| Unreality Key: | Audial | Visual | Dream | Ambiguous |
| Information Key: | Reference | Slang | Music | Explanation |
Neil is Annie's ex-boyfriend, and a fellow psychology student.
When we first see him in Episode One, Sam has just spent his first day at the 1973 police station. Annie is brought in to take a look at him, and she checks out his physical condition to make sure he wasn't hurt in his "accident." Sam feels he can trust Annie more than the rest of his co-workers and tells her, "I was *four* in 1973, Annie." She laughs him off.
Sam walks out of the station with Chris, and tells him, "This guy kills, then, what, he waits another thirty years? Is that why I'm here, because that's when he first struck?" Chris then gladly hands Sam off to Annie to take him back to his flat.
ANNIE smiles. Behind her, a man with a beard and glasses gets out of a car.
ANNIE
This is Neil.SAM looks at him.
NEIL
Sam. Can you hear me? Sam?Now SAM doesn't know what's going on.
SAM
What?ANNIE
Do you want me to take you home?SAM stares at her. He's suddenly dazed. She walks towards the car.
SAM (desperately)
Help me.
At this point in the story, Sam has told Annie that he was four in 1973, and spoken about the future to several people. However, he has mentioned nothing about being in a coma. Therefore there is no reason for him to be playing mind games with Sam; he has nothing to play mind games with.
The staging of Neil's first appearance is also unusual. He stands away from Annie, not with her, and does not directly participate in their conversation. Annie does not look at him, behaving as if he isn't there. This confuses Sam, who has already had several auditory hallucinations and thinks he may be in the middle of a great big one that is 1973.
Throughout the episode, Sam tells Annie about what has happened to him.
SAM
I had an accident and I woke up 33 years in the past. Now, that either makes me... a time-traveller or... a lunatic, or I'm lying in a hospital bed in 2006 and none of this is real.
He writes up a list of events that happened in the future, to prove what he is saying is true.
SAM
Look at this. These are my notes from the real world. I made them last night. Films. Music. Wars. Just check out the detail.
Annie thinks he's got head trauma from his concussion. She tries to convince him to seek medical help.
SAM
I can't deal with this place.ANNIE
So you're just giving up?SAM
Look, somewhere out there, Maya needs me. My mind can only invent so much detail, you know, so I'm gonna walk til I can't think up any more faces, or streets. I mean, this is just-He holds out his hands. There are no words to describe the scene.
ANNIE
Just what?SAM
This is madness.He walks away. ANNIE skips after him and makes him stop.
ANNIE
I've got a nephew, and he fell off a pier, and he couldn't remember the name of things.SAM sighs.
ANNIE
Couldn't tell you what an apple was, or a pencil. And you know what? He stopped believing in them. Then he got better. And everything seemed real again.
Neil turns up again at the end of the episode. He suddenly appears sitting across from Sam in an otherwise dark and empty cafeteria. He tells Sam that he's a hypnotherapist in the hospital in 2006. He mentions the coma, Maya, and Sam's mobile phone. He tells Sam to take a definitive step in order to wake up. He says "do as I tell you," yet does not tell him exactly what that step is, at least not on-screen.
VOICE
Sam.
He jumps, looks up. There's suddenly a man sitting opposite him. It's NEIL.
NEIL
Can you hear me? My name is Neil. I'm a hypnotherapist. I'm speaking directly to your subconscious. At this moment, I'm sitting beside you in your bed, in the IC ward of St James's Hospital. If I am reaching you-
SAM looks behind him.
NEIL
- and you can hear me, then I know that you can wake up.
SAM
I can hear you. I'm in a coma, yeah? You can help me.
NEIL
Whatever you may be experiencing isn't real, Sam. You can escape. You only need to take that definitive step. Do as I tell you and you will be waking up with your family and friends around you. Your mobile hasn't stopped ringing. Maya is here.
SAM (whispering)
Maya.
NEIL
She's safe. If you can hear me, I know that will give you strength.
SAM's half laughing in relief. He nods.
SAM
I'm coming back. You tell her.
He jumps up.
SAM
I'm coming back.He leaves the canteen.
Sam interprets Neil's instructions to mean that he must kill himself in 1973 in order to wake up in 2006. He goes to the roof to jump off in a very literal definitive step. He repeats back Neil's instructions to Annie to explain his actions.
CUT TO-
ANNIE comes up the metal steps onto the roof of the station. SAM is standing at the edge, looking calm and comfortable.ANNIE
Sam? Come away from the edge.SAM smiles.
SAM
It's okay. I know the answer. I'm in a coma. I'm gonna take the definitive step I need to wake up.ANNIE
Neil's my ex.SAM looks at her, surprised, but she hasn't changed his mind.
ANNIE
He did psychology with me. I told him all about you. He read all those notes you made.SAM
There was nothing in those notes about a mobile phone.ANNIE
What?SAM
This is just my mind, trying to keep me here.ANNIE
He's just playing games with you. Just - look down.SAM looks cheerfully over the edge.
ANNIE
Carefully!NEIL is standing at the bottom, shouting up at him.
NEIL
Please don't jump! Sorry! I'm sorry! Bad joke!SAM sticks a foot over the edge.
NEIL
Please, no, don't do it! Sam! No! Don't do it!ANNIE comes over the railing towards SAM. NEIL runs away.
She tells him that Neil was playing a joke on him using the information Sam gave her. Sam points out that he did not tell Annie about mobile phones, and yet that was a key element in Neil's speech. This is what Sam depends on in his belief in the definitive step. Annie talks him down by pointing out the complexity of the physical world as proof of reality.
However, there is one other source of information Neil could have been relying on. When Sam first wakes up in 1973, he tells a police constable that he needs his mobile phone. The constable delivers Sam's belongings to the station and files an incident report, mentioning Sam's words and actions. If Neil was truly out to get at Sam, he could have looked up that report for extra details. Clearly personal morals are not an obstacle for him.
But that does not prove Neil is completely innocuous. His behavior prior to finding out such details about Sam's situation means that either he's a psychic as well as a complete bastard, or elements of 2006 exist in his 1973 self.