Well, come on!
Come on, old man!
Coming into Trinity Lane!
Oh!
BICYCLE BELL RINGS
LAUGHING: Eyes on the road, Brian!
Brian spies an opening!
Eyes on the staff! Hawking's lost it!
Whoa!
No!
You lose, Brian.
Too slow, old man. Too slow.
Oh, my goodness. Right, time for a drink.
Yeah.
Hello.
LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS
Oo-pah.
What if the secret of the universe had something to do with sex, huh?
Maybe do your doctorate on that - the physics of love.
I think that's more your field, Brian. Oh, not lately.
They will boot you out, you know, if you don't decide.
I know everyone here who's...
Brilliant.
Oh, dear. Scientists.
Ah, yes. Ah, you made it.
Don't worry, we don't have to stay for long. Looks mortifyingly dull.
Bores. Who's...who's that?
Who's who?
Oh, him?
Oh, he's strange.
Clever. Goes to Ban the Bomb marches.
SHE GIGGLES
Wilde. Jane Wilde.
Oh, look, there's David. David!
I'll be back in a minute. Diana...
Diana! David!
Hello. Hello.
Science. Arts.
English?
French and Spanish.
What about you? What are you...?
Oh, cosmologist. I'm a cosmologist.
What's that?
Erm, it's a kind of religion for intelligent atheists.
Intelligent atheists?
You're not religious, are you?
C of E.
Church of England? England, yeah.
Well, I suppose someone has to be.
What do cosmologists worship, then?
What do we worship? Mm.
One single unifying equation that explains everything in the universe.
Really? Yes. What's the equation?
That is the question.
And a very good question.
I'm not quite sure yet.
But I intend to find out.
DOO-WOP BALLAD PLAYS
Then why didn't you stay at Oxford?
Because my finals exams were such a shambles, that the examiners,
they summoned me in for a viva, and they told me that if
I got a second... What's a viva?
Oh, it's a sort of mildly terrifying face-to-face thingy.
Like an interview? An interrogation.
And I told them that if they gave me a second-class degree,
then I would stay with them and do my research at Oxford.
But if they gave me the first that I needed to get into Cambridge,
then they would never have to see me again.
They gave you the first.
They gave me a first. Of course.
This party is officially deceased.
Come on, I fixed up a ride home.
Come on, Jane.
Oh, Jane!
Well, it was lovely to talk to you.
Yes.
And...I hope you find your equation.
Yes. Oh.
Uh...bye.
Bye.
DOOR SHUTS
Stephen? Oh...
Yeah...
DOOR SHUTS
Well, then, here we are.
A little challenge for you all, as you embark upon
your separate doctoral journeys - whatever they may be, Mr Hawking.
Pass them down.
Something to separate the men from the boys, the wheat from the chaff,
the mesons from the pi mesons, the quarks from the quacks.
Ten questions, each more impregnable than the last.
Good luck.
You'll need it. Shall we say Friday, 3:00?
This is going to hospitalise me.
And, one! Drive! Two! Drive!
Three! Drive!
Stay long, Brian! I'll give you something long.
Stay long, Brian!
Keep long, Brian!
Shut up!
Long, Brian! I'm exhausted...!
Stay long, Brian! Ah!
MACHINE DINGS
Flip it! Flip it, Wiggs!
LIVELY CHATTER
Somebody else, for once.
Can I get two more of those, please? Yeah, sure.
And some change for the payphone. Yeah.
Steve, you all right, mate?
There's Jane.
No, of course, Timothy turned out to be an absolute cad.
I mean, you'll never guess who I saw him with the other day.
Caroline!
I mean, for heaven's sake, she can have him, quite frankly.
What's the probability?
Reasonably low.
STEPHEN LAUGHS
Erm...
This is... This is Stephen.
Do you play croquet? Croquet?
Not recently.
Sunday morning.
Actually busy Sunday mornings.
Oh.
Him.
OK.
DIANA: Anyway, before I was completely interrupted...
Oh, come on, get up.
How many did you get?
Morning, Brian. Good afternoon, Stephen.
How many of the impossible questions did you do?
Brian, I have no idea what you're talking about.
How many of Sciama's questions did you get, Stephen?
None. You didn't get any?
I was going to do them later.
You haven't even looked at them. No.
Stephen, are you aware that you've voluntarily embarked
upon a PhD in physics, at the most prestigious college in England?
Yes.
Oh, I thought maybe you'd slept through the induction or something.
Bri?
What?
Can you whip on some Wagner?
Oh, sod off.
MUSIC: Die Walkure, Act 1: Vorspiel by Richard Wagner
MUG CLATTERS
KNOCK AT DOOR
Come in, Stephen. Sorry.
Erm, Michael, that's so illegible, I can't quite decipher
how wrong it is. I suspect enormously.
And, Brian, that's just baffling.
Have you even bothered, Stephen?
Oh, sorry. Uh...
Right. Train timetables.
Ah.
That's totally unacceptable.
These expired a month ago.
Oh. It's on the back. I had a little accident.
Ah.
I could only do nine.
Good Lord.
Oh, thank God. Bravo.
MOUTHING: Nine?
KNOCK AT DOOR
Come in.
Ah, Stephen. Take a seat.
DOOR SHUTS
I wanted to talk to you about your subject.
We're all rather concerned as to what it's going to be.
I can't decide.
Do you have any ideas?
No.
So...
This is where JJ Thomson discovered the electron,
and where Rutherford split the atom.
You know, one of the great rewards of this job is one never knows
from where the next great leap forward is going to come,
or from whom.
Listen, next Friday, I'm taking a few graduates of merit to London
to attend a talk by the mathematician, Roger Penrose.
Do come along, if you're interested.
Oh, and close the door as you leave.
DOOR SHUTS
LOW CHATTER
So, I gather you've never been to church.
Once upon a time.
Tempted to convert?
I have a slight problem with the whole "celestial dictator" premise.
Now, what are you doing for lunch?
Ma makes a cracking roast.
Ah. So, Jane, what are you studying?
Arts. Spuds?
Thank you.
French and Spanish. I'm hoping to do a PhD eventually.
Oh, what on?
Medieval poetry of the Iberian Peninsula.
Medieval poets?
What painters do you like?
Well, I like Turner.
Turner, really?
You know, I always feel that his paintings look as if
they've been left out in the rain.
Pa.
And William Blake.
Thank you, Mother. Oh, good heavens, surely not.
Jane, have some of my elderflower wine. Oh, yes, thank you.
Don't touch it.
Don't touch it, Jane. Thank you.
Mother?
Stephen doesn't like my home-made wine.
Philistine.
I'm going to send you back with a couple of bottles.
So, Stephen, you have come from church with a good woman.
Are you feeling holier than thou?
Positively saintly. Thank you.
You haven't said why you don't believe in God.
A physicist can't allow his calculations to be muddled
by a belief in a supernatural creator.
Sounds less of an argument against God than against physicists.
Light or dark?
Jane, light meat or dark? Oh, light, please.
I'm inviting Jane to be my partner to the May Ball.
Really? Oh. Very impressive.
You'll have to dance this year, Stephen.
Make way for Mother's leg. Here we go.
Hello.
LIVELY MUSIC PLAYS
Oh...!
Sorry.
You OK? Yeah.
Do you dance, Stephen? No.
THEY LAUGH
No. I don't dance.
It's a phenomenon I'm very happy to observe, but I can't possibly
imagine participating. I absolutely agree.
I mean, who would want to dance?
No, I'm serious. I don't dance.
No dancing, then.
PARTYGOERS EXCLAIM
You see how the men's shirtfronts and their bow ties,
how they glow more than the women's dresses?
Yes.
Do you know why? Why?
Tide.
The washing powder?
The fluorescence in the washing powder is caught by the UV light.
Why do you know that?
STEPHEN LAUGHS
When stars are born,
and when...when they die,
they emit UV radiation.
So, if we could see the night sky in the ultraviolet light,
then almost all the stars would disappear,
and all that we would see
are these spectacular births and deaths.
I reckon it would look a little...
Like that.
FIREWORK WHISTLES
Wow!
Did you see...?
Like those. Like those ones...
Why?
Why what? Why Spanish medieval poetry?
I suppose...I like to time-travel.
Like you.
Are there any particular time periods that you like to visit?
I imagine the '20s was fun.
The Roaring Twenties. Mm.
"Seek, then, no learning from starry men,
"who follow with the optic glass the whirling ways of stars that pass."
Bravo.
LOW TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS
Well, that's astonishing, isn't it?
"In the beginning
"was the Heaven and the Earth.
"And the Earth was without form,
"and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Will you dance with me?
ANNOUNCEMENT: The train now departing from platform three
is the 9.17 service to London King's Cross.
WHISTLE BLOWS
Come on, Stephen. Get a move on.
What's wrong with you, man? Chop chop.
TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWS
A star, more than three times the size of our sun,
ought to end its life how?
With a collapse.
The gravitational forces of the entire mass overcoming
the electromagnetic forces of individual atoms,
and so collapsing inwards.
If the star is massive enough, it will continue this collapse,
creating a black hole,
where the warping of space-time is so great that nothing can escape.
Not even light. It gets...
..smaller.
Smaller.
The star, in fact, gets denser, as atoms - even subatomic particles -
get literally crushed into smaller and smaller space.
And at its end point, what are we left with?
A space-time singularity.
Space and time come to a stop.
TRAIN CARRIAGE RATTLES
LOW CHATTER
I wonder what would happen if you applied Penrose's theory
about black holes to the entire universe.
If Einstein is right, or if general relativity is correct,
then the universe is expanding, yes?
Yes. OK. So...
If you reverse time, then the universe is getting smaller.
All right. So...
What if I reverse the process all the way back,
to see what happened at the beginning of time itself?
At the beginning of time itself? Yes.
So, the universe, getting smaller and smaller,
getting denser and denser, hotter and hotter as we...
You mean wind back the clock?
Exactly, wind back the clock.
LAUGHING: Wind back the clock.
Is that what you're doing?
Are you winding back the clock? That is what I'm doing.
Well, keep winding! I am!
You've got quite a long way to go. Keep winding!
I don't want to fall in!
Well, you've got to get back to the beginning of time.
You've got a long way to go. Come on, keep winding!
Keep winding until you get...
A singularity? A space-time singularity.
So, the universe born from a black hole exploding.
Keep going.
What do you mean keep going? What...?
Before the universe began?
No, no, no, no. Keep going, develop the mathematics.
TINNITUS WHISTLING
OK, all right, very good.
Push it as hard as you can. Push it.
Push it, as hard as you can.
I am pushing as hard as I can.
Why...?
Come on. One, two...
Why won't it...?
All right, all right.
Fourth finger, fourth peg.
It's called motor neuron disease.
It's a progressive neurological disorder that destroys
the cells in the brain that control essential muscle activity,
such as speaking, walking...
DOCTOR SIGHS
..breathing, swallowing.
The signals that muscles must receive in order
to move are disrupted.
The result is gradual muscle decay.
Wasting away.
Eventually, the ability to control voluntary movement is lost.
Entirely.
I'm afraid average life expectancy is two years.
There's nothing I can do for you.
What about the brain?
The brain isn't affected.
Your thoughts won't change. It's just that...
Well, eventually, no-one will know what they are.
I'm ever so sorry.
Hello, Brian.
KNOCK AT DOOR
MUSIC: Die Walkure, Act 1: Vorspiel by Richard Wagner
MUSIC CUTS OUT
Welcome to this week's episode of The Natural World,
where this week we explore the bizarre hibernation patterns
of the rare Cambridge physicist,
seen here in his remarkable plumage.
So, how was it? What did they say? How's your wrist?
I have a disease, Bri.
Is it...venereal, Stephen?
I have motor neuron disease.
Sorry, I don't...
It's Lou Gehrig's disease. He was a baseball player.
Sorry, I'm lagging behind in my pioneering research into obscure,
motor, baseball-related diseases.
BRIAN LAUGHS
I have two years to live.
Sorry?
It does sound odd when you say it out loud, doesn't it?
You...
What do you mean?
No, you don't.
Did...
STAMMERING: What did they say?
Sorry, I don't really, erm...
Will you go, Bri?
Stephen, sorry, I was just being a berk. I didn't... I'll be...
No, it's not... I...
Will you go?
KNOCK AT DOOR
Stephen, phone for you.
It's a girl.
Erm...
I'll... I'll, erm...
I'll see you soon. I'll...
Yes.
She's waiting.
DISCONNECT TONE
Stephen?
LOW CHATTER
Jane. Jane!
Brian.
Hello. Sorry. Erm...
Why don't you... why don't you sit down?
I'm so sorry.
I... I spoke to Stephen, yesterday,
and I know that you called him...
SPEECH FADES
TV PROGRAMME PLAYS
Something educational?
Very.
John is having an affair with Martha.
But...Martha is in love with Alan,
and I think that Alan is probably a homosexual
by the look of his jumper, so...
Well, I'm just trying to work out the mathematical
probability of happiness.
Are you close?
Some integer of zero. But, no, not quite there yet.
Stephen.
You just missed him.
He was here earlier.
Don't do this.
Go.
Croquet.
Play a game with me.
Go.
If you don't get up and play a game with me,
I won't come back here again.
Ever.
Come on.
THUD FROM WITHIN
Leave me now.
Are you going to talk about this or not? Please, will you just go?
Is that what you want? Yes, it is what I want.
So, please, if you care about me at all, then please just go.
I can't.
I have two years to live. I need to work.
I love you.
STEPHEN STAMMERS
That's a false conclusion.
I want us to be together for as long as we've got,
and if that's not very long, well, then that's just how it is.
It'll have to do. You don't know what's coming.
It'll affect everything.
Your glasses are always dirty.
There.
That's better, isn't it?
Yes.
Yes, it is.
Now, the solutions to the Schrodinger equation
must vanish at the boundary of the box, and so we have...
Time.
Oh, time - that's your subject?
Any aspect in particular?
Time.
Come in, come in.
I...don't think you realise what lies ahead, Jane.
His life is going to be very short.
So, be careful.
The weight of science is against you.
And this will not be a fight, Jane.
This is going to be a very heavy defeat.
For all of us.
I know what you all think. That...
That I don't look like a terribly strong person.
But I love him.
And he loves me.
We're going to fight this illness together.
All of us.
Two, three...
STEPHEN STRAINS
Good luck.
Morning, Stephen. Morning, Professor.
I know, I know.
It could be a little bit more elegant.
Yes, but I... I understand...
HE KNOCKS
Come in, Stephen.
I know it's something we were all worried about initially.
And you, Roger, I know you had some reservations about it
in the early days.
Yes, but it's not uncommon in any theory. Yes.
Absolutely. Very well, very well. We'll see.
Welcome, Stephen. Morning.
Would you like to take a seat? No, I'm fine. Thank you.
You're sure? Yeah.
So, Stephen, in summary, erm...
As we know, chapter one, full of holes.
Uh, lacks mathematical support.
Professor Thorne?
Chapter two, not really original.
Uses a lot of Roger's ideas.
Well, at least you run with them.
Chapter three, too many unanswered questions.
I agree.
And then, of course, we have chapter four -
this black hole at the beginning of time.
Space-time singularity. Indeed.
It's brilliant.
Brilliant, Stephen. Superb.
Therefore, all there is to say is well done.
Or perhaps I should say - to be more precise - well done, Doctor.
Bravo, Stephen.
An extraordinary theory.
Thank you.
So, what next?
Prove it.
To prove with a single equation
that time has a beginning.
Wouldn't that be nice, Professor?
The one simple, elegant equation...
..to explain everything.
Yes, it would.
It would indeed.
Thank you.
To the esteemed and formidable
Doctor... Who?
THEY ALL LAUGH
Doctor Stephen Hawking.
ALL: Doctor Stephen Hawking.
Thank you. Cheers.
It is astonishing he's the first person to receive his doctorate,
bearing in mind how little work he's been doing.
THEY LAUGH
Work was the worst four-letter word for Stephen, at Oxford especially.
He averaged an hour.
An hour a day, he averaged.
And now, here he is, the esteemed man.
Astonishing levels of sloth.
On the theme of sloth, Brian, how many of your lectures have I covered
in the last six months.
When you've been doing research trips up to the Lake District.
Absolutely, completely... So have I.
How many? Four.
VOICES FADE AWAY
MUFFLED CHATTER
Everything all right? All good.
I'm fine.
What can you do? Would you like kartoffel?
Oh, please.
STEPHEN BREATHES UNEVENLY
Business or pleasure? For pleasure.
HE STRAINS
Hey, Robbie.
It's OK, Robbie.
HE GROANS
STEPHEN BREATHES SHALLOWLY
This...
..is temporary.
Of course.
Well, it's convenient for breakfast.
HE LAUGHS
Thank you.
Sorry, did you say something?
I said...
Yes?
Thank you.
There we go, Lucy.
BABY LUCY FUSSES
There we go.
There we go. There we go.
Have you got her?
She looks like you.
Oh, no. Oh...
BABY CRYING
Oh, wait. Go, Jane.
I'll be one second.
Luce. Lucy.
Oh...
STEPHEN LAUGHS
Jane?
Oh, Stephen. Oh, hello.
I've got an idea.
Jane...
Jane, I've had an idea.
ELEVATOR BELL DINGS
Hello. Hello, Dennis.
Hello, Dennis. How are you?
OK.
Good luck. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.
Oops. Sorry. No problem.
Allowing us to predict...
..that some particles can, in fact, escape a black hole.
So, black holes are not, in fact, black at all,
but glow with heat radiation.
The steady emission of heat energy
causes the black holes to lose mass
and eventually they disappear in a spectacular explosion.
It's very, very simple, in the way that a body loses heat.
Second law of thermodynamics. Right, it's thermodynamics.
It's...
If we can imagine that a black hole is, indeed, losing particles
and over time, will diminish in size, it will evaporate, it will...
Disappear.
So...
First, a star vanishes into a black hole.
And then, the black hole itself...
..vanishes.
Gone. Nothing. From nothing...
..to nothing!
You owe me another beer.
I have just shown you that our friend has proven that time, indeed,
has a beginning.
Not only that. How the universe was born, and...
How it will end.
Bang!
TABLE CLATTERS
Crunch!
It's, uh, beautiful, it's racy, it's...
Complete nonsense.
It's preposterous.
Was it something I said, Professor?
Uh, excuse me.
My name...
My name is Professor Khalatnikov, from the Soviet Academy of Science.
As you know, my field is evolution of the hot universe,
the properties of the microwave background radiation
and the theory of black holes.
To be honest,
I came here today
expecting to hear a lot of nonsense.
I go home disappointed.
The little one here...
..has done it.
MURMURING AROUND ROOM
He has done it.
ROOM APPLAUDS
It is a pleasure to meet you, Professor.
Entirely my pleasure. My pleasure.
Thank you. Well done, Stephen.
Well, that went pretty well, all things considered.
I was worried for a while.
LAUGHING: Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa!
Hawking radiation! The little one has done it!
Hey, come on, genius! Oh, very funny!
You've had enough of that, old man.
Come on, codger.
One, two, three.
BRIAN GRUNTS
My God! How does Jane manage?
Stephen, your motor-mouth disease, does it affect, erm...?
What?
Everything?
What? No.
Different system.
Automatic. Are you serious?
Well, that's pretty wonderful, isn't it?
Well, it certainly explains a lot about men.
THEY LAUGH
Hurry up!
STEPHEN LAUGHS
Come on!
Oh...
THEY LAUGH
What is it?
It's a surprise.
Right.
Keep them closed.
# Ta-da! #
Look, Daddy, look!
That is an electric wheelchair.
If you don't like it, we can take it back.
I don't understand. You've spent years
assuming black holes exist and you believe Cygnus X-1
could well turn out to be the first black hole
that we can actually observe.
And yet, you've bet Kip Thorne it's not a black hole.
Yes. What did you bet him?
A one-year subscription to a magazine.
Which magazine? Nature? No.
Penthouse.
Penthouse? Yes!
HE LAUGHS
ROBERT: Going to get you!
LAUGHTER
Daddy, look out. Let's get Mummy.
Come on...!
Going to get you!
Mummy, Mummy! Come and look.
CLATTERING
We're going to get you.
Oh, no...
GLASS SHATTERS
CHILDREN CHANT: Holiday! Holiday!
Holiday! Holiday!
Holiday! Holiday...
Hello. Hello.
Hello. There you are.
Hello, Pa! Isn't it marvellous?
What about these steps, Frank? Steps are nothing, Jane.
Stephen. Here we are. Hello.
Yes, here we go. Once we're up at the top, it's very snug.
Hello, Stephen.
Hello. There we go.
Turn you around, Stephen. Want me to pull?
No, no, I'll be fine. You get the baggage.
Here we go. Off we go. Let's go.
There we are, you see? Quite easy.
Up one, there we go.
Shimmering?
Um, er, the...
Oh, rain coming down, shivering cold?
Cold?
No.
The...falling.
Falling...
SHIVERING
Very cold. What is it? I'm... STEPHEN CHOKES
..having a jolly...
OK, take Lucy. One moment.
What is it?
HE CHOKES
HE GAGS
Is it out?
Some... Some water? No, don't worry.
OK, that's it.
There we go.
It's OK. It's OK. He needs to see a specialist.
Keeps happening over and over again.
Ridiculous.
No doctors.
No doctors!
All right, no doctors.
A little water.
SHE SNIFFLES
Stephen.
I need help.
If only for Robert. He's missing out on his childhood.
I keep looking for a way to make this work, but...
I can't find it on my own.
Everything is fine. We're just a normal family.
We're not a normal family.
Robert.
Your mother is very angry with me.
Thanks.
VACUUM WHIRS
Jane.
Jane, stop.
Sit.
Now...
POURS TEA
..I'd like to make a suggestion.
Might sound a bit unusual, but I have seen it work wonders.
I think that you should consider joining the church choir.
SHE SCOFFS
Mum,
I think that's possibly the most English thing anyone has ever said.
Maybe so.
I used to love singing. You're very good at it.
I don't know about that.
Just go.
It's one hour a week.
ALL SING CHORAL PIECE
Really lovely, everyone. OK. See you next week.
Bye-bye. Bye.
Goodbye.
Hello. Hello.
Have you come to sing?
Um...
I just came to, um...
Soprano? Mezzo.
Ah! Lovely, just what we need. Where have you been hiding?
Good question.
Well, you're here now,
and just in time, as they say.
Oh, you know, I have to come back anyway, so...
Good. You have everything?
Yes, thank you. Yes. Thank you for coming.
You will be a valuable asset.
Thank you.
Um...
Well, I should be going.
And if your son wants those piano lessons, just...
Yes, yes, absolutely. I... Call me.
I will do. Great.
My husband adores music, too.
Oh, well, I could... Does he play?
Um...
I could teach him, as well.
That's a long story.
But... OK. Well, thank you, Jonathan.
My pleasure, Jane. See you again. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
PRACTISING PIANO INSIDE
HE PLAYS SCALE
PLAYING STOPS
Third finger. No, that...
That one, there.
Try lifting your wrists a little bit.
Keep your elbows back. OK, try again.
PLAYS SCALE
No.
HE PLAYS WITH BOTH HANDS
BOTH CHUCKLE
Yeah. Good.
More wine?
Why not? Thank you.
Stephen? No.
JONATHAN CLEARS HIS THROAT
Stephen, Jane was telling me that you have a beautiful theorem.
Um, that proves that the universe, had a beginning. Is that it?
That was my PhD thesis.
My new project disproves it.
Disproves it? Yes. Oh!
Um, so, then, you no longer believe in the creation?
What one believes is irrelevant in physics.
"Irrelevant in physics."
Oh.
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
I see.
Stephen's done a U-turn.
The big new idea is that the universe has no boundaries at all.
No boundaries, no beginning...
And no God. Oh!
Oh, I see. I thought that, um,
you'd proved the universe had a beginning
and thus a need for a creator.
My mistake.
No, mine.
Stephen is looking for a single theory that
explains all the forces in the universe.
Therefore, God must die.
Oh, why must God die? I don't see.
The two great pillars of physics
are quantum theory,
the laws that govern the very small -
particles, electrons and so on,
and general relativity.
Yes, Einstein. Einstein's theory,
the laws that govern the very large planets and such.
But quantum and relativity...
Don't tell me. They're different?
They don't remotely play by the same rules.
If the world were all potatoes, then, easy.
You could trace a precise beginning as Stephen once did.
A moment of creation.
Hallelujah. God lives.
If you incorporate peas into the menu,
well, then it all goes a little... Tits up!
HE LAUGHS
Yes. Haywire.
It just all becomes a godless mess.
Oh, dear. Einstein hated peas.
Quantum theory.
He said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe."
Seems he not only plays dice,
but he throws them where we can't find them.
God is back on the endangered species list.
Well, I expect he'll cope.
And physics is back in business.
Yes.
Physics is back in business.
I was...married, actually.
But, sadly, she passed.
Almost a year ago now.
It was...leukaemia.
She fought it and I nursed her, but...
..in the end...
I do get quite lonely.
The...tyranny of the empty room
and all that.
But music is my salvation. Teaching and playing.
Not really as a career, but I'm not very ambitious.
Though that's not...
Is that a sin? I don't know.
Wrong man to ask.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you for coming. It was really, really wonderful.
If there's anything I can do to be of service, to you,
to the family, I mean, I would consider it a privilege.
I have no children or commitments, so...
I only mean that if I could be of help,
I believe I might find a purpose that would...
..help alleviate my own, um, situation.
Goodnight. Night.
I understand...
..if you need help.
If someone is
prepared to offer it...
..I won't object.
Chilly? Yeah, it's very bracing.
Come on. Ready?
Yeah. All right.
17, 18...
..19...
There we go. Right. I'm going to put the kettle on.
MUSIC DROWNS SPEECH
INAUDIBLE
# Calls you one and calls you all
# To gain his everlasting hall
# Christ was born to save
# Christ was born to save! #
Great, lovely, OK. We can go. ALL CHUCKLE
Just gone 7.45.
Could you all leave your copies? Goodbye. Bye, all!
There's something I need to tell you.
What?
I'm pregnant.
Gosh, I, assumed that you and Stephen, um...
Well, that's really wonderful.
It is. Yes, wonderful.
Congratulations, Jane.
Thank you.
Everyone say, "Cheese." Ready?
On the count of three. One, two, three.
ALL: Cheese.
Cheese.
CHATTER
Mummy! Just coming.
BABY CRIES Oh, come on, sweetie. Come on...
Now, you know,
I've always been supportive of your choice not to have home help,
but we need to find a permanent solution.
This... This...situation cannot continue.
You need to have a proper live-in nurse immediately.
We have help.
Look, you know what I'm talking about.
We can't afford a live-in nurse.
Stephen, you need to find a way for your family's sake.
You're world-famous.
For black holes, not for rock concerts.
Stephen, this isn't funny.
I believe it's urgent.
QUIET CHATTER
We do have a right to know.
We have a right to know, Jane.
Know what?
Whose child Timothy is.
Stephen's or Jonathan's.
That's what you think of me.
There's no way that Timothy could
have any other father than Stephen. None.
Jonathan. Please don't go.
I have to go. Come on. Everyone is talking.
So, what does it matter?
It's difficult for me because I'm just trying to help.
I know you're trying to help, and your help is valued.
The best thing for me right now is... I think maybe if...
I just step back for now.
Please, Jonathan. We need you. That would be the best.
The children need you, and I need you,
and Stephen needs you. Jonathan.
There's other things as well. Jane, I...
HE SIGHS
..I have feelings for you.
And I have feelings for you, too.
Thank you, Jane.
I've been invited to the Bordeaux Opera.
Invited where?
Bordeaux.
To Bordeaux?
Wagner.
The students can take me.
I know you hate flying.
I do hate to fly.
Bring the car.
Meet me in Bordeaux.
Take the children camping.
It'll be too difficult to manage, Stephen.
Bring Jonathan.
I doubt he would be willing.
DOOR SLAMS
Hello, Stephen.
Is this OK?
Well...
OPENS BOTTLES ..I won't tell if you won't.
Just...
..bearing in mind you have to drive.
THEY CHUCKLE
GLASS CLINKS
Jane needs help.
Sarah, you won't forget a vitamin B injection as soon as you land.
No. Of course. And you'll call me when you get to the hotel?
I will. Yes? Promise? Yes. Good.
Stephen.
Mum will take the baby.
She'll be here any minute. See you in Bordeaux.
And be good.
BIRDSONG
Are they asleep? Yeah.
QUIET CHATTER
THEY LAUGH
OK. It's OK. I'm all right. Where are the children?
CHATTERING
I think we've done rather well.
Right. Children? Get your sleeping bags.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks.
ORCHESTRA TUNES UP
HUSHED CONVERSATION
ZIPS QUIETLY
Jonathan?
MUSIC PLAYS
HE CHOKES
HE COUGHS QUIETLY
MAN SHUSHES
HE COUGHS LUDLY
Oh, God.
Excuse me, sorry.
Jonathan?
Jonathan.
Stephen's been taken ill. He's in hospital and...
..he...he's in a coma. Stephen's been taken ill?
MONITORS BEEP
What are you talking about?
This way would be a painless end.
If we try to bring him round from the anaesthetic,
it's not sure he will survive resuscitation.
You have to bring him round from the anaesthetic.
Are you sure it's what you want?
The only way of weaning him off the
ventilator will be to give him a tracheotomy.
A hole in the neck, bypassing the throat.
He will never speak again.
There's no question.
Stephen must live. I will see he gets everything he needs.
I will have him transferred back to Cambridge.
He may not survive the journey.
Yes, he will.
JET ENGINES ROAR
I know.
I'll...
..step back.
Did you get everything in the car?
His chair and his equipment and everything?
HE MOUTHS
JET ROARS OVERHEAD
Goodbye.
LIGHT BUZZES
LEAVES RUSTLE
LOW CONVERSATION
VOICES FROM TV
Stephen?
This is a spelling board.
Firstly, you tell me what letter you want by blinking
when I say the colour of the group that contains the letter.
Once I know the group, you can choose
the character inside that group
by blinking again when I say the colour
of each letter within that group.
Apparently.
Let's just try.
Green.
Blue.
Pink.
Black.
Red.
Blink to choose the colour of the group
of the letter you want, Stephen.
Green.
Blue.
Pink.
Black.
Red.
HE MOUTHS
DOOR OPENS
Hello, Elaine.
Shall I take your coat? OK.
Thank you, Jane.
FOOTSTEPS
Just wait here. Great.
She's here.
She comes highly recommended.
Promise not to eat her alive.
OK?
Here we are.
Elaine, Stephen.
Stephen, Elaine. Lovely to meet you, Professor.
Now, you should have everything you need.
But if there's anything else, I'll be just next door. Great.
I think we'll get straight to work. Thank you, Jane.
Oh, if you could close the doors. Of course.
We'll get started, then.
OK.
Red.
Yellow.
T.
Green.
Black.
E.
Green, green.
A.
Tea.
You want a cup of tea.
OK.
Any preference?
You've memorised the board, I know you have.
I haven't got all day.
Green, green.
Green, yellow.
Yellow. B.
Green, blue, pink, black, red.
Red.
Green, yellow, blue, blue.
U. So, B, U.
Builder's tea, right?
So, how did you get on?
You know... I think he's the most brilliant man I've ever met.
You're very lucky. Thank you.
You must worship the ground beneath... His wheels?
And he's the perfect patient. He's so funny.
When you read about him...
Let's see how you get on, shall we, Elaine?
That's tightened up.
As you can see, it's height-adjustable
and we can change the angle to whatever Steve wants it at.
You know, it's cutting-edge. So, how does it work?
It uses a very simple interface that scans through the alphabet,
selects each letter one at a time. I mean, using this technique,
the Professor can expect to write about four words per minute.
Good. Better than one a minute.
Yes, and what I've done is taken the components
from a telephone answering system, actually,
to convert the written text into synthesised speech.
I mean, the voice sounds a little bit robotic, but...
..all we give it a try?
Great. Here's the clicker.
Right hand?
There you go.
Welcome to the future.
IN SYNTHESISED VOICE:
It's American.
Is that a problem?
Oh, my goodness. Well, is there another voice?
That's the only one they have at the moment.
I think it's great.
SHE CHUCKLES
IN SYNTHESISED VOICE:
SYNTHESISED VOICE: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
Exterminate.
I will write a book.
About what?
Time.
IN SYNTHESISED VOICE:
SYNTHESISED VOICE: What is the nature of time?
Will it ever come to an end?
Someday, these answers may seem as obvious to us
as the Earth orbiting the sun,
or perhaps as ridiculous as a tower of tortoises.
Only time, whatever that may be, will tell.
CLICKING
Professor?
It is for a friend. Of course it is.
That's what they all say.
You don't have to be embarrassed in front of me, Professor.
I know what men are like.
Shall we take a look?
There you go.
SHE CLEARS HER THROAT
DOOR OPENS
Oh. I'm sorry.
BOTH LAUGH
Next one?
What?
CLICKING
SYNTHESISED VOICE: So I said, "I have long been looking
"for a model of the universe.
"I finally found her."
WATER SPLASHES, SHE CHUCKLES
I bet you did.
SHE CHUCKLES
Stephen, I need to steal you. The contract's arrived.
Could you just give us a minute, please, Jane?
There we go.
Like new.
CHUCKLING >
PRINTER BUZZES
CLICKING
READS: Who are we?
Why are we here?
If we ever learn this, it will be the
ultimate triumph of human reason,
for then we would know the mind of God.
Do you mean this?
Yes.
CLICKING
Of course. So, you're acknowledging him?
However...
"However" what?
Are you actually going to let me have this moment?
You are welcome.
I have asked Elaine to travel with me to America.
She will look after me.
Will she?
Yes.
You always used to tell me when an invitation came in.
Another award.
What can you do?
I am sorry.
How many years?
They said two.
You've had so many.
SHE SOBS
Everything will be OK.
I have loved you.
I did my best.
HE SOBS
Careful.
That... That's staying. All right.
CHATTERING
Bye, Jonathan.
PIANO MUSIC PLAYS
CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK, CLAMOURING
SHOUTING
Professor, I love your book.
SHOUTING
APPLAUSE
Thank you.
I first met the Professor
in 1963.
Now there you are. Time. Where does it go?
It has been one of the great joys of my life to watch this man
defy every expectation,
both scientific and personal.
Please welcome onto the stage my esteemed colleague,
my dear friend, Professor Hawking.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Thank you. Could we please have the
first pre-selected question? Thank you.
Can you hear me?
ALL CHUCKLE
Now you are recognised everywhere.
How do you deal with all the attention?
I was stopped recently by a tourist in Cambridge,
who asked if I was the real Stephen Hawking.
I replied I was not and said the real one was much better-looking.
LAUGHTER
In 1979, you talked about the
possibility of a theory of everything
being discovered before the end of the century.
I now predict that I was wrong.
Professor Hawking, you have said you do not believe in God.
Do you have a philosophy of life that helps you?
You have said you do not believe in God.
Do you have a philosophy of life that helps you?
It is clear that we are just an advanced breed of primates
on a minor planet orbiting around a very average star
in the outer suburb of one among 100 billion galaxies.
But, ever since the dawn of civilisation,
people have craved for an understanding
of the underlying order of the world.
There ought to be something very special
about the boundary conditions of the universe.
And what can be more special than that there is no boundary...
..and there should be no boundary to human endeavour.
We are all different.
However bad life may seem,
there is always something you can do and succeed at.
While there is life, there is hope.
APPLAUSE
That came.
It's from Stephen.
Gosh.
Your glasses are always dirty.
MAN: Professor and Mrs Hawking, Her Majesty, The Queen.
Congratulations...
..My Companion of Honour.
Not bad for an old liberal socialist.
QUIETLY: Don't worry, you can decline the knighthood.
Thank you, for today.
It was extraordinary.
It's all been rather extraordinary though, hasn't it?
CLICKING
What are you writing?
Look what we made.
FIREWORKS POP