Made in Britain (1982 TV Movie)

Bill Stewart: Peter Clive

Quotes 

• Superintendent : Get rid of this, shall we?

  Trevor the Skinhead : There'll be more

  Superintendent : Thank you, Peter. At least you can spell. Harry Parker, your social worker - I know Harry very well - he says you're bright, he says you're worth a bit of bother.

  Trevor the Skinhead : Wouldn't take the time if I were you.

  Superintendent : Don't be clever, don't be smart, we've no time to waste, get that. Plenty of other kids we could be dealing with. If you really want to behave like a moron, we'll put you with all the other morons, under lock and key, at Hatchmere House, and I can do that. I'll have you transferred to a secure unit, we'll do your assessment from there. If you're gonna stay here, let's make it clear, you're gonna have to step into line...

  Trevor the Skinhead : I'm not sign... !

  Superintendent : Just a sec! You're gonna have to step into line, and you're gonna have to co-operate. Now, that shouldn't be too difficult, we're a reasonable lot.

  Trevor the Skinhead : I'm not signing any contract!

  Superintendent : Well, let's look at that, shall we? Let's give your intelligence the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Parker says your a bright lad, and I respect his opinion. So I have a particular interest in you - personal, between the two of us. I want you to prove to me you're worth all the time and effort that we're prepared to put into you. Your big break, this. 'Cause I'll not give you a second chance. Alright?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Alright.

  Superintendent : Good. So, let's take a look at what life's got in store for you. Go back a few steps, see just how clever you've been so far. For a kickoff, you've just been to court, haven't you, when was it?

  Peter Clive : Thursday. Yesterday.

  Superintendent : st yesterday. You've been to court before, haven't you? Right?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Right!

  Superintendent : Still being clever, still being smart. So, what were the most important things that happened to you, before you went to court, can you remember that far back, eh? You started off here at home. H-O-M-E spells home, there's your mum, your dad, all the rest of 'em. Just like any other mum and dad, all they ask you to do, all you have to do, is to go to school. Now, that's not too much to ask, is it? You're clever, bright. Everybody wants you to succeed, nobody wants a failure on their hands. Get the right qualifications, make your way in the world. But you didn't wanna go to school, did you? You knew best! So you started bunking off - out the gate, over the fence. And your teachers are concerned, 'cause they're there to help. They don't want to see you get behind. So they go and see your mum and dad.

  Trevor the Skinhead : No teacher's ever been to my house!

  Superintendent : o matter, they talked to your mum and dad, didn't they, and they told you to get your arse back into school, they know you have to go! But you still didn't listen. Out the gate, over the fence... before you know where you are, your mum and dad get a visit from the Education Welfare Officer. Got a visit from him, didn't you?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Yeah!

  Superintendent : That's right. 'Cause the EWO's there to make sure you go to school. If you don't, he gives a note to the appropriate authority, and that spells trouble. Now, at this point, lot of kids get a bit of sense. They get themselves together, they get back to school, they listen. But you didn't listen, did you? The Education Welfare Officer visits four, five, six, even seven times, tries to help, discover the problem - a lot of time and expense and all because you don't want to go to school. The EWO reaches his limit. So, he sends your parents a letter, threatening to take you to court, for non-attendance. But that does nothing, absolutely nothing. So, there's a summons. And you go to court for the very first time - your debut. First appearance - send him home for a test attendance, for whatever good that'll do. You're supposed to go to school for 21 days straight. But you foul up after the third or fourth day, and back you go again. So... one, two, three, four, five, six breaks. Six chances to get yourself straight, get your arse back into school, and one, two, three, four, five, six times you've blown it. Now, am I not right?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Yeah.

  Superintendent : But you weren't just bunking off, were you? You had to do summat with all that free time. So, you did a bit of thieving. First two or three times you get caught, you get taken down the nick, and some policeman tells you off, shouts at you. Next time, you get a caution. This time, a sergeant in full uniform, shouts at you. But that don't make a damn bit of difference, 'cause you're apparently deaf to any kind of reason, you go on nicking and making a general bloody nuisance of yourself, when you should be here, learning summat useful! But it's burglary, shoplifting, TDA - touching the dog's arse, taking and driving away... and back you go to court. They're getting to know you now. So you get fined, or sent to the local police attendant centre. Kept off the streets all day Saturday, made to scrub floors by another loud policeman, when you could be watching West Ham lose at home. The magistrates don't know what to do with you - they're all greengrocers and shopkeepers. So, they send you here to us, for assessment. So, what're we gonna do with you? We could recommend you go home...

  Trevor the Skinhead : What home?

  Superintendent : . but they won't have you. So, how're we gonna get rid of you? Foster parents? Never. Children's home? A joke. C.H.E., detention centre, borstal. Well, a pity about C.H.E - Community Home with Education - appealing both to your intellectual brilliance, and your public spirit! We used to be called an approved school, the C.H.E. You could've been king of the mafia! Lots of lick- me-arse power trips aroud vicious, young 15- year-olds, and you've just turned 16, bad luck. Not much left to bring you in line, is there? Short, sharp shock at the local detention centre, or borstal. Two simple lessons you're gonna have to learn, DC or borstal. One - discipline, two -respect for authority. You're gonna have to learn it, so you might as well learn it now. This is an open invitation to you, to co-operate, Trevor. For your own good. DC - seven out of ten coming out of detention centres, eight out of ten leaving borstals, reoffend, commit crimes, that is within two years! So... here you are, fresh out of borstal. What's the first thing you're gonna need? Peter?

  Peter Clive : A job.

  Superintendent : A job. Peter, how many unemployed do we have at the moment?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Millions!

  Superintendent : Exactly. So, what chance have you got - with your spots in your record - of getting a job against a lad with O and A levels, and a decent haircut?

  Trevor the Skinhead : About nil?

  Superintendent : Optimistic. So, no job. What do you do? Sign on the dole. How much is that worth to you? Place to live, food in your gut, a bit of fun? Nothing, it's gone, broke. No job. No prospects. No cash. So, what do you do? And you're back here. And all because you were too damn stupid when you were here, nicking sweets from the local tuck shop! Well, they've tried all this - and all this didn't work, not with you. So, what's left? And you're on the bandwagon, boy. And you won't get off. Prison - locked up like an animal; a job - no prospects; dole - no cash; thieving - no more chances; prison - an animal! Round and round you go. Well... those are your options. You've created them. You've brought it all upon yourself. Before you kick another door down. Before you kick another chef in the bollocks. Before you do anything - THINK! You may not get another chance. Settle down, we'll have another little chat on Monday.

• Peter Clive : I really don't know what were going to do.

  Trevor the Skinhead : About what?

  Peter Clive : About you.

  Trevor the Skinhead : No , about you, what the fuck are we gonna do about you? If you had any balls, you'd stick a knife in the bastards who write all that bollocks - they're wankers.

• Peter Clive : Trevor! Come through, will you? Where is it, where'd you put it?Trevor! Come through, will you? Where is it, where'd you put it?

  Trevor the Skinhead : What?

  Peter Clive : The bloody car, Trevor, the car!

  Trevor the Skinhead : I gave it to Oxfam, they're using it to ship wogs back to Zululand.

  Peter Clive : Where is it?

  Trevor the Skinhead : Police parking lot, Broadway Line. Where's lunch?

  Peter Clive : Why'd you take it?

  Trevor the Skinhead : To get back to lunch!

  Peter Clive : You were given money for a bus!

  Trevor the Skinhead : I bought a car instead.

  Peter Clive : You're not being clever, you know?

  Trevor the Skinhead : When go I get lunch?

  Peter Clive : You don't. You've missed lunch, it's too late!

  Trevor the Skinhead : You what?

  Peter Clive : Next time I'll have you in a courtroom so fast, you'll wonder what happened.

  Trevor the Skinhead : Great.

  Peter Clive : It's your last chance. Get out.

• Peter Clive : And you'd be a total bloody failure. At 16! It's such a bloody waste!

  Trevor the Skinhead : I'm a success, mate, I'm a fuckin' star!

  Barry Giller : Then why are you in here, Trevor, hmm? There are those among us who'd like to know the answer to that, and from where I'm standing, it's not looking too good.

  Trevor the Skinhead : I'm in exactly the right place at the right time. The fact that you're too fuckin' thick, or stupid to see that, that marks you down. You'll be put up against a bus, covered in petrol, and shot!