Transcript created: 19th November 2025

Last updated: 19th November 2025

​

SHOW NOTES

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'I think she's going to make it'

Transcript:

Get the whole series on Bandcamp: https://tincanaudio.bandcamp.com/

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Starring:

Katrina Allen as Kiri

David Pellow as Chris

Mark Gallie as Ike

Directed by Ella Watts

Script editing and production management by Ross McFarlane

 

PART ONE - SUMMIT

 

PRELUDE

 

SOUND: Wind on the tower, snow. The wind is almost musical.

 

KIRI:

(on phone, her voice crackly and distorted)

Heaven did not seem to be my home and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; 

 

SOUND: Creaking metal

 

KIRI:

And the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath; where I woke sobbing for joy

 

MUSIC: A trilling synth, building up to something on a looping scale

 

IKE

(on phone, less distorted than Kiri)

It's been two days and I haven't heard from her.  I think she got past the foghorn and then...something must have happened

 

MUSIC: A three note phrase on the synth, coming in loud and strong over the trilling loop

 

SOUND: Page Turns

 

IKE

(on phone)

She must have gotten lost somewhere in the temple. It's been two days, no contact

 

MUSIC: A glassy, crystalline high pitched trilling loop joins the first, which sounded closer to the tone of a phone dialling. It sounds magical.

 

IKE

(on phone)

I don't know where she is. I don't know where she's gone. I don't know what to do.

 

MUSIC: The three note phrase repeats, this time ending on a minor key, as if we’re progressing. The final note holds for a few seconds.

 

IKE

(on phone)

It's been two days. She sounded cold the last time I spoke to her. I don't think she's okay.

 

SOUND: Pages turning

 

IKE

(on phone)

She spoke to me before she entered the tunnel. That was two days ago. I don't think she's coming out the other side.

 

SOUND: Pages turning

 

MUSIC: The first of the three-note phrases repeats again.

 

IKE

(on phone)

[Sighs heavily] She's been at the same phone for a week. 

 

MUSIC: The second of the three-note phrases repeats, again feeling like we’re moving forward, especially because this time it ends in a major key.

 

IKE:

I don't think she realises that she's lost. I can't find it in myself to tell her

 

SOUND: Pages turning 

 

IKE

(on phone)

What am I supposed to do?

 

MUSIC: The first of the three-note phrases repeats again

 

IKE:

I don't understand

 

IKE

(on phone, frustratedly raising his voice)

What kind of manual doesn't have instructions?!

 

MUSIC: The second phrase repeats, again ending in major key

 

SOUND: Pages turning

 

IKE

(on phone)

The ground gave out under her and the line went dead. 

 

SOUND: Pages turning

 

SOUND: Distantly, quietly, we start hearing various iterations of Ike saying “what do I do” - this echoing loop gets louder and more present across the next few lines until it’s in the foreground

 

IKE

(on phone)

She sounded...different this time around?

 

SOUND: The following lines start to overlap on top of one another

 

IKE

(on phone)

I don't think she's coming

 

IKE

(on phone)

She's running out of food.

 

IKE

(on phone)

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? (repeated, in various emotions: from resignation to desperation, overlapping each other and echoing, as if heard from a distance)

 

SOUND: The music stops, the sound design stops, there’s a beat of silence

 

IKE

(on phone)

I think she's going to make it

 

MUSIC: A cymbal reverberating into a brassy crescendo, with the triumphant return of the music, modulated again to end on a different note, making it feel like we’re arriving somewhere. The music swells to fill the space, louder and fuller as all the parts come together, reprising the melody that’s been slowly building throughout the scene.

 

MUSIC: Then the constituent parts of the music fade away, until we’re left with the first trilling loop, which feels like a countdown or a heartbeat as it leads us into silence and the next scene.

 

SCENE 01: CHRIS' APARTMENT

 

SOUND: Phone ringing twice, then Chris picks up

 

CHRIS:

Hey Kiri, what's up?

 

KIRI:

Hey! I didn't wake you did I?

 

CHRIS:

No, not at all, I'm still up

 

KIRI:

Me too

 

CHRIS:

I can tell

 

KIRI:

Sorry, I…

 

CHRIS:

Insomnia still got you too huh?

 

KIRI:

You bet

 

CHRIS:

You okay?

 

KIRI:

Yeah, weirdly, I just made a decision

 

CHRIS:

Oh yeah?

 

KIRI:

Yeah (When Kiri speaks again, she sounds strange - distant and unlike herself, almost creepy) I'm going to climb the Tower

 

SOUND: Kiri’s voice reverberates and echoes when she says “the Tower”

 

SOUND: A howling, whistling static comes in over a low, buzzing tone that starts quietly and gets louder

 

CHRIS:

(Sounding cautious) Wait

 

NOTE: Kiri sounds more and more scared as Chris pieces it together 

 

SOUND: Something like distant thunder, heavily distorted as the droning gets louder

 

KIRI

Chris?

 

CHRIS

You've...we've…

 

KIRI

(Sounding so upset) Chris?

 

CHRIS

..done this before

 

KIRI

(panic) CHRIS I CAN’T…!

 

SOUND: The drone accelerates, getting louder before a sudden stop

 

CHRIS:

[Soft, quick gasp as he wakes]

 

SOUND: Distant traffic through the walls, a clock ticking, A normal, quiet apartment. Sheets rustling.

 

CHRIS:

[Lets out a tired breath]

 

SOUND: Sheets rustling as Chris gets up.

 

SOUND: Chris’ phone buzzing. Digital click as he answers it.

 

CHRIS

(sleepy, dazed)

Hello?

 

IKE

Hey, I didn't wake you did I?

 

CHRIS

[Stretching] No, not at all, I'm still up

 

IKE

I thought it was time we should talk. It's about Kiri

 

CHRIS

(suddenly awake)

Kiri? Is everything okay? Who is this?

 

IKE

She's okay. My name is Ike

 

CHRIS

Ike? Yeah Kiri mentioned something about an Ike.

 

IKE

I run the phones on the Tower

 

SOUND: Chris sitting down on a creaky chair

 

CHRIS

Really?

 

SOUND: Papers rustling, a pen clicking

 

IKE

Well, I don't really run the phones, I test them

 

CHRIS

Why do you need to test the…

 

IKE:

...to make sure they're still working

 

CHRIS

...yeah… Kiri said, sorry.

 

IKE

She's nearly at the top Chris

 

CHRIS

[He does not sound happy about this] Yeah

 

IKE

Do you know what that means?

 

CHRIS

No (beat) do you?

 

IKE

[A long pause, then] No

 

CHRIS

Then why do you want to speak to me?

 

IKE

I need you to do something. For me, for the Tower, for Kiri

 

CHRIS

Yeah! Anything. Anything to help. What, what is it?

 

SOUND: Ike’s voice becomes distorted and echoing, at the same time sharp whistling wind fades in underneath him, making him sound ominous and menacing.

 

IKE

You need to let her go

 

SCENE 02: KIRI ON THE TOWER

 

SOUND: The Tower - whistling wind, Kiri’s footsteps crunching in the snow, the almost melodic creak and groan of huge metal structures.

 

MUSIC: A low, gentle piano reprisal of the Tower’s theme. Slowly, a higher melody comes in over the top of it, the slow beat accompanying Kiri fighting her way on and forwards, steadily through the snow.

 

KIRI

(tired)

[Huffing, exhausted and out of breath] I blink, and the world spins.

 

I walk, and the path moves backwards rather than forwards.

 

I'm above the cloud layer now. A part of the world I'd only ever seen through tiny plane windows.

 

It's too bright all the time. There is something maddening about walking almost level to the sun. There are walls built to shield the eyes of the climber from the brightest parts of the day. It is still cold. There is still snow on the ground, the whitest, purest snow I've ever seen, undisturbed for centuries. It's blinding to see. 

 

MUSIC: A new element enters the music - an elegiac, singing synth made up of long, high, haunting notes above the piano.

 

I sometimes think about a world without cold. That one day there may be people who have never known the freshness of it, its bracing honesty, its gentle willingness to be pushed away. There is a comfort up here. That it can still be this cold, somewhere. [Kiri shivers as she breathes out, breathing heavily as she walks]

 

SOUND: Kiri’s feet crunching steadily through the snow

 

I can see the top. I've seen the top for what I think are days but it's hard to tell for sure. 

 

The architecture of the Tower has changed. It is bare, unadorned, desperate. 

 

SOUND: A stone kicked aside

 

It feels like it is racing towards an end. Gone are the carvings, additional supports, rest stops. Just a staircase that gets narrower and narrower the higher I climb, like walking up a pyramid. 

 

I wonder if the builders knew their task was coming to an end. Maybe they just wanted to get away from the light.

 

MUSIC: The music swells, mixing with the wind as Kiri’s footsteps fade away.

 

SOUND: The music stops, replaced by the bitter wind, and then, much more immediately, an old-fashioned phone ringing. Kiri picks it up.

 

KIRI

[Smiling] Hi Ike

 

IKE

Kiri!

 

KIRI

I made it!

 

IKE

Yes, you did.

 

KIRI

How-how many more phones after this one?

 

IKE

(...)

 

KIRI

Ike?

 

IKE

(...)

 

KIRI

How many more?

 

IKE

...one.

 

KIRI

[Half a laugh, tired]...one?

 

IKE

[Gently] This is the second last phone, Kiri

 

SOUND: Kiri catches her breath, gasping

 

IKE

Kiri?

 

KIRI

Yeah, yeah I'm here. I’m just uh...I'm trying to process that

 

IKE

Are you okay?

 

SOUND: Distant groaning metal structures and the wind

 

KIRI

[Breezy, smiling] Yeah, yeah. [Beat, then, honestly] No. I'm dizzy all the time. I can't stand still for too long otherwise I feel nauseous. It feels like I'm out of sync with everything? Like I'm in a different timezone except I'm in all the timezones at once. 

 

IKE

You're nearly there Kiri

 

KIRI

[Sighs, a little petulant] Why does it still look so far away?

 

MUSIC: Starting under Ike’s line, a gentle, high pitched piano melody fades in quietly, looping slowly

 

IKE

I don't know. Time and space are weird at that altitude. 

 

KIRI

How do you know? [Half a laugh]

 

IKE

It's the strangest thing. Ever since reading the manual I've been having strange thoughts and dreams. I have memories that I know aren't mine? I-I just...know things now.

 

SOUND: The conversation shifts perspective. Where before we were with Kiri, exposed to the elements on the Tower, now we’re hearing her through the phone, her voice a little distorted. Ike also still sounds like he’s on the phone: as if we’re in the phone line between them, somehow.

 

KIRI

(On phone)

Do you know what happens when I reach the top?

 

MUSIC: A new synth melody comes in to accompany the piano - a brief phrase that sounds almost like a question.

 

IKE

No

 

MUSIC: The synth melody trips into something playful, dancing along the piano tune

 

KIRI

[A little sarcastic] Great

 

IKE:

Something else is happening too

 

KIRI

Oh? (Flatly) Good.

 

IKE:

People have been calling The Tower. More people than normal. More people, I think, than ever before. The switchboard has been going crazy. They all say different things but there's one thing they all share. They all dream of climbing the Tower, but as someone else.

 

MUSIC: The music builds, then stops

 

SOUND: We hear the distant wind and groaning structures through the phone

 

KIRI

Who?

 

IKE:

They don't say. (Changing the subject) You know how people are with dreams

 

KIRI

(Wryly)

'You were you, but like, not you'

 

IKE:

Exactly!

 

KIRI

(noticing something)

Oh, hang on

 

IKE:

What?

 

KIRI

There's a small wall behind the phone and...I think it's hollow?

 

SOUND: Kiri knocking on something metal and hollow, a few times with her fist

 

IKE:

Okay?

 

KIRI

No I think there's, hang on

 

SOUND: Kiri leaving the phone to check something out

IKE:

(to himself)

Must be real dull up there

 

KIRI

(coming back to the phone)

What was that?

 

IKE:

Nothing. What was it?

 

KIRI

It's a pack of…mint cake.

IKE:

M...mint cake?

 

KIRI

Yeah, you know the sugar blocks that climbers eat?

 

IKE:

Wow, they still have that?

 

KIRI

What do you mean?

 

IKE:

I remember it being something builders were packed off with to give them energy for the climb and...(hears something) Kiri...Kiri are you eating some?

 

KIRI

(eating)

What?

 

IKE:

Kiri that mint cake must be so old!

 

KIRI

(mouthful)

It's sugar, it doesn't go off

 

IKE:

[Indignant] I definitely think it does!

 

KIRI

Time and space are weird up here, remember?

(a beat, Kiri finishes chewing)

 

MUSIC: A melody comes back in - a new one, reprising another familiar tune slowly, starting with a slow synth like a heartbeat. The melody is glassy and crystalline.

 

IKE:

It's good to hear your voice

 

KIRI

You too

 

IKE:

Have you thought about what you're going to do at the top?

 

KIRI

I'm trying not to. I'll figure it out when I get there I guess?

 

IKE:

Are you sure?

 

KIRI

S’all I can do. I need to use all my energy to keep climbing. I already feel like half my body wants to keep going and half of me wants to turn around. I don't think either is a good option.

 

IKE:

[Unconvinced] Okay

 

SOUND: We return to Kiri, in real life on the Tower

 

MUSIC: The music stops

 

KIRI

Wooh, okay I'm starting to feel a bit dizzy, I'm going to walk around, maybe lie down for a bit. (Under her breath) Probably gonna eat more mint cake.

 

IKE:

Okay, speak to you at the top I guess

 

KIRI

I hope so

 

IKE:

Goodnight Kiri

 

KIRI

[Yawning] Goodnight

 

SOUND: Kiri hangs up the phone. Whistling, bitter wind

 

SOUND: Kiri stomps about in a circle. She eats a little more mint cake, then stomps some more before sitting down and catching her breath. After a moment, she dials a number on the phone.

 

KIRI:

[Exhaling, shivering, to herself] Oof, right.

 

SOUND: Phone dialling

 

CHRIS

(sleepy)

Hello?

 

KIRI

Hey

 

CHRIS

Oh hey Kiri

 

KIRI

You okay?

 

CHRIS

Yeah, yeah, sorry just not been sleeping well. Bad dreams. How are you doing?

 

KIRI

Still here I guess

 

CHRIS

That's good

 

KIRI

I knew the air would be thinner up here, and I knew it would be cold, but nobody told me being this high up would be so disorientating.

 

CHRIS

You still feeling dizzy?

 

KIRI

I swear it's getting worse the closer I get to the top.

 

CHRIS

[Like he doesn’t want to ask] How much further is there to go?

 

KIRI

I don't know. Ike said this is the second last phone, so hopefully not much further.

 

CHRIS

...hopefully.

 

KIRI

I'm nearly there Chris

 

CHRIS

Yeah. You did it. Well, almost did it. You will have done it...soon (a little frustrated with himself) Can you see what's at the top?

 

KIRI

Not really, there's a point where it sort of stops. The sky peaks over it, but it's still just out of my vision to see what's up there.

 

CHRIS

What do you think it'll be?

 

KIRI

A shower would be nice.

 

CHRIS

Oh wow yeah you've not…

 

KIRI

Nope

 

CHRIS

And...?

 

KIRI

It's not the best feeling

 

(beat)

 

CHRIS

I'm worried about what happens next

 

KIRI

Me too

 

CHRIS

I don't like feeling like this

 

KIRI

We've always been scared of the future though

 

CHRIS

Yes but in a sort of abstract, distant, 'what if' kind of way. It's different when it's right in front of you and your best friend is about to reach the top of the impossible tower and nobody knows what that means.

 

KIRI

I'm assuming there's nothing in the book?

 

CHRIS

Nope, whoever wrote it never got this far.

 

KIRI

[Exhales] I don't remember a time when I've not been scared of the future, now I think about it. I always used to get that little spike of anxiety right before I fell asleep and then right again as I woke up.

 

CHRIS

No wonder we're always tired.

 

KIRI

Yeah. (beat) you said you were having bad dreams?

 

CHRIS

(reluctant)

Yeah, um. 

 

MUSIC: A minor key piano melody comes in, ominous and building, as if suggesting unknown secrets or discoveries yet to be revealed. As it loops it ends each phrase in higher and higher notes, like it’s climbing.

 

KIRI

You've been dreaming about me. You've been dreaming about climbing the Tower.

 

CHRIS

[That’s not quite it] Um, yeah. 

 

KIRI

You're not the only one.

 

CHRIS

I've spoken to a couple of people who've had similar dreams. It's like the Tower's been invisible all this time. Like a big blind spot that nobody wants to acknowledge, and now people are seeing it for the first time, and looking at it.

 

MUSIC: The music stops.

 

KIRI

What do you think it means?

 

CHRIS

I guess we'll find out.

 

KIRI

I think that's kind of what happened with me

 

MUSIC: Very quietly, the Tower theme comes in

 

CHRIS

Yeah?

 

KIRI

Yeah, just one day I looked out my window and saw it, like it had just… appeared there. You know how you see your nose all the time and your brain filters it out?

 

MUSIC: The music builds out almost suddenly, sparkling with hopeful synths in major key, evoking a sense of wonder and discovery and revelation

 

KIRI:

It was like that, except it was something terrible and true and important and something I couldn't ignore any longer. I think I knew right away.

 

MUSIC: The music continues gently, more subtly beneath the following conversation, making it feel tender and intimate

 

CHRIS

I never asked, did I?

 

KIRI

What?

 

CHRIS

What made you decide to climb the Tower

 

KIRI

I don't think it was anything in particular. Just a lifetime of little things that always felt wrong and were always going to feel wrong until I did something about it.

 

CHRIS

Do you think there's a version of you somewhere that decided to stay?

 

KIRI

You make it sound like a conscious decision

 

CHRIS

[A little annoyed] It was

 

KIRI

I'm not so sure. It's like I was being pulled towards it. It came from somewhere within me, something essential, something very, very old.

 

CHRIS

I want to believe there's a version of this story where I went with you.

 

KIRI

[Sounding frustrated and tired] No, let's not do this. This was my impulse, not yours. I never wanted to drag you up here with me and you didn't want to be dragged. I needed you where you were, keeping me tethered to the real world.

 

CHRIS

I know, I know. I just wonder what my version of the Tower would be, you know?

 

KIRI

Well, when I get back, we can plan a trip together okay?

 

CHRIS

(chuckling, without humour)

I don't think you mean that

 

KIRI

You're right, I don't.

 

CHRIS

I…(a long, loaded beat) miss you Kiri

 

KIRI

[A little tearfully] I miss you too Chris (beat) Okay! I'm getting dizzy again, I'm going to walk around.

 

CHRIS

I can stay on the line if you want?

 

KIRI

Yeah, that'd be nice. Okay, be right back

 

SOUND: The bitter, whistling wind. Kiri’s footsteps moving away. Distant groaning metal structures.

 

MUSIC: A slow, low synth melody that’s almost mournful.

 

SCENE 03: KIRI CLIMBS

 

SOUND: The first thing we hear are Kiri’s footsteps crunching steadily, slowly through the snow. Then we hear the wind again.

 

KIRI

Sometimes, in the haze of the oppressive brightness, in my restless waking dreams. I see people in front of me, also climbing. Sometimes I recognise them. But it's a - a fleeting recognition, like a…glancing, glancing a face in a crowd and not remembering their name.

 

MUSIC: Very quietly, the same building looping synth melody from the beginning of the episode comes in

 

I am afraid of where I am going, of what awaits me at the top, but I have always been afraid. I didn't realise it until I started climbing but I have always been afraid?  All the time. From the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep. I am always afraid.

 

And the thing is, I thought it would get better. A naïve part of me thought that the world would get better, that I would get better.

 

The only thing I can do is try to be brave, and be honest about what it is I am afraid of. I’m still afraid, all the time, but I have to keep going.

 

I have to keep going.

 

Sometimes it feels like my legs are walking without my input. I exist outside of myself, watching myself climb. 

 

At least, I think it's me. (Half-laughing, giddy and exhausted) I'm not sure what I look like anymore. Maybe I don't look like anything now, a bundle of cheap waterproofs and scarves filled with the leftover ephemera of what was once a tiny ball of anxieties in the shape of a person. 

 

MUSIC: The music stops

 

SOUND: Kiri’s footsteps stop. There’s only the bitter, whistling wind.

 

(Kiri’s voice almost breaks into sobs) It's not the worst idea.

 

I'm so tired, I can't keep doing this.

 

SOUND: Slowly, Kiri’s footsteps start again

 

(Kiri breathes heavily, huge painful gasping breaths)

 

SOUND: We zoom out, sonically, the sound effects of Kiri’s footsteps and the wind fading away beneath the music

 

MUSIC: The music swells, again a looping melody in major key evoking a sense of climbing and approaching revelation. After a moment, it fades away.

 

SOUND: Close up on slowing footsteps crunching in icy snow against a backdrop of bitter wind

 

KIRI

(Heaving breaths, hitching, catching as she sees something and then speeding up as she looks around)

(horrified)

What?!

 

SCENE 04: THE TOP

 

SOUND: Phone dialing - no weather, just the dial tone

 

CHRIS

(it's early in the morning)

Hello?

 

SOUND: Kiri is on the other side of the phone, distorted. In the background we can hear the wind coming through her side of the call.

 

KIRI

(freaking out, breathing fast)

There's nothing here Chris!

 

CHRIS

Kiri?!

 

KIRI

[Kiri is straining to breathe, almost hyperventilating] There's nothing here! The steps come to a phone and then a flat bit with some patches of grass coming through the stone and that's it! Nothing!

 

CHRIS

Okay Kiri, slow down

 

KIRI

There's nothing here Chris! There's not even a flag or a cairn or even a view! It's just a snowy patch of ruined brickwork of a staircase leading to nowhere surrounded by a permanent twilight [heaves a huge breath] over a sea of fog!

 

CHRIS

Kiri, it's okay, just breathe…

 

KIRI

What have I done?! I left everything and everyone I've ever cared about behind and for what?! I've been - [Kiri’s breath hitches, high pitched] I’ve been climbing for so long to get here and turns out it was nothing!

 

CHRIS

Kiri, it's okay, listen to me…

 

KIRI

What do I do now? What am I supposed to do now? [Sobbing, breathless] I'm so tired and sore and tired and-and upset and my legs hurt and I've got no food left and-and-and my teeth hurt and I'm so bored of being cold and..and dizzy.

 

CHRIS

[Gently] Kiri! Kiri listen to me, listen to my voice…

 

KIRI

[Sobbing, breathless] What have I done? What am I doing?

 

SOUND: Wind starts to build around Kiri, an ominous and violent sounding storm in the background

 

KIRI

Wait...something's…something’s happening…

 

CHRIS

[Concerned] Kiri?

 

SOUND: The weather is becoming huge, starting to drown Kiri out in a way it never has before

 

KIRI

It's started snowing, the wind's picking up

 

CHRIS

[Raising his voice] Are you okay?

 

SOUND: Haunting whispers mix into the building storm

 

KIRI

(fighting the blizzard, shouting over the wind, panicking)

The wind's picking up, ach it stings, it's blizzarding. Chris I can't...I can't see!

 

CHRIS

Kiri!

 

KIRI

(yelling above the noise)

Chris! Chris I can't…!

 

SOUND: The phone cuts out, dial tone

 

CHRIS

Kiri? Kiri? Kiri!

 

SOUND: Silence

 

END OF PART ONE