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| Iolo by Bethania, to get us into the mood |
The episode begins with a monochrome view of Iolo, sitting on the bench outside Cwm Delhi, and looking across at Bethania chapel.
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| Iolo is very busy |
At number 7, Tyler is tidying up as Iolo tells him, “I have to do the washing and cleaning the bathroom – if I don’t do it while Greta’s at nursery, game over!”
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| "If you want to discuss this funeral – let's do it!" |
Tyler is becoming exasperated and demands that if he wants to discuss his funeral, they should do it now.
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| "I haven't finished tidying up" |
“I haven’t finished tidying up, and you’re not ready,” Iolo replies, and is informed that Tyler will never be ready, but if it helps him . . .
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| "Four big horses with long black feathers" |
“Right, horses and carriage – four big horses with long black feathers,” he jokes,
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| "With a statue of me on the top!" |
“And I don’t want a headstone – I want a memorial with a statue of me on top!”
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| This does nothing to calm Tyler |
Tyler is now even more wound up, then Iolo returns to reality,
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| "A wicker basket with white lilies on top" |
“First of all, I’d like a wicker basket with white lilies on top – don’t you like it?”
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| "Just one lily – because there's only one Iol?" |
Tyler is of the opinion that lilies are rather showy, and he is not, suggesting, “Just one lily – because there’s only one Iol?”
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| "Everyone can wear what they want" |
Then Iolo turns to clothes, wanting everyone to wear whatever they want to, but Tyler points out that everyone will wear black anyway. So the rule is changed to any colour except black.
“Don’t wear that horrible mustard shirt,” he adds, and Tyler says he will wear it just to annoy Iolo.
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| "I'll come back and haunt you!" |
“Hey – you’re supposed to respect my wishes – wear that shirt, and I’ll come back to haunt you!” Iolo says;
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| "I'd like that – I could see you again" |
Tyler would welcome that, as he would want to see him again.
“Next to the coffin, I’d like a picture of you – I’d want to see you,” Tyler suggests, “But it’s not going to happen.”
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| "I'll have to ask Dad, or he'll never forgive me!" |
Next Iolo wonders who is going to speak; “I’ll have to ask Dad, or he’ll never forgive me – but make sure you time him – five minutes, tops!”
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| "I'll have to ask Dad, or he'll never forgive me" |
He is not going to ask Tyler to speak, as he will be a wreck, but there is one thing he would like Tyler to do – to carry the coffin.
“You, Dad, Colin and I’m not sure who else,” he says; Tyler comes up with the name of Kelly, explaining he would want Kelly there – a friend at his side. “All right, you and Kelly at the front, Dad and Colin at the back.”
Just as Iolo mentions contacting his brothers, Macs and Huw,
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| Tyler loses his temper |
Tyler shouts at him to stop; “Right, we’ve discussed it – you’re going to get better!”
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| Megan arrives outside number 7 . . . |
Outside the house, Megan has just arrived,
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| . . . and Siôn approaches |
and is about to knock on the door when Siôn approaches;
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| "I've brought Iolo some Bara Brith" |
“I’ve brought Iolo some Bara Brith,” she says, and he comments that everyone has been very thoughtful,
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| "Well, where is it, then?" |
but wonders where the Bara Brith is.
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| "I left it on the kitchen table" |
“I’ve left it on the kitchen table,” Megan alleges, “Old age is a terrible thing! I will pop in to say hello, and he can have the sponge another time.”
Siôn reminds her that she said it was Bara Brith, but she points out that she made both; she will not keep him, as she knows Siôn is a busy man,
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| "Give Iolo my regards" |
and he asks her to give Iolo his regards.
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| Another monochrome image of an anxious Iolo |
Again we see a monochrome view of Iolo looking up anxiously at the chapel.
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| "You didn't tell him I invited you here?" |
“You didn’t tell him I invited you here, did you?” wonders Iolo,
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| "Why all the secrecy, Iolo?" |
and Megan wants to know why all the secrecy. “I’m organising my funeral,” he explains, “And I’d like your opinion – I can’t control what’s happening, but I can control this, so I want to make plans so that nobody else needs to, if things don’t work out.
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| "I was thinking of having the service in the chapel" |
“I was thinking of having the service in the chapel, but I don’t know if I believe – or what to believe.”
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| "Bethania will never reject you" |
Megan assures him that Bethania will never reject him, but he asks, “Is it the right thing to do?” She says that if it is what he wants, and reminds him that everybody has their doubts.
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| "Do you pray?" |
“Do you pray?” Iolo asks her, she replies that she does, every day;
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| "I haven't prayed since primary school" |
“I haven’t prayed since primary school,” he remarks,
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| "There's nothing stopping you, Iolo" |
but she points out that there is nothing stopping him.
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| "Do you think there is something else after this?" |
“Do you think there is something else after this?” he enquires, “An eternal life?”
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| "Yes, I do" |
Indeed, Megan does think there is something, and he continues,
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| "Mam might be there, waiting for me" |
“If I die, Mam might be there, waiting for me – nobody knows – I could see her again. It’s not impossible, is it? I’ll have so much to tell her. Thanks for coming over, Megan.”
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| "Remember the doors of the chapel are always open" |
She hopes that she has given him some comfort; “And remember that the doors of the chapel are always open to you if you need it.”
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| She goes straight to Siôn |
When she leaves the house, she crosses the road to where Siôn is standing outside the shop;
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| "How is Iolo?" |
he is anxious about Iolo, and she tells him that she thinks he needs his father.
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| "Please go and see him" |
“He did not say as much, but please go and see him,” Megan urges. She hopes that she has done the right thing.
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| Iolo is watching . . . |
Iolo is peering around the curtains and watching them;
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| . . . as his father heads towards the house . . . |
Siôn heads towards the house,
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| . . . but hesitates at the door . . . |
but when he reaches the door he hesitates,
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| . . . then changes his mind . . . |
thinks better of it and instead walks away.
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| . . . much to Iolo's dismay |
Iolo sinks into a chair, looking disheartened.
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| Siôn arrives home in a confused state |
Siôn returns home to Y Felin, where he is in very confused state,
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| Iolo is praying |
and Iolo is at home, apparently praying, as he whispers the word ‘Amen’.
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| His phone sounds |
At that moment he hears his phone sounding.
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| It is not long before he is at Y Felin |
It was evidently a text from his father, because shortly afterwards Iolo arrives at Y Felin, although Siôn was not sure if he would come. “Listen, I can’t stay long – I’ve got a lot to sort out,” Iolo tells him, “I want to finish organising the funeral – we don’t know what’s going to happen.
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| "Don't worry – you'll get your slot" |
“But don’t worry – you’ll get your slot – Tyler’s going to time you!”
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| "Your prognosis is good, Iolo" |
“Your prognosis is good,” Siôn reminds him, “Talk about putting the cart before the horse!”
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| "We were discussing a horse and carriage" |
Iolo points out that they discussed a horse and carriage this morning,
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| "This is crazy, Iolo!" |
but his father regards it as crazy.
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| "You're not the one who's ill" |
“It’s just different to the way you’d deal with it, but you’re not the one who’s ill,” Iolo stresses.
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| "You must concentrate on getting better" |
Siôn encourages him to concentrate on getting better now. “Yes, hope for the best – just like I did with Mam!” Iolo replies,
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| "All the hope in the world didn't save Mam!" |
“Because all the hope in the world didn’t save her!”
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| "Her situation was completely different" |
Siôn insists that his mother’s situation was completely different;
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| "Because you couldn't deal with what was happening" |
“Yes,” says Iolo, “Because you couldn’t deal with what was happening. ‘Mam’s tired, Iol’, “Mam wants some peace, Iolo’, ‘Mam’s going to get better, Iolo’. You couldn’t be honest with us.”
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| "You were too young to deal with it" |
Siôn maintains that they were too young to deal with it,
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| "You didn't give us the chance" |
but is told, “You didn’t give us the chance.”
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| "I did what I thought was right at the time" |
“I did what I thought was right at the time, for you and for her,” his father emphasises, “Mam would never have wanted you to see her so ill – we agreed that we needed to protect your feelings.”
However, Iolo suspects, “You forced your ideas on her, when she couldn’t argue back. I wanted to be there, at the hospital with her – and what did you do?
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| "You told me to write a card" |
“You told me to write a card, ‘Get well soon, Mam!’ I hated that card!”
"I found it in pieces in the bin"
His father is quite aware of that, as he found it in pieces in the bin. “I was in pieces, Dad!” Iolo growls, and goes to sit at the bottom of the stairs,
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| "I wanted to see hr just one more time" |
“Because my lovely, amazing mother was gone, and I wanted to see her so much, just one more time.”
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| "It would have been too much for you" |
Siôn argues that it would have been too much for him, but Iolo protests he did not get the choice.
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| "I thought I was doing the right thing" |
“I thought I was doing the right thing,” Siôn assures him, but is told that it was not the right thing, because Iolo wanted to see her again, and hold her hand, one last time.
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| "You stole that from me!" |
“You stole that from me!” he snarls, picks up his coat and heads for the door;
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| As he opens the door . . . |
as he opens it,
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| . . . he hears his father crying |
he hears the sound of his father sobbing, and turns round.
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| "I'm so sorry, Iolo" |
“I’m sorry, Iolo! I’m so sorry!” Siôn tells him.
Iolo says it is nice just to see his father cry;
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| "Is this what you were like after losing Mam?" |
“Is this what you were like after losing Mam? Crying when you thought nobody else was listening? We could have helped each other.”
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| "I was supposed to look after you" |
Siôn that he is Iolo’s father and was supposed to look after him;
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| "I think it was then the OCD started" |
Iolo goes on, “I think it was after Mam died that the OCD started – life was upside down, and you filled every day, so there was no time to think.”
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| "And no time to grieve" |
“And no time to grieve,” his father adds; Iolo remembers one time when they were all at home, a couple of weeks after she died, when he locked the door and refused to let them out.
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| "You boarded up the doors and locked the windows!" |
“Dad, you boarded up the doors and locked the windows!”
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| "I was scared of losing you" |
Siôn was scared of losing them and then was trying to think what their mother would want, what she would do – and the only answer was to keep going.
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| "Your smile, those naughty eyes" |
“I see her in you sometimes – your smile, the naughty eyes,” he recalls, “Everyone thought she was so dry and serious, the respectable doctor –
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| "When she got home, she was Gwen – Mam" |
“but as soon as she got home and that door was closed, she was Gwen – Mam.”
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| "She liked a laugh" |
Iolo remembers that she liked a laugh; “Usually at my expense – four against one,” Siôn recalls,
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| "I wish you had just talked to me" |
and Iolo wishes that his father would just have talked to him.
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| "I'll never forgive myself, Iolo" |
Siôn confesses, “You’ve all been scarred, I know, and not just from losing Mam – but because of what I did. I’ll never forgive myself!”
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| "Well, I forgive you – and I love you" |
After a pause, Iolo says, “Well, I forgive you – I love you, Dad – and although you never say it, I know you love me too.” Siôn explains that is why listening to him discuss his funeral is so difficult –
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| "You're the important one now" |
but he is the one who is important now, and what he wants.
“Well, you’re not getting any more than five minutes,” Iolo stipulates, “And you’re definitely not writing a poem! I’ll put the kettle on, then.”
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| Iolo's funeral list . . . |
At number 7, Tyler comes across the notepad and looks at Iolo’s funeral instructions written on it;
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| . . . has an effect on Tyler |
he looks very troubled.
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| Siôn retrieves Iolo's card . . . |
Siôn has taken the back off a picture of his late wife, and removes something from it –
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| . . . from its hiding place |
the card which he retrieved from the bin and reassembled.
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| Iolo is very glad to see it again |
When Iolo returns from the kitchen he notices it, and his father tells him, “I hid it, in case you found it and threw it away again.
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| "I took that card in to your mother" |
“I took that card in to your mother, just before the end – she still had that smile – you’re so similar. “She’d be proud of you – we couldn’t have asked for a better son. It’s true – I’m proud of you every day.”
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| "Sorry for being so hard on you, Dad" |
Iolo is sorry for being so hard on his father, who insists that he deserved it; “No, you were only trying your best – I can see that now,” Iolo assures him, “Can I take this card with me?”
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| "Perhaps we can visit the grave, and take Greta" |
Siôn suggests, “Perhaps we can visit the grave before long, and take Greta with us.”
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| Iolo is in favour of that |
Iolo would like that.
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| At home, he finds Tyler sitting on the floor . . . |
Later when he returns to number 7, he finds Tyler sitting dejectedly on the floor in the kitchen,
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| . . . and adopts a similar position |
and joins him there.
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| "I don't want to hide things from Greta" |
“I’ve been talking to Dad – I don’t want to hide what’s happening from Greta. Children understand when things aren’t right. Now I’m not going to frighten her or upset her, but I want her to know that I’m ill – and if I do die, I want her to be at the funeral.”
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| Tyler does not agree |
Tyler expresses his dissent about this, but is told that they can do it together; “Now, a white lily doesn’t mean anything to a little girl – Greta would want colour,
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| "Unicorns, glitter" |
“so I want her to decorate the coffin the way she wants to – unicorns, glitter, Ben Dant [an S4C children’s Pirate character]. I want her to say goodbye in her own way – do you think that’s silly?”
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| "If the time comes, Iol!" |
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| "It's time we went to pick up 'madam'" |
Iolo is adamant he wants Tyler to stick to what they have discussed, and says that it is time they went to pick up ‘madam’.
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| "There is only one you" |
Tyler reminds him, “Iol, I meant what I said earlier – there is only one you.” Iolo thinks that is probably a very good thing.
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| The monochrome Iolo . . . |
Returning to the monochrome images, we see Iolo standing up and walking along the High Street,
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| . . . gradually becomes multicoloured |
as colour gradually reappears to the screen.
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