The Plague Dogs (1982)

James Bolam: The Tod

Photos 

Quotes 

• The Tod : Do ye know why we're still alive, with hundreds, maybe thousands of men that'd be glad ta kill us?

  Snitter : They wouldn't dare. I've only got to drown, or jump under a truck, and the sky will fall down and all the men will die. Have you ever thought of that, Rowf? That puts us one upon them!

• [uncut version only] 

  The Tod : Us tods, we're used to runnin', 'til the dark comes, anyway.

  Rowf : The dark? What's the dark?

  The Tod : That's the place where you stop runnin' for good.

• The Tod : Where'd ye get that crack on the head, bonny lad?

  Snitter : The world was black and white... and then the truck came, and lightning shot down my head.

• Rowf : We're not about to die!

  The Tod : No? Why, hinny, ye've got no chance at all. I've bin watchin' ye the last two days, ye'll not last hollerin' yer heads off, racin' about the fell.

  Snitter : What do you mean? What are you saying?

  The Tod : Just a proposition, bonny lads. If ye'll hunt with me, I'll keep ye right, and ye'll have yer meath, we'll run through the night and follow me feet...

  Rowf : I don't understand a word he's saying.

• The Tod : Whatever happens, don't stop. Remember, keep moving.

• [Snitter, trapped in a garage, is hallucinating about his old home] 

  Rowf : Snitter! Can you hear me?

  Snitter : I'm inside my head now. And it's where I should be.

  Rowf : This is no time for one of your turns!

  The Tod : Come on out, ya great fool! Sharp with ye, now, before we're all caught!

  Snitter : I can't come out. If I do, I'll go mad again.

• Snitter : Far off, Tod. Look...

  The Tod : That's the sea. Have ye never seen it before? Salt and the weeds. It's all water there.

  Snitter : If only I could have stayed inside my head this morning. I might have been able to decide how to get there. How to reach it...

• Snitter : He'll show us how to live out here if we let him share what we kill.

  The Tod : Aye, laddie, that's it. Why, ye'll have no bother with me, I'm a delicate eater. I don't aught but pick at me meat.

  Rowf : He'll cheat us and run away when it suits him. Bloody thief, that's what he is.

  Snitter : Well, we've nothing to lose. He's a sharp one, Rowf.

  Rowf : If you're still here when it's light, we'll decide what to do then.

  The Tod : Ah, now yer talkin' sense. Keep a tight hold of yer mate, and a good look over ye.

  Rowf : What do you call yourself?

  The Tod : I'm the Tod. Tod, ye know? Canniest Tod on Moss an' Moor.

• The Tod : The farmers are down in the valley, headin' this way, dogs all over the place. An' they've got guns!

  Rowf : How's going to end, running around these mountains?

  Snitter : We've got to go, Rowf, the Tod's right. We're wild animals now.

  The Tod : Are we goin' now, or do I go meself? And you'd best be sharp!

  Rowf : Maybe what they're doing to us is right. I'm a good dog, Snitter!

  The Tod : Ye're no dog at all, now. Ye're a sheep killer. They'll blast ye're arse out, hinny, no trouble! I tell you, we'd best be off or you'll both be dead or dying inside 'alf an hour!

• [Rowf is eating a sheep he has just killed] 

  The Tod : Have ye got no brains in yer head, yer great nit? As soon as me back's turned and you're bloody up and... could you not wait 'til I tell ya, ya great stupid...

  Snitter : What's the matter, Tod? What did he do?

  The Tod : What did he do? Kill out in the open, right on the shepherd's trod, clottin' the place up with blood? Do ye think 'e's blind? You're for it, hinny. Your arse will be inside out by mornin'. I'm not bidin' with you lot! Me, I'm goin'!

  Snitter : But, where are you going?

  The Tod : Oh, I'm just going to bark at the farmer's door! Maybe he'll let me shove me head up his gun! Save a lot o' bother, that will!

  Snitter : Tod! Tod, wait!

  Rowf : Let him go. Good riddance.