People Who Knew Me - 3. Adult Bob

Episode Date: June 6, 2023

New episodes released on Tuesday and Thursday. If you’re in the UK, listen first on BBC Sounds. Claire shaves Connie’s hair as the chemotherapy takes hold. The loss of her hair takes Connie straight back to her life in New York, to Emily's new 'work haircut' and first job, a job she was forced to take so Drew could fulfil his dream of owning his own restaurant. That one deciding coin toss, the catalyst which prompted the lying and deceit that would lead to the end of their marriage. Credits Connie / Emily - ROSAMUND PIKE Drew - KYLE SOLLER Claire - ISABELLA SERMON Gabe - ALFRED ENOCH Jade - JESSICA DARROW Marni/Jenny - DANIELLA ISAACS Dr Richter / Reporter - CHARLES HAGERTY and HUGH LAURIE as PAUL Additional voices: PIPPA WINSLOW, NANCY CRANE, JOEY AKUBEZE, BARNEY WHITE, JILL WINTERNITZ Written and Directed by Daniella Isaacs Adapted from the original novel and Consulting Produced by Kim Hooper Produced by Joshua Buckingham Executive Produced by Faye Dorn, Clelia Mountford, Sharon Horgan, Kira Carstensen, Seicha Turnbull and Brenna Rae Eckerson Executive Producer for eOne Jacqueline Sacerio Co-Executive Produced by Carey Burch Nelson Executive Producer for BBC Dylan Haskins Assistant Commissioner for the BBC Lorraine Okuefuna Additional Commissioning support for the BBC Natasha Johansson and Harry Robinson Production Executive Gareth Coulam Evans Production Manager Sarah Lawson Casting Director Lauren Evans Audio Production & Post-Production by SoundNode Supervising Dialogue Recordist & Editor Daniel Jaramillo Supervising Sound Editor, Sound Design & Mix: Martin Schulz Music composed by Max Perryment Additional Dialogue Recording: David Crane, Martin Jilek Assistant Dialogue Recordists: Jack Cook, Giancarlo Granata Additional Dialogue Editing: Marco Toca Head of Production Rebecca Kerley Production Accountant Lianna Meering Finance Director Jackie Sidey Legal and Business Affairs Mark Rogers at Media Wizards Dialect Coach for Rosamund Pike - Carla Meyer Read in Hannah Moorish Artwork: Mirjami Qin Artwork Photographer by Sibel Ameti Additional thanks to: Emily Peska, Caitlin Stegemoller, Sam Woolf, Charly Clive, Ellie White, Ellen Robertson, Kate Phillips, Ed Davis, Ciaràn Owens, Jonathan Schey, Daniel Raggett and Charlotte Ritchie.

We had a bomb go off in their garage. It was quite frightening. I'm Livy Haydok and this is Gangster. The explosive story of John Palmer, a good father figure, born out of the crime of the century. He built an empire in the sun, scamming tens of thousands of innocent people.

They ultimately turned bloody. Palmer sent in violent men. This is Gangster, the story of John Palmer. Listen now, BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. This episode contains themes and strong language, which some listeners may find upsetting. All events are dramatized. and stop, stop, stop, stop. Open your eyes. Clared laid out razors, hair scissors, paper towels, on the island.

Welcome to Hair with Claire. Whoa. Some of your hair blocked the shower up. I bought Dreno. Clared it. Sorry. It's okay. But it is time you got shorn.

I ran you a bath. Part of the service. My hair is falling out of me. My hair, our hair. Why does it take for us to lose something to realize how much we appreciate it? Since noticing chunks of hair neatly arranged on my pillow every morning, I've started to bookmark

your life and to hairstyles. Brown, wavy, undergrad, Bohemian bangs in Brooklyn. Drew'd cut it with cheap scissors over the sink. How's that? Fine, it's hair. Can we fuck now? And then in 1995 came the bob. The lying began with the bob. I, uh, I just made one coffee.

The transition from the bangs to the bob. I remember this bit so clearly. Brooklyn, sitting in the bathtub, half run because the hot water ran out too fast. Your bangs particularly wonky because you'd asked Drew to cut them after sharing two celebratory bottles of bogey-lay. You'd just gotten a letter to say you were accepted on the English Master's course at Brooklyn College. Drew had just gotten a place at the Culinary Education Institute a few days before. He was now desperate

to open his own restaurant. He sat on the toilet seat and stared at you. I've been doing the math. You prayed he was turned on and it was the beginning of a role play. Yes, Professor. And I don't think it adds up. I agree, Professor. You're just far too sexy for me. I'm just kitty-a-poor, desperate, unremarkable student on a scholarship. I'm being serious. So I, it's just that sometimes sexual attraction

doesn't add up, Professor. And stop. And stop. Stop. Stop. You need to take this seriously. It's fine, Mr. Gourham. OK, what's up?

Look, I've been trying to work out the numbers. And even if you do double shifts and I were at nights, we still both can't afford to go to school right now. But they've given us support. Financial aid. It's nothing like a scholarship. Oh good. What do you think?

Well, we should take turns. What? One of us goes to school. One of us gets a real job, and then we switch. Using the simple future tense, as if it was fact, without you having any say in the matter. For the past 13 months, he'd left you to sort bills and rent until him went to pay.

The moment he thought his future might be affected, he took control. Come on. We're a team now, right? You are an only child, you hated teams. What's a real job? It's, but it's a salary. It's health insurance. I don't know, adults stop.

I don't want this either, Evan. You were so sure he would say you could go to school first while he worked. So who goes first? We flip a coin. Look, can you think of a fair way to decide? Rapt in your towel, you put your hand on your stomach. What's wrong?

Nothing. Aligh. I wish you'd been truly honest in that moment. Come on, what's wrong? I wish you'd said, A lot. You haven't even given me time to celebrate. I got chosen on a master's course

and you'd just see it as a hassle. It's a lot. A lot is wrong, Drew. I wish you'd said, Ask me what I think. I think you should wait for me to get a lecturing position at NYU. And then, then you can follow your culinary dreams. That's the adult move. And why is my hand on my stomach? My hand is on my stomach because I want to talk about kids.

I want a kid. Drew, and you keep going on about travel and your your courses and your plans. And I've got no room in that to say that at some point after my masters, I want a kid. I wish. But instead you stayed quiet and you just said. Nothing. It's Tomahkeek. He got a quarter out of his pocket leaving no room for an argument. Both of you could feel it looming in the air.

Call it. Tails. Heads. Heads. Heads. Hedge. Hedge. Hedge. Hedge. Hedge. It landed on heads. I'm a feminist, but really, if a man wins a coin toss, the least he can do is offer the best of three.

Welcome the hair with Claire. If you'd like to take a seat? How did I create this little human, Emmy? Claire turned the deck into a makeshift salon. Wait, what if you bleed? She's never gone near a razor in her life. I'm obsessed with the thin little hairs on her legs. I won't hear about a mile away from my actual head, honey.

Uh, yeah. There you go. Right, okay. Here we go. I guess it's good. What is? Your hair is falling out. You didn't like my hair? No.

No. Well, you know, I mean, at least we know the chemo treatment is working. Oh, no, it doesn't work like that, sweetie. It does. Colleo said it does. Okay. Doesn't it? I don't think so.

But that doesn't mean I'm not getting better. Well, what do you think? You think you're getting better? Yeah, I hope so. I feel good. We'll know more tomorrow. So cool. Oh, Tallahureum, you were thinking you should probably reach out to like, that's family. His parents were, I don't know if you had a sister or a brother. Why? Because I want to know you're on well, I think.

I, they won't. Elliot didn't have a family. I told you that I have everyone. And he did enough for it. Fine. I look to the ground, to my hair, I shut my eyes, I think about your body. The doll pounded that cheap champagne

and show me who you want to be. You started spending money on your hair when you stopped being happy. Here, it's Winona Ryda at the How to Make an American Quilt premiere. The Finger-Rake bob. You cut out a picture to show the stylist. If you were getting an adult job, then you sure-ship were getting an adult bob. Finger-Rake bob. I fucking love it. I love it. I love it. You need it. It looked expensive and aspirational on all the things you railed against, but when you looked in the mirror, you absolutely love it.

And you took your bob to your first job interview. At Mathers and James. You must be Emily Morris. That's me. It's Jade. Jade Davis. Same Jade that I... Fuck! Am I that forgettable? I was your boss. At Mathers and James. Planked. 13 years later, in Topanga. Finger-wrecked Bob.

Ah, secondingly chic. Hmm, thanks. Now there's something about your letter that really turned me on. Jade made you nauseous. You'd read in some faux feminist business book that if you appeared slightly disinterested, it made you more likely to get the job. Have you created a copy for any cleaning brands before? It was not hard to appear disinterested here.

No. Well, Mathers and James is a perfect training ground for virgins. We focus hard on opportunities for advancement. He zoned out and colored in Jates' life away from her desk. Coke-filled weekends and orgies with her married boss. Well, Winona, my name is Nek name for you. I nickname all my girls. Thanks for coming in.

Someone will be in touch in a few days. Mom, I think I'm done. Great, she wipes a towel over my scalp. I can feel every fiber of it. Yep, done. Do I look weird? Yeah, done. Do I look weird? Yeah, very. I touch it. The skin pulled tight around my skull. Then I didn't mean to get annoyed. I'm sorry. You look so weird. You want

like in the mirror? No. Not yet. We're so fucking fragile Emily. I only mentioned dad because we tried to find him online. I get up, walk towards the mirror, hands on my head, and I thought why am we getting in touch with his family? My skull. I'm an alien. Stop. You're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're so poor, you're I don't want anything to do with his family because he wasn't very nice! He wasn't very nice, okay? He wasn't good. Stop. Clear chops off our ponytail in one single cut. What the fuck, Clear? I wanted to do it.

I stay watching the hair float to the ground. She does the whole thing in 20 minutes. What was through it all the time? Oh my god. I dare to look up at her. It's kind of like America's next top model. Well, beautiful. Yeah.

Beautiful. 10 a.m. arrives. So does Dr. Richter. I like the new, the new. The new look? Why do we constantly have to appease men's awkwardness? Exactly, yes. Thanks.

I let my daughter style it herself. It's very Brittany Spears. It's exhausting. It's not the best news I'm afraid. Well, it's good news. Jade would like to offer you the role of junior coffee writer. A base salary of 30k per annum? The cancer isn't retreating.

Not retreating? Not yet. I'm gonna try tax all. Most of my patients go on to do the combo ACT regimen. You didn't tell Drew you'd gotten the job at Mathers and James for another two days. Who is that? Your mom, she's fine. You wanted him to suffer. Panic for a bit longer that he might have to step up and become an adult before you.

The response rate to tax all after ACT is as high as 30%. That's high. Panic for a bit longer that he might have to step up and become an adult before you. The response rate to tax all after ACT is as high as 30%. That's high. In the world of IBC, it is. Oh, the world of IBC sucks. I chose not to share that bit. I didn't want to make him feel awkward. I collected Claire after school. Well, how was it?

What? You're waiting. Well, how was it? What? You're waiting. Oh, God. Sorry, I thought I text. It's all good. All gone. I don't want to tell her. I don't want her to feel any pain.

Promise? Promise, sweetie. Yeah, I wonder when you'll hear that. I wonder when you'll have to go back then. Me too. It's alright about yesterday, by the way. Don't be sorry. You know, I wouldn't have said it if I'd known that he wasn't... You know, that he was bad to you.

It's okay. You know now. I'm more good to two of us, aren't we? Two balls, print heads. Ha ha! Exactly. That's the name of our first album. Love it.

We're on a timer here Emily. She's smart. She's gonna keep digging. The clock's running out. People who knew me, starring Rosamond Pike, Kyle Salar, Isabella Sermon, Alfred Enoch, Jessica Darrow, Charles Hackerdy, Daniela Isaacs, and Hugh Laurie. Other voices, Gippa Winslow, Nancy Crain, Joseph Acabase, Barney White, Jill Winternitz, Written and directed by Daniela Isaacs,

adapted from the original novel by Kim Hooper, producer Joshua Buckingham, executive producers, Faye Dorne, Cleelya Mountford, and Sharon Horgan, executive producer for the BBC, Dylan Haskins, production manager Sarah Lawson, casting director Lauren Evans, supervising dialogue record as an editor, Daniel Haramizzo, supervising sound editor, sound design and mix, Martin Schultz, sound design and recording by sound node, music composed by Max Perrymont. If you've been affected by anything you've heard in this episode, details of help and support in the UK are available at BBC.co.uk forward slash action line.

People who knew me was in first on BBC Sounds. Introducing Gaslight. I think there's something peculiar about this house. A new drama from BBC Radio 4. The gas lights over there above the fireplace. Yes. I wonder if mummy might be trying to get in touch. Is the light playing tricks on you?

Or is it just a line? What if we both sold this place and you got a job in one of those little colleges that would be pleased to have you? You don't really believe that, do you? I'm trying to be kind. You were like you were with the dog. How much do we really know about the person we love? Is there something I shouldn't know about, Chad? No. I didn't put a foot wrong.

And how much can we rely? Quite a bit younger than you appear to be on stream. On the kindness of strangers. And you look like you've been crying. Gaslight. You can't talk to me like that. I don't even know who you are. Available on BBC Sounds.

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