(Cut to mountain climbers, with all the accoutrements: ropes, carabino's
helmets, pitons, hammers, etc. They are roped together, apparently
climbing a mountain.)
Voice Over: Climbing. The world's loneliest sport, where
hardship and philosophy go hand in glove. And here, another
British expedition, attempting to be the first man to successfully
climb the north face of the Uxbridge Road. (Pull out to reveal that
they are dimbing along a wide pavement; a shopper pushing a pram
comes into shot) This four-man rope has been climbing
tremendously. BBC cameras were there to film every inch.
(Cut to a BBC cameraman clinging to a lamppost, fiilming. He is wearing
climbing gear too. Cut to papier mache model of the Uxbridge Road, with
the route all neatly marked out in white, and various little pins for the
camps.)
Chris: (voice over) The major assault on the Uxbridge Road has
been going on for about three weeks, really ever since they
established base camp here at the junction of Willesden Road, and
from there they climbed steadily to establish camp two, outside
Lewis's, and it's taken them another three days to establish camp
three, here outside the post office. (cut to a pup tent being firmly
planted on the side of a largepost-box; it has a little union jack on it.)
Well they've spent a good night in there last night in preparation
for the final assault today. The leader of the expedition is
twenty-nine-year-old Bert Tagg - a local headmaster and mother
of three:
(Cut to Bert crawling along the pavement. The interviewer is crouching
down beside him.)
Interviewer: Bert. How's it going?
Bert: Well, it's a bit gripping is this, Chris. (heavy breathing
interspersed)) I've got to try and reach that bus stop in an hour or so
and I'm doing it by... (rearranging rope) damn ... I'm doing it, er,
by laying back on this gutter so I'm kind of guttering and laying
back at the same time, and philosophizing.
Interviewer: Bert, some people say this is crazy.
Bert: Aye, well but they said Crippen was crazy didn't they?
Interviewer: Crippen was crazy.
Bert: Oh, well there you are then. (shouts) John, l'm sending you down
this carabine on white, (there is a white rope between Bert and John)
(Quick cut to Viking.)
Viking: Lemon curry?
(Cut back to the street.)
Bert: Now you see he's putting a peg down there because I'm quite a
way up now, and if I come unstuck here I go down quite a long
way.
Interviewer: (leaving him) Such quiet courage is typical of the way these
brave chaps shrug off danger. Like it or not, you've got to admire
the skill that goes into it.
(By the miracle of stop action, they all fall off the road, back down the
pavement. Passers-by, also in stop action, walk by normally, ignoring the fall.)
Series 3 Scripts