See you later, love.
See you in a bit.
- Hello, Karen. - Are you all right, howell, my love?
Home time!
All right, before you go... Sit down, please, Rhys.
Who can tell me what's special about tomorrow?
It's Friday!
Don't just shout out, geraint. Hand raised, boy.
- Sorry, sir. - Yes, it's Friday.
It's the start of the weekend and, even more importantly, the start of half-term.
And, in case you'd forgotten,
before you go on half-term, you lot have a job to do tomorrow morning.
You're singing "all things bright and beautiful"
to the whole school in assembly.
So don't forget to practice at home tonight.
Take the words home to memorize them.
"Memorize," Rhys Edwards:
To commit to memory, to learn by heart.
Right, everyone line up.
Quickly, come on!
Don't forget your coats.
- Thank you, sir. - There you go.
- Well done today. Good work. - Thank you.
- Goodbye, sir. - Rhys.
There you go.
Oh, my god, I'm soaking!
All things bright and beautiful
all creatures great and small
All things bright and beautiful
all creatures great and small
all things bright and wonderful
the lord god...
- Hello, nan. - Hello, love.
Bright and beautiful
hello, dad.
- Hiya. - Hi, dad.
- Clear the table for me, would you? - Yes, mum.
- Can I get you a cup of tea? - Please, I am gasping.
All things bright and beautiful
all creatures great and small
geraint, love, it's time for your bath.
I knew that was you!
I can hear you down the street.
It's raining cats and dogs out there, mam.
Oh, I know. It's horrible, isn't it?
Come on. Hey.
Show me, show me, show me.
- All things... - Bright and beautiful
you don't need that.
All creatures great and small
the purple-headed mountain
lovely.
The river running by the sunset and the morning
good boy.
That brightens up the sky
- Where are we headed, then? - Tip seven.
We got reports of a train down.
Come on. I'm going. I'm running late.
- Off you go, then. See you later. - Bye, dad.
- Bye. - All right, dai?
How are you, all right?
Quickly. Quickly, now, come on.
Come back here, geraint.
- I thought we were late. - Do your laces up!
- Morning, beryl. - Morning, iver.
Come on!
Look at your face. You're filthy.
- Quickly. Hurry up. - See you later.
- See you later, then. - Bye.
- Come on, boys. - All right.
Ground's bloody soaked.
Never seen one this bad before.
Christ, the whole tip is unstable! You two, stay here!
Hurry!
- Edwards? - Sir.
- Phillips? - Sir.
All things bright and beautiful
not yet, boy. In assembly. Five minutes.
Don't peak too soon.
Come on, man, hurry up.
Come on!
Who's supervising today, love?
Eric Ellis. You've just missed him. He's in the canteen.
Eric!
What's up? I'm trying to eat my breakfast.
We've got trouble on seven. Something's not right.
- What do you mean? - We should get a safety team up there,
- just in case. - You can feel it moving.
I've never seen anything like it.
- Where? - Tip seven.
Christ, is anybody up there?
Two lads, we left them to keep an eye on things.
- Hush, boys. Be quiet! - Someone should check it out.
On your feet, into a line. Alphabetical, please.
Quickly and quietly.
- Sir! - Jesus Christ!
Sir!
Under the desks, all of you!
Quickly!
Please, get under the desks! Now!
Sir!
Where I grew up, not far from here,
if we wanted to buy groceries,
bread and butter and eggs,
we 'd go to the local shop.
If we wanted fresh vegetables,
we'd have to go to the open market in central huddersfield.
And if we wanted meat or fish that wasn't in a tin...
We'd have to go to neighboring milnsbridge for the butchers and fishmongers.
Then something bigger came along, which changed everything,
and we were told to call it a supermarket.
Well, now we have this.
A hypermarket.
Which is interesting to me for several reasons.
It's Democratic,
it's modern,
and it changes everything.
I'm afraid you're going to have to excuse me.
Let's go.
What do we know?
Clear the path!
I'm sorry to interrupt, your majesty. Michael.
I'm afraid there's been an incident in a mining village in south wales.
A coal waste tip collapsed and slid into a junior school.
It's clear there's been significant loss of life.
I would suggest an immediate response.
What kind of response?
A statement of condolence. I've taken the Liberty of doing a quick draft.
- May I? - Of course.
"I am shocked and distressed
to learn of the terrible disaster which has taken place at aberfan.
Please convey a message of heartfelt sympathy
from my husband and myself to the children's parents,
and to the families of those who have lost their lives.
Signed, Elizabeth r."
Downing street has requested the use of an aircraft of the queen's flight,
so that the pm can visit the site of the tragedy later today.
- I assume that's a yes? - Of course.
Unless you were planning to visit today yourself?
- —Why would I go? - What a question!
The crown visits hospitals, Martin, not the scenes of accidents.
Thank you, ma'am.
Ma'am, there's just one more appointment to confirm today.
A 4:00 reception for sir Leslie fry.
At about 8:00 this morning,
the local branch of the national coal board
received a report
that a depression had formed in tip number seven.
- Meaning? - It had sunk.
What's it doing sinking like that? Isn't it solid?
Apparently not.
Not with all the heavy rainfall that they've been having lately.
It seems that all that water
turned enough of the coal waste inside the tip into slurry
to cause the sinkhole.
And then about a quarter past 9,
that liquid waste broke free of the tip,
slid down the mountain towards the village.
Pantglas junior school bore the brunt of it. Several houses too.
And how much coal was in this tip?
Too much.
Three hundred thousand cubic yards.
Plus, guidelines suggest
that tips should be no higher than 20 feet tall.
Now, this one was over five times that.
Who from the coal board is there?
The local supervisor, Eric Ellis.
We're gonna need someone higher up than that.
What about lord robens, head of the coal board?
He was notified, but he's being invested
as chancellor of surrey university today
and saw no reason to postpone the investiture.
What?
Make sure he's there by tomorrow morning, will you?
- Yes, sir. - Now, we have to be careful.
This could turn nasty very quickly.
Come on, Harold.
This is an accident caused by unprecedented rainfall.
- It isn't political. - Everything is political, Andrew.
- What seems to be the problem? - The road's closed, sir.
- All the way up? - All the way, sir.
Sorry, sir. The roads are blocked.
People have been arriving to help all day. We might struggle to get through.
Then we'll walk.
- Prime minister. - Yeah.
Sixty bodies recovered so far.
And counting.
- Quiet! - Quiet!
- We heard someone! - Quiet!
Back to work, everyone!
Every time the whistle blows, it means they think they've heard something.
Another child trapped beneath the wreckage.
Mind your step, prime minister.
I guarantee you...
The highest-level independent inquiry into this tragedy.
All the necessary powers...
Will be given to those in charge to take whatever action they need.
Any other tips that are a danger to the public?
I have no intention
of adding to anything I've made in my statement.
It's a bit late now!
We've been telling everyone for years those tips were dangerous.
It was a disaster waiting to happen, and no one listened.
The number of casualties in the tip disaster in south wales
could be as high as 200.
Thirty-six people remain in hospital, 20 bodies have been recovered,
and estimates suggest that as many as 150 more are still missing,
most of them children.
- What are you doing? - You haven't heard the news?
No. I've been at Caroline's birthday party.
When you read the papers tomorrow, you'll understand.
Smoke continues to hamper rescue efforts in the village of aberfan,
south wales.
So far, 67 bodies, mostly children,
have been pulled from the wreckage of pantglas junior school,
which was struck by coal waste from a nearby tip.
Hope remains for many more still missing,
but work to recover bodies is likely to continue through the night.
The prime minister, Harold Wilson, visited the scene today,
and Buckingham Palace have issued a statement of sorrow from the queen.
The message reads, "I am shocked and distressed
to learn of the terrible disaster which has taken place at aberfan.
Please convey a message of my heartfelt sympathy
from my husband and myself to the children's parents
and to the families of those who have lost their lives."
That's the news from us at the moment. Now back to London.
There will be special reports during the...
Prime minister, ma'am.
As of an hour ago, the loss of life in aberfan stands at 116.
Now, it appears that over 80 are still missing.
Thirty-six of the survivors have been hospitalized.
I see.
Are any more victims expected to be found?
Not alive, ma'am.
To make matters worse,
it has been reported that the north shoulder of tip seven has moved
and the village is ready for immediate evacuation.
Mechanical diggers are out of action,
bogged down in the soggy mud.
The military have been brought in to help.
Given all this,
I was hoping I might persuade you to go.
One of the most unfortunate things about being sovereign I have discovered
is that you paralyze virtually any situation you walk into.
The very last thing emergency and rescue services need
when they are working against the clock is a queen turning up.
I'm not sure I agree.
Children have died.
A community is devastated.
What precisely would you have me do?
Well, comfort people.
Put on a show?
The crown doesn't do that.
I didn't say put on a show.
I said, comfort people.
Your majesty.
Morning, darling. Tea?
Anyone object if I had something stronger?
- Coffee? - No, I was thinking whiskey.
- Margaret, it's 9:00. - Yes, I know.
But it's not morning. Not in my world, anyway.
Tony called in the small hours,
from a call box in the middle of nowhere.
Hello, it's me.
Can you do something for me?
He told me to go into the children's bedrooms
and kiss them...
While they slept.
As soon as he got to aberfan,
he went straight to the school.
It was unimaginably awful.
Miners,
used to digging for coal,
now digging to reach their children.
Many of them spent several hours
stuck under the mud beside dead friends.
Buried alive.
Running out of air.
He then went to the mortuary,
where people were waiting to identify the children's bodies.
Nurses and salvation army volunteers,
they were writing a description of each adult, each child.
Noting any possessions they found
in their pockets, like, like...
A handkerchief or...
Sweets, anything,
to help identify them.
And from there I went to the hospital.
There, he comforted a man
who was holding his son's school cap.
After the hospital,
he wanted to walk back to the house where he was due to stay...
But he carried on walking...
And walking.
I walked and walked and walked.
No, I've never heard him like that.
I hope I never do again.
We have Geoffrey Morgan from the national coal board,
and George Thomas,
minister of state for wales, here to answer our questions.
Will you both accept responsibility?
Murderers!
The national coal board cannot accept responsibility for the weather!
Abnormal levels of rainfall have created extraordinary conditions.
You've known about the spring under the tip for years!
- I wrote to you! - So did I!
That's what's caused this, not rainfall!
And nothing was done!
"Buried alive by the national coal board."
That's what I want to see written on my child's death certificate!
What about financial assistance?
We've got people in dire need now!
When's government going to step in? When?
Let us be quite clear.
A dreadful tragedy has taken place.
But blame for that
cannot be placed at the door of the labour party.
Tip number seven was built in 1958 when the labour party wasn't in power.
I had a visit today from certain members of the cabinet.
No need to tell me who.
Who are concerned that this is all turning political.
- Of course it's turning political. - Thank you, marcia.
And they want you to do something to deflect the blame.
Their view is if the labour government pay the price for this tragedy,
and the tories make political capital from it, it would be obscene
and a betrayal,
not just of the people of south wales,
but of all of us in the movement.
We've been waiting for this for too long, Harold.
Thirteen years in opposition,
and now we're finally in power, in government.
We cannot allow ourselves
to be crucified on the altar of public opinion
over something that isn't our fault.
No, when people are angry, they throw stones at their leaders.
Then it's a duty not just to deflect that anger,
but to show solidarity with our supporters.
How?
- This is grief, marcia. - It's injustice.
It's just another in a long list of injustices.
No, it's parents grieving their children.
It's also cold-hearted refusal to accept responsibility
by the people who are to blame, the tories.
And now they're making us the scapegoats.
Well, what do you want me to do about it?
Make sure they take the blame.
And if you can't blame it on the tories, and you won't press it in the house,
and you can't go after the ncb until the tribunal is over,
then perhaps we should look for another establishment figure
to deflect negative attention.
Who?
- Her! - The queen?
Well, you must admit her behavior is symptomatic
of establishment neglect.
Her behavior is unfortunate.
- You went to see her today, didn't you? - Yes.
And you asked her again to go?
And what did she say?
"The crown doesn't go."
Something like that.
The Duke of Edinburgh is now going.
They pulled him away from some duck shoot.
Yes, but she isn't?
Perhaps there's good reason for that.
Maybe she finds that kind of situation difficult.
Losing your children is difficult.
Losing brothers and sisters is difficult.
Living in a mining village where the coal board abandons you is difficult!
And instead of sticking the knife in her
and allowing us all to vent our anger at someone cold-hearted,
you'd sooner let your own team take the blame!
You're pathetic! You disgust me!
So you keep telling me.
If you ever want to be a real leader,
a real man, a real socialist,
you're going to have to grow some balls!
The ncb is a creation of the labour party.
This is a government-made disaster!
Take responsibility!
- Is this the school just here? - This is the school, yes.
And god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And there shall be no more death.
Neither sorrow, nor crying.
Neither shall there be any more pain.
For the former things are passed away.
Fear not, for I am with thee.
He shall feed his flock like a Shepherd.
He shall gather the lambs with his arms...
And carry them in his bosom...
And shall gently lead those that are with young.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls
playing in the streets thereof.
"And they shall be mine," said the lord of hosts.
In that day when I make up myjewels.
And I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth.
I heard a voice from heaven.
Jesu, lover of my soul
let me to thy bosom fly
while the nearer waters roll
while the tempest still is high
other refuge have 1 none
hangs my helpless soul on thee
leave, oh, leave me not alone
still support and comfort me
all my trust on thee is stayed
all my help from thee I bring
- How was it? - Extraordinary.
The grief, the anger,
at the government, at the coal board, but...
At god too.
Eighty-one children were buried today.
The rage, in all the faces, behind all the eyes.
They didn't smash things up. They didn't fight in the streets.
What did they do?
They sang. The whole community.
It's... it's the most astonishing thing I've ever heard.
Did you weep?
Did I weep?
What kind of question is that?
Just a question. Did you weep?
I might have wept, yes.
Are you going to tell me it was inappropriate?
And the fact is anyone who heard that hymn today
would not just have wept.
They would've been broken into a thousand tiny pieces.
Right.
I see.
Thank you for letting me know.
We've had a tip-off from a friendly newspaper editor
that the government,
determined not to take the blame for aberfan,
have decided to refocus the subject of the national conversation...
And has briefed newspapers that...
"One person has been conspicuously absent from aberfan,
and that is our queen.
The scandalous lack of care and interest,
one can only assume it is that, by our head of state...
Is symptomatic of a lack of care from the traditional establishment,
not just for the people of wales, but for the whole working class."
And the prime minister gave that his blessing?
Well, I think we have to assume so.
On arrival at raf St. athan, you will be received
by sir cennydd traherne, lord lieutenant of glamorgan,
and taken via car to the school disaster site in aberfan.
Then on to the bethania chapel
for the presentation of the heroes and survivors of the disaster.
There will then be a visit to the cemetery,
where you will lay a wreath.
And finally a visit to the home of a local miner,
Thomas Edwards, who lost relatives in the disaster,
and scheduled conversations with several other grieving families.
The whole trip should be approximately two and a half hours.
Without wishing to prompt, your majesty,
you may wish to consider that this is wales, not england.
A display of emotion would not just be considered appropriate...
It's expected.
This is councilor Ellis, who lost seven relatives.
- Seven? - Yes, ma'am.
- Three children and four nephews. - I'm so sorry.
Karen and alun Jenkins, ma'am, who lost their son, Ewan,
and his four cousins, tegwen, Bryn, mair and Ben.
Sorry.
Thomas and Gwen Edwards, ma'am, whose home this is.
They lost their two children, and...
This is howell, Gwen's father...
Who managed to rescue one of the grandchildren.
She has something for you, ma'am.
Thank you.
From the remaining children of aberfan.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
We're so glad to have you here, your majesty.
I can only imagine. I'm so sorry.
That's very lovely.
Do you all live on this road?
The Duke of Edinburgh said the families
sung a hymn when they buried their children.
Yes, ma'am.
Is there any way I might hear it?
I'm sure we can find a recording.
And ask the prime minister to come and see me
as soon as possible.
Yes, ma'am.
The prime minister, your majesty.
Your majesty.
Churchill would have had the character to do it face to face.
Come to think of it, so would Anthony Eden.
And Harold MacMillan.
Each of them would have had the courage to express their anger to me directly.
None of them would ever
have resorted to going behind my back like that.
I have it on authority you tipped offjournalists
that I was letting the side down by not going to aberfan.
- Never. - It wasn't you?
No, ma'am.
But perhaps one or two of my colleagues,
concerned at the anger being directed at the government...
Broke ranks? Took matters into their own hands?
It's possible.
Perhaps they're right.
The people of aberfan deserved a prompt response.
They didn't get one.
They deserved a display of compassion,
of empathy from their queen.
And they got it yesterday.
They got nothing.
I dabbed a bone-dry eye, and by some miracle, no one noticed.
After the blitz...
When we visited hospitals...
I saw what my parents, the king and queen, saw.
They wept. I couldn't.
Well, you were a child. What do you expect?
Not just as a child.
When my grandmother, queen Mary...
Whom I loved very much...
When she died...
Nothing.
Well, she had been III a long time. It had been expected.
When I had my first child,
a moment of such significance for every mother...
I have known for some time there is something wrong with me.
Not wrong.
Deficient, then.
How else would you describe it when something is missing?
These meetings are confidential, yes?
I have never done a day's manual work in my life.
Not one.
I am an academic, a privileged Oxford Don, not a worker.
I don't like beer. I prefer Brandy.
I prefer wild salmon to tinned salmon.
Chateaubriand to steak-and-kidney pie.
And I don't like pipe smoking.
I far prefer cigars.
But cigars are a symbol of capitalist privilege.
So I smoke a pipe.
On the campaign trail and on television.
Makes me more approachable.
We can't be everything to everyone and still be true to ourselves.
We do what we have to do as leaders. That's our job.
Our job is to calm more crises than we create.
That's our job, and you do it very well indeed.
And in a way, your absence of emotion is a blessing.
No one needs hysteria from a head of state.
And the truth is...
We barely need humanity.
Prime minister.
Your majesty.
Jesu, lover of my soul
let me to thy bosom fly
while the nearer waters roll
while the tempest still is high
other refuge have I none
hangs my helpless soul on thee
leave, oh, leave me not alone
still support and comfort me