Loxfest is over. Locket-gate is upon us. Discuss Mowgli, Rob's new secret and of course the new road here with other Archers fans.

[PseudoBadger]

New thread for hopefully an exciting Sunday episode. Poor Hayley.

You've got to feel a BIT sorry for hell. She went for a baby on her own and is now fully aware of what a mistake she made for her and for Henry, (she couldn't cope on her own). So she's ignoring the negative evidence and still deluding herself that Rob is a good father and partner.

Helen knows perfectly well that the baby is Rob's, which is why he can't have the test. That would prove it.

Fingers in ears, "la la la la la".

Funny how she was so focused on what other people might say/might be thinking. Rob was forcing her into making a public display of solidarity but she obviously has doubts.... He's a master manipulator.

you're probably right there deckswabber - it's schrodinger's baby

Does she have any other friends apart from ex-friend Kirsty? Surely in RL she would be talking to someone and they'd be telling her what she won't face? Perhaps Rob has isolated her too much.

petula Schrodinger's Baby! brilliant!

Yes you'd think so, She talks to Emma but they don't seem to be that close.

at Schrodinger's Baby!

Helen of course has form for accepting other people's children (Annette who brought about the whole Henry thing was Greg's daughter), that raises the bizarre possibility that she could fall for the Jess-as-a-nutter schtick and persuade Rob that he must go for residence of the child and they will raise it as theirs....

I don't think Helen has many friends, she palled up with Emma a bit when Henry was in the terrible twos but that's about it I think. She's not friends with anyone like Fallon, Nic, Alice etc....or god forbid anyone from further afield.

Oh I'd forgotten about Emma. She needs to be pally with someone like Fallon or Hailey, really (not that the latter hasn't got enough on her plate), someone with some sense.

You know what's weird? None of them seem to know anyone they went to school with. Any village I know would have people of a similar age who all know each other back to front from the endless tedium of infant school onwards. Yet although most of the young Ambridgers have grown up there, none of them seem to have made any friends.

I know! Round here everyone knows people they were at primary or secondary. I suppose the cast list would run to thousands, though.

We do seem to have a pattern of victimised women at the moment, don't we? Kirsty, Helen, Hayley ... And people like Lizzie helping with the victimisation don't exactly redress the balance. Leonie bullying James doesn't help either.

Jess did go OTT with the housewarming party and Rob could cite that as an example of nuttiness but the script called for her to go against his desire not to throw a party and to go and buy lots of fancy cheeses from Helen who was content to take her money whilst loathing her. During that period while Kirsty is telling her to have some sense Helen was utterly irrational.

In the last encounter though Jess spoke the truth, described Helen's situation exactly - though the actress's delivery has always seemed a bit off to me.

The assertion that she's unbalanced is entirely Rob's. When he found Jess had been there to the cottage back in Feb it was a convenient way to soothe Helen.

I say again, where is Ian? Why haven't he and Adam had R & H back for a meal? When they dined at the cottage (and Helen had to ditch her food because Rob had bought steaks) Ian And Adam were very concerned so why the hell has neither of them made contact with her?

good point re ian

for the housewarming i think jess was heavily swayed by jennifer's influence iirc. she was new to the area, trying to fit in, but trying to throw the party that jennifer would have thrown wasn't the right way to do it.

Yes exactly Abra1d - but I was thinking even amongst the people who are already in the cast. And don't Pip/Josh/Freddie/Lily etc know anyone else from school who is related to the other characters?

Rob wouldn't bother with a strong-minded independent rational woman though, would he?
He needs one he can mould and control, one who has low self esteem.
Jess had a long spell without him before she joined him in Ambridge and he found she had got 'uppity'. He was furious that she defied him and went ahead with that party, however ill-judged it was.

Helen can be strong minded in a bone-headed sort of way, not listen to sense from anyone, yet he tells her what she wants to hear and can make her do anything he wants.

I don't get why Helen was being so parnoid at the pub lunch. She took up with a married man. She moved in with him within nano seconds of the wife leaving. Village gossip didn't seem to worry her then.
If people were going to talk (AND WHY HAVEN'T THEY!? I cheered when Jess said 'btw we're still married' - it's about time someone did, it was in the last thread title for goodness sake!) then they would have talked months ago, long before the pregnancy.

yes there was surprisingly little gossip on-air when they did move in together. a bit of susan in the dairy and maybe peggy and jennifer (??) and then it all died down. mind you, people do get used to the "new normal" pretty quickly, and jess hadn't been in ambridge all that long

I think Helen is desperate for people to validate her choices at this stage.

Hah! Soon to be RicherJohn!

"Gran and Grandad" eh?

And Helen was right to be paranoid about gossip!

RichJohnny. Oh you couldn't have picked a better time. Pigmeister #2. Or should that be #3?

Loving the gossip between Clarrie and Soosan too. Shame it's taken so long.

Oh wow. Never expected richjohn to turn up. Oh no. They didn't signpost that in big flashing neon lights

And what a surprise that he failed his exams and is good with his hands. Guess someone needs a labourer.

Is he related to phoebe? If not, looks like there a new bad boy on the block to help her deal with her dads news

Right on cue - Rich turns up so Pat takes her eye off Helen leaving her to fall further into Rob's clutches. I loved Susan's observation about Rob and Brian getting on so well - she's absolutely spot on.

So Brian and rob were the two randy peas in a pod! I missed that bit.

Two randy peas in a pod.?

Yes RJ and Phoebe are related. His father (John) and her mother (Kate) were first cousins. (Tony and Jenny being siblings.)

Rich turns up so Pat takes her eye off Helen leaving her to fall further into Rob's clutches.

Helen is 35 years old! Someone that age shouldn't need her mum to keep an eye on her.
She was definitely protesting too much to Tony about Jess's pregnancy. It will make her look even more of a twerp when the truth does come out.