Transcript created: 15th June 2025

Last updated: 15th June 2025

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SCENE 1

[A clock ticks, something sizzles on the stove. A zipper is done up, footsteps on a hardwood floor.]

 

Beth: Dear, I’m going out for a run!

 

Jake: Be safe honeeeey!

 

[A heavy door opens and closes swiftly. A bird is whistling, Beth sighs. She steps across a gravel driveway, her headphones come alive with a mechanic “power on”. Beth sighs, more shakily this time. She starts running, running music quietly plays. She breathes deeply in the background while her internal monologue begins, tense.]

 

Beth, internal: God I can’t stand his constant fussing. The girls all tell me I should be so lucky with such an attentive husband, but it’s too much. Especially when we’re out at the mountain home and it’s just us, I can’t escape him. All I want to do is have a lie-in but he’s up at 5:30 making an elaborate breakfast.

 

[A buzzing noise indicates a text coming in. She continues running, then slowly comes to a halt. She stops the music, types a message on her phone while reading it out.

 

Beth: Not dead yet, just out for a long run. See you for breakfast. Don’t burn yourself on the oven again. Love y-

 

[The last letters are backspaced.]

 

Beth: Don’t burn yourself on the oven again. Send.

 

[A deep sigh. The music returns, as do the running footsteps. Beth breathes rhytmically, but her internal monologue is a little anxious.]

 

Beth, internal voice: One foot in front of the other Beth. Life is good. Look, the tree is in blossom, early this year. Looks pretty. I’ll take a left. Long loop today. The weather is finally good, should stay out as long as I can. 

 

[A text message comes in, Beth ignores it.]

 

Beth, internal: As soon as I get back Jake will bombard me with questions about this or that. I can’t stand how he’s always wanting to talk about everything. Let it slide. What’s that? A mark on the tree. Strange.

 

[The running pace picks up a bit, as does Beth’s breathing.]

 

Beth, internal: It’s been a while since I’ve been on this path. Should hit the meadows soon. Ground might be wet. Stick to the edges. I should’ve worn a hat, the sun’s in my eyes. Another tree marked in white. Is it a cross? This one has something carved in it. Don’t look. Kinda spooky.

 

[Pace picks up again. Something rips. A creepy background noise settles in, hollow and haunting.]

 

Beth, internal: Ouch, the grass is sharp. Too tall. I wonder if it ever gets cut. Who maintains these meadows? Should speak to Jake about it. Fuck. Am I bleeding?”

 

[The running slows then stops, the haunting noise gets louder. Beth shrieks. The haunting noise fades away, the birds return. She breathes shakily.]

 

Beth, internal, shaken: Okay calm down scream queen, it’s just blood on the trail, you’re fine. Probably from an injured animal. Are there hunters around here? Throw the sneakers out when you get home. Keep going.

 

[The running starts up again, faster now, a heartbeat comes in and the breathing gets heavier. An ominous undertone creeps back in.]

 

Beth, internal: Another marked tree. Is there someone behind me? Keep going. 

 

[Dogs bark in the distance. The ominous backdrop grows. Twigs break underneath Beth’s feet. Her breath is shaking, unregulated. She speaks to herself in a harsh tone, with a scared undertone.]

 

Beth, internal: Keep going. Keep going. At least Jake knows where I am. Keep going. 

 

[She hits something, yelps, stumbles.]

 

Beth, internal: A head. Dead, dead. 

 

[We hear flies buzzing, something squishy. The ominous tone grows, becomes oppressive. Beth’s voice echoes through]

 

Beth, internal: Blood everywhere. Hog. Oh god I’m covered in blood. It’s dead. Some kind of ritual? Satanic. Oh god. I need to get out of here. 

 

[Beth scrambles up, tries to run, bumps into something soft but solid.]

 

Shepherd: Woah there lady!

 

Beth, internal: Stranger

 

Shepherd: Are you alright?

 

Beth, internal: Monster. 

 

[The ominous tone comes to a crescendo. Everything fades. Beth’s voice comes through stark and clearly now.]

 

Beth: Dead. 

 

[A loud and shrieking scream pierces through, as if we’re hearing Beth from a distance. The theme tune starts playing.]

 

THEME TUNE

[The Land’s End theme tune is a wordless, rhythmic piece. It resembles a slow march, with a traditional sounding beat before a low resonating choir comes in. Tobias Weatherburn speaks in a slow, low voice: Land’s End, A Shepherd’s Tale, episode 1 ‘Cabin’. A high choir follows, adding a somewhat mournful melody, with mysterious electronic bleeps playing with the melody and rhythm. It builds to a crescendo, and then fades out on the bleeps.]

 

SCENE 2

 

[The Shepherd’s voice is very minorly distorted, as if on a phone. There’s calm bells from the herd of sheep in the background.]

 

Shepherd: …the dogs had gone hunting earlier and I’d put the boar’s head in the trees, so they wouldn’t keep playing with it. But they’d been going mad all day, I was struggling to get the herd to relax with these arseholes running around.

 

[The shepherd laughs to himself.]

 

Shepherd: Suddenly this lady appears out of the bushes, covered in blood… Oh one sec, they’re running.

 

[We hear a few loud bells in the distance.]

 

Shepherd: Alma, to the right. Go!

 

[The bells calm down a bit.]

 

Shepherd: Thank you Alma, come back!

 

Shepherd: This woman, she was on a run, completely didn’t see me in her panic and runs straight into me. And she screams! A proper horror movie shriek. She must’ve thought I was going to murder her. She had no idea I was working here! Helped her get cleaned up a bit and explained the situation, but she seemed really mad about it. Don’t know what I’m meant to do about that. So just beware of rich ladies in the woods, alright?

 

[Voicenote ends.]

 

SCENE 3

 

[We’re outside with the herd. There’s different bells, bleating, and hooves, a calm day.]

 

Shepherd, internally: It’s said that nature is never quiet. But unlike the noises of the modern world, nature’s noise is always an interaction. A car may rumble simply because its engine has to to generate power, but a tree doesn’t rustle until the wind shakes it. A bird doesn’t sing until the sun starts to rise. A sheep doesn’t call out if it isn’t reaching out to another sheep. Nature is never quiet, which is doubly true as a shepherd. There is a constant chorus of bells and bleating that to most would fade into the background, eventually, but never to me. I would wake even from a deep sleep if there was a sudden disturbance in the herd. And when we roam the field, the forests, it is my ears, not my eyes, that allow me to watch over and follow my herd. It is often impossible to see all my sheep at once, due to rolling hills and jagged cliffs, dense bush and leafy forests. But I can always tell who is up to no good by the sound of the bell, a different pitch for each sheep that carries one. And it is not only the male sheep, nor only the leader of the herd who wears a bell. There’s often a variety of them that get belled, depending on the size of the herd. This one, for example.

 

[A sheep approaches gently, her bell getting louder as she gets closer. She bleats.]

 

Shepherd: Hello Una, come to get your cuddles?

 

[A gentle guitar melody starts playing, it sounds calm and carries a positive nostalgia.]

 

Shepherd, internally: She is my favourite. She was a bottle lamb, so human interaction quickly became associated with love, and safety. And although most sheep grow up without this interaction, my role as a shepherd is still one of care. Most people envision the shepherd as a driving force, but in reality I follow the herd and adjust our course depending on the shape of the landscape, the presence of food, the rhythm of the land. All my labour is in pursuit of the safety and health of my herd. Their happiness is my happiness, their safety mine. I am their follower, not their leader. And if anything endangers the herd, it is my privilege to protect them.

 

[The melody fades out.]

 

SCENE 4 

 

[The opening tone of a vocienote. Our shepherd’s sheep are making noise in the background, bleating, walking.]

 

Eliot: My friend, how are you? Long time no speak. I heard from Jasper that the protests have moved closer to the land you’re on, I hope you and the sheep are okay. Make sure you lock your hut because last time they broke into Moira’s and ravaged the place. They have no idea who they’re for or against and I’d really hate to see you get caught up in their confusion. If they want to protest the land privatisation they should come talk to us! Fools. Let me know how things are.

 

[In the background, during this voicenote, the sounds of chanting crowds slowly emerge above the bells and sheep noises. We can’t make out what they’re saying.]

 

Shepherd, under his breath: Fucking bastards.

 

Shepherd: Alma! To the right!

 

[Barking.]

Shepherd: Yip! Yip! Come on ladies, we’re turning around. Yip!

[The  bells and hooves and bleating intensifies as the sheep hurry up. A dog barks loudly.]

 

Shepherd, internal: These kids have been around for the past week or so, trying to solve this or that problem. They keep trampling the fields and disturbing the herd. I wish they’d leave us alone.

[Suddenly, the patous start barking and running towards someone. They growl agressively.]

 

Protester 1: Hey! HEY! 

 

Shepherd: Milo! Tara! Stop! Come here! To the herd!

Protester 1: Call back your dogs! We have the right to be here!

Shepherd: Back away. You shouldn’t be this close to the herd.

 

Protester 2, over a megapohone: We are protecting this land! 

 

Shepherd: And the patous are protecting their sheep. I’d step away for your own safety if I were you.

 

Protester 1: Is that a threat?

 

Shepherd, chuckling: Ask Tara. 

 

[A dog barks, the sheep start running again.]

 

Shepherd: Alma! Ahead!

 

Protestor 1: You are abusing the land! You’re complicit in its destruction!

Shepherd: If you keep coming here the sheep won’t eat. They are easily stressed. Is that what you want?

 

[More barking.]

 

Shepherd: Tara! ENOUGH! Shut up!
 

[The protester is further away now, the barking lessens.]

 

Shepherd: Alma, enough! Come here!

 

[The shepherd runs to catch back up with the sheep. He is panting.]

 

Shepherd: These fucking assholes. They’ve been making the sheep nervous. I can barely get them to eat. They are flighty and keep peeling off in small groups. 

 

[Shepherd reaches the sheep, they’ve calmed down a bit. Alma yawns with recognition.]

 

Shepherd: I can always count on you, Alma. You and no one else, it seems.

SCENE 5

 

[A door closes. Heavy boots walk into a small space. The shepherd breathes heavy, takes off a jacket. In the distance, we still hear the sheep, calmly. The shepherd sighs deeply.]

 

Shepherd: What a day. 

 

[The clicking of a gas stove, a fire, a pan: a can being opened and the scraping of a spatula. While the food cooks, the shepherd plays his guitar softly. Then, suddenly, loud barking far in the distance, and screaming sheep. It sets off Alma inside too, who is now barking. The shepherd turns off the gas and opens the door with a bang. Running towards the sheep, the noise gets louder. The shepherd trips over something and falls.]

 

Shepherd: Where’s my fucking headlamp?

 

[He gets back up, the click of a headlamp being turned on, more running, then he arrives.]

 

Shepherd: Milo! Tara? 

 

[Dogs come running, still barking and yelping in the other direction.]

 

Shepherd: What’s up buddy? Was it a wolf? You okay? You don’t seem injured, did you scare ‘em off? Good job.

 

[The shepherd pats the dog, but slowly stops.]

 

Shepherd: Sometimes I dream a wolf enters my hut and as he stands looming in the doorway, we lock eyes.

 

[A sheep bleats ominously. A creepy tone starts in the background.]

 

Shepherd: He looks at me with a dark scowl and in that moment, I know the herd is gone.

 

[Another sheep answers]

 

Shepherds: I know he won’t hurt me, that he doesn’t have to.

 

[A bell jingles]

 

Shepherd: That the ravage left among the herd is enough to let me know he has won.

 

[A sheep coughs]

 

Shepherd: And right now, the sheep are staring at me the same way

 

[A beat in which the tension grows, then a sharp ding of a phone, the shepherd startles. The ominous vibe of the scene disappears. He opens the voicenote, still breathing heavy with fear.]

 

Sam, laughing: Man I can’t believe she was mad at you for doing your job. Get out of the countryside lady! I hope she didn’t scratch your eyes out. If anything strange happens tonight just check she’s not staring at you through the window alright? You wouldn’t be the first victim of a rich woman who moved to the countryside but can’t fathom getting her white trainers dirty. Make sure you lock your doors.

 

SCENE 6

 

[An alarm goes off, it’s early. The shepherd rises. A dog yawns.]

 

Shepherd: Morning Alma. 

 

[The shepherd grunts his way through getting up. The door opens, closes, the sheep wake. Alma is excited to get working.]

 

Shepherd: Alright ladies! How are we doing?

 

[The patous bark excitedly. The sheep get more rowdy.]

 

Shepherd: C’mon girls! Let’s get going! Alma, to the back!

[Rowdy sheep, Alma yapping. The shepherd tries to get the sheep going several times. We hear him walk around, trying to shake up the sheep with noises.]

 

Shepherd: What’s gotten into you this morning?

 

[More rowdiness, barking]

 

Shepherd: Thaaat’s it, there we go, Alma, to the right! Good girl, that’s enough. Come on!

 

[We hear the sheep and the shepherd get going.]

Shepherd, internal: Sometimes the herd is sluggish, sometimes it’s too fast: not often are they this hesitant, tense. I wonder if it was actually a wolf last night, and they’re still riled up, but the patous are unharmed.

 

Shepherd: C’mon slowpokes! It’s always you at the back, isn’t it Ronja?

 

Shepherd, internal: The sheep, though anxious, are looking good, no injuries or illness. I watch each one as they come by, making sure no sheep is left behind in the park where they sleep at night. It’s the usual suspects at the back: Amadeus the old ram, the twin goats, Ronja with her big bell. 

 

[The shepherd claps his hand and chases up the sheep, still struggling to keep them going.]

 

Shepherd, internal: It’s hard to tell on her red face, but her mouth seems covered in something…

 

[The shepherd tries to get the stragglers going, but trips over something and falls down.]

 

Shepherd, internal: Sometimes the herd is sluggish, sometimes it’s too fast: not often are they this hesitant. 

 

[The shepherd spooks, yelps, breathes heavy.]

 

Shepherd, internal: And as I get the last group going, I see there, among the slackers, the unmistakable shape of a human.

 

[The shepherd screams.]

 

Shepherd, internal: Stranger. Monster. Dead.