally kiss so passionately that Margaret slips into the tub too with all her clothes on. Polly sees them through the door left ajar; she runs away, visibly upset. LONDON – Dishevelled Polly strides down crowded streets and alley ways, hurtling past people along the way until she suddenly halts, looking around, seemingly lost. A dubious man walks up to her wondering whether the “poor girl” needs any help. WILKES’ HOME – Wilkes lovingly nurses ill Dorothy. POTTER’S HOME – Completely wasted, Potter smokes opium, trying to escape his own ghosts. MISS SULPHUR’S – The dubious man forcibly drags Polly in, showing Lucy Cooper his new “recruit” for the brothel. While Polly tries in vain to disentangle herself from the man’s clutches, he and Lucy argue over what he deems a fair
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63 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY amount as a “commission” for such a “young and immaculate flower”. Two barely-teenage prostitutes run into the room, scared. They are chased by Sandwich who complains to Lucy about them. Lucy shows him Polly; he casts her a quick, cursory look and dismisses her immediately for being “far too old for my tastes”. When Lucy retorts that he has only to blame himself if her prostitutes don’t want to be with him anymore, Sandwich grabs her by the throat and hisses to her face that she would never dare talk like that to Dashwood, wouldn’t she? Hearing that name, Polly desperately cries that she is friends with Dashwood. Dashwood has come to pick up Polly. He thanks Lucy and leaves with the young girl. When Dashwood asks her how she ended up there, Polly confesses she ran away from home. MAGDALEN HOSPITAL – While showing Polly around the premises, Dashwood gently but firmly rebukes her: she should not be mistaken because most girls such as those who work at Miss Sulphur’s, once they get older and addicted to gin they just get discarded and end up dying in the streets; if, instead, they are lucky they end up in a workhouse or in a hospital for penitent prostitutes like this one. Polly and Dashwood watch dozens of young and less young women, all dressed in ragged nun-like uniforms, being taken to prayer. Those who arrive late are severely reproached by the supervisors who call them by numbers (Miss One, Miss Two, etc). Pointing out that the hospital currently has around 50 guests, Dashwood tells Polly how disappointed he is; a smart girl like her should know better than risking to become Miss Fifty-something. WILKES’ HOME – Wilkes gently strokes a recovering Dorothy on the cheek. FRANCE, COUNTRY MANOR – Clementina hands a doll to little Charlotte. Charlie tells her to get ready to become the new Queen of the United Kingdom of England and Scotland. When she asks him how he can be sure that King George II’s grandson will not object, Charlie reveals her that his true plan is to kill young George as well so there will be no heirs apparent left. CARPENTER'S CHOCOLATE-AND-COFFEE SHOP – Franklin enters the shop to find Dashwood and Chippendale examining a letter and a book, puzzled. Chippendale explains that the new Secretary to the French ambassador (i.e. d’Eon) sent, via him, his thanks in response to an invitation that Dashwood is certain has never made. As a token of gratitude, he also attached the book – the first volume of Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel, titled “Theleme”, in French – as a gift. Moreover, a passage of the letter does not seem to make any sense as it reads that the secretary would be happy to meet “every tenth of the month for three months”. Franklin examines the letter briefly, then the book, and without hesitation says it is most certainly a book cipher. “Every tenth” suggests checking every tenth page of the book three times, i.e. pages 10, 20 and 30. Chippendale complies but sees nothing strange on those pages. Franklin checks the book himself: he opens it on page 10 and slowly feels the surface with his index fingers. Finding it uneven, he goes straight to the fireplace in the corner, blackens his fingers with some leftover lukewarm cinder on the side, walks back to Chippendale and Dashwood and brushes his fingers all across on page 10. As the surface blackens, four letters stand out circled, as if somebody put pressure
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64 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY on the page moving a dry tip in a circular motion around them: when reading the four letters together they form the French word “TOUT”. Franklin repeats the operation on page 20. Another French word: “PREVU”. And a Latin word on page 30: “JANUS”. Franklin observes that Janus was the Roman deity that gives the name to the month of January. To which Dashwood replies with the combined translation: “All arranged, January”. Understanding that the message is coming from Charlie, Dashwood throws the letter and the book into the fireplace and turns his attention back to Franklin with a satisfied grin. He wanted to see him because he has finally managed to convince the King-in-Council to meet him the following day. Now, if Franklin will excuse him, he must return to West Wycombe for a most urgent matter. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Princess Augusta is back and this time she won’t leave without seeing Sarah. However, the lady’s rooms are locked. It takes all of Dashwood’s gift of the gab to finally send her away. Eventually alone, Dashwood walks into his wife’s bedroom. LONDON, ST. JAMES’S PALACE – King George II is putting on his nightgown helped by his valet. Despite the fact that he can hardly stand on his own, he dismisses the valet abruptly and walks into the tiny toilet room alone. After a few minutes, the valet hears a loud crash. He hurries inside to see a broken porcelain jar scattered on the floor and, sat half-naked on the close stool, the king… dead. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Restrained to her bed, Sarah bears marks of consumption due to tuberculosis and visible scars of self-inflicted violence. She hardly recognizes Dashwood when she sees him and blabbers some indiscernible words. As he watches her and holds her emaciated hand, rivulets of tears stream down Dashwood’s cheeks.
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06 – ANNUS MIRABILIS
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – It’s Martha’s debut as opera singer: Smith’s production of Paradise Lost is being staged. In the audience, Dashwood watches on, ravished. In the upper gallery someone else is paying great attention to Martha’s performance: a woman in her 30s wearing a rather stiff dress. After the show in the dressing rooms, Dashwood congratulates a euphoric Martha. He is bringing great news too: the new king wants a soprano to lead the choir’s performance of the Zadok the priest anthem during the coronation ceremony soon due to take place in Westminster Abbey. Dashwood has convinced the king that he knows just the right singer for such an important task: Martha. While undressing, Martha receives a message: a journalist wants to meet her at Carpenter’s. Dashwood encourages Martha to meet the journalist: it would be good publicity for her. CHURCH – A small crowd of relatives and friends (including Franklin, Margaret and Polly) is gathered outside a small church as William Franklin and his newly- wedded wife walk down the steps. The general merriment is interrupted by Franklin who wishes all his best to the newlyweds; when he adds that he is over the moon to soon going to have a grandchild everybody falls silent. Taking his father aside, William confesses that his wife is not the woman he made pregnant. Despite Franklin’s insistence, William won’t tell him who that woman is. FRENCH EMBASSY – Dashwood calls by for d’Eon but a butler informs him that the Frenchman is not in and didn’t say when he would return. CARPENTER’S CHOCOLATE-AND-COFFEE SHOP – Martha walks up to the counter asking for a journalist named Macauley whom she is supposed to meet here. The owner points to a nearby table where, to the surprise of Martha who was expecting a man, the woman from the Opera House (Catharine Macauley) is waving at her. As Martha sits down, Macauley shows her a prostitute luring a client at a table nearby and tells her that this is the place where Dashwood likes to hang out with his friends: a notorious rendezvous for prostitutes. Macauley is a member (a moral guardian) of the Society for the Reformation of Manners and she knows Dashwood has a regular supply of prostitutes from London’s brothels for his orgies and parties. Martha is shocked to say the least; she thought she was a journalist who wanted to talk about her performance. Macauley is actually political pamphleteer with lots of contacts among the Lords and magistrates. She cannot engage Dashwood directly because he is too powerful, but the Society compiles a blacklist of alleged offenders of public morality in order to shame and prosecute them. “You want me to snitch on a reputable man?”, Martha retorts. In fact, Macauley only wishes to recruit Martha as a testimonial for the Society’s cause: given her fame it would make a difference. Feeling insulted (and a little ashamed), Martha storms out. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – While having sex with Fanny, Dashwood offers her to replace the late Lady Wortley as Mother Superior at the Abbey during the Hellfire
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Club gatherings. Fanny jokingly asks him his opinion about her tits: are they smaller than Martha’s? Are they nicer? DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – Perfectly at ease in her new role as Mother Superior, Fanny accompanies the guests to the lovemaking rooms where the nuns/prostitute are waiting. A satisfied Dashwood winks at her as she walks by. His attention is then caught by a prostitute wearing an elegant dress who is busy giving a fellatio to Potter on one of the sofas. Dashwood is interrupted by Bute who hastily asks him about Sandwich who cannot be found anywhere: finding Charlie to abort the murderous plan is now a priority and Bute solicits Dashwood’s direct intervention. As he reassures Bute he will take care of it, Dashwood notices the same prostitute sneaking out of the abbey. MADAME SULPHUR’S – Sandwich’s cries can be heard from outside. Doctor Bates’ pliers are pulling a rotten tooth out of his blood-spilling mouth with no anaesthetics as Lucy Cooper looks on amused. Bates observes that while treatment with mercury is curing his syphilis, it is also damaging Sandwich’s teeth for good. When Sandwich enters one of the brothel’s rooms hoping to console himself with Nancy, he finds her naked in bed with a much younger and more handsome man. Before he can even start venting his rage against her, she jumps at him and confronts him face to face: she has no intention of having any sex with the ‘ugliest man in the country’ anymore. Moreover, since she is aware that he used to sodomize one of his young valets, Nancy blackmails him: either he leaves her alone and even pays her a large sum every month to keep her mouth shut or she will denounce him. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Having had enough of the orgiastic rituals, Dashwood invites all his guests to admire his latest entertainment attraction: two yachts masquerading as battle ships stage a mock sea battle on the beautiful lake in the estate grounds. LONDON SLUMS – Accompanied by King, Franklin knocks on door after door of rundown alleyway shanties looking for the woman that his son William has abandoned after making her pregnant. His fine clothes are a strident contrast with the ragged garments of the scumbag that inhabits these parts of London. FRENCH EMBASSY – The elegant prostitute seen earlier at the Hellfire Club Abbey gets out of a carriage and heads quickly for the entrance when she is stopped by a known voice: Dashwood. He has followed her and has recognized her, or better… him: d’Eon in a woman’s clothes. Taken aback, d’Eon takes Dashwood inside to talk privately. It is imperative that Charlie is told to abort the takeover plan but, apparently, he cannot be found anywhere. When Dashwood leaves, Charlie shows up from the adjacent room, having heard everything; he instructs d’Eon to proceed with his own plot and coordinate all the Jacobite schemers he has recruited. D’Eon also suggests he hides somewhere safer. NEWCASTLE’S OFFICE – The war in the colonies against France going well and Newcastle still at the helm as PM, Wentworth toasts to what he describes as an annus mirabilis for Britain who now controls one-third of the globe and trade.
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However, Newcastle betrays his concern about the new king’s friends and urges Wentworth to take preemptive action. Wentworth though is leery of such an idea: he does not want to start with the wrong foot under the new king. His refusal leads to a heated argument with Newcastle threatening to destroy him. WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – A downcast Wentworth enters his office to find Dashwood waiting for him. Fearing the worst, Dashwood has no alternative but to seek an unlikely alliance with Wentworth: he tells him about Charlie’s intention to make an attempt on the new king’s life and exhorts Wentworth to search the French embassy and reinforce security. Wentworth dismisses Dashwood’s claims: how does he know all that? But Dashwood insists and is ready to give him the names of all the Jacobite schemers in London. Not buying it and thinking this is just another of Dashwood’s double games, Wentworth sends him away. JACOBITE HIDEOUT – Meanwhile, Charlie reaches a secret location in disguise. There he meets the Jacobite schemers to discuss the details of his plan to kidnap and kill King George III and his whole family. Charlie plans on funding his coup with the treasure still hidden in the Highlands. SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS – Several deep holes have been dug near the lake where Charlie’s treasure had been buried. As he frantically shovels up the soil, Cluny eventually realizes to his horror that the treasure has vanished. CLIVEDEN – A few days later, Dashwood and Bute present a painted portrait of a beautiful young 17-year-old girl to George III: this is Charlotte of Mecklenburg- Strelitz, the wife who has been carefully chosen for him, who will soon be arriving from Germany, just in time for the upcoming coronation. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Franklin calls by in a handsome new coach he has bought in view of the coronation. Urging Polly and Margaret to climb on, he instructs King to take them to Kew, where they will stay for as long as it takes to Margaret to sew the new Queen’s dress. KEW PALACE – Although Dashwood has had Charlotte’s measures sent to London along with the painting, Margaret protests that without a model she cannot cut the Queen’s dress properly, at least not for such a grand occasion. Dashwood has already thought this through: as he claps his hands, Fanny walks in, wrapped in a silk robe. As soon as she reaches Dashwood, he looses the robe leaving Fanny in her underwear to Franklin’s amusement: Fanny’s measures being exactly the same as Charlotte’s, she will be Margaret’s model for the Queen’s dress. As Margaret tentatively checks Fanny’s breast, Bute notices that at the other end of the room Polly and George are exchanging awkward looks. Without drawing too much attention, Bute takes George to another room; Franklin notices Polly’s sad expression. In private, Bute tells George that he is not to see Polly anymore. NORTH BRITON OFFICE – Having lost his chair at Oxford university, Potter is forced by his father to find an honourable job and collaborate with "The Briton", a pro-government newspaper run by one of his well-heeled friends. Since he has no intention of accommodating his father’s requests, Potter convinces Wilkes to start a new, radical, anti-government newspaper: they call it “The North Briton”.
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HANOVER SQUARE HOUSE – Martha and Dashwood have just had sex but their mood is sombre: Martha breaks a long awkward silence saying she has heard about the new Mother Superior at the Abbey. Sensing a hint of resentment in Martha’s words, Dashwood dismisses her hastily. He must rush to St. James’s Palace for the arrival of the new Queen and she’d better hurry to her rehearsals for the coronation. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – George, Augusta, the whole royal family, the Archbishop of Canterbury, courtesans, Daswhood, Bute, Sandwich, and all the king’s friends are waiting for Charlotte who finally makes her entrance and is introduced to her future husband. LONDON – Courts and shops are removed in preparation for the coronation. COVENT GARDEN – On her way to the Royal Opera House, Martha sees Macauley in the piazza with two stewards who are addressing a drunken woman. Visibly upset, Martha walks on. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE – During the rehearsal of Zadok the priest, Martha is out of tune, to everybody’s surprise. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – Finally left alone for a few minutes, in a very tentative English Charlotte asks Polly to be her bridesmaid: she doesn’t know anybody and Polly seems to be liked by George’s family. The two girls are interrupted by Margaret who is carrying the wedding dress to Charlotte. WESTMINSTER ABBEY – The whole of London is going agog: carriages battle their way to Westminster Abbey and collide. Hordes of common people crowd the streets outside the abbey and the nearby parks. Trying to fend off the crowd, a dishevelled Cluny runs as fast as he can. In several other parts of London, the Jacobites previously seen with Charlie are prepping their armed troops. JACOBITE HIDEOUT – Cluny eventually reaches Charles as he is about to exit the building in high uniform. Gasping for air, Cluny informs him that the treasure has been stolen. Furious, Charlie unsheathes his sword and points it to Cluny’s throat, accusing him of embezzling the gold. Given the circumstances, d’Eon tries to convince him to abort the plan but Charlie is resolute to go through with it anyway. WESTMINSTER ABBEY – George and Charlotte are taken separately to the abbey in sedan chairs under canopy, followed on foot by a procession of distinguished guests. Polly is right behind the new Queen, feeling terribly awkward. Meanwhile, the Jacobite troops are getting ready: their commanders tell them to wait for the signal. In the Abbey the ceremony is now well under way. As the crown is placed on George’s head, Martha starts singing Zadok the Priest – “And all the people rejoiced and said God save the King!”. Her voice echoes through the high naves, mesmerising everybody. The only one who is ignoring her, watching around for
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70 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY any suspicious activity is Dashwood. From some distance, Wentworth notices that. When Martha stops singing, the king’s champion rides into the abbey in full armour and dramatically throws his gauntlet to the floor to challenge anyone who dare dispute the new sovereign’s right to the throne: mingled in the audience, all the Jacobites are waiting a sign to act. Both Dashwood and Wentworth are becoming restless. In the streets not far from the abbey, the Jacobite troops are waiting. Finally, Dashwood spots something. Wentworth notices that and looks in the direction Dashwood is slowly heading for: and there he is, Charlie in person, standing at the very back of the abbey, his hand slowly reaching out for his sword…
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07 – ANOTHER “45”, OR: HARD CIDER
LONDON – The Jacobite troops assembled in various parts of the capital are ready to launch their attack, waiting for Charlie’s signal. WESTMINSTER ABBEY – Trying not to alarm anybody, Dashwood on one side of the main nave and Wentworth on the other quietly hurry towards the back of the abbey where Charlie hesitates for an instant that seems to last an eternity, then suddenly turns on his heels and walks out. By the time Dashwood and Wentworth rush outside, Charlie has already vanished without trace. A messenger relays a message to the Jacobites: the uprising has been called off. Surprised and disappointed, the troops disperse. WESTMINSTER HALL – The danger now averted, Dashwood and Wentworth join a spectacular banquet attended to by two hundred servants. Privileged guests sitting below (peers, bishops, judges, etc.) send up baskets of chicken drumsticks and bottles of wine to the less fortunate spectators relegated in the galleries above. Franklin too is enjoying the food and drink, in Margaret and Polly’s company. The noisy but joyful atmosphere is temporarily broken by the arrival of the king’s champion who enters the hall riding his horse, accompanied by king’s steward. The king stands up and drinks from a silver-gilt cup that he then gives to the champion as his fee. As the hall erupts in a roaring applause, the steward’s horse rumps; sat at a table nearby, Wilkes mocks him in front of everybody. In a moment of general embarrassment, the steward proudly approaches Wilkes and challenges him to a duel but Wilkes is too drunk to even stand up on his own. Bute nods to his men to take care of Wilkes and convinces the steward to refrain from his intentions, apologizing on Wilkes’ behalf. As everybody gets back to celebrating as if nothing happened, Martha notices that Dashwood is unusually lost in his thoughts. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Back home, Margaret and Franklin notice Polly’s sadness and try to cheer her up. REFORMATION SOCIETY – Martha barges in visibly distressed and complains against Macauley that everything was going great until she met her. Macauley disagrees: if Martha really believes that, now that she sang at the Coronation, now that she is more popular than ever before, shouldn’t she just feel a sense of achievement? Taken aback by those words, Martha politely asks Macauley to stay out of her life. NEWCASTLE’S OFFICE – A few months after the Coronation, the king’s ‘friends’ are called to form a new government. On the threshold, Bute and Sandwich quietly look on as Newcastle tidies up a pile of documents, puts them in a safe drawer and locks it. Without losing his proud composure, Newcastle buttons his jacket, walks up to Bute, hands over the key and exits. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – In the throes of lovemaking Dashwood asks Martha rather brusquely how does it feel to fuck the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, the very man who now controls the purse of the nation. Clearly not enjoying it that
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73 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY much, Martha switches the conversation and suggests that Dashwood finally hospitalizes ill Sarah, which makes him stop right away. Dashwood does not want to hear about it. CLIVEDEN – During a heated argument, a rather menacing Bute makes it clear to a bewildered Augusta that this is the last time he’ll ever visits Kew: now that he is Prime Minister, he doesn’t need to kiss her ass anymore and dumps her for good. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – In an ante-chamber, Dashwood waits impatiently until Franklin emerges from one of the doors. From the disappointed look on his face, Dashwood understands that the meeting with the King-in-Council that he helped arrange for Franklin didn’t go well. The Council rejected the colonies’ requests for representation and to tax the Penn family, which means that Franklin’s mission as colonial agent in Britain is turning into a personal failure. Always looking at the bright side of things, Dashwood invites Franklin to join him later at his estate and meet the people that really count: all he has to do is going to the Thames Embankment and ask for Dashwood’s abbey – the boatman will know where to take him. BUTE’S OFFICE – As he arrives, Dashwood finds Bute and Sandwich lashing out at Wilkes and Potter: they just printed an issue of the “The North Briton” wherein Wilkes openly criticizes the recently approved law for taxing cider instead of doing needed reforms for the common people. Bute opposes every reform; reforms are for the hated Whigs like William Pitt. As he tries to subdue the heated argument, Dashwood admits that he just signed the bill, but it was Bute’s idea in order to increase liquidity to counter rising war debts: in fact, he does not have any competence as Chancellor. Moreover, now it’s not a time to argue; it’s a time to finally celebrate. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Back home in West Wycombe, Dashwood looks for Martha in every room so they can join their guests at the abbey. When he can’t find her anywhere, he walks up to the wing of the palace where he keeps Sarah locked and under constant medical attention. There she is, Martha, standing in front of Dashwood’s derelict wife, barely awake in her bed… a human vegetable. Without uttering a single word, they walk out of the room, Dashwood making sure to lock the door behind them. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Polly is fiddling in her bedroom with the wooden Celtic cross that Franklin gave her as a gift, feeling the etched surface under her fingertips when she hears a subdued noise coming from Franklin’s apartment. As she peers through the staircase, she sees Franklin all dressed up tiptoeing out, unaware of her presence. THAMES EMBANKMENT – Franklin’s shiftiness arouses Polly’s curiosity and she follows him from a distance through the alleyways until he reaches the riverside. She sees a boatman welcome him on board along with what appears to be a large number of nuns. A couple of other boats are getting ready too. Puzzled by such a sight, Polly waits until the boat with Franklin is well away from the embankment, then approaches another group of “nuns” who is embarking a second boat; singling her out right away, one of the “nuns” urges her to wear
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74 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY something more appropriate and throws her a habit, wimple and veil, and a mask. Baffled at first, Polly spots Franklin’s boat sailing away and starts wearing those garments. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – Welcomed by Mother Superior Fanny, Dashwood and his Hellfire Club acolytes can finally celebrate: a toast to themselves as they finally run the whole country. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – Augusta is lecturing George on how important it is that a new king does not allow his friends in government to treat him like a puppet. And the king should not be his mother’s puppet either, retorts George irritated before dismissing a fuming Augusta. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – A small orchestra of half-naked women plays a soft tune while the Club members enjoy bingeing, drugs and orgies. Sprawled on one of the sofas, Dashwood invites Martha to have a threesome with him and Fanny; Martha turns him down and leaves, instead. RIVER THAMES – Polly’s boat follows Franklin’s a few hundred yards behind as it sails up the river. Franklin’s boat eventually moors near the abbey. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – Sandwich is entertaining himself with two other nuns, but can’t stop staring at Dashwood going hard at it with Fanny. As soon as Franklin makes his entrance though, Dashwood hurries to welcome him, naked. Happy to see him, Dashwood tells Franklin he has some important information to share with him privately. Seeing that Fanny has been left alone, Sandwich abruptly pushes back his two nuns. In the inner circle room, Dashwood and Franklin are joined by Chippendale who has found the name and address of the woman made pregnant by William. Meanwhile, a shocked Polly is let in along with the next group of “nuns” who quickly join the members of Club in their sexual activities. Tired of such antics, Wilkes unexpectedly releases a baboon and sets him on Sandwich while he is finally busy humping Fanny. Wilkes’s prank stirs quite the commotion and draws Dashwood and Franklin back into the main hall. As soon as she sees them together, an indignant Polly tears off the mask from her face and casts the sternest look at Franklin who cannot believe his eyes to see her there. Polly runs out followed by Franklin while Sandwich and Bute gang up on Wilkes causing huge ruckus and the nuns scream, scared by the baboon. Out of breath, Franklin reaches the riverside only to watch Polly already sailing down the river on a boat. He waves at another boatman to stop and let him on board. Dashwood, Chippendale and the servants have their hands full trying to keep Sandwich and Bute from having it at Wilkes, who still bends over with laughter. This soon turns into a most heated argument until Dashwood eventually caves in to Sandwich and Bute’s request to expel Wilkes from the Hellfire Club. While the former two gloat over the decision, Wilkes sees himself out and Dashwood exhorts everybody to go back to enjoy themselves.
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THAMES EMBANKMENT – Polly’s boat has just moored. Polly jumps off throwing away her nun’s habit. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Margaret is surprised to see Polly barging inside and run upstairs to her bedroom. Terribly upset, Polly grabs the wooden Celtic cross and runs out again. THAMES EMBANKMENT – As Franklin’s boat approaches the bank, Polly throws the cross into the river and shouts at him to stay away from her. BUTE’S OFFICE – A few days later. Bute is panicking. In issue number 45 of the North Briton Wilkes openly denounces the short-sightedness of his government and his affair with Princess Augusta. Moreover, the piece mocks what is described as a weak king controlled by a group of gentlemen who have rebranded themselves as the Hellfire Club – although only Dashwood is named. While Dashwood laughs up his own sleeve and assures there’s nothing to worry about, Sandwich insists they must do something about it. They are interrupted by a messenger: the king wants to see Bute and Dashwood immediately. REFORMATION SOCIETY – Macauley welcomes Wilkes’s denunciation of the Hellfire Club’s goings although this embarrasses Martha who now has a reputation as a successful singer to defend. Macauley advises that she needs to distance herself from Dashwood. This is too much for Martha and it begins to tell on her face: she leaves. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – King George III is furious. He orders Bute to have Wilkes jailed and Dashwood to collaborate with Wentworth in order to stifle the scandals this is causing. TOWER – Wilkes is arrested and thrown in the Tower. LONDON – Wilkes’s arrest causes the worst riots ever. His supporters wreak havoc in the streets; Sandwich is caught alone, beaten up and rolled in a gutter; the king himself is pelted with rotten fruit as his carriage enters the gate of St. James’s Palace. WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – Wentworth takes very seriously what truly seems an interrogation, trying to have Dashwood admit to what Wilkes alleged in his article. Bored by this, Dashwood cuts him short, pointing out that in this case the only sensible thing to do is to free Wilkes and regain public favour. LONDON SLUMS – Franklin knocks on the door of a dilapidated shack. A woman answers the door, holding a malnourished baby boy in her arms: this is William’s illegitimate son. NORTH BRITON OFFICE – Released from the Tower, Wilkes joins Potter waiting to be trialled at a later date; he plans an alliance with the reformist faction in the Whig party to oppose Bute’s government and meet the Colonies’ requests. FANNY’S APARTMENT – Sandwich lets Fanny back into the London apartment he once gave to her – “apparently”, Nancy has eventually disappeared without notice. Sandwich bribes her with a £20 note, saying that there will be hundreds more: in exchange, she is to be his lover again and do him a favour by “stealing” something for him. With her usual coquette attitude, Fanny seizes the banknote
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76 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY from Sandwich’s hand, walks up to the dining table, picks two slices of bread from a platter and puts the banknote between them. Then she softly lets herself on the sofa and snatches a mouthful from her… “sandwich”: she’s all ears. LONDON SLUMS – The unknown woman is hesitant at first: she doesn’t want to give up her baby. At least until Franklin takes out a thick roll of banknotes at the sight of which she almost faints: she’s never seen so much money in her whole life. PARLIAMENT – Tainted by the scandal, Bute resigns his role as Prime Minister in front of the MPs that condemn Wilkes’s article all the same. Sandwich retaliates by reading publicly more than explicit passages from a pornographic (i.e. illegal) novel allegedly written by Wilkes, the same he read to the monks at the Hellfire Abbey. While outraged roars of protestation rise from the assembly, Dashwood stands up and, disgusted, calls Sandwich a hypocrite. NORTH BRITON OFFICE – Unbeknownst to anybody, Wentworth tips Wilkes that he is going to be charged with high treason and blasphemy by the end of the day. Wentworth offers his an out: he’ll help him to reach France where he would be free and working as a double agent for him if in exchange Wilkes snitches on Dashwood’s Hellfire Club. REFORMATION SOCIETY – Everyone else has left and Macauley is tidying up. To her surprise, Martha walks through the door, visibly upset, lost for words, a few tears streaming down her cheek. Macauley approaches her and caringly strokes her hair: the two women lock eyes and Martha plucks the courage to kiss Macauley. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Wentworth’s men search the estate grounds and palace everywhere only to find out that a garden picnic party for the village children is going on. At the abbey a group of real nuns are interrupted abruptly during their orations. As Wentworth leaves with his tail between his legs, Dashwood tells him that he is always welcome to come back. WILLIAM’S APARTMENT – Unexpected, Franklin pays visit to his son and daughter-in-law. He’s not alone though: he is accompanied by Margaret who is holding William’s illegitimate son, baby Temple. It’s time to return to America. THE CHANNEL – Aboard a cargo ship, Wilkes watches the white cliffs of the British coast getting smaller and smaller in the distance. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – While the rest of the nuns herd the village children away, Dashwood pays one of them for the favour. Out of the corner of his eye he catches a glimpse of yet another nun heading back towards the abbey though. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE (ABBEY) – Once inside, the nun lifts the hem of her robe to reveal a large wad of banknotes fastened to a garter on her thigh: Fanny. As she smells the banknotes with a satisfied grin on her face, she is startled by Dashwood who barges in furious. Dashwood rushes up to her and slaps her in the face without hesitation: Sandwich could only have obtained Wilkes’s book via Fanny who stole it from his own house after all he’s done for her. Glowering, Dashwood literally kicks her butt out.
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08 – SILENCE IS GOLDEN
WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – Desperate to frame Dashwood and his Club, Wentworth hatches a plan with the Archbishop of Canterbury: the latter knows that his son, Potter, frequents Dashwood club, therefore he will have a trusted man to spy on him and find out something. FRANKLIN’S HOUSE – Back in Philadelphia, Franklin, William and his wife are welcomed back by Deborah. After so many years apart from one another, the emotion is just too much and she can’t hold her tears, especially when she sees baby Temple. Franklin breaks the news that thanks to his connections in London William has been appointed governor of New Jersey and therefore will soon leave again. DASHWOOD ESTATE (ABBEY) – Following Bute’s resignation, Dashwood is holding a crisis meeting attended by the whole inner circle of the Hellfire Club. He exhorts everybody to resign from their posts and fight back; when nobody follows up on his suggestion, Dashwood realizes that his lifelong friends and allies are turning their backs on him and switching allegiance in order to maintain their newly acquired power status – Sandwich as Lord of the Admiralty, Potter as Paymaster General and so on. Smelling a rat, Dashwood officially disbands the Hellfire Club and shows them out. Potter’s small carriage pulls out of the estate’s gates. Hiding among the trees, somebody is watching him from a distance: a vicar. FRANKLIN’S HOUSE – William and his wife say their goodbyes as they leave for New Jersey. Franklin and Deborah are left alone with Temple. The atmosphere in the house is awkward: they don’t seem to have much to say to each other anymore. Breaking the ice, Franklin assures his wife that he is going to stay with her in Philadelphia for good. BEDLAM – Martha and Catharine pay admission tickets at the entrance: there is a long queue of well dressed people behind them – visiting the madhouse is quite a popular sport among the aristocracy. As they watch one of the patients being treated, Macauley explains that that man used to be the earl of Grafton: ending up in Bedlam is the result of his immoral conduct. Martha awkwardly hints at the kiss they exchanged; she would like to talk about it but realizes that Macauley pretends nothing ever happened between them. DASHWOOD ESTATE (CAVES AND CHURCH) – Chippendale and Borgnis take Dashwood on a tour of what will be his new, more secretive gathering venue: an intricate maze of eerie caves dug under a hill at his estate. As Chippendale assures Dashwood that he will make sure that the rocky chambers be adequately furnished and made comfortable, Borgnis gives order to the groups of workers intent on pushing wheelbarrows full of rocks up the steep tunnels. On the top of the hill facing Dashwood’s palatial mansion lies an old church. Dashwood instructs Borgnis to remodel the tower top by adding a golden orb big enough to fit a few people inside.
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WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – Now that the Wilkes scandal has died down, Wentworth offers an olive branch to Dashwood who lands a new appointment as Postmaster General, the Post Office having an intelligence branch that he will reorganize in collaboration with Wentworth. Dashwood accepts the appointment and even shakes Wentworth’s hand, but clearly he doesn’t buy it. When he exits Wentworth’s office, he crosses paths with the Archbishop of Canterbury. FRENCH EMBASSY – As he walks into his office, d’Eon finds an unwelcome surprise. Paris has sent a new attaché and is calling d’Eon back. Realizing that his enemies in Paris (i.e. King Louis and Madame Pompadour) are planning to arrest him, d’Eon makes a scene and refuses to leave. He picks a letter from one of his desk drawers and hands it over to the attaché whose face, as he reads the letter, becomes paler and paler. D’Eon tells him that when working in Paris he has made copies of dozens of documents so compromising that their revelation to the British would bring down the French monarchy in a whiff. D’Eon sends the attaché back to Paris to relay the message that he keeps them in check. PENNSYLVANIA ASSEMBLY – The Assembly is in turmoil: the new Sugar Act passed recently by the new British government overtaxes the colonies to pay war debts and rising unemployment. A very vocal Franklin is made speaker of the Assembly and announces that he will run at the upcoming elections to fight the bill. DASHWOOD’S POST OFFICE – Potter asks to be received by Dashwood. He has resigned from his post following the new government’s vexing decisions – and also to show his loyalty to exiled Wilkes. Knowing that Dashwood is way too clever to let himself be outsmarted by Wentworth, Potter would like to help as a secret informer. While Dashwood is keen on having him on his side, Chippendale warns Potter he better watch his back as his first task. When he walks out, Potter spots a man in a religious habit tailing him. PHILADELPHIA, ST. JOHN’S LODGE – Franklin is accused by his fellow freemasons of bilking money with his lavish expenses in London – colony’s money that he should have used for very different purposes. As if that wasn’t enough, they wave a recent issue of the Gazette revealing that he allegedly mistreated a servant as a young man and had an illegitimate son (William) from her. This will cost him the election and them their key influence on the Assembly. There may be a remedy though: a new appointment. DASHWOOD’S POST OFFICE – Dressed as a woman, d’Eon approaches Dashwood to offer his services in exchange for protection. He has information on Wentworth’s services spreading rumours on Franklin in the colonies. So many people offering to help make Dashwood suspicious: he tells d’Eon he will think about it. FRANKLIN’S HOUSE – In pain due to kidney stones, Franklin seeks a little relief in opium. Deborah tries to alleviate his humiliation: for what it’s worth, she will always consider William her own son. However, that is not Franklin’s only concern: the Assembly has formally appointed him agent with a mission to petition the revocation of the Penn’s family property of the Colony. Which means he must soon return to Britain.
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HANNOVER SQUARE HOUSE – Martha dismisses her maid for the day and lets her retreat to her lodge. When someone knocks on her door, Martha assumes the maid has forgotten something: to her surprise, Macauley turns up on her doorstep. As soon as Martha shuts the door they start kissing, then they make love passionately. LONDON CHURCH – Weeks later. Seated on a garden bench, Chippendale pretends to read a newspaper. In fact, he is on the lookout: the vicar who were tailing Potter steps out of the church opposite and hurries away. After a few minutes someone else appears from inside the church and walks away in the opposite direction: the Archbishops. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Back in London accompanied by King, Franklin lets himself in. He calls for Margaret and Polly but nobody seems to be at home. Then they hear a sudden noise coming from the basement. Tiptoeing down the stairs in semi-darkness, Franklin and King first see what look like human bones piled up in a small chest, then catch a man handling a corpse on a wooden table. King jumps promptly at the man trying to immobilize him while Franklin cries havoc and hits him hard with a femur he grabs from the chest. As they return home, Margaret and Polly hear the shouts coming from the basement. Margaret urges Polly to hide in the next room with the little baby she is carrying in her arms, then hurries downstairs, alarmed. She hardly manages to stop Franklin and King from harming the poor man any further. As she checks on the man’s bruises, Franklin and King follow them upstairs, puzzled. Explanations are in order. The man is Dr Hewson, Polly’s husband: they got married in Franklin’s absence and had a baby boy soon after. Thanks to Margaret’s thriving commerce as dressmaker, they have refurbished the upper quarters, formerly reserved to two servants and to Polly’s old bedroom, so that the newlyweds can live there until they buy a place of their own. Which means that Franklin is welcome to stay in his usual apartment on the first floor next to Margaret’s, but King will have to put up nearby at Chippendale’s. And the fact that Dr Hewson is a coroner explains the corpse and the human remains in the basement. It takes Franklin a few moments to let the news sink in. HANNOVER SQUARE HOUSE – Trying to make amends, Martha asks Dashwood to accompany her to the Opera House to watch a new oratorio together. Dashwood declines the invitation coldly: he hands her the usual, albeit rather generous monthly allowance and says he must stay at the house for a few days to attend to some urgent business. Martha fiddles with the money, conflicted, then leaves. Chippendale drops by, having collected a stash of documents from the Hellfire Club abbey; he also tells Dashwood about the secretive meeting he witnessed between the Archbishop and the village vicar. Two plus two and Dashwood realizes the connection with Wentworth. CARPENTER’S COFFEE-AND-CHOCOLATE SHOP – Although Franklin does not support independence, he is under more and more pressure from the colonies he represents and therefore he must succeed at all cost with his petition
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81 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY this time round. He asks Dashwood’s help but is disappointed to receive an unusual faltering answering: all the MPs are corrupt and paid by the king to do his bidding and right now Dashwood is in nobody’s good books. Seeing his master disappointed, King tries to cheer him up. COUNTRYSIDE – George, Franklin’s former slave who escaped on their first arrival in London, is getting his ragged clothes off in front of a small group of men who examine his naked body. Commenting that being so well-endowed he will shock travellers even more, the men congratulates George on his successful “audition”: he is now a member of the Cherhill gang of highwaymen. LONDON CHURCH – Polly and Dr Hewson’s son is being baptized. Sporting his typical debonair attitude, Franklin acts as godfather next to Margaret. Invited by the priest, Franklin makes the sign of the cross with his thumb on the baby’s forehead. VILLAGE PUB – A dozen empty tankards are scattered on the table in front of Potter who’s drinking more. He sits there quietly until he sees the village vicar passing by through the window. Potter grabs a bottle from the table, stands up and staggers towards the exit to follow him. HANNOVER SQUARE HOUSE – Dashwood hastily burns the Club’s compromising documents. Then pours himself a glass of brandy and sits in the armchair in front of the fireplace, watching the papers burning to ashes, visibly worried. Snapping out of it, he finally stands up, grabs his coat and heads out. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – A few passers-by look up, shocked: sitting in the window of his apartment is Franklin, naked. Polly walks into the studio room and, noticing he is shaking, brings a blanket to cover him. Polly mildly thanks Franklin for attending her son’s baptism and is about to walk out of the room when Franklin starts talking: still staring out of the window he tells Polly about the death of his youngest son many years before. The small boy had not been vaccinated and died of smallpox. Franklin finally breaks down and sobs uncontrollably. Polly hugs him lovingly, like they haven’t done in years. VILLAGE CHURCH – Drunk Potter follows the village vicar to his church. Making sure that nobody else is there, he grabs a heavy candlestick and ambushes the priest near the altar beating him unconscious. Then he slumps on the front bench, panting, takes the bottle out of his pocket and drinks again until he finally passes out. DASHWOOD ESTATE (CHURCH) – Borgnis is busy working at the church orb on the top of a tall scaffolding. FRENCH EMBASSY – Back home, a tired d’Eon is helped out of his dress by his valet. Not feeling like drinking his usual late night cognac, he dismisses the servant who, once out of sight in the adjacent corridor, downs it in one gulp only to immediately start writhing with pain until he crumples to the floor… dead. Alarmed by the thud, d’Eon rushes in and smells the leftover liquid in the glass: somebody poisoned his drink and only by chance he is still alive.
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VILLAGE CHURCH – Wentworth’s men sneak into the church and find drunk Potter lying unconscious on the bench next to the knocked-out vicar. They empty what remains of Potter’s bottle on the front bench and set fire to it. The flames quickly engulf the whole church, burning them both. DASHWOOD ESTATE (CHURCH) – Borgnis unexpectedly falls from the scaffolding to his death 100 feet below. COVENT GARDEN – As he approaches the Opera House, Dashwood is shocked to see Martha walking out hand in hand with Catherine Macauley. Suddenly a man appears out of the blue and shoots Martha point-blank in the face. With blood spraying all over the place, Macauley is in a state of shock; two guards and some passers-by manage to seize the murderer. Having witnessed the whole scene from the other side of the piazza, Dashwood is stunned. While Potter’s body burns in the village church, Borgnis’ corpse lies on the ground of Dashwood’s estate and Martha’s defaced body in Covent Garden. At the caves, a distraught Dashwood is so overwhelmed with grief and rage that he destroys all the Hellfire Club orgy paraphernalia. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Dashwood knocks on Franklin’s door: shocked, and reading the multiple murders as threats clearly addressed to him, he has changed his mind and wants to seal a pact with his American friend. As they will need funds, this would the right time to rescue Charlie’s treasure from the place where King buried it: the only problem being that Polly threw the Celtic cross with the coded inscriptions to locate the treasure in the Thames. Having eavesdropped, Polly steps in and candidly tells them that she has memorized all the letters, numbers and symbols that were etched on the wooden cross.
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09 – AGENT 72
SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS – Dashwood has set out on an unplanned trip to Scotland accompanied by Chippendale and by Franklin’s slave, King; all of them escorted by Dashwood’s own small militia. As they travel across the hills, the landscape is all pockmarked by the signs of an already brutal winter. PENNSYLVANIA – Groups of riotous protesters march through city streets and up to a British fort, where they start throwing stones and bricks and eventually burn an effigy of King George III. PARLIAMENT – Addressing the House of Commons, the king expresses his grave concern at the dangerous disorders occurring in the colonies over the recent enactment of the Stamp Act and exhorts the MPs to make all the necessary resolutions to restore harmony and tranquillity. Franklin attends the session from the balcony, visibly concerned. SKYE – Dashwood and his party reach the village of Flodigarry: a couple of rotten animal carcasses are strewn across the path, not a soul around. Due to the famine, Flora and family are going through very hard times: they cannot even offer their guests a decent meal. Noticing how humiliated Flora feels about this, Dashwood would like to send King and two of his men to buy food, but there is none to be found on the whole island. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Franklin reads a letter from his wife Deborah: their house was besieged by protesters who are unhappy by Franklin’s lack of initiative over the Stamp Act. Franklin is conflicted: for once, he does not know what to do. Although she notices this, Polly doesn’t try and support him this time. SKYE – Dashwood instructs his militia to leave most of their supplies at Flora’s farm; while these would last for a couple of weeks only, two soldiers will be in charge of stocking up once a month. When the Summer comes, Dashwood will arrange for Flora and her family to emigrate to America, where they will run a huge estate he has just purchased there. Flora is left speechless by Dashwood’s offer: knowing that she is too proud to feel in debt to anybody, Dashwood reassures her that he wants nothing in exchange. PARLIAMENT – In a private meeting, Sandwich and Bute advise King George III over the Stamp Act crisis: while they support the act, the new PM Rockingham has been very cautious about it. The protesters in the colonies are so incensed that they threaten the distributors of stamps to the extent that the latter now fear for their lives and it has become impossible for them to exercise their duties. While Bute suggests immediate brutal repression, Sandwich advises amendments to the act. SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS – From the top of a hill, Dashwood, King and Chippendale stare at a few scattered frozen lochs in the valley below. Dashwood is consulting a roll of parchment with Polly’s drawing of the Celtic cross and its inscriptions on it: there’s no way they can possibly find the treasure in this weather. Dashwood instructs King to stay and entrusts him with Polly’s drawing:
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85 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY come the thaw in the Spring, he will look for the treasure again. Meanwhile, Dashwood and Chippendale return to London. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE (WEEKS LATER) – In the basement, Dr. Hewson is showing Franklin how to dissect a cadaver. While making an incision, Hewson cuts himself on the arm with a scalpel. As Polly and Margaret help Hewson to dress the badly exposed wound, Dashwood calls by looking for Franklin. Dashwood convinces a frustrated Franklin to testify in Parliament against the Stamp Act. It’s true that just a few months ago Dashwood had voted in favour of the Act, but a man can change his mind. Moreover, what happened to Franklin’s mission as a colonial agent, i.e. “no taxation without representation”? Dashwood knows for sure that several of his acquaintances – who wield much influence on the Board of Trade – dread a potential export embargo like the plague as it may cause their businesses to collapse and therefore they would support a repeal… especially if they can also obtain something profitable in exchange: Dashwood and Franklin hatch a plan to fund both a revolution in the colonies and a huge land speculation project. SKYE – At Flora’s cottage, King sips a hot soup while he watches the snow fall outside. PARLIAMENT (JOINT COMMITTEE) – Among roars of protestations, Sandwich reproaches Franklin for neglecting his role as Postmaster and tells him that he should return to America. Franklin goes on to answer a staggering barrage of questions without cave in to the onslaught. The colonies already pay heavy taxes on virtually everything – all estates, real and personal; a poll tax; a tax on all offices, professions, trades, and businesses; excise on all wine, rum, and other spirit; a duty on all Negroes imported. Moreover, during the last war against France, the colonies raised, clothed, and paid thousands of military and spent many millions, only a very small portion of which were reimbursed. The colonies therefore cannot and will not pay neither this nor any other future taxes that may be imposed on them, and will enforce and embargo on all British goods and imports until all such taxes are abolished. And there is “no power, how great so ever, that can force men to change their opinions”. Sitting in the upstairs gallery, Dashwood is amused by the outcome of the testimony. HANOVER SQUARE HOUSE – As he is about to enter the building, Dashwood is stopped by Macauley who wants to offer him her condolences over Martha’s death. Dashwood appreciates the gestures and gently wipes a lone tear from Macauley’s cheek: no need to be embarrassed, he assures her. In fact, he asks Macauley whether she would take care of his ill wife Sarah and make her last days as comfortable as possible. Now that Martha no longer lives there, d’Eon hides at Dashwood’s house guarded by the rest of Daswhood’s militia. Dashwood tells him to stay put for a while and then he will find a way of using his services when the coast his clear.
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WILKES’S LODGE, PARIS – Harassed by creditors, Wilkes is secretly approached by an envoy of the French government: they are willing to even out his financial problems and help him go back to Britain, in exchange of “information every now and then”. As this would mean working as a secret agent for them, Wilkes refuses sternly. As Wilkes leaves, the French envoy is met by Wentworth. Having predicted Wilkes’ reaction, the two agree to proceed with a plan they have hatched together. On taking his leave, Wentworth declines the envoy’s offer of sending him a prostitute to enjoy his last night in Paris before returning to London. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – At his desk Franklin is writing a letter addressed to his fellow colonists back in Pennsylvania. While he basks in his triumph over the repeal of the Stamp Act, at the same time Franklin encourages them to prepare themselves as he thinks it is time for the colonies to fight for their independence. However, it’s not a time for celebration in the house. Dr Bates visits a delirious Hewson: the wound got infected and caused septicaemia. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do to save him and now it’s just a matter of days, maybe hours. SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS – From the top of the hill where he stood earlier with Dashwood and Chippendale, King stares at the small lochs in the valley below: the ice on the surface has cracked and the surrounding snow is now melting. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE, CAVES – Dashwood informs Franklin that the Board of Trade is delaying any decision regarding their speculation project in the colonies. Dashwood reassures Franklin that he will take care of it but meanwhile, as they wait for King to return from Scotland, it is essential that they find new investors. At that very moment, Sandwich is announced by a butler. On the recommendation of a friend of his who sits on the Board of Trade, Sandwich has become interested in the speculation deal and would like to take part in it. Just what Dashwood and Franklin needed: they reaccept Sandwich at the Caves. After all, business beats enmity and hard feelings. SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS – Meanwhile, using Polly’s drawing and escorted by Dashwood’s militia, King locates the treasure and starts digging. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Polly’s husband is agonizing. As he lays in his deathbed, Polly says “I love you …”; as soon as he breathes his last breath, she adds “like a brother”, and cradles his head. She is five months pregnant with another child. Later, Franklin walks in to console Polly and promises to look after her, the children and Aunt Margaret. But Polly replies by making a scene: she does not want him to be near her or her child. MADAM SULPHUR’S – Dashwood tries to bribe members of the Board of Trade into approving their speculation project. Reluctant at first, the Lords of Trade quickly change their mind when they are presented with a few young prostitutes and with the prospect of unlimited enjoyment of the “services” provided by Lucy Cooper’s brothel, all paid for by Dashwood. WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – One of his subordinates hands Wentworth a bundle of papers: these are all letters written by Franklin that they have intercepted. One
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87 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY in particular is addressed to Franklin’s fellow colonists in Pennsylvania. Wentworth’s face lights up. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Franklin helps Margaret to tuck Polly’s child in bed, then checks on Polly to make sure she is alright. Polly sits in her rocket chair, slowly stroking her big, pregnant belly, blankly staring in front of her. As Franklin is about to walk out, Polly finally breaks down… but not because she mourns her husband’s death. She held a grudge against Franklin because he neglected her, first for aunt Margaret, then for all those prostitutes at Dashwood’s club, and finally he abandoned her to go back to America. Franklin hugs her and tries to calm her down: everything is alright, he is back now and he will take care of her. CHIPPENDALE’S LODGE, COVENT GARDEN – King is finally back from Scotland. While he, Chippendale and Dashwood stow away the few coffers he brought back in the coal room of Chippendale’s lodge, Wentworth arrives uninvited. As Chippendale and Dashwood entertain Wentworth in the adjacent room, King stays quiet in the coal room brandishing a dagger, ready to pierce Wentworth the minute he walks in. Wentworth proposes a deal to Dashwood: the French are willing to return Wilkes in exchange for d’Eon. Knowing that Dashwood has regular dealings with d’Eon and assuming he still holds a grudge against Wilkes for the scandal surrounding his illicit club, Wentworth encourages Dashwood to turn d’Eon in and, in exchange, Wentworth will surrender Wilkes to Dashwood so they can settle score. With his eyes set on his political career, Wentworth would be able to negotiate a long-needed diplomatic truce with France thus winning the favour of the king and the government. Dashwood accepts. WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – Unexpectedly summoned by Wentworth, Franklin is shown his own letters: as they incite the colonists to start a revolution, he could be charged with treason and hanged. Wentworth offers him an alternative though, by blackmailing Franklin into working under cover for the British in France, as Agent 72. Franklin refuses Wentworth’s offer scornfully even though Wentworth suggests he thinks about it. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Franklin is confused and scared. His kidney stones are getting worse, his gout is also killing him and he is overdosing his opium. Polly walks in on him and tenderly reproaches him. Franklin explains to her what is happening; Polly suggests that he must look after himself and needs a break. Thermal baths are perfect to cure gout, so why doesn’t he takes a short holiday at one: maybe Bath? CARPENTER’S CHOCOLATE-AND-COFFEE SHOP – The following day, Sandwich and Dashwood discuss the financial details of the land speculation project in the colonies. When Franklin joins them, he asks Dashwood to delay any further plan by a few days. He tells them about Wentworth and that he needs a short holiday on his own. Dashwood agrees: he must not worry about anything and gives Franklin his best carriage so he can travel to Bath most comfortably. Showing to understand the situation, Sandwich takes his leave. Dashwood reassures Franklin that he will go and meet Wentworth at once to butter him up or – should he not be reasonable enough – straighten him up.
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WENTWORTH’S OFFICE – As he approaches the unassuming building from a side street, Dashwood spots Sandwich coming out of it in a hurry. CHIPPENDALE’S LODGE, COVENT GARDEN – Alarmed, Dashwood recruits King and Chippendale and his men. Of course, Dashwood knows where to find Sandwich, as usual. MADAM SULPHUR’S – Lucy Cooper interrupts Sandwich while he is groping a teenaged prostitute and sends her away abruptly. In a fume over such an intrusion, naked Sandwich can hardly make an attempt to chase after them that Dashwood enters the private booth as soon as Lucy walks out in a huff. Surprised to see him there, Sandwich asks Dashwood the reason of his visit: in response, Dashwood remains silent but King, Chippendale and two other men barge in and start beating Sandwich until he confesses that he has sold Franklin out to Wentworth. Hastily, Dashwood instructs King to get to Franklin before Wentworth’s hit-men do, and Chippendale to proceed with the exchange plan between d’Eon and Wilkes as per his agreement with Wentworth. AVEBURY – En route towards Bath, Franklin stops at the small village to admire the Neolithic stones. COUNTRY ROAD – Wentworth’s hit-men are galloping fast. Unbeknownst to them on top of a nearby hill, King rides down the other side, taking a shortcut. LONDON (A FEW HOURS LATER) – At the agreed location, Wentworth hands Wilkes over to Dashwood who assures him that Chippendale is taking care of d’Eon in this very moment. HANOVER SQUARE HOUSE – Dressed as a woman,,d’Eon is putting on some make-up when Chippendale and his men break into the apartment, knock the chevalier unconscious, roll him up in a carpet and kidnap him. Before leaving, Chippendale searches the flat thoroughly and finds a bundle of letters in a secret drawer. AVEBURY – As Franklin’s carriage reprises its journey, to his surprise King finally catches up with him. Minutes later, coming out of the blue, two completely naked highwaymen (the Cherhill Gang) assault the convoy. Meanwhile, Wentworth’s hitmen are getting nearer and nearer…
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10 – NO LIBERTY, NO KING
AVEBURY – Franklin recognizes one of the highwaymen as his other black slave, George, who had escaped on their first arrival at London. As the robbers focus on the money, Franklin notices that the second man is as chubby as he is. Not missing a good chance to show off his wit, Franklin starts lecturing the flabbergasted duo on how a real professional robber who knows how to do his job properly should be way more pragmatic then they are: to prove his point, he tells them that just the clothes he and King are wearing, and the carriage, are worth at least ten times as much. Wentworth’s hit-men reach the top of a nearby hill whence they spot two men – a black man and a chubby man wearing lavish clothes – standing next to the carriage in the distance. They quickly take aim and shoot them dead. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – Polly startles, stroking her belly. Worried that she might feel unwell, Margaret rushes to her help. Polly is alright but she has a strong feeling that something terrible has happened to Franklin. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE, CAVES – Dashwood is throwing a party to celebrate Wilkes’s comeback. Wilkes – who was literally kidnapped and abducted from France – is still surprised by the unexpected outcome of such an ordeal; as Dashwood explains to him that this is all part of his revenge strategy, Chippendale and his men arrive, unrolling a still unconscious d’Eon out of a carpet. AVEBURY – Walking along a footpath amid the grassland are a black and a chubby man: both are naked. Suddenly, two gunshots echo from a short distance. The two men stop and turn around: they are Franklin and King. Hiding amid the foliage, they see the hit-men galloping away. Near the carriage lie the bodies of George and the other robber clothed in King’s and Franklin’s clothes. Franklin thanks King for saving his life. They should drive the carriage back towards London, however their clothes are all covered in blood. AVEBURY, FARM – Hearing knocks on the door, an old farmer opens up to find Franklin and King completely naked on his doorstep. Franklin asks if he would be so kind as to provide them with some of his clothes… needless to say, they will pay for the nuisance. Gobsmacked, the farmer lets them in. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE, CAVES – Dashwood and his friends bet on d’Eon’s sex: they check under his garments to find out that it’s… undetermined! WENTWORTH’S OFFICE (THE DAY AFTER) – The hit-men are back and report good news: Franklin and his black slave are dead. Unfortunately, Wentworth’s secretary reports bad news: Dashwood hasn’t kept his side of the deal and did not turn d’Eon in. Furious, Wentworth orders the hit-men to follow him to Dashwood’s estate in Wycombe at once. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE, CAVES – A now starving d’Eon is being held captive in one of the cells inside the secret caves. When Dashwood and Wilkes finally turn up, d’Eon’s protests are immediately silenced by the arrival of several waiters
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91 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY who serve him Madeira wine and trays of all sorts of delicacies. While d’Eon digs in, Dashwood declares his intention to pledge support to Wilkes’s reformist campaign to be elected MP at the upcoming elections with the aim to ease the burden on both the British population and the colonies. As concerns d’Eon, Dashwood has copies of his letters accusing the King of France of planning a British invasion – in short, his safe-conduct from being murdered by the French so at to prevent him from selling similar secrets to the British. Dashwood knows all too well that should Wentworth get hold of these letters, he would not hesitate to turn d’Eon in to the French and keep the letters to himself and buy his way into political power in London. So here’s Dashwood’s offer: if he wants to get out of all this alive, d’Eon must do Dashwood’s bidding thenceforth. When d’Eon asks what he wants him to do, Dashwood replies: “candles… and the art of seduction”. The three men are interrupted by the sudden arrival of Chippendale whose men have been keeping watch on Wentworth: the latter is headed to the estate with his henchmen. Dashwood hurries Wilkes along to hide into the cell with d’Eon and rushes out with Chippendale. Left alone, d’Eon and Wilkes stare at each other, clearly uncomfortable. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Dashwood and Chippendale are playing cards in the drawing room facing the beautiful park and lake outside when they hear sudden ruckus and pacey footsteps getting closer. The door is sprung open: in barge Wentworth and his two hit-men. The house butler complains about such ungodly manners but Dashwood reassures him it is alright: they would like to play whist but they need two more players and nobody else is available so Dashwood invites Wentworth to join in. But Wentworth is not up for games at all; he knows Dashwood is hiding d’Eon and Wilkes and starts searching the whole building looking for them. Room after room he finds them all empty, except for one where he finds woebegone Sarah being taken care of by Macauley. Then one of Wentworth’s hit-men rushes in: the door to one of the rooms on the ground floor is shut. Despite Dashwood trying to dissuade him, Wentworth is resolute and orders him to open the door. Dashwood complies. Wentworth storms inside the room where, to his horror, he is welcomed by Franklin, well alive and kicking! With a mocking smile on his face, Dashwood claps his hands twice and his militia flock in at once and disarm Wentworth and his thugs. Since they have abused his hospitality, Dashwood orders the soldiers to show them all out of his property. But before they do so, he approaches Wentworth face to face and unpins a familiar brooch from his lapel. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE, CAVES – Meanwhile, d’Eon breaks the ice and hands a glass of Madeira over to Wilkes. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Dashwood, Franklin and Chippendale laugh it out at yet another narrow escape – and at Franklin’s ragged farmer’s clothes. Dashwood instructs Chippendale’s team to make dozens of new pieces of furniture, the best he’s ever made. Meanwhile, King comes back from London taking Margaret and heavily pregnant Polly along with him. As they enter the room and see Franklin there safe and sound, Polly bursts into tears of joy and kisses him all over his face and bald head. As she hugs him fast though, she starts feeling severe abdominal pain.
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Dashwood has his servants call for Dr Bates at once: Polly is going into labour too early. At the end of a long night she finally gives birth to her second child. LONDON – In the following weeks, Wilkes’s campaign meets huge popular support: in his rallies he advocates the right of voters to choose their representatives, a radical reform of the Parliament, the freedom of the press, supports the colonies’ demands and religious tolerance. Wilkes himself leads hordes of protesters who see in him “the man of the people” in the streets of London. His past charges still pending, he has himself arrested on purpose eventually. Following Dashwood’s instructions, d’Eon and his men distribute money, food and “candles” in all the poorest districts of London. Thousands gather outside Wilkes’s prison shouting in his support: “No liberty, no King”. For several nights on end, the whole city of London is illuminated by countless candles lit by Wilkes’s supporters. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – King George III is terrified; as are Wentworth, Bute and Sandwich. The king wants immediate repression of any form of protest. Wentworth’s attempt to recommend caution in order not to inflame popular support for Wilkes even further meets George’s firm disagreement. BOARD OF TRADE – Franklin waits patiently for a formal response concerning his speculation project in the Illinois colony. To his disappointment, not only the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Lord Dartmouth) delays his decision to a date to be determined but he also blackmails Franklin by making his decision pending on a formal retraction of the Massachusetts’ Assembly’s critical stance on the role and power of London’s Parliament over colonial matters. LONDON – Countless people still chant “No liberty, no King” in the streets watched by armed troops at close distance. When a young boy starts mocking them, two soldiers pursue him until they shoot him dead in front of an inn. Having witnessed the incident, the protestors’ anger boils over and the troops open fire into the crowds killing unarmed people. The demo erupts into a huge riot with the soldiers chased by angry mobs and stoned. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – Eventually, the king relents. Wilkes is acquitted from all charges and will be able to enter the race for Parliament. The king blames all this on Wentworth’s failed attempts. MADAM SULPHUR’S – As he drowns his worries in gin, Sandwich is easily seduced by an elegant prostitute who is all too familiar… but not to him. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Dashwood, Franklin and Chippendale celebrate Wilkes on his election as MP when the elegant prostitute walks in, taking off wig and make-up: it’s d’Eon. Dashwood’s tip-off proved right and he managed to steal a bundle of letters from Sandwich after he passed out. Dashwood keeps his word and in exchange for those gives d’Eon’s own letters back to him. Franklin, Dashwood and Wilkes check the compromising content of those letters, addressed to members of the government by the Governor of Massachusetts, another colony that Franklin represents in Britain as agent. As they encourage new, even more restrictions of liberties and the deployment of more troops,
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Franklin agrees he must inform his fellow members in the Colonial Assembly, but none of this must be made public. CHIPPENDALE’S WORKSHOP – Using crucibles and tongs Chippendale is busy smelting gold. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Flora and her husband arrive from Scotland and are temporarily lodged at the estate. Flora is almost moved to tears when Dashwood returns her the brooch he took back from Wentworth after so many years. BOARD OF TRADE – To the utter surprise of the Secretary of State, Franklin and Dashwood’s speculation project is approved by the Board of Trade. At a private meeting attended also by Wilkes, Bute and Sandwich, he accuses them of bribing the members of the Board. Franklin and Wilkes present a last resort plan to reconcile with the Colonies and prevent war. The proposal is dismissed curtly: Bute scornfully assures them that the Colonies will never start a revolution and all unrests will be crushed eventually. As they walk out, Dashwood and Wilkes convince Franklin that it is now time to leak the Governor’s letters to the press, aware of the risks that will lie ahead, and ready to face the consequences. ST. JAMES’S PALACE – King George III is livid: news have arrived of unquenchable revolts in the colonies following the publication of the Governors’ letters: the situation is escalating and war now seems more and more inevitable indeed. Wentworth relays that his men have intercepted privateers smuggling arms to the colonies: he knows they are being sent by Franklin with Dashwood’s and Wilkes’s help even but has no direct evidence to prove it. However, there is more: apparently, Franklin has publicly admitted that he is responsible for the leak of the letters. This time they can finally frame him for good. PRIVY COUNCIL – As he stands silent during the whole hearing, Franklin is lambasted by the Solicitor General for his role in the affair: he is accused of thievery, dishonour, and of being a schemer on behalf of the colonies’ radicals. He is dismissed from his post as colonial agent and Postmaster General effective immediately; moreover, the Council will soon emit its verdict with regards to the most serious charge of all: treason. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – As Franklin awaits his verdict nervously, Polly relays the sad news of Deborah’s death to him. DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Macauley accompanies Dashwood into his wife’s bedroom: as he walks in, he sees Sarah lying on her bed, lifeless. In a momentary lapse of strength, Dashwood falters slightly, then pulls himself back together. Macauley puts a hand gently on his shoulder. CHIPPENDALE’S WORKSHOP – Meanwhile, Chippendale’s team are working hard to finish the new furniture. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – It’s time for goodbyes… Dashwood has arranged a carriage for Franklin, Polly and her children; tearfully, Margaret has decided to stay in England even though parting from Polly breaks her heart. Franklin wants to set his slave free but King is resolute to return to America with him. Dashwood
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94 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY and Franklin shake hands for the last time… or maybe not, who knows what the future holds for them. DOCKYARDS, WAPPING – Chippendale supervises several coffers being loaded onto a cargo ship. Unbeknownst, one of Wentworth’s agent spots him from some distance. CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – An order of arrest is eventually issued against Franklin. Wentworth and his armed men surround the house in Craven Street…
SERIES FINALE, or HOOK FOR RETURNING SEASON CRAVEN STREET HOUSE – When Wentworth’s men break in they only find Margaret and her dummies. The other agent rushes in, reporting about the cargo being loaded. RIVER THAMES – The cargo ship is halted by a blockade on the River Thames; Wentworth hurries on board with his troops in search of Franklin. Among the passengers are Flora and her husband, headed to a new life in the colonies, King and Chippendale… but no Franklin. Countless pieces of furniture of all kinds are stowed in the huge hold along with several big coffers. Obeying Wentworth’s order, Chippendale opens the big coffers to reveal they contain… knobs, hinges, escutcheons, metal balls and claw feet. Realizing there’s nothing else he can do, a fuming Wentworth eventually debarks and releases the ship. Now safe to sail again, King wonders what happened to the gold that he thought was hidden in the coffers. “Oh, but it is”, assures Chippendale smirking as, one after the other, he scrapes a small patch off several knobs and other pieces of furniture to reveal shimmering gold underneath the coat of paint. SHIP AT SEA – Franklin and Polly (with her children) have sailed away from another port and are already safely crossing the Atlantic. On board another ship a cannon is fired, throwing a ball right at an enemy ship causing a huge explosion… These ships, though, are actually sailing the lake at… DASHWOOD’S ESTATE – Comfortably seated on the large meadow, Dashwood and Wilkes toast to a successful stratagem, taking in the beautiful view of the grounds and enjoying the staged naval battle on the lake at sunset.
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18th CENTURY BRITAIN AND THE AMERICAN COLONIES For 90% of the population, daily life in 18th century Britain is a far cry from the fairytale-like luxuries of the aristocracy. Although architecture has started to change the landscape, most dwellings are overcrowded with several families living cheek by jowl amongst back streets that lack even the most basic of comforts. Rats infest every home and even ladies’ powdered wigs on occasion suffer an infestation of mice. A lack of essential sanitaryware means human waste is simply thrown out of windows into the streets below. Pumps are the only source of drinking water and even that is likely to be sullied by human defecation and the constant flooding that overwhelms many towns and cities. Even the wealthy are unable to avoid diseases fostered by overcrowded cities, although they escape all but the most necessary of incursions into this cesspit of life by shutting themselves within their gated estates, tables heaving with fresh delicacies, an education under their belts and the luxury of indulging the Grand Tour. Yet, in the countryside all is not well as food riots lead to bloody battles between a starving population and the glutinous greed of an unpopular elite. Most people’s lives won’t be bettered whether a Hanoverian or Stuart monarch sits on the throne; they remain vexed by taxation whoever rules, galvanised by the fear of foreign invasion and a peddled by prejudice that instils fear into their uneducated lives. With the Jacobite army marching on London no one feels safe yet insecure whispers suggest: “We can’t possibly be worse off under Charlie”. Infant mortality is off the charts yet does little to diminish the abundance of fecund mothers whose dream of a better life in London often ends with septicaemia by childbirth infections. Poor hygiene leads to rampant dysentery and vomiting as most diets lack fresh ingredients: stale bread, rotten fruit and diseased meat are the norm; gin and beer the fluids of choice unless you’re an intellectual tea drinker or wealthy enough to afford the chocolate-and-coffee shops. Street barber surgeons extract teeth using pliers then offer a haircut. Nothing’s sterilised, or even washed, but if you’re lucky enough, the alcohol used to inebriate you prior to removing a rotten tooth might disinfect your wounds. If you can pay, a doctor might prescribe laudanum, widely given as a cure-all, its opium content coaxing the user into lifelong addiction. If you make it out of childhood the penalties for even the mildest transgressions are simply appalling, with prison often considered a worse punishment than the relatively quick release offered at the end of a rope. This is a world where an inability to pay one’s bills means prison. Even the smallest of debts leads to incarceration and starvation. Torture with thumb screws and metal skull caps is routine as hundreds of poverty-stricken debtors starve to death in cramped cells, their rotting corpses chewed by rats. For well-heeled debtors, able to afford prison fees, food, alcohol and other privileges are supplied. Like life in general, when it comes to prison, there is one law for the rich and another for the poor.
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There are four ways out of misery. One is to take the King’s shilling and enlist; another is to go into the service of one of the many aristocratic estates. Yet, in reality, the lot of the cannon fodder or the over-worked maids fare little better than any other poor damned soul. The other two escapes are alcoholism and death. For most that life is only bearable when intoxicated. Hogarth hits the nail on the head with his print aptly titled Gin Lane. If a nation addicted to gin leads to a decline in morals, as a by-effect it leads to an increase in sexually transmitted “pox”. The naturally whoring vices of the elite helps venereal diseases spread: if it doesn’t kill, it scars and maims, blinding or disfiguring irrespective of social status. Many people have multiple bouts of sexually transmitted diseases during their life – up to 20 not being uncommon. Male members of the aristocracy accepted debts and VDs as matter of fact. Are the poor a deserving or an undeserving poor? In reality they are told what to believe and are penalised for any transgression of morality laws by a legal system populated by perverts. Occasionally an aristocrat would find himself tried for sexual deviance by a judiciary eager to pour over the physical aspects in mock outrage whilst later masturbating over pornographic literature and visiting brothels – although the so-called “widow palm” is looked upon as a harmful practice by so-called “medicine”. Clearly society has an underbelly of illicit eagerness for pornography too, with some public houses and bath houses having sexually explicit tiles on the walls. Pornographic literature is more the domain of the elite as an illiterate underclass lacks the education and sophistication to read or understand it. Court cases of course hit the headlines of the day with “outraging public decency” bantered around as the most heinous of crimes; yet in the molly houses and brothels, the images of copulating aristocrats titillate all. At least for the elite marriage most likely comes from arrangements that put the monies of two dynastically aristocratic families together; or perhaps, a gentleman on hard times would marry a wealthy widow, she gaining the social kudos of a title whilst he would pay his gambling debts off and gain an estate or at least an imposing town house somewhere. Marriage would endure husbands servicing prostitutes on a regular basis as adultery by a man was not considered grounds for divorce. Divorcing often required an act of Parliament for aristocrats: indeed, there are only 100 such divorces throughout the 18th Century and whilst divorcees often remarry, many suffer social alienation and the brunt of press and social comments. A small yet burgeoning middle class of merchant people whose furniture and fabrics feed the opulent needs of the aristocracy moves into the cities. Slavery brings wealth to Liverpool and Bristol as a trade in human misery traffics hundreds of souls on a journey many will simply not survive, whilst in London a black community of some 15,000 live with daily prejudice and mistrust. In London crime spread ungovernably, management of police is in the hands of justices and corruption is rife. There are no troops on the streets at night which leads to the emergence of violent street gangs as the young and old alike fall
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98 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY prey to every vice and abuse their vulnerability allows. Minor offenders are constantly exposed in the pillory. Public execution and private vice, the entertainment of choice. Bodies hang in gallows or swing in iron cages; severed heads are displayed on spikes as warning; entrails are burned in front of crowds, fermenting with the stench of death as corpses are washed up daily by the Thames tide. Paupers’ graves are overflowing, coffins are often left half-exposed in “poor holes” next to homes and businesses. At least the acrid yellow smoke that hangs over London masks the fetor a little, until the Thames freezes and winter dampens the reek until the thaw of spring. Animal waste piles in the streets as cleaners hire out planks to ladies, allowing them to bridge the open sewers running with the foul stench of defecation. Cow herders bring their cattle into London and do little to clear up the mess. Rain and grey water are gullied into the Thames whilst a market develops in human waste, eventually collected to fertilise the fields by the “night-soil men”. At Mount Pleasant in London’s Clerkenwell, the first landfill site is opened. In Europe’s capital of debauchery, one in five women are prostitutes with men encouraged to patronise in a very matter-of-fact kind of way a trade in human misery that exploits the youngest and most vulnerable too. An annual directory of prostitutes – Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies – sells thousands of copies for two shillings. The luckiest (or sharpest-witted) prostitutes marry into high society to then look down on those who remain trapped in the vice. Public sexual acts are a regular sight, with naïve men asking probably just as naïve prostitutes whether they have any pox or disease; of course, the answer is always “No”, whilst in reality, when servicing 20 clients a day the ramifications are obvious. In the rookeries of St Giles (so called because people are always packed in like rooks) people have to fight off sexual advances. Errand boys and apprentices are often the subject of abuse. While perpetrators are likely to receive the harshest of penalties if apprehended, the cost of prosecuting someone lies with the victim, therefore the reality is that many suffer a life of abuse with perpetrators going unpunished by a preoccupied public. In the Colonies, the same clubs and vices emerge as in the motherland, but for many, this is a new start. Trade brings huge wealth to a middleclass who soon becomes just as unpopular as the elite they try and emulate. In Britain, the American Colonies are looked upon as rich picking for tea, cotton, mahogany and a soft touch when it comes to taxation. There seems to be an attitude in the colonies that abstinence and hard work will improve people, possibly a reaction to the decadence of Britain. Prostitution is much less organized than in Britain. Puritanism has sought to change the face of the Church of England and it did, whilst Quakerism also takes root in a land where the sins of Britain might be rooted out. Ironically, whilst society seems to be more puritanical, the age of consent is actually lower than that of Britain.
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COMPLETE LIST OF CHARACTERS BY EPISODE (in alphabetical order, per episode)
EPISODES 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Abbe Nicolini X Allan MacDonald X X X Archbishop of Canterbury (Potter's father) X X X X Archibald Cameron X X X X Aunt Margaret Stevenson X X X X X X X X X X Bedlam patients X BENJAMIN FRANKLIN X X X X X X X X X X Boatmen X X Borgnis X X Bute, Earl of X X X X X X X X X X Cardinal Tencin X Catherine Macauley X X X X X Catholic widow X Charlie, the Bonnie Prince X X X X X X X Charlotte X X Cherhill gang X Cherhill gang chubby robber X X X Chevalier d’Eon X X X X X X X X Chevalier d’Eon’s valet X X Chippendale’s housemaid X Chippendale’s team X X X X Clementina X X X Clerk of the Privy Council X Cluny MacPherson X X X X Dashwood’s militia X X X Dashwood’s butler X X Deborah Franklin X X X Dorothy X Dr Bates X X X X X Dr Hewson X X Dubious man X Duke of Wharton X Fanny X X X X X X Farmer in Avebury X Flora MacDonald X X X X X X X FRANCIS DASHWOOD, SIR X X X X X X X X X X Franklin’s militia X Franklin’s young lover X
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Frederick (Prince of Wales) X X French envoy / attaché X X George (Franklin’s slave) X X X X X Governor of Pennsylvania X Henry Pelham X X Jacobite army X X X Jacobite schemers X X John Wilkes X X X X X X X X Judge X King (Franklin’s slave) X X X X X X X X King George II X X X King George’s valet X King’s champion X X King’s steward X Lady Wortley X X X Lord Elcho X Lord Lovat X Lord Newcastle X X X X X X X Lords of the Board of Trade X X Lucy Cooper X X X X X X Martha X X X X X X Martha’s maid X Mary Walcot X Members of Junto, freemasons X X Mme Talmond X Nancy X X Nancy’s handsome client X Nuns in Paris X Old prostitute at Magdalene Hospital X Paul Wentworth X X X X X X X X X X Passers-by X Pennsylvania Assembly, members X Polly X X X X X X X X X X Polly’s son #1 X X X Polly’s son #2 X Polly’s mum X Pope Benedict XIII X Potter’s wife X President of the Royal Society X Priest X Princess Augusta X X X X X X X Prostitutes X X Queen Charlotte X X
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01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Rioters in colonies X Robert Walpole X Sandwich, Earl of (John Montagu) X X X X X X X X X X Sarah Ellys X X X X X X Solicitor General (Wedderburn) X Teen prostitutes at Mme Sulphur X X Temple Franklin X X Thomas Chippendale X X X X X X X X Thomas Potter X X X X X X X Thug X Troops X Two Jacobite deserters X Valets at Cliveden X Vicar X Village children X Village nuns X Visitors in the Sistine Chapel X Wentworth’s men X X X X Wentworth’s secretary X X Wilkes’ servants X Wilkes’ supporters X X Wilkes’ wife X William Franklin X X X X X X X William Franklin’s lover X William Franklin’s wife X X X Young boy X Young George (King George III) X X X X X X X X
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COMPLETE LIST OF LOCATIONS (in alphabetical order, per episode)
EPISODES 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Abbe Nicolini's Grand Lodge in Italy X Avebury, farm X Avebury, Neolithic stones and hill X X Bedlam Hospital X Blackfriars bridge X Board of Trade X Cargo ship X Catholic widow’s lodges X Charlie’s house in Paris X Chippendale’s lodge in Covent Garden X X X X Chippendale’s workshop X Cliveden House X X X X X X X Carpenter’s chocolate-and-coffee shop X X X X ? Country manor in France X X X Country road near Avebury X Countryside X Covent Garden, Royal Opera House X X X Dashwood's estate (palace and X X X X X X ? ? X grounds) in West Wycombe Dashwood's estate (caves and church) X X X in West Wycombe Dashwood's London house in Hanover X X X X X X Square; then Martha's Denham's print shop X D'Eon's shanty in Paris X Divan Club at the George and Vulture Inn X Docklands, Wapping X X X Edinburgh University X Exeter House in Derby X Fanny's apartment in London X X Foundling hospital in London X Franklin's house in Philadelphia X X X Franklin's mistress's lodge in Philadelphia X French embassy in London X X Hume’s house in Scotland X Isle of Skye (incl. Flodigarry village) X X X Jacobite camp in Derby X Jacobite hideout in London X
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103 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Jail in Paris X Junto Club in Philadelphia X Lady Wortley’s house in Rome X Law School in London X London – Streets, inns, taverns X X X X X X X X London Courts X London slums X X PM’s office (Lord Newcastle's, X X X X X X Walpole's, Bute’s) Madam Sulphur's bagnio X X X X X X Magdalene hospital in London X Margaret's house in Craven Street X X X X X X X X X X Medmenham Abbey (down the grounds X X X X X X of Dashwood's estate) North Briton office X X Nunnery (and cloisters) in Paris X Opera in Paris X Oxford University X Papal apartments, Vatican X Pennsylvania Assembly X X X Pennsylvania Governor's office X Philadelphia docks X X Philadelphia streets X Post Office X Potter’s house X Privy Council X X Reformation Society X River Thames X X River Thames embankment in London X X River Thames jetty at Medmenham X X Royal African Company X Royal Society X Scottish Highlands X X X X Ship (Atlantic Ocean) X Sistine Chapel, Vatican X Small church in London X X St. James’s Palace X X X X X X St. John’s Lodge in Philadelphia X X X Stanton Moore, “Nine Ladies” Neolithic X circle Stanton Moore, Polly’s cottage X Tencin’s house in Paris X The Cage (cave in the Highlands) X X The Channel X
[email protected] T: 07818840523 [email protected] T: 07770753397
104 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Tower of London (cells and blocks) X X X X Village church X Village pub X Wentworth’s office X X X X Westminster Abbey X X Westminster Hall (Parliament) X X X X X X Wharton’s club X William Franklin’s apartment X Wilkes's house X Wilkes' lodge in Paris X
[email protected] T: 07818840523 [email protected] T: 07770753397
105 - TV drama series FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
[email protected] T: 07818840523 [email protected] T: 07770753397