- Don't be late back! - I won't!
- All right, Mikey? - All right?
Oh? Medicine? That's all a bit serious for me.
I'm reading Philosophy.
Four hours a week, and I barely make them.
When I wake each morning
And the storm beats down on me
All right, Mikey? How's it goin'?
Yeah, all right.
- And I know we belong together - Here you go, la.
Sound. Cheers.
Only love can set…
Right, everyone, back to mine?
I've got a surprise.
- Sounds good. - Yeah, definitely.
These times I've spent, I've realized
I'm gonna shoot through and leave you
That stuff's fuckin' boss.
Your purple prose just gives you away
What do you think, Mikey?
You're unbelieveable
- Oh! - Mikey?
Mikey!
Ooh, you'll hang the hearts black…
Do you know, Oscar Wilde said that opium was the quickest route
to embracing the fullness of life?
Arabella?
Blake.
The Home Secretary would like to see you, sir.
Thought he might.
Oh, a Liverpool council estate and Oxford University.
That's all of England right there.
Home Secretary, while every death is a tragedy…
He was 15, and she was a Cabinet minister's daughter.
Some deaths are more tragic than others.
Customs have recorded an increase in seizures of heroin for several months.
Now heroin has a face. A poor boy for the tabloids, a rich girl for the broadsheets.
- The Prime Minister reads every page. - Look--
The economic situation is irreversible.
The country is heading for recession.
Mrs. Thatcher needs a crisis she can solve, and here it is.
In the coming days, she will call the heroin crisis a national emergency,
announce life sentences for drug dealers,
and declare that her government will stop heroin from coming into the country,
which means you need to stop heroin from coming into the country,
or I will find others who can.
Stopping contraband entering the country is the job of Her Majesty's Customs
and our job alone.
The Americans have declared a war on drugs,
whilst we appear to have hoisted a white flag.
The DEA has a budget of a billion dollars, shares technology with NASA,
and is permitted to undertake undercover operations anywhere in the world.
British customs investigators are poorly equipped,
entirely untrained, and curtailed by regulation.
What would you need?
A year,
an enhanced budget,
permission to hire specialists, and operational freedom.
Six months, no new people, no new money,
but as much freedom as you want.
And what might you hope we achieve, Home Secretary, with such vast resources?
Identify those bringing heroin into the country and stop them from doing so,
or I will propose a parliamentary bill
reassigning responsibility for border security to the police.
That won't be necessary, sir.
You think a few customs officers can take on the biggest drug gangs in Britain?
Absolutely.
Jesus Christ.
- How would we do it? - With great fucking difficulty.
We're in danger of losing control of the border, Don, so how would we do it?
Undercover operations, infiltration, extreme danger.
All the things I took this job to get away from.
What would you need?
Volunteers, and somewhere to train them
while I work out if there's any worth keeping.
Her Majesty's Customs employs 20,000 people.
There have to be a few who can do this.
You know how long I spent undercover, and you know what it did to me.
You'd be surprised how few people can do it.
You'd be even more surprised when you work out which ones they are.
Hello.
Good morning, sir.
I'm from the Vice Division of Her Majesty's Customs.
Did you attempt to illegally import a magazine from Germany
called No Limit Nympho Nurses?
Did I?
Oh gosh. I mean, it doesn't sound like me.
Right.
Could it have been a neighbor?
I mean, there's a chap over the road who wears shorts all year round.
Do you want me to go and talk to your neighbors about this?
- No. - No.
You bought 500 car stereos from a sales agent in China
and imported them without paying VAT, which is a problem.
Storage.
If I import the gear and keep it in storage,
I can pay the VAT any time before I flog it.
Yes, but you imported 500, and there are 417 here.
Must've fallen off the lorry.
- They're being sold in Walthamstow Market. - Are they?
I saw you drop 'em off, mate.
What kind of VAT officer follows a bloke to Walthamstow Market?
A bored one.
Come on.
Mr. McLean's office.
Can you hold, please?
- Yes. - It's the Treasury.
No.
I'm afraid he's unavailable at the moment. Can I take a message?
A final call for missing passengers…
Can you come with me, please, sir? Just a random check.
- What have I done to deserve this? - Nothin'. That's why it's called random.
You love this, don't ya?
Your little uniform, your little bit of power.
Any sharp objects, sir?
You should go.
Go where?
You should go.
Starts off as a straightforward period romp,
but the banquet scene offers full genital exposure by several cast members.
Now, don't be fooled by the chap in the suit of armor, Kate.
If you look closely, you'll see he's hanging out the front of it.
Pop that up in there for us, will you, love?
For anyone who doesn't know me, I am Angus Blake,
Director of Investigations for Her Majesty's Customs.
- This is my head of operations, Don Clark. - All right?
We're holding a three-week top secret training program for new recruits,
and are looking throughout the agency
for those who we think might offer us what we need
to attempt something we've never done before.
- What's the investigation? - Did you miss the secret bit?
For security reasons, only those who complete the three weeks
will learn what the investigation entails.
Would this be a promotion?
For some, it would technically be a demotion.
- Where's the training? - It's a residential program.
- Is that overtime, then? - No.
Well, if it's residential training, it has to be overtime.
We can't take you if you're deaf, mate.
- Would we get a per diem? - A per what?
Lunch money.
Lunch money? What are you, 12?
If you've asked a question, then please leave the room.
This is not about money
or promotion or the three weeks.
This is about us offering those who are suitable a new life,
a new reality of adventure, danger, and the opportunity to serve your country.
It will be the greatest challenge of your lives,
and only a few of you will be capable of meeting it.
A bus will leave from outside this building at nine o'clock tomorrow morning.
If you're satisfied with your lives, if you are content,
if you feel you're achieving everything you can achieve in this world…
then don't get on it.
That's it.
Are you going, then?
I don't know.
They won't tell us what it is.
I wouldn't know anyone.
Then see it as an opportunity.
When was the last time you made a new friend?
1978.
Didn't last.
And it's three weeks away, Soph.
- No. - What?
- I'll not let you hide behind us. - I'm not.
If you don't go, it's your decision.
Three weeks is nothing
if it gives you what you need.
This place belongs to the spooks, which means it isn't really here.
And neither are you.
So no television, no newspapers, no phone calls home.
Oh, it… it's my son's birthday on Tuesday.
Great. Stay on the bus, we'll drop you at the station.
Tell him happy birthday from me.
Right.
So the first stage of any investigation is data,
and you're in luck there,
because Customs can request more data than any other agency.
But getting the data is the easy bit.
The hard part is recognizing what it's telling you.
These are travel, banking, and customs records.
In there, somewhere, is a marijuana importation conspiracy.
Find it, and tell me the name of the bloke in charge.
This is confidential information.
We shouldn't be using this.
Do you want me to go?
Yeah, I reckon so.
- Right, the rest of you-- - Is it the accountant?
You what, love?
Uh, is it the accountant?
Uh…
Yeah, it is.
Bloody hell. Well done.
We're not the police, and we're not the spooks.
There's no safety net,
which means when you investigate dangerous people,
the only thing stopping very bad things happening to you
is getting very good at things like this.
Do it again.
Operational independence.
That's the only way this job works when you're out there on your own.
That means thinking on your feet.
That means, one after another, you will come into this pub to meet me.
I am a street-level drug dealer, the first link in the chain.
You need to ID me, which means you need to get my name and address.
Think about how you'll get it.
I'm afraid I have to go abroad on business.
Drugs business.
But I could update you on my progress by letter
if you wouldn't mind providing your address.
That is woeful.
Are you local… to the area?
- Safe journey home, love. - Yeah.
Ahem.
- The deal's off. - Why?
None of your fuckin' business.
- Why? - I got this copper paid off.
And he's got his hands on a list of active phone taps,
names, addresses,
and I'm bloody on it.
You might be too.
Well done.
To make it in this game,
you need a plan, you need a persona,
and you need to believe in them both.
Mmm. Yeah.
What is Vice?
Vice.
Come with me, son.
Keeping your head down, aren't you?
Which is smart, but it only gets you so far.
Eventually, you've gotta show me what you can do.
Ready when you are, mate.
Ecstasy, they're calling it.
Standing in a warehouse in Leeds, listening to that racket,
and calling it ecstasy, they've gotta be taking the piss.
Get in there, buy some pills, get the name of the dealer,
and set up a proper deal.
Yeah?
- I'll take two. - All right.
- Forty quid. - I'm not paying.
Then you'll not be makin' it out of here, mate.
I've got a club down south, and I'm dry,
so I'll try 'em, and if they're any good, I'll take 500.
Come to me, then. None of t'others, yeah?
Gav.
What you up to there, kid?
Leeds CID. You wanna tell us what you've just bought?
- Dunno what you're talkin' about. - We both saw you.
- Which is called a corroborated account. - But you can call it six months.
We'll nick the dealer next. You tell us what he sold you,
you get off with a caution.
I don't know what you're talkin' about, so why don't you piss off and let me go?
Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?
Ow!
- Last chance. - You've said that a few times now, mate.
Forget the drugs. We're gonna book you for assaulting a police officer.
There's not a judge in the country that won't give you time.
Or maybe we deal with it 'ere.
My mate's on his way back from hospital. I reckon he'd like a word wi' you.
Didn't go too well for him last time, did it?
He's all yours, Don.
- I should nick him for what he did. - Turner's fine. He's just winded.
- Winded? He was spark out. - Well, tell him to duck next time.
Hear it was a hell of a jab.
This was you?
Why didn't you tell them you're a customs officer?
Because I wasn't, not in there.
You told us to believe in our personas, so here I am.
You're a boxer. Useful.
You can't go around thumping coppers. They can get a bit funny about that.
- What is this? - This is the job.
Fun, isn't it?
At first, anyway.
So how'd you end up pullin' suitcases?
How does anyone?
By mistake.
You're making me do more than the others.
- I have to. - Why?
Because I can see that you'll work alone.
I worked alone, so I know what it does to you.
Being out there, no support,
knowing one wrong word, one wrong decision,
and you're a goner.
You have to decide whether you've got that in you.
I'll be honest, son, there's part of me that hopes you don't.
Part of me hopes you don't end up out there on your own 'cause it's…
Well, it takes a lot out of you, so…
Some people are cut out for it, and some people aren't,
and, uh, yeah, just… think on that.
This was Tuesday.
The Prime Minister's visit to the customs at Heathrow
underlined the high priority which she's now giving to the drugs crisis.
After inspecting an average week's haul,
she had this message for the drug traffickers.
We're after you.
The pursuit will be relentless.
Relentless.
The effort will get greater and greater until we've beaten you.
The penalty will be long prison sentences.
The penalty will be confiscation
of everything you've ever got from drug smuggling.
So stop it. We shall make your life not worth living.
There has been a huge increase in the quantity of drugs
seized by the customs over the past four years,
particularly in the amount of heroin.
This is such an important thing,
and so important for the protection of our young people and for everyone,
that it mustn't be hampered for lack of resources.
We've never, never skimped in any way on the resources for law and order.
A war has started out there.
People will read about it,
they'll watch it on their TV.
But, uh… we won't. We'll be too busy fighting it.
So it's heroin?
- It's heroin. - And it's just us?
It's just us.
Sorry, when you say war, what exactly might that entail?
Well, we work out how it's coming in, and then we… we stop it coming in.
But first I need to tell you about legends.
That's what we call them, you see.
The identities we use when we work undercover.
The lives that we build, the people we build.
And before you can become a legend, you need to understand what that means.
- Hi. - Hi.
So you got through, then?
Looks like it.
What happens now?
I don't know, but
we don't have to worry about that right now, do we?
You should go away more often.
Oh.
- Hello? - Indigo Wharf, 6:00 a.m.
Oh, you made it. Well done.
Right, now, um… when you're followed, and you will be followed,
you can't be leading them back to Custom House, so we work here now.
It's bloody bleak, isn't it?
Erin, you ready?
Uh, yeah… yeah, I think so, um…
- What time did you get in? - Get in?
I haven't been home.
Heroin is about growth.
Um, so these are all deaths where opium was mentioned on the death certificate.
Ten years ago, there were a few dozen, and then
the growth.
In the last two years, they've doubled each year.
That's usage. We need to look at supply.
So to get to the dealers,
Donald and I requested all arrests nationwide
for possession of more than ten grams of heroin,
which, from 1980
to last year, shows similar growth.
But in these arrests,
I found two interesting areas of overrepresentation.
So, firstly, Liverpool addresses, around the north of England, and Scotland,
which makes sense.
Liverpool's a port city with established criminal networks.
And then… there was this.
So these arrests are all men with London addresses
and surnames of Turkish heritage, which also makes sense.
Around three-quarters of European opium importation runs through Turkey.
So, the heroin market is growing at an extremely rapid rate,
and there are clear indicators that two criminal organizations
are competing to serve it.
One in the London Turkish community, one in Liverpool.
We need to infiltrate them both, work out their importation techniques,
and stop them.
And now, I… I really do need to pop home and check on my cat.
Erin will be providing logistical support for both operations from here.
Okay.
Guy, you take London.
Kate and Bailey, Liverpool.
That means that from tomorrow, all three of you will disappear.
So, tonight, you should say your goodbyes.
You're sending Guy into the field alone without support?
I think he can do it.
And if he can't?
I think he can do it.
"'It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice,
'when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller,
and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.'"
"'I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit hole.'"
"'And yet, and yet…'"
- I made something for you. - Oh, yeah?
- What's that then? - It's a secret.
We don't have secrets.
Yes, we do. You won't tell me where you're going.
It's work.
- You work at the airport. - Usually, yeah.
But this is something different.
You used to tell me you were a pilot.
Yeah, well, I thought that sounded more exciting.
Will you be back soon?
You won't even notice I've gone.
You're getting better at lying.
That'll be helpful.
If you ever see anythin' around here,
or anyone that doesn't look right,
then you're to call this number.
I'm not supposed to tell you any more than that.
Good.
The less I know, the more I can pretend that you'll be safe.
I'll be safe.
Yeah, maybe not that much better at lying.
Crime, proper crime, requires a community, 'cause that's where proper crime hides.
You need to identify and infiltrate that criminal community.
You can infiltrate it, uh,
through an introduction from someone who fits into that community,
or through your legends, which are…
Property developers up from London
looking for land in the Northwest for regeneration projects.
That explains why we're in Liverpool, and it lets us go wherever we want.
Work out of Manchester Custom House. Liverpool's too close.
Use these sparingly. They cost a bloody fortune.
And don't be calling home on them, either.
Company paperwork, hotel booking,
list of industrial plots for sale in Liverpool,
and some maps.
Thank you.
- Legend? - Guy Stanton.
I'm keeping my first name, so I'll always react to it.
Fine. It's not about the name. It's about the story.
Import-export, business up the spout, divorce, drug smuggling.
- I hope there's more to him than that. - There's more to him than that.
We've got you a council flat in Green Lanes,
the largest Turkish community in London.
Here's a driving license,
council payments book, and some mail.
I'll need company paperwork and an office.
- I'm working on the paperwork. - Can't do the office.
- Why not? - 'Cause I've got a tin-pot budget.
Getting you everything you need means me going
to beg, steal, and borrow wherever I can.
Me having a story that don't back up feels dangerous.
Oh, did I not tell you it was dangerous? Oh, sorry. It must have slipped my mind.
Uh, yeah, it's dangerous. It's… it's all very dangerous.
Your knuckles whiten on the wheel
The last thing That your hands will feel
Your final flight can't be delayed
No earth, just sky, it's so serene
Your pink, fat lips let go a scream
You fry and melt, I love the scene
Sometimes I
Fantasize
When the streets are cold and lonely
And the cars, they burn below me
Don't these times
Fill your eyes?
When the streets are cold and lonely
And the cars, they burn below me
Are you all alone?
- Hey! - Jesus.
- What do you want? - Nothin'.
Only customers park here.
Right, yeah, fair enough.
Hey! What did we tell you?
I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! Wait!
Huh?
Oh!
Hey, yes, boys! Good to see you, good to see you.
Looks like the Turks don't like drugs being sold in their own manor,
but I don't think they're sellin' it there either.
That makes sense. The Turkish arrests are for high quantities all around the UK,
and very few in London.
So they're importin' it and sellin' it on wholesale.
Good. It's the importation we need to get at.
It would be good if I had a shot at gettin' in there,
which I don't, not without an introduction.
Believe it or not,
I can help you there.
We're doing this. Go now.
Hey, you cannot just arrive like this, huh?
I'm a busy man.
If you want a meeting with Mylonas, you ask for a meeting with Mylonas.
You do not just arrive.
This is Guy.
- Huh. And what does Guy want? - We're looking into the Green Lanes Turks.
You and him?
- Oh, dear God. - I've spoken to the parole board.
You have a few months left. That can become a few hours.
Then we can oversee your parole.
Usual terms?
- Usual terms. - Mr. Blake, eh… you are my friend, eh?
You are my brother, bonded in blood.
- Him? Him, I don't know. - Don't know you either, mate.
You do this work, and you do not know Mylonas?
- Oh, my friend, you are fucked. - So you're a Turk?
I'm a Greek.
We hate the Turks, and they hate us.
Uh, but, uh… not me.
Uh, the Greeks hate me, so, um…
the Turks love me,
so I… I can help you with the Turks.
- Do you know why? - No.
Fear.
You must think about your funeral. Do you know why?
Why don't you just finish your fuckin' sentences?
If they catch us, they will kill us.
I guessed that bit.
You know they will kill us, and yet you come here
to ask me, who you do not know,
to help you, an amateur, in such a thing.
If I'm the amateur, why are you the one banged up?
This is how you speak to the great Mylonas?
If Customs oversees your parole,
then I reckon that means Customs can end your parole at any time,
which means I can, at any time, send the great Mylonas back inside.
So stop pissin' about, and let's get you out of 'ere.
I like him. Mmm.
I like him!
Fifteen he was, the kid.
His mum thought he was playing football.
And they're still not exactly hidin', are they?
They're the first link in the chain. We need to know who's supplyin' them.
Then we're looking for deliveries, whatever that looks like.
Oh shit.
They're just kids, in't they?
Not kids. They're spotters.
Oi, wanker!
Yeah, you wanker!
Hey, Mylonas.
Ah, Mirac. Good guy.
Who controls the Turks' operation?
Hakan Ulukaya, the King of Green Lanes.
How do I get to him?
Slowly.
- But you can help? - Of course.
He is Hakan, but, uh, I am Mylonas.
Once I am back, I can get you to him.
This ain't you back?
I am out, but I'm not back.
Many men come out of prison,
but very few come back.
Hello, my friend.
- Ah! Mylonas. - You're still alive. I can't believe it.
- It's good to see you. - And you!
- Still so fat. - Hello, Mylonas.
Like a… like a hippopotamus.
Baklava. All Turkish. Uh, no Greek.
Okay.
Wait here.
Hey, you took a chance.
- I will get your money, Mylonas. - You thought… "Mylonas is away."
"He might not come back, so I will take a chance."
I will get it.
I will get it. Please.
Mylonas, please, not here.
- Tomorrow. - Tomorrow.
Double.
Okay.
Okay!
Oh, my baklava.
- And it is free? - Yes, Mylonas.
Good boy. Let us go.
Nice to see you, my friend. Say hello to your wife.
And you, eh?
Good God. No more baklava for him.
Don't ever fuckin' do that again.
- Now I am back. - Huh?
Now we can go to Hakan.
- They're busy, ain't they? - Course they are.
Can be 'ard, livin' on an estate like this.
Some people look for an escape, and that's what they're sellin'.
Hang on.
That's the second time I've seen that van today.
It's a bit late to be deliverin' bread.
Mylonas.
Just out and already causing trouble, I hear?
- Ah, I only cause good trouble, eh? - I 'ope so.
This is my friend.
Friends get searched, Mylonas.
- Quite right. - Mmm.
You see? He's a good boy.
- Mmm. - Eh.
Mmm.
Uh, have a drink. It's free.
That's Hakan?
That's Hakan.
- How do we get in there? - When they invite us.
Mylonas!
Mmm!
Uh…
Zeki.
Zeki! Uh… you were a kid! Eh?
- And now I'm not. - Mmm.
Who is he?
Uh, this is Guy.
He's in our business.
We would like to meet with Hakan.
Everybody would like to meet with Hakan.
- You say no to Mylonas? - Hakan says no to Mylonas.
Huh.
All right, uh… Another time.
Maybe, hmm?
Okay. I must go. I have a meeting.
- What? - Finish your drink, eh?
- They are expensive. - I thought they were free.
For me, yes, they are free, because you pay. I see you tomorrow.
- We're too far back. - Always have a covering car.
- That's what Don said. - Yeah, well, Don's not here, is he?
- And you're gonna lose him. - We'll only lose him if he spots us.
Shit.
- Turn round. - He might've seen us.
- We should come off him. - He just bloody turned round.
It doesn't mean he's seen us.
Guess we'll soon find out.
What the fuck is this?
This is a strange place for a man like you to live.
Fucking tell me about it.
- Who are you? - I'm Guy.
- Do you have a wife? - Does it look like it?
- Children? - I hope not.
- Your father's name? - Ronnie.
- Where does he live? - Under a gravestone.
What school did you go to?
Fulham Palace Road. Burnt down in '75. Wasn't me.
Who are you?
You know who I am.
You can see who I am.
Now get the fuck out of my flat.
Your legend has to come from you.
Or it won't work.
Your legend has to be part of you, or it won't work.
And when legends don't work, people die.
There are two ways legends fail.
The first danger comes from those that you're infiltrating.
They can see through your legend.
They can blow your cover.
If they do, you'll find out when it's too late.
You'll only know that you've been discovered when you suffer their revenge.
And that revenge will be swift and brutal.
The other danger is you.
Your legend. How it can grow.
How it can take over.
How it can become who you are.
And who you used to be can slip away.
Further and further, until it's gone forever.
Zeki.
You're going to go to places in your body and in your mind
that you can't imagine.
And some of you
will not come back.
Hey, honey, what you tryin' to say
As I stand here Don't you walk away
And the world comes tumblin' down
Hand in hand in a violent life
Makin' love on the edge of a knife
And the world comes tumblin' down
And it's hard for me to say
And it's hard for me to stay
I'm goin' down to be by myself
I'm goin' back For the good of my health
And there's one thing I couldn't do
Sacrifice myself to you
Sacrifice