Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her intellectually disabled sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizarre neighbor and irritating workmate.

Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.

In a cell in a London police station, a suspected I.R.A. bomber, Roche, has been detained for questioning. To help them in the interrogation, the London coppers have summoned Nelson, a detective from Northern Ireland's predominantly Protestant police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary.