Ashes to Ashes, Series 3

Gene Hunt:
Sam Tyler was a friend of mine. Bloody irritating friend most of the time, it has to be said, [Pause] but I learnt more from him than from anybody else I have ever met. He was strong, decent, a brilliant copper.

Alex Drake:
What happened?

Gene Hunt:
He'd been acting strange for a few weeks, and Sam Tyler strange was very bloody strange indeed.

Alex Drake:
But he was happy here? Everybody says so; he had a girlfriend, Annie. He had you?!

Gene Hunt:
Yeah, I asked him what was wrong. He said he couldn't tell me.

Alex Drake:
What did you do?

Gene Hunt:
He said he wanted to leave. Then he asked me to help him fake his own death.

[Alex looks stunned and slightly shocked. Gene nods confirming what she just heard]

Gene Hunt:
That's why we set fire to the car and pushed it into the river.

Alex Drake:
So Sam asked you to commit an illegal act and you went ahead with it?

Gene Hunt:
I didn't want to Bolls. I wanted him to stay. I needed him.

Alex Drake:
Well, what happened next?

Gene Hunt:
I never saw him again.

Alex Drake:
Ha! What? Come on, he just vanished?

[Gene looks at Alex]

Alex Drake:
Look, Sam was like me...

Gene Hunt:
He wasn't as annoying as it happens.

Alex Drake:
... Whatever happened to him might happen to me Gene I have to know.

Gene Hunt:
I asked him why. He said it would be better for me if I didn't know. You see this is about respect, Alex. It's about trust, about faith, something you haven't learnt yet.