Street Scene !

Debbi was being attacked on the street in broad daylight ! She was walking towards the car with Lawrence in tow, her thoughts miles away, when three large men wearing balaclavas jumped out at her, lifted her dress above her head, thus blinding her and trapping her arms, and then began hustling her down the street. "Help, help !" Debbi began screaming as she felt herself being unceremoniously bundled into the back of a van.

"Cut !" she heard someone yell out and her arms were immediately released so that she could haul down her upturned dress. Blinking wildly, she looked around to recognise the producer Eddie and to see cameras pointed at her. "Brilliant, great. That'll make a sensational opening to the movie, really grab people's attention" he enthused. "Sorry about that Debbi" he apologised. "But you did say you weren't sure about the acting part, so we thought we'd get better reactions if we just sprang it on you. Your friend here said it would be OK" he added, pointing at the grinning Lawrence. "You bastard" Debbi cried at him as her adrenaline began to subside. But it was more from relief than anger. She soon began to see the funny side and could see how effective the scene would be as an opener to the plot she had been sent.

The idea was that she was a very rich trophy wife who was being kidnapped and held to ransom. But the ransom demands would be intercepted by her jealous stepdaughter, who would keep refusing to pay. The kidnappers would keep sending videos with their demands showing Debbi's character enduring an escalating set of indignities. The exact nature of these indignities had thus far been kept suitably vague in the script !

Debbi climbed out of the back of the van to rejoin Lawrence, only now noticing a little knot of amused onlookers who, she realised, would have enjoyed the view of her knickers during the mock kidnap ! "Right" said Eddie. "If everyone's ready we can head off to the location and start filming the script proper. You've got the address I think ?" he asked Lawrence.