[Betty the Bandleader has just reminded the band that there's to be no drinking on stage to which the alcoholic Dinah replies:]
Dinah:
Sorry, babe, this is not negotiable. Drunk I can't play a note, sober I can't play a note but there's a part in the middle where I play like a goddamn angel.
[Elizabeth's children have found out that she's busking on the streets]
Edward:
Doesn't it strike you that what you're doing is a bit... well... degrading?
Elizabeth:
Well you try it. Last week we had a request from a tourist for the Japanese national anthem. That's unique that is. So we gave him 'One fine day' from Madame Butterfly and a joke about Pearl Harbor.
Elizabeth:
You live here?
Patrick:
Yes, it's what they call a "grace and favour" residence. My father had the grace to die and did me the favour of leaving it to me.
Patrick:
What are you collecting for?
Annie:
[who is a member of the Salvation Army] The poor, the sick and the dispossessed. You don't qualify.
[Elizabeth's granddaughter, Joanna, is listening to an early rehearsal of the reunited Blonde Bombshells]
Joanna:
I can see why the Germans bombed you.
Elizabeth:
I hate those stories that begin with a funeral, but I'm afraid this one begins the day we buried George. Not that we buried him. In the interests of the environment we had him incinerated.
Elizabeth:
What do you know about the war? The 1939-45 one?
Joanna:
We beat Germany one nil?
Evelyn:
Any news on Gwen?
Dinah:
If she doesn't show, we'll kill her. You'll see to it, right babe?
Betty:
There's a fellow comes in the bar, he's in that line of work.
Elizabeth:
Oh shut your face. Go to Scotland and come back with a trumpet player.
[Patrick enters the pub carrying a huge bunch of flowers]
Elizabeth:
Here's my lift.
Patricia:
Mum! Who's he?
Elizabeth:
My fancy man.
[At the crematorium, according to the late George's wishes the song 'Magic Moments' is played]
Patricia:
Are you alright?
Elizabeth:
As well as can be expected.
Patricia:
If you want to cry, go ahead.
Elizabeth:
24
I just hate this fucking tune.
c1e
Dinah:
I married well, and frequently.
Elizabeth:
Our sole purpose is to get the band back together.
Gwen:
You got a gig?
Patrick:
Posters go up next month.
Gwen:
What is it?
Elizabeth:
Well, it's my granddaughter's school dance.
Gwen:
A school dance? I never played school dances even when I was at school.
Gwen:
I have sung for my supper for half a lifetime, and I've done it all without rehearsal.
Joanna:
So you were the only man in the band?
Patrick:
Just me and all those chicks.
Elizabeth:
Oh do you mind? I'm not and never have been a chick.
Joanna:
How did you get the job?
Patrick:
Well, they couldn't find a girl who played the drums. I had a quiet word with Betty the Bandleader, two pairs of nylon stockings and the job was mine.
Elizabeth:
Also he was on the run.
Patrick:
Also I was on the run.
Patrick:
How did you get here?
Elizabeth:
Overnight sleeper. Central heating and a roof.
Patrick:
Does that mean I'm forgiven?
Elizabeth:
Absolutely not. But we need a trumpet player and I couldn't trust you to deliver one. I wouldn't trust you to deliver a bottle of milk.
Elizabeth:
Joanna, I need your advice.
Joanna:
I'll try...
Elizabeth:
What's the best way to show respect for the dead?
Joanna:
That's easy... you go on living.
Elizabeth:
I remember playing in the Metropole Ballroom. Mairzy dotes and dosy dotes. And knowing that at any moment a large bomb could fall on my head and blow us all to hell and back.