The boys, we're going to get some lunch.
I said we're going to get some lunch.
I said we're off to get some lu- [pause] This is starting to get a little bit repetitive.
I had asked if you wanted to come have lunch with us.
Uhm, no you didn't, you said you were going to get some lunch.
Have I offended you in some way?
Why would you think that?
Would you like to come to lunch with us?
Hugh Alexander [frustrated]
Christ Alan, it's a bleeding sandwich.
Hugh Alexander Lunch.
Oh, I don't like sandwiches.
Hugh Alexander [Alan, Hugh, Joan and Joan's friend, Helen, are having a conversation about workplace romance]
So who do you agree with? Alan or myself?
H Helen
Well, Alan, of course.
[stammering]
I'm very flattered really, but I... I don't think that... [Joan kicks him under the table]
Hugh Alexander Rubbish.
H Helen
Well, I work beside a man every day, and I can't help but have developed a bit of a crush on him.
Hugh Alexander Well, who is this man? So I can kick his arse.
H Helen
Oh, there's no need to worry, it's been chaste. We've never even met. He's a German.
Hugh Alexander Now I really want to kill him.
[Helen chuckles]
Er... How... How do you mean you work alongside a German?
H Helen
Well, each of us intercepts messages from a specific German radio tower. So we have a counterpart on the other side, who's tip-tapping out the messages. Everyone types a touch differently, so you get to know the rhythm of your counterpart. It's strangely intimate. I feel as if I know him so well. It's a pity he has a girlfriend, but that's why I disagree with you, Mr. Alexander, because I'm in love with a coworker of sorts and we've never even met.
Hugh Alexander Well, allow me to buy you another pint and I'll tell you why you're wrong.
Hugh Alexander Excellent.
[They get up and head to the bar. As they order, Alan sits completely silently, in a daze - having come to a realisation]
In case you were wondering, that's what flirting looks like.
[slightly embarrassed, as his shout has drawn attention to them]
Alan!
[gets up and faces her]
Why do you think your German counterpart has a girlfriend?
H Helen
It's just a stupid joke. Don't worry about it.
No, no, no, no, no, tell me.
H Helen
Well, each of his messages begins with the same five letters. C-I-L-L-Y. So I suspect that Cilly must be the name of his amore.
[By this point, Joan, Peter Hilton and John Cairncross have begun to catch on]
But that's impossible. The Germans are instructed to use five random letters at the start of every message.
H Helen
Well, this bloke doesn't.
Hugh Alexander Love will make a man do strange things, I suppose.
In this case.... Love just lost Germany the whole bloody war!
[He rushes off, barging into Hugh and causing him to spill the pints he has just bought on Helen. John, Peter and Joan rush off after him and Hugh, realising what has happened, apologises and dashes off after them]
Hugh Alexander My God, you did it. You just defeated Nazism with a crossword puzzle.
There are five people in the world who know the position of every ship in the Atlantic. They are all in this room.
Hugh Alexander Oh, I don't think even He has the power that we do right now.
[getting closer to map]
No. There's going to be an attack on a British passenger convoy. Right there.
God, you're right. Those U-boats are only twenty, thirty minutes away.
JC Joan Clark
Civilians. Hundreds of them. We can save their lives.
And knock out a whole German fleet in the process.
Hugh Alexander I'll phone Denniston's office so that he can alert the Admiralty.
Do you think there's enough time to save them?
There should be. If we can get a message to that convoy—
Hugh Alexander [into phone]
Commander Denniston's office please, it's urgent—
No, no! [grabs and hangs up phone]
Hugh Alexander What the hell are you doing?
You-you can't call Denniston. You-you can't tell him about the attack.
Hugh Alexander What are you talking about?
We can have air support over that convoy in ten minutes.
Let the U-boats sink the convoy.
Look, it's been a big day, maybe you're suffering from—
Hugh Alexander [tries to grab phone back]
We don't have time—
[Alan smashes the phone on the ground. Hugh punches him in the face, knocking him down]
Oh, Hugh! Hugh! Stop! That's enough!
PH Peter Hilton
John, the attack is in minutes.
[rushes to Alan's side]
Are you all right?
Yes, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine. [to Hugh] Do you know why people like violence, Hugh? It's because it feels good. Sometimes we can't do what feels good. We have to do what is logical.
The hardest time to lie is when the other person is expecting to be lied to.
If someone's waiting for a lie, you can't just, uh, give them one.
What would the Germans think if we destroy their U-boats?
PH Peter Hilton
Nothing. They'll be dead.
No. No, you can't be right.
So our convoy suddenly veers off course... a squadron of our air bombers miraculously descends on the coordinates of the U-boats... what will the Germans think?
Hugh Alexander The Germans will know that we have broken Enigma.
They'll stop all radio communications by midday, and they'll have changed the design of Enigma by the weekend.
Hugh Alexander Yes.
Two years' work. Everything we've done here will all be for nothing.
There are 500 people in that convoy. Women. Children. We're about to let them die.
Our job isn't to save one passenger convoy, it is to win the war.
Hugh Alexander Our job was to crack Enigma.
Oh, we've done that. Now for the hard part. Keeping it a secret.
PH Peter Hilton
Carlisle.
PH Peter Hilton
[points to the map]
The convoy you're about to... it's, uh... The HMS Carlisle is one of the ships. We can't act on every piece of intelligence? So fine, we won't. Just this one.
Peter, what's the matter with you?
P Peter
My brother's... well, he's on the Carlisle. A gunnery ensign.
PH Peter Hilton
Who the hell do you think you are? This is my brother. He's my big brother, alright, and you have a few minutes to call off his murder.
PH Peter Hilton
Alan. Joan. Hugh. John. Please, I... the Germans, they won't get suspicious just because we stopped one attack. No one will know. I'm asking you. As your friend. Please.
PH Peter Hilton
You're not God, Alan. You don't get to decide who lives and who dies.
