Downloaded from YTS.MX
["Here Comes the Sun" playing]
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♪ Here comes the sun, little darling ♪
♪ Here comes the sun ♪
♪ And I say it's all right ♪
♪ It's all right ♪
♪ Here comes the sun, little darling ♪
♪ Here comes the sun ♪
♪ And I say it's all right ♪
♪ It's all right ♪
- [man 1] Dear Mr. Killion… - [bicycle bell rings]
…I feel strongly about the inclusion on the plaque
of those who helped with the conception of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby.
- I feel this especially about Jean Purdy… - [man 2] Watch out!
[man 1] …who travelled to Oldham with me for the full ten years
and contributed as much as we did to the project.
I was the biologist,
Patrick, the obstetrician,
and Jean…
well, without her,
none of this would have been possible.
[music continues]
- [bell jingles] - [man 3] Mind your back!
[woman groans]
Oh… bugger it.
[music trails off]
I'm here for an interview with Dr. Edwards.
He's midway through an experiment. If you like, you can park in there.
- That's kind. I like parking. - Just, uh…
Shall I move stuff?
Do you mind if I use your radiator to dry my shoe?
Oh. I see you've been researching Dr. Edwards.
His work on mammalian development is quite--
Extraordinary. I know.
If you're offended by unshod feet, I suggest you look away.
Oh damn. I have a hole in my tights. You can see my toe.
Oh. Two toes.
[softly] Um…
I'll let him know you're here. [chuckles]
[quietly] Yes, I see. Yes.
[whimsical music plays]
[man 1] See if we can separate that from the plasma.
[indistinct chatter]
[man 2] Next candidate's here, Bob.
[video camera whirring]
[camera clicks]
[softly] Holy shit.
Holy shit! Everyone, stop!
Sylvia's escaped, and I'd only just got her pregnant.
Jesus, Bob.
Please be careful where you stand. She's worth more than your shoes.
[man 3] Sylvia.
- [Bob] Sylvia. - She's there!
- [man 3] Whoop. - Where? I can't see her.
- [man 2] There. Under the table. - Oh, Sylvia.
I know you're upset about Patty giving birth.
- [man 3] Come on. Come on. - It will happen for you too, Sylvia.
I just need to make a few adjustments.
[music stops]
If I hear a commotion, I'm not very good at staying out of it.
- Who are you? - Jean Purdy.
I'm here about the lab manager's post.
You've only got one shoe on.
The other shoe's currently steaming in your office.
Hmm. What's your secret for catching mice?
Clean hands and patience. What's yours?
[chuckles] I think I've just offered you a job.
But you don't know my skills. My work in nursing and research.
My PhDs are very thorough in weeding out the best applicants. Can you drive?
I trained to become a nurse at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
I've worked at Southampton Hospital.
More recently, I've been at Papworth, studying tissue rejection.
Excellent. 8:00 a.m., don't be late. We have an obstetrician to catch.
Arun, please. Sylvia back in the cage. Thank you.
[man] One… two… One, two, three…
["Oogum Boogum Song" by Brenton Wood playing]
♪ Oogum, oogum, boogum, boogum ♪
♪ Boogum now, baby You're castin' your spell on me ♪
♪ I say, "Oogum, oogum, boogum" ♪
♪ "Boogum, boogum now, baby You're castin' your spell on me" ♪
♪ You got me doin' funny things Like a clown ♪
♪ Just a-look at me ♪
♪ I say now, "Who got the blues?" Say, "Who got the blues?" ♪
♪ Say, "Who got the blues now?" Castin' your spell… ♪
Patrick Steptoe just published the definitive guide to laparoscopy.
The Medical Research Council mostly hate him,
but… I think, with those keyhole-surgery skills,
he will be an excellent member of our team.
Yes, this team, which you've not yet explained to me.
Oh, we're going to cure childlessness.
We're going to help make babies.
I've shocked you.
I knew you were interested in reproduction. I didn't--
- Terrific. It's going to be terrific! - [horn tooting]
Now, if the ovaries could be inspected beforehand…
[Jean softly] Thank you.
…we would have advance warning of endometriosis.
We'd be able to see how many eggs were growing.
[chuckles] Now, the trouble is, we have no clear method of doing so.
[man 1] Laparoscopy.
So what I'd, um, like to advance today
is the development of a new laparotomy, one with the ability…
- Laparoscopy would be superior. - [crowd murmuring]
The only way to visualize the ovaries and get to the source of the endometriosis
is with a laparotomy.
Opening the abdomen with a large cut… here…
- …or here. - Nonsense. You're quite wrong.
- This is a lecture. Not a meeting. - [men clamor]
He's wasting time on inept science.
[speaker] This is the Royal Society, sir.
A little respect for my "inept science" might be due.
A laparoscopy allows me to see the ovaries, the fallopian tubes,
and other parts of the reproductive tract
without having to make anything more than very small incisions in the skin.
Laparoscopy is an extremely dangerous technique.
[scoffs]
Your so-called surgery involves poking around in the unknown
without regard for the patient or the disease.
And this is not your lecture.
- [man 2] Hear, hear! - [murmuring]
I know. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
But may I be allowed just to prove my point
with some slides…
- [men groaning] - …that I happen to have with me?
- Oh, Mr. Steptoe. Bob Edwards. - Yes?
- We spoke on the phone a few months ago. - [huffs]
I can't be expected to remember every phone call, Mr. Edwards.
Yes. If I could just have a minute.
I'd be very interested to hear about keyhole surgery.
Sadly, I'm busy.
Talking to these people who banished you to Oldham?
They hate you.
This is Jean Purdy. She'll be running our lab.
Will she now? Good luck to you both.
With your equipment,
we'd be able to access a woman's ovaries in the least invasive way.
Oldham is an extremely good hospital,
and there wasn't an appointment in London available.
Amazing how there were appointments for your contemporaries,
who they did like.
Have you studied me?
No, I have. She's repeating it to you in an effort to get you to listen to me.
A curious strategy, Jean.
[indistinct chatter in background]
[Bob] How did you get around the heating problem?
What heating problem?
Look, I've gotta get back to Oldham. I'm late for the 3:25. Write to me.
3:25? That gives us a good half hour. We'll walk with you.
During the laparoscopy, you need a light source for your camera.
Otherwise, you are literally poking around in the dark.
But bulbs heat things up, so how are you not cooking the insides of these women?
[Patrick] West Germans have a laparoscope
in which light is conducted from a mirror projection lamp.
No bulbs. No cooking.
- Didn't I tell you he was brilliant? - The West Germans are brilliant.
We share the same aim. We want to address the problem of infertility.
Trouble is, your science has its limits, and so does ours.
Go ahead. Tell me my limits.
I believe, you have just developed a procedure to place sperm
inside the fallopian tube.
- Where'd you read that? - It won't get results.
Not substantial ones. Why? Because sperm can't behave itself.
But imagine if we could place a fertilized egg inside that same tube.
You remove an egg,
using your marvelous equipment and know-how.
You give it to us, we fertilize that egg outside the body,
using our marvelous equipment and know-how,
and then you place it back inside.
The chances of a successful pregnancy will just go through the roof.
Fertilizing an egg outside the b… You truly believe you can do that?
I don't have slides, but I'm close.
- [cash register pings] - [woman] Thank you.
[over PA] …for the 5:35 service…
You teach at Cambridge, Dr. Edwards, is that right?
- I do. - All my clinical material is in Oldham.
Cambridge is… 200 miles away.
Well, in the short term, we'll set up at yours. It's only a four-hour drive.
And in the long term, we'll get money from the Medical Research Council
and move you south.
Uh, that is, if you're… willing to be moved south.
I could be… persuaded.
We'll need women.
Women willing to contribute ovarian tissue.
I have some hysterectomy patients
who, if I explained what we're doing, might help us.
Ah. He's not just got the skills, he's also got the contacts. [chuckles]
You're aware they'll throw the book at us?
The Church, the state, the world.
We will unite them all against us.
But we'll have the mothers. The mothers will back us.
[poignant music playing]
[inhales] Right, if I don't go now, I'll miss the 5:25,
and I'll never be home.
Bob. Jean.
Y-You're in?
You're in, aren't you?
[music brightens]
We'll speak soon, I hope.
Very good, Jean. Ooh! Very good!
The snipes about Oldham, very useful.
Hoo!
You truly are impossible, aren't you?
We're making the impossible possible, Jean.
We are. You'll see.
[music intensifies]
Come on, Mum.
You know Reverend Paulson doesn't like it unless we're 30 minutes early.
[music ends]
Come on, then.
- Slow coach. - [scoffs]
- [church organ music playing] - [Jean] Let's make a bet.
[indistinct chatter]
♪ All things bright and beautiful ♪
♪ All creatures great and small ♪
♪ All things wise and wonderful ♪
- ♪ The Lord God made them all ♪ - [woman holds operatic note]
♪ Each little flower that opens ♪
- [mom] Keep your back straight. - [Jean] I'm not slouching.
You are slouching. You're not making the best of yourself.
[Jean sighs]
Here. Would you like an iced fancy? Or perhaps a scone?
What about me? Would he like me? I taste nice, particularly when buttered.
- [snickers] - The way you talk.
The way I talk is the way you talk when you've had a few rum and blacks.
- And you know that's right. - Ooh. Hold on. I have your china.
Oh. [chuckles]
How you ladies take care of me.
Oh, we have to take care of you. You look thin.
My fruit cake.
Extra glacés, just for you.
It was a fine service. I loved the sermon.
- Thank you, Jean. - [woman] Reverend.
[mom chuckling]
- Rum and blacks. - I'm doing well, Mum. I am.
All this, church, it matters, it does, but…
I think I can finally feel my life changing, and I like it.
[exhales] Doesn't mean you should slouch.
[car approaching]
[Bob] First we tried mice. Then rabbits.
I even tested a wild hare.
Libidinous as any creature on a hill, but put 'em in a cage
and you can't get 'em sexually aroused for love nor toffee.
- And I'm sure you tried both. - [chuckles]
The mice have borne fruit. The rabbits too.
And then more recently, with Barry Bavister…
- Oh, we've had-- - "Barry Bavister"? That sounds made-up.
He's a PhD who works in my lab.
A whole year he spent harvesting hamster eggs.
Anyway, after he got 'em out, he put 'em in a Petri dish with this new fluid,
very alkaline, loaded with bicarbonate.
With it, he's had some tremendous success.
He harvests and bathes eggs in alkaline and hamster sperm?
And then places them back inside the mother.
And suddenly, we have a whole host of hamster juniors.
It's quite the thing.
So all this rests on the hope
that human women are like hamsters, and Barry's serum can work for them too?
Mm-hmm. The noble rodent leads the way.
[jukebox whirs, clacks]
["Sweet Inspiration" playing]
Just another 52 miles to Manchester,
followed by another eight on top to Oldham.
We are almost there.
And you are like a schoolboy on his first day at school.
That is because it is my first day at school.
[Jean chuckles]
♪ I need your sweet inspiration ♪
♪ I need you here on my mind ♪
♪ Every hour of the day ♪
♪ Without your sweet inspiration… ♪
Says Kershaw's is around the back.
♪ To go on livin' To keep on givin' this way ♪
♪ I need your ♪
- ♪ Sweet inspiration ♪ - ♪ I said ♪
- ♪ Sweet inspiration ♪ - ♪ Come on, baby ♪
- ♪ Sweet inspiration ♪ - ♪ Gimme your… ♪
[over PA] Porter to the main entrance, please. Porter to the main entrance.
[Bob sniffs] Is that damp?
It's not damp. It just rained recently. And who might you be?
This is Dr. Edwards. I'm Jean Purdy.
Oh yes. Mr. Steptoe told me about you.
I'm Matron. You need a laboratory, apparently.
Come on.
[telephone ringing]
[indistinct PA announcement]
I thought this might do the trick.
[pigeon cooing]
Looks perfect.
[Matron] Wonderful.
If you'll excuse me.
[door shutting]
[thoughtful piano music playing]
[camera whirring]
[Patrick] Needle now going into the ovary.
Gentle aspiration, please.
A good follicle with hopefully one good… egg.
[camera stops]
[Patrick] Are they standing by?
He's standing just outside the door, Mr. Steptoe.
- [music continues] - [Patrick softly] Hmm.
- We've got one follicle. - Good.
[suspenseful music plays]
Let's find that egg, dip it in Barry's magic medium,
then add it to the sperm.
Wait.
What? Why?
It's a first, that's all.
First of many.
[chuckles]
[music continues]
[gentle clicking]
[music intensifies]
[sighs] We got the egg.
Good.
[music fades out]
[chatter, laughter]
I still don't understand why you have anything to brag about.
[Bob] We have absolutely nothing to brag about.
Then why place a piece in a scientific journal like Nature?
[Bob] Because we are close to having something to brag about.
We're confident that, soon enough, we'll be ready to work with women.
- The way he says "women," d'you see? - What's wrong with the way I say "women"?
I entirely agree.
You would say "mice" in exactly the same way.
- [Bob] I… happen to like mice. - [woman 1] Much more than you like women.
Almost as much as I like women.
May I remind you how many daughters you have?
I am absolutely certain I have more mice than I have daughters.
- [laughter] - [phone ringing]
I'll get it.
- Wait. I'm gonna answer. - Thank you, darling.
Only two show pronuclei. Two of 56.
That's less than 4%. This is from your own paper.
Eighteen showed signs of fertilization.
And that's when solely working with donated eggs from hysterectomy patients.
When we actually start working with the women, the results--
Ah! She says "women" the same way he does.
[laughter]
The results, we hope, could be incredible.
[Bob] Please don't take offence, Jean.
Maggie regards ripping me to pieces as her Sunday sport.
[Maggie] Look, I am just pointing out that you seem to prefer writing journalism
to making good science, so…
- [gentle laughter] - It's a man about the windows.
He wants to speak to you, Dad.
- Windows? - [woman 2] Mm.
- [Bob sighs] - [girl] Wait. I…
Come on, Maggie. You know the drill.
You write, you promise more, and then when they're tantalized enough,
you take it to the Medical Research Council.
This is how they get the support to leave bloody Oldham behind.
Oh, if Kershaw's is so awful,
then they should just take the hint and give up.
[phone slams]
- [breathes heavily] Bloody idiots! - [man] What's up, Bob?
- [woman 2] Who was it? Hmm? - [Bob] It was the… the Mirror.
Th… they want a quote as to whether I'm Dr. Frankenstein or not.
He said it was about the windows.
Bob, I will give you extra custard if you sit down again.
You're scaring the children.
[Arun] He's used to a few bricks, to the establishment hating him.
- I daresay he enjoys it a bit. - He wants to be slandered?
I honestly think he considers it part of his role.
Fighting the fights for reproductive medicine.
For mothers and women… etc.
[Jean] This is me.
Would you like me to come up?
Come up?
I mean to say, I'm attracted to you, if you are to me.
I hope you're attracted to me. I can't tell.
Sorry.
Not at all.
Worth asking, I hope? I mean, no harm done?
None at all. I'm flattered.
[Arun] Jolly good. Goodbye, then.
[soft ambient music fading in]
If you promise not to become attached, we can have sex.
Oh!
Yes. Definitely.
- I promise. - Good.
[whimsical music plays]
I don't believe this will cause any damage,
but it's also worth saying that I don't think this will result
in a baby for you.
I'm… I'm sorry?
I don't think there's much chance of success.
I think it's important that you know that.
So… I don't understand. Why should we do it?
Because it might mean that others do… have babies.
I can live in hope though, right? I can believe that I might get a chance?
I think it's unlikely, but…
[softly] I just want a baby.
- [music fades out] - [mom] You're supposed to be a nurse.
[Jean] I'm in research, Mum. I have been for quite some time.
[mom] People are sick. You make them better.
Bob says infertility is a medical problem.
Making babies in test tubes?
Making babies for mothers that need them.
"Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren."
"The Lord answered him, and his wife Rebekah conceived."
Genesis, chapter 25, verse 21.
- Prayer's the answer, is it? - Sh-sh!
Let it steep.
Jean, you're young. You don't understand. But you can't play God with this.
[smacks lips]
How do you feel about spectacles and false teeth?
You'd rather people be blind or unable to eat anything but soup?
That's what God wants, is it?
- Bob says-- - Oh, "Bob says."
Bob says!
- He has a way of putting things. - Then there's the other one.
He's an abortionist.
Your surgeon. Steptoe. It says so in the paper.
You didn't know that, did you?
Playing God at one end, the devil at the other.
- That's legal now. - Doesn't make it right.
I'm not… performing abortions, Mum. And I'm proud of what I'm doing.
Well, thank the Lord.
Let's hope that you have enough pride for the both of us,
because I've got nothing but despair right now.
If you could hear how I boasted about you.
All your qualifications. And this is what you do with it?
This sin?
I'm helping people.
Reverend Paulson has advised
that you don't come to church.
That's not his decision.
[downcast piano music playing]
He's speaking… our vicar,
on behalf of many people.
And, Jean…
I can't have you come here.
Mum, you can't mean that.
If you choose this over me…
then absolutely… I do.
Thing is though, Mum, this isn't asking me to choose.
You are.
[on radio] From research on rats and mice,
some scientists insist there could be a greater risk of abnormality
when fertilization takes place outside the body.
Edwards and Steptoe, however,
say even the latest research has produced no credible evidence of abnormality.
Thank you.
[music fades out]
[indistinct chatter]
The sausage,
over 5,000 years old.
You know, there were remnants found in Egyptian tombs.
They used to stuff their leftover meat scraps
into cow intestines.
You are aware I'm really not good with silence?
[quietly] So get good with it.
Right. I think that's everyone.
We'll need you to report daily to Kershaw's for your hormone injection.
This is to stimulate your egg production.
Once we have stimulated it,
we'll harvest your eggs and add your husband's sperm.
If fertilization occurs, we'll implant the embryo into you.
If you have any concerns, do raise them.
"Kathy Gibson."
We'll start with you.
We will be injecting into your bottom today,
so if you could lower your skirt and tights and lean over the bed.
Okay.
[Matron] You are either with us or you're not.
Not today, Muriel, please.
If it's a boy, leave him at the door. If it's money trouble, maybe we can help.
If it's something more serious, we're in a hospital.
I really don't want a lecture right now, Muriel.
Matron.
I am Matron.
You may dismiss it as a title, but it means the world to me.
I didn't know you did abortions, Matron.
I'm a Christian. My mother would--
The other consultants say no.
So Mr. Steptoe has to do them all.
But he doesn't… have to.
Do you know how many girls come in here with their insides torn
because they've gone to a man on a street corner?
I didn't think so.
I thought we were here to make babies.
Well, you're wrong.
We are here to give women choice.
Every choice.
That's all that matters to me, and it should be all that matters to you.
[poignant music playing]
[breathes deeply] So buck up.
[man, on TV] Please welcome controversial biologist
Dr. Robert Edwards.
So, Dr. Edwards, what do you think of Professor Watson's claim
that what you're doing here is extremely dangerous?
That it may lead to a future in which humans could be manufactured?
You make us sound like we're making… sausages.
[interviewer] This is one of our leading scientists, who, with DNA,
made one of the key discoveries of our age, whereas you,
with all due respect, seem to have promised a lot and delivered… very little.
[Bob] I'm not dismissing James Watson or his achievements.
[interviewer] So is this all just about stirring the pot?
- Are you… just seeking attention? - [Bob] No.
No. No.
[hesitates] Consider spectacles or… or false teeth.
- That's what we're… - [Jean sighs] Bloody spectacles.
[knocking on door]
Mum, it's me.
I brought some of that pickle you like.
I'll just leave it by the door.
[pool balls clack]
[Arun] I'm just saying, there's a limit to what you should put yourself through.
- Bob puts himself through it too. - Bob is made of a particularly hard metal.
Impervious to… well, lots of things.
And he has support. It's not just you.
Ruth herself is a fine scientist, and then there's…
I'm working in bloods.
I'm actually working in bloods with Bob. That could be his breakthrough.
IVF could fail.
Then how would you feel… about…
about what this has cost you?
- I'm committed. - [Arun] And that's wonderful.
But… you're also a daughter, and, uh…
Then there's me.
[sighs] Can we just play and talk about this another day?
Hope I score points for trying. [chuckles]
You always score points for trying, Arun.
- Think I win. - Yes, I see that.
[snoring softly]
[fire crackling]
[footsteps approaching]
Whoa. A-ha. You caught me.
- Can I get you anything? - [grunts]
[huffs] No.
[mumbling] It was just a temporary… closing of the eyes.
[woman 1 chuckles softly]
Patrick.
You aren't
exhausting yourself with all this? It is--
- I am not… [snores] …exhausted. - [chuckles]
- [laughing] How dare you! - [piano playing]
[woman 1 chuckles, sighs]
You promised me a fine retirement.
Full of… good wine and holidays.
Don't drain yourself dry before we get to that point, will you?
- [playing stops] - Please, sit with me.
Come.
[piano playing]
I look forward to that too.
But this,
what we're… what we're doing…
it matters.
[woman 1, softly] Mm.
- [Patrick chuckles] Stupid. - [woman 1 chuckling]
- [discordant note plays] - [both chuckle]
[piano fades out]
[woman 2] You've considered upping the CO2 levels?
[Bob] As we culture the oocytes?
[woman 2] Is it worth… You're at 5%. Is it worth trying 8%, perhaps?
Oh, I like that. We could.
And you're still confident in Barry Bavister's miracle solution?
I'm currently confident in everyone but myself.
You did fine.
[Bob] "Sausages."
[sighs] I could have done better than bloody sausages.
- [woman 2] You did fine. - [sighs] I just… This…
This is…
They're looking to me to lead. I just n…
just need to lead.
- ["Yes We Can Can" by Lee Dorsey playing] - [Bob grunts]
♪ Now is the time for all good men To get together with one another… ♪
Uh, Neil Robinson.
♪ Iron out their problems And iron out their quarrels ♪
- ♪ And try to live as brothers… ♪ - Hi. John Graham.
♪ And try hard to find peace within Without stepping on… ♪
Peter Walker.
Thank you.
♪ And do respect the women of the world Just remember we all had mothers ♪
♪ I know we can make it ♪
♪ I know darn well we can work it out ♪
♪ Oh yes, we can, I know we can, can ♪
♪ Yes, we can, can, why can't we? If we wanna, yes, we can, can ♪
♪ I know we can make it work I know we can make it if we try ♪
♪ Oh yes, we can, I know we can, can ♪
♪ Yes, we can, great gosh almighty Yes, we can, I know we can, can… ♪
Ooh. Bastard.
Can't help feeling like cattle.
[music fades out]
Sorry?
It's not Mr. Steptoe's fault.
[rustling]
He's a busy man. He's kind when you've got his attention.
But when we come in here, no offense,
but… you don't look exactly happy to see us.
Don't I?
And you are looking at my bum
a lot of the time when you do… look unhappy.
[door swings open]
[tense classical music playing]
[door shuts]
Jean, are you in here?
Jean?
Bob, this is the ladies' toilets.
[Bob] I know, I know. I'm sorry.
It's just,
uh, there's something you need to see.
It's beautiful.
- [gently] Whatever's happening to you… - Nothing's happening to me.
How many cells are there?
Seventy human cells growing outside the uterus in one embryo.
- [Jean chuckles] - Stage one complete.
This is it. [chuckling] We can get our funding now.
No more endless trips to Oldham. No more separation from Ruth and the kids.
No more just… getting by.
Everything…
everything… changes from here.
[both chuckle]
The Medical Research Council has to judge both whether the work is possible
and whether the work is in the interest of science.
For instance, have you considered the concerns about the normality
of the children which may be born if successes were ever achieved?
Uh, name me one scientific advancement
that has not raised concerns when it comes to--
[woman] And then there's the societal question.
We at the Medical Research Council have expended considerable resources
looking into the problem of overpopulation.
No doubt. If I may… that is an entirely different argument.
You deny overpopulation is a problem?
No, what I take issue with is the infertile being penalized
by the profligacy of the fertile.
Infertility is a scientific problem.
So is overpopulation. But neither is the answer to the other.
You always speak so well, Dr. Edwards.
I do enjoy your appearances on Radio 4.
[man] Which brings us to the issue of how many this will truly benefit.
This is a very specific problem, which, let's face it,
only affects a very small number of women.
A small number?
What you may not appreciate, Ms. Purdy,
is that we serve the entire scientific community.
Tell me, doctor, would this excite you more
if it had a more masculine profile?
[woman] Oh, come now, let's not be reductive.
What you are offering… may seem exciting to you,
may be exciting to the media,
but is it exciting for science as a whole?
Yes.
[man] At the MRC, the question we're constantly asking is,
"Will this contribute to our understanding of how we live in this world?"
- Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes! It will. - [hands pound on table]
Dr. Edwards, please.
There are women out there, lots of women, who believe if they can't have kids,
they have failed their marriage and themselves.
They don't understand what life is without children.
[Bob] Infertility is a disease, and it is a brutal disease
that wrecks marriages and lives.
If you can't see that, well, then, shame on you!
[tense music playing]
[music fades out]
[Bob] "Shame on you."
- Could've handled that much better. - [Patrick chuckles]
What you said was right, and we'd lost already by then.
[sighs] If I could've only found a way to have persuaded them.
We needed that money.
- No, we wanted it. - [Bob] We work in a hospital outbuilding.
It's a miracle it's heated, let alone that we conduct science there.
I spend more time in my car than I do in a lab.
- I… I don't see my wife or my children. - Bob.
Don't you "Bob" me. You don't like it any more than I do.
You're exhausted. And you're a misery most of the time.
You think that's why I'm a misery? 'Cause I don't like the travel?
Well, then why are you?
[Jean] Because I didn't see how this could be worth it.
I understood the science, yet the graft of it felt…
it felt very hard to me.
You don't see your wife or kids. I've lost my church and my mum.
Then I saw those so-called scientists sitting there, passing judgment on us,
and I realized, no one else is going to do this.
This fight is ours. We don't have a choice.
[expectant music playing]
- What happened in there just proved it. - Come on, Bob.
Kershaw's isn't as bad as all that, is it?
[Jean] The decor's terrible.
But the company's occasionally okay.
[Patrick laughs]
Don't you two start getting on. She's my friend.
[Patrick laughs]
[indistinct chatter]
[Jean] Trisha Johnson?
You never bring your husband here.
[music fades out]
- Sorry? - Your husband, he's never here.
[scoffs softly]
He says he's done with chasing rainbows.
Is he a good man?
[tuts]
Mm. He wanted a boy.
He whispered on our wedding day,
"I can't wait to tell Stu how beautiful you looked today."
Stuart?
- [chuckles] D'you mind if we… - Sorry.
He's nice Monday through Thursday.
Likes a drink on Friday.
Don't tell me you haven't seen the bruises. I won't believe you.
I noticed. I, uh… I just wasn't sure you'd want to be asked about them.
I'm not…
This isn't for him.
I just want someone for me.
Sorry. [sobs] Sorry.
Asking you not to treat us like cattle, and I'm treating you like a handkerchief.
I should have listened better. I'm sorry.
I know what you're all going through, and…
[breathes deeply]
We've taken to calling ourselves "the Ovum Club."
The girls.
- The Ovum Club? - Hmm.
I like that.
I'll send Rachel in.
- [Rachel] Hi. - How are you, Rachel?
- Grand. How are you? - I'm good.
[footsteps approaching]
Results through?
[Bob] Failure on case number 136.
Kathy.
It's not working.
The HCG is setting the other natural ovarian hormones awry.
The estrogen and progesterone are all over the place.
There's no chance of implantation.
We could try artificially boosting
the estrogen and the progesterone for the next one.
[Patrick] We could.
[Bob] Hold on. We should start preparing the solutions.
I need to speak to Kathy. She'll be upset.
[poignant music playing]
- [Jean] Kathy. - Hi, Jean.
- [Jean] Hi. How are you? - I'm okay.
We've just had a look at the results.
I'm really sorry.
We weren't successful.
[inaudible chatter]
- [Patrick] Anything to report? - [glass clinking]
If you're looking for success, you'll find nothing here.
[music fades out]
[Patrick sighs]
Do you… want my help?
- Why would I need your help? - I don't want to assume or… interfere.
I know privacy is important to you, but I…
I also know we've never talked about your situation and children.
I suppose I may have made an assumption
that there are, or you think there are, difficulties that you too might face.
Endometriosis.
And it's severe.
- Have you talked to someone? - Once. He wasn't much use.
- Will you allow me to examine you? - No. [chuckles softly]
I'm not bad at this. I may be able to help.
You're the best surgeon, Patrick. I don't doubt that.
It's amazing what science can do.
Yes, well… let's keep working on that science.
["Nobody But Me" by The Human Beinz plays]
- ♪ No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no ♪ - [whooping, laughing]
♪ No, no, no, no, no ♪
♪ Nobody can do the… ♪
- ♪ Shing-a-ling! ♪ - ♪ Like I do ♪
♪ Nobody can do the… ♪
- ♪ Skate! ♪ - ♪ Like I do ♪
♪ Nobody can do the… ♪
- ♪ Boogaloo! ♪ - ♪ Like I do ♪
- ♪ Nobody can do the… ♪ - ♪ Philly! ♪
- ♪ Like I do ♪ - [Jean] I'm so sorry.
♪ Don't you know I'm gonna skate right through? ♪
♪ Ain't nobody do it but me ♪
♪ Nobody but me ♪
♪ Yeah, I'm gonna spin, I do Ain't nobody do it but me, babe ♪
♪ Nobody but me ♪
♪ Well, let me tell you, nobody ♪
♪ Well, nobody but me… ♪
- [Arun] Watch out. - [Jean] Whoop!
[both chuckle]
[Arun] I do so like it when you're back here.
- [Jean] I think the breaks do us good. - [chuckles]
Yes. Whatever's necessary.
- I do have a question for you though. - Mm?
The streets are wet, so I'm not gonna get down on one knee.
For what?
It's been burning a hole in my pocket.
I don't want to spoil the surprise,
but just to check, you do know what's inside?
Yes.
You'd rather not see?
Would it be so bad?
Two kids, a home to make together,
interesting conversation most nights of the week.
I'll only be dull on Thursdays… I promise.
[melancholy music playing]
My mother would be so happy.
A family man… with a good career.
But I'm not built to be a family woman, Arun.
I'm, uh… [breathes shakily]
I can't…
[softly] I can't.
Then we continue as we are.
You'll change your mind.
[Jean] I'm sorry.
[music abates]
[keys clatter]
[music intensifies]
[music fades out]
Telegram arrived last night from Landrum Shettles.
Is America ahead? Is he crowing again?
Director of his very well-to-do Manhattan hospital
found out what he was doing and exposed the embryo to the air.
- He killed it? - Shettles has been fired.
- Oh, for God's sake. - [Bob] The disrespect.
To expose it. To… kill the possibility of it.
[sighs]
I've been asked to go on TV again, to defend our work.
- We haven't got the time. - They've asked James Watson on too.
Journalism won't give us an answer here. Science will.
We won't shift the Research Council without public support.
We won't get public support till we've some success to show.
I know that I made a mess of it… before, but I…
Bob, you're a brilliant scientist.
But I'm not the most polished on TV, and I have a… foolish tendency
to not suffer fools, I know, but… I will be better this time, I promise.
When we make these sort of decisions, we should have a veto system.
- I really don't think you should. - Jean, what do you think?
- Should I go? - No.
[Bob sighs]
[man 1] There are few debates more fervid than the one we discuss tonight.
We live in an era where science may make possible…
- Bob. - James.
Nasty business.
Oh, I wouldn't say that.
Oh, television, I mean. Television.
Actually, I wouldn't say that about television either.
[host] Nobel Prize winner Professor James Watson and…
- [indistinct muttering] - …Dr. Robert Edwards!
[audience applauding]
So, uh, Professor Watson, if I may start with you.
You're opposed to these developments, am I right?
Oh, I am… never opposed to developments in science,
but I am concerned.
The question is one of abnormality.
Imagine the life of an abnormal child, born as a result of this,
kept alive by, indeed made possible, by medicine.
The question will arise what to do with that child.
Allow it to live a disabled life, in pain,
or consider the possibility of infanticide?
This is not about… this is not about killing children. It is about making them.
Uh, Dr… Dr. Edwards, please allow Professor Watson to finish.
I come from a generation of scientists born under the shadow of Mengele.
I'm concerned that we are stumbling into a situation
where the work we do might lead to similar abhorrence.
- I'm a Nazi doctor now, am I? - No. [chuckles]
You're a scientist seemingly unengaged in the consequences of your work.
- [applause] - [man 2] He's right!
[host] Dr. Edwards, respond.
Science is a risk. All of it.
His discovery of DNA presents great risks.
- Genetic engineering-- - This is not a debate on DNA.
Genetic engineering is a possibility born of the discovery of DNA.
A discovery he deservedly won the Nobel Prize for.
There are risks. Of course there are.
But calculated risk is vital in our discipline, as you well know.
[audience murmurs]
Our care for our patients is absolute, and we--
[man 3] Shame, sir! Shame!
- It's wrong! - [man 4] It's disgustin'!
Please let Dr. Edwards speak.
Having children is not everything. I know that.
Some people lead very happy lives childless.
But that should be a choice.
[woman] It's nature's choice!
[Bob] Statistically, most people in this room must know someone
desperate to have a child but unable to.
Uh, a sister, a cousin, an… an aunt.
- Uh, a… a friend. - No! No!
If you knew the pain of infertility for these women,
then you would understand that the risk-reward ratio in the study of IVF
is overwhelmingly stacked…
[host] Perhaps we'll leave matters there.
- I believe Philip Hayton is live in-- - I… I believe… I…
I believe that everyone who wants one
deserves the right to have a child.
- [audience chattering angrily] - Ah. Over to you, Philip.
[poignant music playing]
[music drowns out background]
- [Jean] Here. - Oh, cheers.
[music abates]
[music fades out]
[Bob] I was evacuated here, you know. Me and my younger brother.
We were both so scared.
But then, when we got here, it…
I didn't know how beautiful things could be.
Peace.
Sheep.
[chuckles] Lots of sheep.
Sheep were the beauty, were they?
I knew… I knew what Watson was gonna say,
but I didn't think they'd all take his side.
[sighs] Why am I doing this?
Because you know there's a medical need.
[exhales softly]
Watson, Crick, all those Cambridge toffs, they changed everything with DNA,
because they convinced people of the need for it.
We're just…
[sighs]
I can't…
[sighs] I can't make people see.
They won't…
They won't see.
[door shuts]
Oh, Dr. Edwards. Got a message for you, sir.
"Pregnancy test positive. Patrick."
[optimistic music playing]
- Uh, can I use your phone? - Yeah, yeah.
[dial scrambling]
- [phone rings] - [Patrick] Thank you, sister.
Confirm pressures now.
- [Muriel] Yes? - [Bob] Can I speak to Patrick?
Yes. It's Dr. Edwards.
- [Patrick] I saw you on television. - Patrick, it's not the time for--
[Patrick] That tie with that suit, that didn't help the cause.
[Bob] The pregnancy, presumably it's the extra hormones.
[Patrick] It's still holding, if that's your question.
[Bob] We'll be there tomorrow, first thing.
[Jean gasps]
I just want to say congratulations to you both.
Oh, she's not pregnant. We've made someone else pregnant.
- I believe her name is… - Rachel!
Rachel, that's right. And it's bloody brilliant!
[music intensifies]
Oh, if we could avoid running in the corridor. Accidents do happen.
How's Rachel doing?
Our mother is blooming so far. It's Sally that I'm worried about.
[softly] Jean, come on.
- Sally-- - [Sally] I don't wanna stop the drugs.
I understand, but your abdomen is clearly swollen.
- Don't tell Mr. Steptoe. - [Jean] I have to tell Mr. Steptoe.
You may have to wait a few months,
but I'll make sure you get back on the program.
[inhales deeply]
Oh, sorry.
[exhales] Sorry, um…
[inhales, chuckles] What do they say?
"It's the hope that kills you."
Question.
D'you think the Ovum Club might like an outing?
[soft music playing]
An outing?
Clubs take outings, don't they?
[music brightens]
- [woman] ♪ Everywhere we go ♪ - [women] ♪ Everywhere we go ♪
- [woman] ♪ People always ask us ♪ - [women] ♪ People always ask us ♪
- [woman] ♪ Who we are ♪ - [women] ♪ Who we are ♪
- [woman] ♪ And where we come from ♪ - [women] ♪ And where we come from ♪
- [woman] ♪ We're from Oldham ♪ - [women] ♪ We're from Oldham ♪
- [woman] ♪ And we're barren ♪ - [women] ♪ Totally, totally barren ♪
- [woman] ♪ But do we care? ♪ - [women] Yes, we care!
[whooping, laughing]
[Rachel] Aw, look.
I better not… I s'pose.
- [Jean] I'd rather not, to be honest. - [laughs]
[Jean chuckles] Weather like this.
[music fades out]
If I am the first…
I mean, if it does…
Ugh. I've seen the things you people have to face.
I… I wouldn't want my baby to have to…
It won't. Bob will face down the press.
You'll just have to get on with being a mother.
If it happens.
[women whooping faintly]
[inhales sharply, sighs]
I won't reassure you.
Who knows what happens next?
But I will say, the care you'll receive in the next few weeks
will be nothing short of extraordinary.
Okay?
[softly] Okay.
["The Swimming Song" by Loudon Wainwright III playing]
[Jean] Right.
- Wish me luck. - [Rachel] Oh, you're goin'.
[Jean chuckles]
- Charging in. - Go!
♪ This summer, I went swimming ♪
- [Jean squeals] - ♪ This summer, I might've drowned ♪
♪ But I held my breath And I kicked my feet ♪
- ♪ And I moved my arms around… ♪ - [Rachel] Go!
- Whoo! - ♪ I moved my arms around ♪
♪ This summer, I swam in the ocean… ♪
- [woman 1] Come on, Jean! - ♪ And I swam in a swimming pool ♪
♪ Salt my wounds, chlorine my eyes I'm a self-destructive fool ♪
♪ I'm a self-destructive… ♪
All of you. All of you.
[women laughing]
[woman 2] Come on!
Aah!
Everyone, come forward!
♪ Yeah-hee ♪
- [Kathy] One, two, three… - Oldham!
- [woman 3] Love it. - [woman 4] So windy!
[music fades out]
- [Kathy] Honestly. - [Rachel laughs]
[Trisha] This was a good thing to do.
- [Jean] Mm. - [Kathy] What a beach.
[women laughing, chattering]
He's told me this is my last one.
Who? Harry?
No. Mr. Steptoe.
Turning 36, you see.
I'll be outside the age where it's useful for your study.
- Oh. - [Trisha] It's okay.
Honestly, it is.
[poignant music fades in]
- [Kathy] I mean, he's never known. - [chuckles] That's brilliant.
- [Rachel laughing] - [Kathy] It's probably for the best.
I'm jealous of her too.
[phone ringing]
[ringing continues]
- [music fades out] - [ringing ends]
Jean.
[car engine rumbling]
[brakes squeal]
[Jean] Patrick.
We've another positive. Lauren is pregnant.
- Whatever this is, it's working. - [man] Patrick.
George.
A Kershaw's girl.
Jean Purdy, actually.
How any of you put up with that hole…
The advancement of medicine, George. It has its costs.
Oh, is that what you're doing… advancing medicine?
As you destroy this hospital's good reputation.
Fuck off, George.
No wonder you're playing off a 15.
[Patrick] Orthopedics consultant.
Never trust a doctor that specializes in orthopedics.
They're not up for the good fight.
[Jean] I was just packing up to go back to Cambridge when I got the call.
Patrick, we're onto something.
- Both Lauren and Rachel-- - There's a problem with Rachel.
- What do you mean? - The scan came back.
I don't like the position of the embryo.
- It's not sitting right? - [Patrick] It's high.
And there's a vague swelling to the side of the uterus.
[sighs] You think it might be ectopic.
[Patrick] I've booked her in to confirm it by laparoscope, but I fear so.
[melancholy music fading in]
- [inhales shakily] - [Patrick] I'm very sorry.
What was it?
[Patrick] The baby was growing in the wrong place in the fallopian tube.
I know what ectopic is. [inhales shakily]
[voice breaks] I've read all the books I could find.
["Though You Are Far Away" plays]
♪ Though you are far away ♪
♪ I'm with you in every way ♪
♪ Close your eyes ♪
♪ And you will see ♪
[music continues]
[music fades]
[purposeful footsteps approaching]
I thought it had been made clear to you.
- Lily. - [Lily] It's dirty, what you're doing.
It's disgusting, it's shameful, and it doesn't belong here.
It's not here. I am.
Is that what you tell yourself?
- That the sin isn't even yours? - [Rev Paulson] Jean.
Morning, Vicar. Just setting the flowers for the service.
Sorry. I shouldn't have come. Mum made it clear.
[chuckles] You haven't been excommunicated, Jean.
- The Church is for everyone. - [sharply] Is it?
Yes.
[softly] I've missed it.
Jean,
if you answer for your mistakes, God will come back into your heart.
N… no. That's not what I…
That's not why I'm here. Sorry.
[Rev Paulson] How is your mother?
She hasn't told you.
- [tense music playing] - [knocking on door]
[Jean] Mum, I know you're there. I can see your slippers.
[mom, moodily] No, you can't.
The vicar said you're sick. Is that true?
[mom] How have you seen the vicar?
Am I coming in?
Am I coming in or are you doing this on your own?
[mom] Are you still working with them?
[quietly] You obstinate old bag.
Mum, I love you. I hope you get well.
[metallic rattling]
[lock clacks]
[Jean] Well, thanks for letting us know, Muriel.
- [phone receiver clatters] - [music fades out]
Lauren just started bleeding. [sighs]
[Bob sighs softly]
- What are you doing? - Sperm survival test.
We'll go through all our culture fluids… all the drugs, all the containers.
If anything is causing problems our side, this'll track it down.
Everything we use, we test.
[suspenseful music playing]
[pen scratching]
[yawns]
[Jean] This liquid paraffin's safe.
[counter clicking rapidly]
[Bob] Uh… 95%.
[sighs]
This one's safe.
[sighs] I'm gonna take five.
[music abates]
[snoring softly]
- Bob, you're going to want to see this. - [music fades out]
Bob. Bob.
I need you to check something.
[Bob sighs]
Which?
This liquid paraffin is toxic.
How did we… [sighs]
How did we miss that?!
- I don't know. - That pregnancy could've worked.
Maybe others, even if we'd just… If we hadn't been poisoning these women.
- Oh, Jean. - Are you blaming me?
No! I'm blaming me!
[Jean] Please don't. It was a mistake.
There… there will be others.
There wouldn't have been a pregnancy. We weren't ready.
What are you doing? Stop. Stop. Stop!
This is too important to…
[tense music playing]
- Hey, now you're the one being crazy. - [Jean] Maybe… we… both are.
Eh, Bob?
My mother is dying.
And here I am, staying awake all night, with a madman and his shitty liquids!
This was a beautiful dream.
[inhales sharply] And I… I really did believe in it.
But all this, it's cost me everything, and I can't.
[poignant music plays]
Mum!
Mum! I've left work! I'm giving up my flat!
If you don't let me in, I'll have to sleep on your doorstep!
Hush!
- [dog barking] - [Jean breathes heavily]
I'm making eggy bread.
- And what have you done to your hair? - Absolutely nothing.
I have some Vitapointe that can help with that.
[coughs]
No, no, no. Not like that.
You're letting that nasty carp get it.
There's some delicate goldfish in here.
Watch.
[Jean] Oh. [chuckles]
- [snickers] Damn. - [Arun] Jeanie.
Jeanie?
Jean!
- [mom] Oh no you don't. - Jean.
Who's this?
Arun. I…
We were just leaving.
This is my mother, Gladys May. And, uh, Mum, this is Arun.
- We used to work in labs together. - [Gladys] Hmm.
Which labs?
- He didn't work with me on that, Mum. - Pleasure to meet you.
- I've heard lots about you. - [Gladys] Hmm.
- Who's this? - [Arun] Tabitha.
[Tabitha gurgling]
Tabitha.
That's a lovely name.
[Arun] We call her Tabby Cat. [chuckles]
Uh, don't judge us.
- Let's hope she's not furry. - [chuckles]
How's Bob?
On good form. Distracted.
Full of the latest. It's… nice though, to have him back full-time in Cambridge.
He's not going to Oldham anymore?
You didn't know?
They folded it, what, three months after you left.
Patrick agreed it was for the best.
Would've thought he'd have written to you, but… that's Bob, I suppose.
[thoughtful piano music playing]
Thank you, God, for this food and this family.
We remember those who have no food today,
and those who do have food but no one to share it with. Amen.
[piano music continues]
[music fades out]
[muffled chattering]
[Jean] Hello. I'm after Bob.
Oh, kitchen.
[overlapping chattering nearby]
[Ruth] Jean! Hello.
Ruth.
- Where's Bob? - He's in there.
[girl] I want to fold it like a diamond, so it comes out like a flower.
- No, Meg, that's not how we-- - [Meg] I know how to.
Oh.
Can I talk to you?
[overlapping chatter]
Yes. Girls, keep folding like I said.
Match the sides, push it down, in the envelope.
Neat leaflets make all the difference.
[girls wearily] Yes, Dad.
- Are you running for Parliament? - Ah, you see, this is the thing.
I'd have expected it to stretch to your side of town by now.
You should've at least got a bloody leaflet through your door.
[Jean] My mind's been elsewhere.
[Bob gently] Yes. Of course.
I stand… no chance at all.
Well, some chance.
Cambridge does need a Labour MP, and… winds do change.
Don't make it my responsibility.
- What? - Kershaw's.
You stopped because of me.
It… it wasn't working.
And so we…
I decided to move on.
I decided to step away.
I've always been passionate about politics, you know that.
- The chance to represent at Parliament. - You gave up.
No. We left it for others to solve. That's how science works, Jean.
My mother is sick, and I love her.
I had no choice.
Don't be ridiculous.
Of course you had a choice.
[poignant music playing]
[softly] We were so close.
I didn't expect you to give up.
Yes, well,
you gave up first, Jeanie.
You.
[poignant music continues]
[music fades out]
- [indistinct chatter on radio] - [Gladys coughing]
What's that? Hmm?
[hymn playing on radio]
Are you thinking of going back to it when we're done here?
There's nothing to go back to.
I'm just going through some old notes, trying to understand some things.
Promise me you won't go back to it, Jean.
Settle down.
Have children of your own.
[coughs]
I can't do it, Mum.
I can't get pregnant.
Nonsense.
You haven't tried.
I've been having unprotected sex since 1964.
You have a sinner under your roof.
And you've been sleeping with these men…
because you want a baby?
And because I enjoy it.
Is that right?
[Jean] There are others like me, Mum.
Everywhere.
I wanted to help them.
You always had so much love.
[coughs]
[coughs wheezily, grunts]
[coughing]
[labored inhale]
Breathe.
Sh…
- [choking] God will find a way. - Stop. Get a breath in first, Mum.
[labored breathing]
- You have blood around your mouth. - [breathing heavily] Have I? Oh.
Shall I take you to bed?
- Mm. - [softly] Come on.
You know, it's strange,
when you're looking back on a life.
Mostly all you can see is failure.
[tuts] You weren't a failure.
All the things you should've done
and didn't.
[Jean sighs]
- Mum. - [inhales sharply]
But… the one thing
that you can't see failure in…
is your children.
Because
they're always beautiful.
[melancholy music fading in]
I love you, Jeanie.
[softly] I love you too, Mum. I do.
[breathes deeply]
[light switch clicks]
[bottles rattling]
[milk float accelerating]
[music continues]
[Jean] Morning.
[music fades out]
[church organ playing]
[man] Miss Jean.
Thank you so much for coming. She would have loved that you were here.
I'm sorry for your loss.
- Patrick. - I hope you don't mind.
- Bob told me, and I did want to-- - Is… Bob here too?
No. He said you wouldn't want him here, but you might want me.
I wasn't sure, but Matron Muriel talked me into it.
Thank you both for coming.
- [softly] Thank you. - Good morning.
- [Rev Paulson] Lovely to meet you. - [man] Good afternoon, Reverend.
[children shouting, laughing]
[Jean] There you go.
It's a strange funeral really.
Most of them look at me like I'm the devil.
They still hate me. They all do. Hmm.
[quietly] They're so boring with it.
My mother was many things.
One thing she wasn't was boring, yet she had so many boring friends.
Then she was lucky to have an interesting daughter.
I can't talk about her.
Then we can talk about other… things.
Or you could talk to someone else. We won't be offend--
- [Jean] We made a mistake. - We should get back soon.
[Jean] The stimulation.
We've been creating false cycles for the women,
working against their natural rhythms.
If we eliminate that, be sure of our chemicals, we might just--
Perhaps this is best left for another day.
That's an interesting idea.
[whimsical music playing]
- [Patrick] It's perhaps worth a try. - [Muriel] Patrick.
I have one last effort in me, Jean seems to have,
and you're indefatigable, Muriel.
The only question is…
If we can use their cycle, we'll keep it constant.
What else are you doing? The election didn't work out.
Did you vote for me?
The solutions you've devised are incredible.
Your processes are world-beating.
The surgery Patrick's able to do is mind-blowing.
- Maybe not so much hyperbole? - But… we're meddling too much.
We leave the women as much as we can to grow the eggs on their own.
If we remove the hormones that subvert their fertility
and bring back the menstrual cycle to some sort of normality,
we'll eliminate so much of the risk of failure.
And of course I voted for you.
I would need to be able to harvest
between 24 and 26 hours after the start of the LH surge.
That degree of precision without drugs--
It would require… urine assays every three hours.
- Every three hours? - To detect the LH surge.
Even then, if we get it right, we'll only produce one single embryo per woman.
[Bob] It would lower our chances.
But… one good embryo would be better than 15 bad ones.
We'd watch the egg until it was fertilized and implant it then.
Split-second precision, every step of the way.
None of us will ever sleep.
Patrick, how long until they finally force you to retire?
July 1978.
A mere three years of sleep deprivation. Think you can handle that, Muriel?
["Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers plays]
It is a good idea.
♪ Don't you feel it growing, day by day? ♪
♪ People… getting ready for the news ♪
♪ Some are happy, some are sad ♪
♪ Oh, we gotta let the music play ♪
♪ Whoa, listen to the music ♪
♪ All the time… ♪
Everything changes.
[music abates]
[music fades out]
Right. I think that's everyone.
So… you'll have to be monitored every day.
You'll have to move to Oldham to do so.
You'll have to watch what you eat and what you drink.
And when you're at the right stage in your cycle,
we'll remove your eggs and see what we can do.
How will you tell which stage? I… I mean, I'm not always regular.
- We'll have to keep your urine monitored. - On this table is everything you need.
Please be sure to use the pots each time you pass,
and then we'll collect them and analyze them.
- Thanks, Sandra. - [Sandra] Thanks. [sighs]
[Jean] It's not easy, I know.
You're risking journalists finding out who you are
and splashing your faces all over the papers.
Thanks, Martha.
We know it. We see it. And we are grateful.
Some of the others who came through here… described themselves as the Ovum Club.
I rather liked that as a name.
- There have been women here before you. - Thank you.
- And there will be women here after you. - Linda Nutshall.
- All sustained by hope. - Thank you.
But knowing, as they do, while it might not be better for them,
for those that follow,
without you,
none of this works.
I think I got nervous and drank more tea than normal.
- You almost got all the way to the top. - [chuckles nervously]
[mouths inaudibly]
[Patrick] Dr. Ruth Hinton arranged this appointment?
[woman] Yes.
And your fallopian tubes are blocked?
[woman] Yes, sir.
And they operated, but they… couldn't… sort them.
You're 29, Mrs. Brown?
Yes, sir. Been trying for children for ten years.
Well, I think you're both excellent candidates for this,
but I will need to examine you, Mrs. Brown,
laparoscopically, under anesthetic,
look inside you, and scrutinize your ovaries and pelvis,
and see what damage has been done.
Mr. Brown, I will require a sample of your seminal fluid,
produced carefully and cleanly by masturbation
after a few days of sexual abstinence.
My job sounds easier than hers.
What are our chances?
[clicks tongue] There are several bridges to cross
before I can answer that question, I'm afraid.
And what about
abnormalities?
Sorry to ask, sir, it's just that you… you read in the paper--
I understand. We read the same newspapers.
The chances of abnormality are no greater than a natural pregnancy.
You'll be monitored throughout,
and if there are any problems, you'll be kept well-informed.
- Thank you, sir. - [Mrs. Brown] Thank you.
[pump hissing]
[valve hisses]
[man] That's where we want her, Mr. Steptoe.
[metal clatters]
[ventilator whooshing]
[record crackling softly]
["The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams playing]
[Patrick] Some recurrence of adhesions around the ovaries.
Yes, Mr. Webster.
Damn.
Three small follicles only.
No pre-ovulatory follicle.
Left ovary…
A good one. Intercom.
- [intercom clicks] - [nurse] On.
[Patrick] Bob, one good follicle in the left ovary. Ripe.
Two centimeters in diameter, I'd say. Not… easy to approach.
- [Bob] I'm ready. - [Patrick] Good.
Right, suction.
[whirring]
[Muriel] And on.
[music stirs]
[Patrick] Gently. Gently.
Stop.
[machine powers down]
[ventilator whooshing]
[Patrick] Thank you, Matron.
Go.
[glass clacks gently]
[glass clinks]
[clicking gently]
[Bob] Intercom.
[intercom clicks]
Got it. Got it!
Patrick, an excellent egg.
[music intensifies]
"6748/1."
[music fades out]
[knocking on door]
[Patrick] Come in.
Are you alone?
[Patrick] Yeah. Just prepping.
[Jean] Good.
I've got my knickers off, ready.
Don't ask me to put on a gown, and don't you dare get Muriel in here.
I like her now, but… still.
[boot unzipping]
- [faucet squeaks] - [water running]
[boot unzips]
[boot clatters]
[paper tears, rustles]
[metal bin lid clangs]
- [paper rustling] - [Jean sighs]
- [latex snapping] - [footsteps approaching]
[clock ticking]
[Jean exhales softly]
[breath trembles faintly]
[latex snapping]
[metal bin lid opens, shuts]
Could I have…
Is it… possible for me to have--
No.
What about if… What…
What about if this works?
In my opinion, the endometriosis is very severe indeed.
[melancholy music playing]
I can try and remove some of it, but…
I'm afraid science isn't entirely ready for you yet.
I can try and ease the pain. It must be painful.
No. Thank you.
How about a drink?
It's barely breakfast time.
Well, I'll have an orange juice, but you should have… something stronger.
[music intensifies]
[quietly] I'd like a drink.
[breathes shakily]
- Did Bob talk to you about me? - [Patrick] No.
- [fire crackling] - He knew though.
You knew. Probably Muriel knew.
We've worked together for… eight years, Jean.
Very little we don't know about each other.
I'm sure there are things you know about me that I assume are private.
[chuckles softly]
I served with the Navy in the war.
Ship's doctor.
I was… young, obviously, but capable.
And, as it turned out, unlucky. Our ship was torpedoed.
I managed to swim to the lifeboat,
and we pulled everyone we could out of the water.
Ship's doctor is one thing.
Chief medical officer on a lifeboat full of dying men… [scoffs]
I had to decide who to treat and who not to treat.
Limited supplies of morphine.
Limited supplies of everything, to be honest.
I looked men in the eye…
and made a decision, based on very little evidence,
whether they were capable of survival or not.
I'm more than certain some I condemned
were capable.
I can't imagine.
Forgive me. There's no need for you to…
know all of that, but my point being
that the bit I most dislike about this job
is having to decide who will get help and who will not.
[poignant music playing]
Hundreds of letters, I know you get them too,
where women beg for the opportunity to be on our program.
And you read through their notes, and… y-you can feel it.
You can feel their eyes on the back of your head.
And we see ourselves as the great possibility.
We can make the infertile fertile.
But there are still so many women we won't…
we won't be able to help.
And I can't help thinking that, for them,
our existence… is just another source of pain.
[inhales sharply]
Women presume we can have children.
We're told so.
[voice breaks] There is a biological and social expectation.
Nothing can make the pain of that absence worse.
[softly] But we have the possibility of making it better.
And, yes,
I say that as someone for whom the lifeboat can't help.
[telephone dial whirring]
[line ringing]
[music fades out]
[ringing continues]
Patrick. Will you please be available to replace the embryo this evening?
Four-cell.
What kind of birthday dinner?
That's the name of your wife, am I right?
[defensively] Well, do you know my wife's name?
Well, then I should've clearly paid more attention.
[woman] I hope you'll tell him we missed dessert.
I'm gonna tell him we missed dessert and a notorious cheese plate.
[wife chuckles]
How you can work in a place like this.
This is after we've spruced it up. You should've seen it before.
It was… appalling. At least now we have glass in the windows.
[distant chatter]
- I managed to scare up some biscuits. - Ah.
Good evening, Matron. Hope we haven't disturbed your evening.
[Muriel] Delighted to be here.
- [suspenseful music plays] - [Patrick] Mmm.
- Are they chocolate biscuits? - [wife gasps] What a treat.
[cog clicks]
Eight beautiful cells.
- [Jean] Matron and I will prep Mrs. Brown. - [Patrick] I'll prepare the theater.
- [Bob chuckles] - [footsteps receding]
[cog clicking]
- [Patrick quietly] Cannula, 2.2 mm. - [Muriel] Mm-hmm.
[nurse] If you could just pop yourself up on the table for us
and place your legs in the stirrups, that'd be great.
[Mrs. Brown sighs softly]
[Bob] "6748/1."
"6748/1. Lesley Brown."
[inhales deeply]
[exhales shakily]
[equipment rattles]
[footsteps approaching]
[Patrick] Yes. Now will do.
[suspenseful music continues]
[Bob] All gone.
[over intercom] All gone.
Are you okay?
I think I feel pregnant.
- Does that make me quite mad? - [chuckles]
Not mad, exactly.
[Lesley chuckles softly]
[Patrick] Well done.
[music fades out]
It's getting worse, the press. They know we're close.
We have to protect Lesley.
We've protected them all.
Do you know what those women have been through?
Newspapers will pay £5,000 for the names and addresses of our patients.
A further 5,000 should any of them become a story.
[whistles]
We could be rich. I've all their names and addresses.
I know they're just specimens in a jar for you, but these are people's lives.
[Bob] Rachel, Kathy, Gail, Trisha.
Harriet, Jan, Gracie, Nicola, Julie, Viv.
Polly, Marie, Violet, Sally, Lauren, Liz.
Jo, Christina.
- Mel. - You know their names.
Of the Ovum Club?
Yes.
- [poignant music playing] - I'm a scientist, Jean.
I fail every day in the hope that I'll succeed once in 20 years.
[sighs]
They stay a number because, otherwise, they'd take me down with them.
[music brightens]
You're a strange man.
[Bob chuckles softly]
- Strangest I've ever met. - [chuckles softly]
[over PA] A porter to radiology for patient transfer assistance.
[music fades out]
Good morning.
[Lesley] Good mornin'.
Good news.
The fetal head is a diameter of 9.6 centimeters.
The lecithin-sphingomyelin ratio is 3.9:1.
This is a scale
by which we measure the baby's capacity to breathe well at birth.
Normally 2:1, so 3.9:1… is a very good figure.
So you think that she's ready to come out?
[Patrick] Yes.
The toxemia you've been suffering leaves a question mark for me,
and I think we need to get your baby out sooner rather than later,
which means… a decision
between inducing the birth and performing a Caesarean section.
Mr. Steptoe, we only understand half of what you're sayin',
but, well, we… trust whatever decision that you think right.
[inhales] I think you feel, like me,
that if we can do this without a press audience, it might be easier.
- [Lesley] Mm. - Of course we do. [scoffs]
[tense music playing]
[Patrick] Have your normal visitors today.
Tell them nothing.
At 9:00 p.m., you should go home, John.
We'll find a way of bringing you back secretly.
[music brightens]
[Patrick] At 11:00 p.m., we'll operate.
- [reporters clamor] - And by… midnight, you'll have your child.
How does that sound?
- That sounds rather marvelous, sir. - [chuckles softly]
[reporter 1] Can you confirm that it's Lesley Brown?
[reporter 2] Picture, Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein?
- It's Dr. Frankenstein! - [reporter 3] This way, Miss Purdy.
[reporter 4] This way, Dr. Edwards! This way!
- [clamoring continues] - [reporter 5] Doctor! Dr. Edwards!
[tense music playing]
- [Muriel] I'm ready, Mr. Steptoe. - [Patrick] Thank you, Muriel.
[ventilator whooshing]
[Patrick] I'll be making a vertical incision.
[gas hisses]
[man 1] Let go of me! [groans]
- [man 2] Journalist! - Not done anythin'.
- Pretending to be a plumber. - Let go! Get off me!
[door slams]
[Bob] Not long now.
[breathes anxiously]
Not long now.
[ventilator whooshing]
[Patrick] I'm now going to incise the lower segment of the uterus.
Right, suction.
[instrument sucking]
[instruments clatter]
[music intensifies]
[music swells]
[music intensifying]
[music stops]
[baby crying]
[Patrick] There you go. There.
[poignant music playing]
[nurse] How you doin'?
[baby crying continuously]
[music brightens]
[muffled crying]
- Can you hear that? - [crying continues]
Hey. Can you hear that?
- [Jean squeals] - [Bob laughing]
- [door opens] - [baby crying]
[Jean chuckles]
[music abates]
[baby cooing]
[baby coos softly]
[camera shutter clicks]
- [shutter clicks] - [Bob chuckles]
[Patrick] Jean, come.
[baby coos]
[door swings open]
[Mr. Brown] Is that my baby?
It is.
[Mr. Brown softly] Oh.
[Mr. Brown chuckles]
Thank you.
[softly] Sure.
[Mr. Brown softly] Look.
She's here. [laughs wheezily]
She's here.
Yeah.
[music fading out]
[poignant string music playing]
[lock rattles]
[sobbing softly]
[sniffles]
[music intensifies]
[music fading out]
[record player playing]
♪ Love is in the air… ♪
[Muriel laughs] That's easy!
[laughter]
♪ And I don't know if I'm being foolish… ♪
Right, uh, now that Jean is here, I think we should have a speech.
- A speech? - Oh yes! [gasps]
- Patrick, speech. - Patrick.
- No. No. - [Bob] A few words.
- No. - Come on. Jean, a speech.
- [Jean] No way. - Oh, okay! I will make a speech.
- [Muriel] Oh! Well, of course! [laughs] - [man impersonates Tarzan's call]
- Right. First, I would like to thank… - No, you wouldn't. No, you won't.
Stop, Patrick. Without all of you--
- You'd be a member of Parliament. - Yes!
- Ha-ha. Very good, very good. - [Muriel laughs loudly]
Matron!
[chuckling] For three days,
that little girl grew in our culture.
She was replaced inside her mother with incredible skill.
She wriggled out of her membrane and expanded beautifully.
We have done something truly extraordinary.
We have done it because it was necessary.
It has been a privilege… to work with you,
to sacrifice with you,
to make with you.
Remember this moment.
I know that I will never be part of something so extraordinary again.
Remember it, and…
and treasure it.
To you all.
- To us all. - [all] To us all.
So what now?
[Jean] We do it all again.
[all laugh]
Oh, the Browns have asked if we'd like to give the baby a middle name. I…
- I was thinking "Joy." - [Muriel] Oh, that's lovely!
- [overlapping chatter] - [moving music playing]
A good choice?
A great choice.
[chuckles softly]
[music fades out]
[Bob] Dear Mr. Killion,
I feel strongly about the inclusion on the plaque
of those who helped with the conception of Louise Brown.
I feel this especially about Jean Purdy,
who travelled to Oldham with me for the full ten years
and contributed as much as we did to the project.
I was the biologist, Patrick, the obstetrician,
and Jean…
well, you could describe Jean as…
[sighs] Well, without her, none of this would've been possible.
She made the unbearable bearable.
So, you see, it is quite simple.
Her name must be on that plaque.
♪ If you miss the train I'm on ♪
♪ You will know that I am gone ♪
♪ You can hear the whistle blow ♪
♪ A hundred miles ♪
♪ A hundred miles, a hundred miles ♪
♪ You can hear the whistle blow ♪
♪ A hundred miles ♪
♪ Lord, I'm one, Lord, I'm two ♪
♪ Lord, I'm three, Lord, I'm four ♪
♪ Lord, I'm 500 miles ♪
♪ From my home ♪
♪ 500 miles, 500 miles ♪
♪ Lord, I'm 500 miles ♪
♪ From my home ♪
♪ Not a shirt on my back ♪
♪ Not a penny to my name ♪
♪ Lord, I can't go a-home ♪
♪ This a-way ♪
♪ This a-way, this a-way ♪
♪ Lord, I can't go a-home ♪
♪ This a-way ♪
♪ If you miss the train I'm on ♪
♪ You will know that I am gone ♪
♪ You can hear the whistle blow ♪
♪ A hundred miles ♪
[song ends]
[poignant music playing]
[music becomes whimsical]
[music darkens]
[music fades out]