Penny Dreadful (TV Series)

Night Work (2014)

Timothy Dalton: Sir Malcolm Murray

Photos 

Quotes 

• [Victor Frankenstein tells Sir Malcolm where he shall plant his flag in medical science] 

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : There is only one worthy goal for scientific exploration: piercing the tissue that separates life from death. Everything else, from the deep bottom of the sea to the top of the highest mountain on the farthest planet, is insignificant. Life and death, Sir Malcolm. The flicker that separates one from the other, fast as a bat's wing, more beautiful than any sonnet. That is my river. That is my mountain. There I will plant my flag.

  Sir Malcolm : You have the soul of a poet, sir.

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : And the bank account to match.

• [Sir Malcolm asks Victor Frankenstein to join his group] 

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : I've only one other question: why me?

  Sir Malcolm : Because you were unafraid to pull back the skin and look beneath.

• [Sir Malcolm describes what he felt when seeing Mina visit him in the night] 

  Sir Malcolm : There was another thought when she was so very close to me, a strange working of memory. I thought of a particular lion hunt many years ago. Moving through the tall grass, getting a glimpse at the prey, the shoulders mostly, the mane. You prepare your rifle. You're very quiet. And then there's a moment. The wind changes, the grass stops swaying. The lion turns, looks at you. The moment you realize you're no longer the hunter, you are the prey.

• [Sir Malcolm tells Ethan Chandler to not be amazed on what he will see during the night work] 

  Ethan Chandler : One - One minute. What're we doing here?

  Sir Malcolm : We're looking for someone. More than that, you don't need to know. Do not be amazed at anything you see and don't hesitate.

• [Victor Frankenstein tells Sir Malcolm that his idea of what science he knows is for only knowledge itself] 

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : I seek the truth.

  Sir Malcolm : Ah, you're a very young man. I've long since learned that truth is mutable.

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : Perhaps we view science differently.

  Sir Malcolm : Do we?

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : I would never chart a river or scale a peak to take its measure or plant a flag. There's no point. It's solipsistic self-aggrandizement. So too those scientists who study the planets seeking astronomical enlightenment for its own sake. The botanist studying the variegation of an Amazonian fern. The zoologist caught up in an endless fascination of an Adder's coils. And for what? Knowledge for itself alone? The elation of discovery? Plant your flag on the truth?

• [Victor Frankenstein examines the dead body of the master vampire] 

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : Lividity, null. Rigor mortis, null. Notable ocular hyperemia. Ocular reaction, null. Dental malformation, not naturally occurring due to the isotropy. Nature's rarely so neat, nature abhors symmetry. Trauma and penetration of the chest cavity through the manubrium seems the likely cause of death, but I expect you know that. Age of the subject is impossible to determine, the teeth seem barely used, which seems unlikely given the... muscular development. The dermis is unusual. Seems to lack the normal cutaneous exocrine pores. Hand me that.

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : [Victor uses a scalpel to cut into the flesh]  Well, I know why the skin seems peculiar.

  Sir Malcolm : Why?

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : Forceps? Because it isn't skin. Not as we know it. It's more like a... tensile exoskeleton, along the lines of an insect or crustacean. He must've been a hearty devil.

  Ethan Chandler : You're not kidding.

• [Ferdinand Lyle tells Sir Malcolm and Vanessa Ives about the non-urgency of the Egyptians] 

  Sir Malcolm : This is a matter of some urgency.

  Ferdinand Lyle : Good heavens, Sir Malcolm, there hasn't been anything urgent about the Egyptians for 2,000 years. And I'm dreadfully busy now, you understand. Ever so many papyri to translate. Isn't that a delicious word? Papyri. Sounds like something being eaten by little Persian boys, doesn't it? So, I shall see you Friday next.

• [Ferdinand Lyle asks Sir Malcolm if he knows the source of the Egyptian hieroglyphics he carries] 

  Ferdinand Lyle : I do assume you know the source of the writing?

  Sir Malcolm : No.

  Ferdinand Lyle : It's from the Egyptian 'Book of the Dead.'

• [Sir Malcolm invites Victor Frankenstein to join him on an adventure] 

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : What are you after?

  Sir Malcolm : I'm trying to rescue my daughter. To save her, I would murder the world. Join me, Doctor. With me you'll behold terrible wonders.

  Dr. Victor Frankenstein : And how much of the world will we have to murder?

  Sir Malcolm : Do you care?

• Sir Malcolm Murray : You're moving through the tall grass, getting a glimpse of the prey, the shoulders mostly, the mane. You prepare your rifle. You're very quiet. And then there's a moment. The wind changes, the grass stops swaying. The lion turns, looks at you. The moment you realize you are no longer the hunter, you are the prey.