1. Beyond All doubt
Written by
Tom Benson
1.

2. INT. INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY
OVERHEAD SHOT of notepad with Film4 logo on. A Coffee mug is
lifted up and brought back down, placed beside the notepad. The
coffee is black, suggesting a long day at work.
MEDIUM CLOSE-UP of man reading a newspaper. It is held up in
front of him, obscuring his face.
OVERHEAD SHOT of the same newspaper being thrown onto the desk,
folded up.
CLOSE-UP of a page in the notepad being turned over to reveal
LUC AMADEN scrawled in biro. Hand comes into shot and underlines
the name with a pen. Then the page is turned to reveal DOM
RANWELL-JONES. Hand again underlines the name, this time twice.
LOW ANGLE CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson looking down at his notepad,
writing something. He places the pen down and looks off to the
left.
P.C. Benson
(loud)
Gill, send the next one in
please.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of a door as it opens. The camera here is
placed on the floor. A pair of feet appear, wearing school
shoes; a poor attempt to look formal. Person can also be seen to
be wearing black school trousers. P.C. Benson can be seen in the
background, out of focus, waiting at the desk. The door then
swings shut.
MID SHOT of P.C. Benson writing again. He is resting his head
against his hand, suggesting tiredness. We can just see the top
of a chair in the foreground. Mitch enters from the right and
sits down in the chair in a very informal way; his arm resting
on the back of the chair, and his right foot resting on his left
thigh. The focus is pulled from P.C. Benson to Mitch.
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson as he looks at Mitch. He sighs as he
sees him.
CLOSE-UP of Mitch as he looks everywhere but at P.C. Benson. His
fingers are tapping.
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson as he looks down at his notepad.
2.

3. P.C. Benson
This is P.C. Benson,
interviewing suspect 1,
Mitch Daniels, at 11:15am
(looks up)
June 2006.
(sighs)
What were you doing on the
night of Friday the 3rd?
CLOSE-UP of Mitch. He is playing with his fingers. He doesn‟t
care.
Mitch
Not much really. It was a
normal night...I guess.
P.C. Benson
You guess? Do you care to
be more specific?
Mitch
Well Blake was pretty
drunk.
P.C. Benson
Okay.
Mitch
More drunk than he usually
is.
P.C. Benson
How drunk does he get
usually?
Mitch
Well...I dunno, he sort of
quit...drinking „cause he
gets really angry and
violent...and
er...well...he got like
that last night.
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson. He maintains eye-contact with Mitch,
trying to intimidate the truth out of him.
P.C. Benson
What do you mean by
3.

4. violent? Do you mean
acting aggressive?
Physically aggressive?
Mitch
Well...
P.C. Benson
Shouting?
CLOSE-UP of Mitch. He is still playing with his fingers. Clearly
he is not intimidated. In-fact, he seems quite comfortable, as
if this is a routine conversation.
Mitch
He shouts a lot...erm...he
makes a habit of hitting
Bruce. Well...
(a tiny smile)
Made.
180 DEGREE TRACKING SHOT starts from behind Mitch.
P.C. Benson
Mitch, it says here that
you have a...pretty bloody
damaging psychological
record.....
Mitch
Look. I‟ve been there,
I‟ve done all of that.
That‟s over. I‟m straight
now.
P.C. Benson
(interrupts)
But is it over? „Cause on
the evidence here...
Camera goes behind P.C. Benson‟s back as he speaks.
your anger management
issues...okay, you could
be convicted.
As the camera emerges from behind P.C. Benson‟s back, we see
Mitch laugh, as he knows P.C. Benson is struggling.
180 DEGREE TRACKING shot again begins behind Mitch‟s back.
4.

5. P.C. Benson
You honestly think this is
funny? „Cause right now?
With the record you‟ve
got, you could go down,
for life. Okay? Probably
if you do maintain
innocence right?
PANS to show Mitch smiling. He has returned to his earlier
position. He knows this interview is about to end.
You‟re mad.
We just see Mitch‟s smile before the camera TRACKS behind P.C.
Benson‟s back. When it re-emerges, we see the smile has turned
to smugness.
Mitch
That‟s what they all say.
Mitch leaves this hanging in the air, as he locks eyes with P.C.
Benson.
FADE TO BLACK
LOW ANGLE CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson. He looks deep in thought, and
even more tired.
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson‟s hand, writing away at his notepad.
MID SHOT to the left of P.C. Benson, showing the door at the end
of the room opening. We see a person enter, but we do not know
who as his head is out of shot. We can guess he‟s young as he
wears tight jeans and a baggy T-shirt stained with blue paint.
He sits down, and we see him raise his hands to his mouth,
almost like a prayer. He is clearly nervous.
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT of P.C. Benson writing. He has not yet
looked up from his notepad. The focus pulls to the young boy as
he rubs his head, trying to find something to do with his
trembling hands. P.C. Benson is out of focus, but we can see his
eyes look up.
P.C. Benson
Blake...
CLOSE-UP of Blake as he places his hands on the table in a
hurried fashion.

6. 5.
Blake
(interrupts)
I didn‟t do it!
P.C. Benson
I‟m sorry?
Blake
Look, I know Mitch an-an-
and I know that he told
you I was drunk an‟ that
I did it but I didn‟t
sir, I swear it!
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson. There is a look of concern on his face.
P.C. Benson
Are you going to tell me
who did then?
Blake
It...it was Mitch.
CLOSE-UP of P.C. Benson as he sits back, tired. He sighs.
P.C. Benson
Well there‟s a surprise.
(slightly
louder)
Tell me what happened
Blake.
Blake
Okay....Well last night-
FADE TO BLACK
EXT. AN ALLEY BEHIND A HOUSE - EVENING
Blake
(V.O)
We were out by the
chippy down the road,
sort of around 8ish. Me,
Bruce and Mitch.
P.C. Benson
(V.O)
You were seen leaving a
house rather hurriedly

7. 6.
through it‟s back gate,
zipping up bags. What
you were doing doesn‟t
concern me Blake. Just
tell me how Bruce died
and why.
OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT from Mitch‟s shoulder showing Blake and
Bruce in front. They are walking suspiciously up to a house,
looking around for anyone. They go round a wall to the back
door. Bruce and Mitch both have bags on.
Blake
(V.O)
Okay...well...we had
just stolen a few
things.
LOW ANGLE MEDIUM SHOT of the house they have entered.
Blake
(V.O)
And Me and Mitch were
coming out of the house,
but Bruce sort of came
out a couple seconds
after, zipping up his
bag.
P.C. Benson
(V.O)
And where did you go
from there?
LOW ANGLE MEDIUM SHOT of an alley to the side of the house. We
see Blake hurry out first, followed by Mitch, who is putting his
bag back onto his shoulders. A few seconds later, we see Bruce
come out. He pauses for a second, and looks back at the house,
but hurries on when Blake calls back for him.
Blake
(V.O)
Home.
LONG SHOT through a bin, as the three boys hurry out of the
alley. Again, Bruce is trailing behind.
INT. THE BOY‟S “DEN” - EVENING

8. OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT from Mitch‟s shoulder as they enter a
large room. Its white-washed wallpaper is peeling, and tings
litter the floor. The room consists of random pieces of
7.
furniture collected over the years. This includes multiple
chairs, a sofa, a small table and even a set of lockers. Clearly
these boys don‟t take care of their home. In-fact, there is
nothing homely about it. the place feels empty. The 3 boys sit
down, Mitch throwing his bag carelessly in front of him, whilst
Bruce place his bag beside him.
Blake
(V.O)
When we got back, we all
just sort of chilled out
for a while. I er...was
drinking. But it was
weird, Bruce just sort
of sat there thinking
for a while, and Mitch
was like staring at him
and his bag the whole
time. Until Mitch tried
to see what was in the
bag.
LOW ANGLE SHOT from inside Bruce‟s bag. Mitch tries to put his
hands in.
Bruce
What are you doing?
Bruce pushes Mitch‟s shoulder and makes an attempt to close the
bag. The bag closes over the camera.
MID SHOT of Mitch, with Bruce in the foreground. Bruce picks up
the bag and moves it to his other side. Mitch makes a grab for
it.
Mitch
(raised
voice)
What the hell, just give
it!
Bruce
Na...
MEDIUM SHOT from a distance shows Mitch, Bruce and Blake sat
down in their chairs. Blake seems silent at this incident,
instead watching. In anger, Mitch rises, and Bruce does too, to
protect the bag.

9. Mitch
What is in the bag?
8.
P.O.V SHOT from Bruce‟s perspective. Looks at Mitch, and pushes
him. Mitch looks angry.
Bruce
(raised
voice)
What the hell are you
doing?
Bruce turns to Blake who drunkenly tries to stop what is about
to happen.
Blake
Oi no, don‟t do it,
don‟t do anything
stupid.
Bruce turns back to Mitch who now has an unsettling smile on his
face. Mitch grabs something from his back pocket, steps forward
and thrusts his arm towards Bruce‟s stomach.
Blake
(shouts)
No!
The camera looks down to reveal the grip of a pair of scissors
in Mitch‟s hands. The rest?Buried in Bruce‟s stomach. The camera
falls to the ground.
CLOSE UP of the back of Bruce‟s head as it hits the floor.
P.O.V from Bruce as Blake rushes over and begins to shake him.
The camera shakes, emphasising the ferocity of Blake‟s efforts.
Blake
(shouts)
Bruce! Bruce!
FADE TO BLACK
P.C. Benson
(V.O)
And that‟s how he died?
Blake
(V.O)

10. ...that‟s how he died...
P.C. Benson
(V.O)
9.
I just have one question
Blake...
Blake
(V.O)
Yeah?
P.C. Benson
(V.O)
What the hell was in
that bag?
END