Culvert operations in Ambridge - discuss The Archers here. It's not his baby by the way.

[PseudoBadger]

Is Ed's wedding very soon?

Cows are inconsiderate beasts who won't just hold it in to let their staff have a day off. But you're right that it wouldn't be the best day to expect all the staff to be available esp the higher level ones who presumably do less of the hands-on stuff.

It's maybe a sign that Charlie takes the culvert business very seriously that he does the interviews on a bank holiday.

How swaggeringly confident Rob is though. He takes yet more time off to do the single wicket then coolly wins the contest.

I bet, however, he was absolutely foul to his staff on the day after he heard about the accusation. He's a habitual bully and he's probably a hateful boss at the best of times so I suppose it's possible that Stefan decided to leave of his own volition.

Tom clearly doesn't like Rob (it was tom, wasn't it, who was saying that he was 'a bit full of himself' and glad he was above playing for the ambridge team). Although the single wicket is clearly a 'fun' event I bet Rob would have been an extremely bad loser if he hadn't won, he'd have blamed the fielders. Next year perhaps he should end up getting freakishly beaten by Kate.

I really must stop trying to think about this culvert thing. To my mind, when Charlie and Rob had their little tête-à-tête it sounded as if Charlie thought Rob might have something to do with it. So why ask Rob to round up the staff. Why not do impromptu interviews that Rob (or Rafe etc) could not nobble?

Was just going to ask the same question as Mink. Have I missed something? One moment Stefan was surreptitiously meeting Deeevid & JD in the coffee-shop with terrible coffee Then a mere couple of days later he's 'gone home'.

Given that most plot points are laboriously over-emphasised, I'm surprised we didn't hear what happened to cause this. I'm assuming Knob confronted Stefan and sent him packing in typical bully-boy fashion, but I do hope we'll discover the truth. Too convenient that he just 'left'.

I wouldn't be surprised if Knob was making up all that 'ailing mother, drug-addict sister, dysfunctional family' bolleaux. He's revoltingly smug and sanctimonious about other people being beyond the pale, whereas of course he is the worst of the lot IMHO.

Maybe Charlie is somehow digging a hole for Rob to fall into?

A hole, Errol? Do you mean a culvert.

Rob is getting away with some big stuff. I'm guessing that the SW will arrange his comeuppance through something small, petty and seemingly innocuous.

Unless SOC persists in his belief that Rob is a fine, upstanding young man thoroughly misunderstood by idle Middle England listeners with over-active imaginations.

Was Adam not sounding fairly scathing of Rob at one point or did i confuse Adam with Tom?

Come on now, everyone, of course there was no time to hear Knob scaring off Stefan when we had to spend whole episodes listening to Tom getting entrants for the single wicketzzzzz.

I so want Adam and Charlie to team up to fight culvert crime.

Nice to hear a mention of Chris Carter although I doubt he and Alice will get any sort of a sl until she's pregnant (which may actually be soon - God forbid that an Ambridge female should have a career after all)

David knows it was Stefan, but he didn't tell Charlie (or Knob for that matter). We need David and Shula to have a discussion so she can confess how she lied to police over the hunt sab incident - then she can let something slip to Jim who can tell her about the open farm Sunday outburst and Christine can discuss how unpleasant he was during the flood rescue. Perfect storm brewing in terms of scratching off Knob's Teflon cover. Charlie must have a way of contacting Stefan - he's not a seasonal worker like the strawberry pickers.

I wonder if Rob saw Stefan somewhere in the vicinity on the afternoon of the flood and realises he was the whistleblower. You're right that no names were named by David. Maybe S had some minor domestic crisis and Rob has come over concerned boss and told him to go home and deal with it to get him out of the way - if so he'll have been too clever by half and merely alerted Charlie.

I wonder if Rob saw Stefan somewhere in the vicinity on the afternoon of the flood
that is what I assumed.

SOC! Hellin! "Creating" Ambridge.....

look

Charlie isn't going to let this drop.

Against Rob is the info David passed on pointing the finger at straight at Rob.
Rob has a history of taking excessive time off and so it's plausible that a lazy manager would block the culvert and go to the pub.
Rob claims that the mystery witness is someone with a grudge against him but the high staff turnover at Berrow was mentioned recently so Charlie will wonder if the workers hate him enough to make up an accusation but then decide that it's too serious an accusation for petty malice. The staff wastage itself needs investigation.
OTOH, Stefan's disappeared which adds credence to Rob claiming S had a grudge & makes Stefan look as though he might have done it himself. In which case Charlie could call in the police to find him and the truth will come out anyway.
The more smug Rob becomes the better will be his downfall!

Hah - Rob is really tying himself in knots now over Stefan.

squeaver They don't like my money.

Do you think it's sold out? It seems a bit of a shame that it's a Saturday night Squeaver & ZeroFun

Saturday afternoon I thought?

Oh yes, sorry 1530-1645. Quite tempting

enoch The more smug Rob becomes the better will be his downfall!

My thoughts exactly. I'm quite liking it I have to say.

I can't believe Helen will agree to be a Barrow Farm spokesperson.......And why would Charlie or Justin think she is a good plan? and "this is my family business??

I remember when Rob first appeared and we proposed the most entertaining possible matches for him.

Helen! We said. That would be funny. Big Farma v Little Ambridge Organics.

We're laughing now ...

Just caught up. Shocked at all the cruelty to bears.

Anyway, wondered if anyois going to the Hay Festival on Wednesdat (i.e. today), because SOC is talking about TA around lunchtime. I considered it, but we'll be elsewhere, and the logistics were too tricky. Suspect my GP will agree with this decision for the sake of my blood pressure.

Meanwhile - I reckon Stefan was seen by Rob, too. I don't believe Rob's the only one with access to the staff database with contact and NoK details. Hopefully, Charlie is just giving Rob enough rope to hang himself with. Although I think it would be a good storyline to escalate things with H&R as the pressure on him builds, so don't want Stefan to reappear too quickly for it just to end with Rob being arrested or something.

"You'll do that for me, won't you, Helen?" Even if she does say yes, Charlie's managing Rob more and more closely and could veto it - because she is going to say yes, as she's only thinking of Rob, and not how her family will react - Pat will probably be incandescent.

I don't know if I've missed something but surely it makes no sense at all for Helen to be involved with this?

It's not her farm, it's a totally different kind of farm to the one she's involved in, the kind of farming is against her principles (or has she ditched those at Rob's behest too?), she isn't employed by Berrow Farm and, despite Rob's claims it's not his family business. He is just an employee. Talk about delusions of grandeur!

Surely Charlie will be a) baffled and b) angry when he learns about it?

Bet Rob "forgets" to run it past Charlie, just like he "forgot" to tell him that Stefan was leaving. (If indeed he left and isn't blocking another culvert along with Scruff and the bunting. (Wonder what Scruff and the bunting did to annoy Rob?)