Down Cemetery Road
Based on: Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron
Stars: Emma Thompson, Ruth Wilson, Adeel Akhtar, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Tom Goodman-Hill, Darren Boyd, Tom Riley, Adam Godley, Sinead Matthews, Ken Nwosu, Fehinti Balogun, Aiysha Hart
Season 1 – Episode 8
Episode title: What Will Survive
Original air date: December 10, 2025
Plot: Everything Sarah has fought for hangs in the balance.
* * *
Down Cemetery Road – S01E08 – What Will Survive | Transcript
[Hamza breathing heavily]
[seagull squawking]
[phone chimes]
[door closes]
[phone chimes]
[sighs]
[“Woman’s Touch” playing]
♪ The light has shone on you tonight ♪
♪ But I’ll go walking through
The darkened streets alone ♪
♪ And fall asleep with a smile ♪
♪ Saving my pennies
‘Cause the oracle told me so… ♪
♪ I’ve learned to trust my head to turn ♪
[suspenseful music plays]
[sighs]
Okay? Grab my hand.
That’s it. [pants] Good girl. [sighs]
[Dinah] Where are we going to next?
[Sarah] Don’t know yet.
Okay. Let’s keep moving. [pants]
[panting]
You okay?
Freezing cold.
[Sarah] Right. Okay. Um…
Let’s get you something warm to wear and something to eat, okay?
Okay.
All right?
[shopkeeper] I know.
Yeah, I know.
Look…
Just stay there.
[shopkeeper]
Look, that woman could be anywhere.
It’s scary.
Well, no one’s safe at all.
Have you heard any more from Callum?
No.
No, I’ll let you know if I hear anything.
Yeah. Keep me posted.
Okay. Yeah.
I’ll catch up with you later.
All right. What we just did was really, really naughty, okay?
Never ever do that again.
Okay.
Wait, wait, wait.
Shove it up your top. Up your top.
Uh, wait. In there. In there.
[ship horn blows]
[seagulls squawking]
There. You warm and cozy?
Where’s the cross lady?
The cross lady?
Oh.
Oh, you mean… you mean Zoë?
Um…
Okay, okay. Um…
Zoë might not be coming back.
Um, but look, she wasn’t really cross, you know?
No, actually that’s a lie.
Sometimes she was a bit cross and mean.
Actually, she could be really, really mean, you know?
[sighs]
But there’s this saying that we have about dogs.
Her bark was worse than her bite. [chuckles]
[Zoë] Woof!
[gasps]
[gasps]
Oh, don’t stop.
Go on. I was enjoying that.
[chuckles] Oh, my God. I thought you were…
Well, how did you get here?
[captain] Hey.
[Zoë] Donny.
Oh. Oh, hi.
Yeah, thanks for abandoning us, by the way.
Who’s this?
This is the reason we needed the puffin boat.
Oh. Hmm.
You left this in the boat.
Thank you.
[Zoë chuckles] We’re gonna have to owe you for the puffin trip.
I’m sorry.
[Donny] No. Not at all. On the house.
I mean, you never actually saw any puffins, did you?
No, we bloody didn’t.
No. Listen, you ladies better get yourself along to the police.
Let them know what the English are up to out there.
Us ladies will be just fine.
Thanks, Donny.
Donny, thanks a lot.
You’re a pal.
[Donny] You know where I am.
Mmhmm. [grunts, groans]
[sighs]
Your Puffin Boy isn’t the only one who’s after you.
[officer] Just call the hotline if you see this woman.
Keep your head down.
Let’s get out of here before the villagers drive a stake through my heart.
A bus. Bus. There’s a bus.
There’s a bus. This way.
[officer 1] If you see this woman, please do not approach her.
[speaks indistinctly]
[officer 1 speaks indistinctly] It is.
[villager] Did he know anything about it?
[officer 2] I’m afraid not.
Sir. Keep an eye out for this woman.
[Hamza] Yes. Thank you, Officer.
I definitely will, yep.
[officer 2 speaks indistinctly]
[speaks indistinctly]
Thank you for your help.
We’re trying to find the family as well.
[speaks indistinctly]
Afternoon, sir.
[Amos] Afternoon.
Oh.
[Sarah panting]
What’s the matter?
Can I just say something?
Like, maybe… maybe Mr. Puffin Boy was right, you know?
What if we just go to the police, tell them what’s happened, and that none of this is our fault?
Come over here.
[panting] So, listen, um, Sarah.
So, we’re not in Balamory.
We are in the middle of a massive government coverup.
There’s a bounty on her head and probably one on yours too.
This is way above the pay grade of PC Plum.
So we’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible.
Get it?
[Sarah] Yeah.
Okay, so, let’s go.
Come on.
[sighs] I’ll go in first.
[Zoë] You go first.
Okay. [clears throat]
Hello. Hi.
Hi.
Uh, to the train station.
Uh, two adults and one child.
[driver] Yep.
Thanks.
Uh, that’s, uh, five pounds, please.
Okay there. Great.
Thank you.
Fuck it.
[panting]
We’ll be home soon.
I promise, okay?
Oh!
[shushes]
They gone?
[bus engine revs]
[shushes]
[sighs]
[Varma] Um, no one can find out where that came from.
Who put all of this together?
Joe Silvermann. He was an Oxford PI working with a woman called Sarah Trafford.
She believed that the young girl who survived the explosion had been deliberately disappeared.
And your boss shut this down?
[scoffs] Orders from above.
“Leave it alone.”
So, over to you.
[Talia] What the hell is all this?
Right. Let’s get the fuck out of here before someone puts us on TikTok.
[Sarah, Dinah]
♪ Round and round, round and round ♪
♪ The wheels on the bus
Go round and round ♪
♪ All day long ♪
♪ The baby on the bus goes
Wah, wah, wah ♪
♪ Wah, wah wah
Wah, wah, wah ♪
♪ The baby on the bus goes
Wah, wah, wah ♪
♪ All day long ♪
[suspenseful music plays]
[engine starts]
Twat.
[door closes]
[Talia] Hello.
Right. I wanna know everything about the group of soldiers who were meant to be court-martialed but weren’t.
What happened to them?
You might need to be more specific.
Don’t treat me like an idiot just because I like a smelly candle, all right?
Why was a house exploded in Oxford?
And why is there a child called Dinah Singleton missing?
Yeah, you said you barely knew Isaac Wright.
He had your fucking number on speed dial.
Hmm. Well, I was trying to protect you.
How chivalrous. [scoffs]
But you didn’t need to know everything.
[scoffs]
However, your digging will have no doubt left you with dirt on your, uh, perfectly manicured hands.
Plausible deniability only really works when it’s plausible.
Tea?
No, no, no. No.
The shit is on your shoes.
I’m not carrying the can for your tom-fuckery.
[C] Look…
The plod’s information hasn’t yet made its way out into the murky waters of social media.
So do please just allow me to bang it on the head with a shovel.
Where’s the child?
[swallows, grunts]
[clicks tongue]
We have top government employees containing the situation.
Oh… [scoffs] What’s that code for?
But you’re right.
The court-martialed soldiers…
Let’s call them what they are, war criminals… didn’t die in a helicopter crash.
We gave them an opportunity to volunteer.
R & D. Weapons testing.
R & D?
[clicks tongue] Research and development.
Yes, I’m aware of what it means, but in this context, what were you developing?
A new weapon and an antidote.
[grunts] So the soldiers were guinea pigs.
The soldiers were lucky.
Oh, my God. [sighs] This department has committed appalling war crimes.
Yes, I admit the optics aren’t great.
[gasps]
[grunts]
[clicks tongue] The antidote could have been the holy grail.
Game-changing for modern defense.
And for them.
[inhales deeply, sighs]
Now it’s just a case of tying up loose ends.
I… [sighs] I don’t… I can’t…
[breathes heavily]
Okay, we just drove straight past those people waiting at a bus stop.
[Sarah] Did we?
Yeah.
[sighs] Wha–
[gasps]
[sighs]
[line ringing]
[Hamza, on phone]
Hi, you’ve reached Hamza Malik.
I’m not able to answer the phone at the moment, but if you’d like to leave a message, please do so after the beep.
I may be just in a meeting or temporarily indisposed.
Alternatively, if it’s urgent, you can also contact my assistant, Claire, or you can try me again in five minutes.
I’ll endeavor to respond ASAP or very soon after that.
Okay, thank you.
[line beeps]
Malik. [breathes heavily] Tiny bit of pressure building here.
What the hell are you doing up there?
Sporran shopping?
Whatever it is, please stop.
And, oh, I don’t know, turn on your fucking phone?
Okay, us next!
Oh, great, okay.
[bell rings]
Hang on.
Uh… No, no. Driver, this is our stop!
Mate, could you slow down?
We need to get off the bus!
[Sarah] Why’s he not slowing down?
Oi! Mate!
What’s your problem?
Oh, God.
Why are you driving us into the middle of effing nowhere?
There is no need for you to–
[Zoë] Oh, my God. It’s you.
Yes! Yes!
Oh, God.
[yells]
Brake!
Stop the bus! Stop the bus!
I can’t. It won’t stop!
Argh!
[grunts]
[grunting]
[grunts, pants]
[engine stops]
[birds chirping]
[cow moos]
[panting]
[panting] Oh, God.
[grunts, groans]
Are you okay? You okay? Not hurt?
[Dinah] Yeah.
[pants]
[grunts, cries]
[groaning, panting]
[Hamza groaning]
We’ve got to get out of here.
He’s one of them.
Oh, God, yeah.
[panting]
[groaning]
Oh, God. [groaning]
[bus doors open]
Let’s go to the church.
Might be someone in there.
[panting]
Let’s go for a little walkie, shall we?
[panting]
Come on! Let’s go!
[Zoë] Come on, hold on tight.
It’s all right.
Move! Come on!
[Zoë] It’s all right.
In the church.
Right. Right.
Stay there. [pants] Right, in. Let’s go.
[door closes, locks]
Right. In. In, in, in, in, in. Come on.
Yes, yes, yes.
[Hamza] Oh, right.
Um, okay.
Okay. [pants]
[Sarah] Okay.
[panting]
[line ringing]
[phone buzzes]
Yes.
[Hamza] I-I-I’ve got them, sir.
All three of them. In a church.
[C] Church?
[Hamza] Yes, sir.
I trust we’re not talking congregations, hymns and vicars.
[Hamza] No, no, no, no, no, sir.
It’s empty.
I-I drove them here myself… in a bus.
Marvelous.
So everything is going according to plan.
Uh, yes.
What is…
[Sarah] You’re gonna be okay.
What you doing?
Sit down.
Sit down!
Here! Sit down here!
[Sarah] All right!
Quick! Come on, sit down!
[Sarah] It’s okay.
[Zoë shushes]
What… What exactly do you want me to do, sir?
[C] We’ve been through this, Malik.
Don’t make me repeat myself.
I said finish it.
Yes, sir. Yep.
And, um, just to clarify, sir.
“Finish it”?
You’re supposed to be military intelligence, man.
I’ve met more intelligent mollusks.
But, um… not the kiddie though… surely?
Sir?
Second thoughts, stay put.
I’m sending backup.
[sighs] Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Okay, okay. [sighs] Okay.
[panting]
Lovely.
[urinating]
[slow music playing on radio]
[phone buzzing]
[grunts]
Hello, sweetheart. [sighs] Where are you?
[Amos] Heading off on holibobs.
Scotland’s nice.
But, uh, I’d rather have the sun on my skin.
Malik has shat the bed.
Sorry to hear that, but I’ve done my bit.
Downey’s shuffled off this mortal coil. I’m out.
I need you.
I am handing this to you on a plate, Crane.
See to them all.
All three.
I’ve sent the coordinates.
I need an incentive.
I’ve got you the money, fake ID, flights out.
What else do you want?
Hamza.
[clicks teeth] Enjoy.
[phone clicks]
[sighing]
[Sarah] Okay, so what’s our plan?
Well, ideally, get out of here before bungling Butch Cassidy goes rogue.
You know, I reckon we could take him down.
He’s out of control.
He’s got a gun, Sarah. Jesus Christ.
[sighs] Sorry. Didn’t mean to be rude.
Although a spot of divine intervention would be gratefully received.
[whispers] Sa…Sarah.
Oh, no, careful.
That’s dangerous.
Will you two stop whispering?
Right, I’m separating you.
You sit over there.
Move. Right, here’s what’s gonna happen.
Can you not keep doing that, please?
Yes, yes. Look, I’m in charge here!
Thank you.
[stammers] We all just need to stay calm until backup arrives.
Define “backup”?
Well, I imagine it will be a helicopter.
Or something.
Well, uh, you remember the big birdie helicopter?
Hey? [stammers] She’s all right.
She knows me.
You remember the big birdie helicopter?
Don’t you, Dinah? Here you are.
Don’t you, Dinah? Here, take it.
[whimpers] I know. I know how this looks.
Me, with a GUN.
But, honestly… Honestly?
I am not a bad person.
And the GUN is just a precautionary measure…
And look, if it helps, I could do this…
Could you not?
Look. All right. It doesn’t help.
Look, we all just…
We all just need to… [grunts] …stay calm.
And then we won’t have to resort to any VIO…
LE…
[breathes shakily]
[grunts]
Violence!
Oh, shit.
Get out!
[grunts]
[screams]
[Sarah grunts]
[panting, coughing]
[coughing]
Are you okay?
[coughs]
Yeah. Yeah.
[panting, coughing]
[groans]
Zoë.
[Zoë grunts]
Zoë.
[coughing, grunting]
[banging]
Quick. Quick. [pants]
[grunts]
[banging]
[whispering] Psst. Give me a hand.
Give me a hand.
[Sarah] Okay.
There. Go down. That’s it.
[grunts]
Someone call for backup?
[Hamza grunts, coughs]
[groans] You…
He sent you? [groaning]
Fuck’s sake. [groans]
[Amos] Yeah.
Your horrible boss sent me because his lily-livered lackey’s too chicken shit to get his own hands dirty.
To be fair, this bit was way easier than I expected.
Woman and kid all done in one easy hit.
[rat squeaking] Oh, fuck no.
[whimpers]
Boom!
Literally.
Anyway. Now he wants your scalp too, Hamster.
Don’t believe you.
[Amos] Suit yourself.
Either way, you’ve been on my personal hit list for a while.
You said there were “sighs of relief” when they bagged my little brother.
You called him an idiot.
[chuckles] [shushes] That way.
I was only joking.
[chuckles]
[Amos chuckles] There will be dancing in the street when I drag your corpse home.
Nothing you say can scare me anymore.
[whispering] Zoë.
Stay-stay there.
Stay there!
Do it.
[Sarah] No, wait, stop there.
Zoë. Hurry up.
[Hamza grunts]
I dare you.
Do it.
[panting]
[Amos] Come on.
Fuck.
[metal bangs]
[Hamza grunts]
[grunting]
How’d she get out there?
[Sarah whispers] Zoë.
[grunting]
[Zoë yelps]
No! Zoë!
Zoë! No!
[yells] Dinah!
[yelling, groaning]
[Sarah, Zoë shouting]
[Zoë] Find Dinah!
Dinah!
[grunting]
Dinah!
Dinah? [panting]
[Hamza] Dinah!
[grunting, groaning]
[groans]
[Hamza] Wait, stop!
Dinah!
Dinah, wait there!
[Amos yells]
[panting, groaning]
[Zoë yells]
Dinah! Little Dinah!
Sounds a bit like dinosaur, doesn’t it?
You like dinosaurs, don’t you?
What’s your favorite dinosaur?
[Zoë yells, grunts]
[grunts]
[grunting, groaning]
[grunting]
[Zoë groans]
[Hamza] My son Milo loves a Brachiosaurus.
I’m a little dinosaur, short and stout!
Here’s my wings and here’s my
[Dinah grunts] I’m a Brontosaurus.
Tall and thin.
I’ve got a pointy tail.
And I’ve got no…
And I’ve got no wings.
[Sarah breathes heavily]
Dinah, wait there! Dinah!
Dinah, wait!
Dinah, run.
No.
Go!
[Zoë grunting] You’re a tool.
You’re a weapon of the state.
And you’re screwed.
[Amos] No.
I know where all the bodies are buried ’cause me and my brother buried them.
All the more reason for them toto throw you to the lions.
I’d be delighted to watch.
Your brother… [groans] …killed my husband.
[coughs]
Oh.
You’re thinking kin for kin.
Well, then we’ll be even.
Might as well have fun while I still can.
[grunts]
[groans]
Well, we’ve got two ways that we can game this, haven’t we, Sarah?
Put the gun down.
You help me find Dinah, persuade her to come with me, and then, honestly, from your point of view, it’s just a matter of signing a few official secret documents.
You put this thing behind you, start again like it never happened.
[breathes heavily] No.
I’m not giving you the kid.
Okay.
Well, the other way is that you don’t put the gun down.
Let’s say you end up killing me.
And, um…
Well, you tell the world whatever it is you think you know.
Oh, I know exactly what you’ve been up to.
Covering up toxic war games.
[hammer cocks]
[Sarah gasps] Shit.
In that case, you need to bear in mind the consequences.
I might be dead, but the department I work for won’t be.
It’s not a difficult decision, is it, Sarah?
It’s happily ever after or fuck everyone.
Pardon my French.
[exhales shakily]
Why can’t you just leave us alone?
[Hamza] I can help you, Sarah.
I’m not a psychopath.
You see, I…
I don’t want to harm you.
And if you pull that trigger, everything could backfire.
Look, I get it…
[stammers] You got involved in something that wasn’t your fault.
I know what I got involved in–
Compared to my colleagues, I am Mother fucking Teresa!
And if you pull that trigger, you’ll start something you can’t ever stop.
You…
[whimpers] …the child, everyone you know and love will all meet major accidents.
No! [grunting]
These are your final moments, Boehm.
[straining]
[grunts, screams]
You should be saying your fucking prayers.
[Zoë grunting, straining]
[Hamza] Come on, put the gun down.
And I promise you nothing bad will happen to you or the child.
I promise you.
Come on. Put… [chuckles] Put the gun down.
[Zoë grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[Amos groans]
[Sarah exhales deeply]
[Hamza chuckles]
Thought you might do that.
Yeah.
Sorry.
[inhales sharply]
[gunshot]
[coughing]
[Sarah breathes heavily]
[Sarah] Plugs are in.
It’ll blow your am off.
Dickhead.
[screaming]
[Hamza screaming]
Help me! [groaning, screaming]
[screaming]
Dinah?
Dinah?
Where are you, Dinah?
Dinah!
Dinah! [gasps] Are you all right, pal? Hey.
Oh.
Oh. You’re okay?
Oh.
[Zoë coughing]
Fucker’s dead.
[laughs] Good girl.
[Zoë groans]
All right.
[Zoë coughs]
[Sarah] You okay?
[Zoë] Never better. Let’s go.
[Sarah chuckles]
[Sarah exhales deeply]
[“What’s Up?” playing on radio]
♪ That the world was
Made up of this brotherhood of man ♪
♪ For whatever that means ♪
♪ And so I cry sometimes
When I’m lying in bed ♪
♪ Just to get it all out
What’s in my head and I ♪
♪ I am feeling a little peculiar ♪
♪ And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside ♪
♪ And I take a deep breath
And I get real high ♪
♪ And I scream from the top
Of my lungs, “What’s going on?” ♪
♪ And I said, heyeyey ♪
♪ Heyeyey ♪
♪ I said, “Hey, what’s going on?” ♪
[laughs]
♪ And I said, heyeyey ♪
♪ Heyeyey ♪
♪ I said, “Hey” ♪
[switching radio stations]
[“Know Your Rights” playing on radio]
That’s better.
♪ These are your rights ♪
[laughs]
♪ Hey, say, Wang ♪
[laughs]
[laughs]
[music ends]
[wind whistling]
[grunting, panting]
[grunts]
[groans]
[pants, groans]
[grunts]
Yeah, she’s spark out.
I reckon as two women who don’t want kids, we’ve done a pretty damn good job.
Don’t you think?
[Zoë] Yeah.
At least she’ll be good at swearing.
[line ringing]
Wayno.
Who’s that?
[Wayne] All right, Zoë?
The Wayno-Stans have been fretting.
Where are you?
I reckon we’re ready to go global, Wayno.
Time to deploy.
[Zoë] Or you could just press send.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, Zoë, I think you’ll find it’s a little bit more complicated than just pressing send.
You see, what you want is you want, uh, three different backups in three separate locations.
And then you want to check the IP.
[Zoë] Stop talking. Goodbye.
[sighs]
[exhales]
What? So, you think you’re gonna keep doing the, um, private investigator thing when you get back?
No, I thought I might start a modeling agency.
Really?
No.
[chuckles] Yeah, well.
Oh, God. I don’t know what I’m gonna do.
You know, maybe it’s time for a change.
You know, you, um, you asked me once.
You said, “When did you get so small?”
I’ve been thinking about it, and I think it’s when I stopped, like, trusting myself. You know?
You know, some people might see what we’ve been through as a bonding experience.
Yeah. I think that’s… They might.
Meanwhile, I’ve got a funeral to organize.
[chuckles]
Oh, my God.
[both laugh]
[sighs] To Joe.
To Joe.
[bottles clink]
[gulps] Oh, God.
[exhales]
[tablet chimes]
[Cheski stammers]
[grunts]
Shit.
[C] You know, we employ Oxford graduates to sellotape documents like those back together.
[sighs]
If I were you, I’d just torch the lot on one of your smelly candles.
You’re leaving?
[C] I am taking the hit.
[scoffs]
That was your plan, wasn’t it?
Just popped down to say good luck with tonight’s interview.
And the accountability and transparency.
Well, good luck staring into the dark cesspit of your own soul.
[chuckles]
Don’t you worry.
I have plans of my own.
As Churchill once said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Hmm.
[shredder whirring]
[grunts]
[businessman]
Welcome to the private sector.
[Talia] I had no intelligence about these activities until I saw the images.
So, no prior warning.
So, hang on.
You’re asking us to believe that until today you had absolutely no idea that the government had sanctioned lethal chemical weapons testing on our troops.
No. No idea.
[Sopel] Well, let’s take a look at some of the footage then that’s been posted online.
And I should say that viewers may find some of these images disturbing.
[soldiers screaming on TV]
[soldier 1] Someone help me. [grunts]
[screaming]
[soldier 2] What the…
[screaming continues]
Oi, look at me.
What’s going on?
[soldiers screaming]
[Sopel] Minister.
[Talia clears throat] I have to ask your reaction to these shocking new images.
[coughs] Yeah, sorry. Excuse me.
[clicks tongue]
This should never have been allowed to happen.
And on my watch, it never ever will happen again.
And I’d like to reiterate my pledge to the families of the victims and to the people of Britain that we can and we will do better.
[Sopel] Defense Secretary Talia Ross.
Thank you.
Minister?
The car’s that way.
[Talia sighs]
[exhales deeply]
[announcer on PA] The 0800 train from Fort William has just arrived at…
So, uh, how about we just round it up to two grand?
A lot of extra expenses incurred.
What? You’ve actually been charging me?
Payment within 28 days.
Oh.
As Wayne would say, “It’s popping off.”
Okay, ready?
[Dinah] Ready.
Hey.
[Sarah] Hi.
Hey, everyone.
Hi.
This is Dinah.
Hi, Dinah. I’m Ella.
Hi, Ella.
Come on, kids. Say hi. Meet your cousin.
[cousins] Hi.
[Ella] Wow. Look at you.
I like your jumpsuit.
Okay.
Right. Listen, Dinah.
Everything’s gonna be all right.
[“I’ll Be Seeing You” playing]
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
Okay, off you go.
Hey. Who’s he?
[Dinah] Ted.
[Ella] Ted?
Hi, Ted.
Does Ted like chicken nuggets?
♪ In the small café ♪
♪ In the park across the way ♪
♪ The children’s carousel ♪
[Sarah] Zoë?
Zoë!
♪ The wishing well ♪
I guess I’ll just see you around then?
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
♪ Every lovely summer’s day ♪
♪ In everything that’s light and gay ♪
♪ I’ll always think of you that way ♪
♪ I’ll find you in the morning sun ♪
♪ And when the night is new ♪
♪ I’ll be looking at the moon ♪
♪ But I’ll be ♪
♪ Seeing you ♪
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
♪ Oh, yeah
Under the same ol’ moon ♪
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
♪ I’ll be seeing you ♪
