Follow the subtle trail towards the Christmas storyline climaxes in Ambridge - discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

So many possibilities.... A visit from the Titcheners Snr? Baby of the wrong gender? A ruined wedding? Re-housed Grundys? RuthRex?

What's with the horrible chuckle, Rob?

I do think it's very clever that we walk on eggshells with Helen. We're waiting for him to blow and we know he will - and so does she :(

Agree NortherLurker - that's exactly what it is.

Would like to join in the cheering for Tony.

I'll cheer when my heart stops thumping ...

Blimey that was cathartic. A little taste of what it will be like when Rob finally gets his his comeuppance.

Although I have to say that Ruth is far harder to listen to than Rob at the moment and someone needs to tell her a few home truths too. Can't stand that whiny voice one minute longer.

And it's no better when he doesn't blow as we know it's just a matter of time.

Someone remind me; what was the context of Helen's previous speeding incident? Who was causing her stress then?

She was rushing to get home after lunch with Ian, because she knew Rob would have something to say about how long she'd been.

I meant the time years ago when she knocked Mike down.

Wondering if there's a pattern.

Oh sorry - you said previous. I don't know. I just assumed that she hadn't been offered a course because she'd been going too fast. You have to let I think it's 2 years go by before you can choose to do another course. If you speed again in that period it's points, no arguing.

Oh yes - but didn't Tom take the rap for that? Or whoever was in the car with her at the time?

Wow, Tony totally kicked Knob's arse. He'llbe the one man to save Helen. That "thank you for not being angry with me" comment was horrible.

Yes, Tom took the rap. Hellin had been drinking iirc.

And GO TONY!!!

I don't remember Helen speeding before. Agree with everyone else, wasn't it horrible waiting to see how he took it out on Helen. I really thought he might find an excuse to hit her this evening. But yes, he may well end up taking away the car keys - all for her own good, of course.

Tony, my new hero
I thought I detected the tiniest hint of exasperation in Usha's voice tonight; she was being very tactful. Am I right in thinking both her parents are long dead, so Ruth going on about being "all alone" was insensitive.

Good old Lowfield comes up trumps again:

New Year's Eve 2006

Pat prepares a splendid meal for Jack and Peggy, painfully aware that it might be the last one Jack will be able to enjoy. Helen says she's going out for a drink with a college friends first, but will be back in plenty of time. She then texts Tom to say she has no intention of coming home. Tom drives off to find her.
Tom finally encounters a very drunk Helen trying to pull an equally drunk stranger. After a struggle, he manages to get her outside, where Helen insists she will drive her own car home. Tom jumps into the passenger seat, but on the way Helen knocks down a pedestrian. At first she refuses to stop, but becomes so hysterical that Tom is able to persuade her to stop and let him drive. He'll say he was at the wheel, because he hasn't been drinking. But they must report the accident to the police, even though they see the pedestrian walking and climbing into Robert Snell's car.
Eventually, Tom and Helen arrive home, where Pat is furious with them. As if things aren't bad enough, Tom gets a call from Brenda. The injured pedestrian was none other than Mike.

So ... she wasn't speeding when she knocked Mike down? Just intoxicated?

I assumed the SWs were making a point about a recurring state of mind (of Helen's) that is always expressed in becoming unsafe behind the wheel of a car.

I really don't get how Ruth is apparently wholly unable to assimilate the fact that, two weeks ago, she had no time to do even the most basic of tasks, so she really isn't in a position to complain because one job has, for one year only, been assigned to someone else.

Given that she didn't exactly live in HP's pocket previously, the suggestion that she's "all alone" now is seriously absurd. And she's coming perilously close to wanting to have her cake and eat it what with resenting Jill for doing precisely what she's asked her back to do.

Wow! That's what I call dedication to the thread, Bore!

Big BOOP for Tony I feel!

I really hope that this is the beginning of people starting to join the dots. We need Kirsty and Charlie to have a good chat with Tony - are they all involved in the play?

YY to Ruth wanting to have her cake and eat it. She'll be able to do that just nicely in Pruddah when she leaves David...

Two weeks ago she was too busy to do anything and now she's a spare part. All summer, the family miraculously fed themselves but the moment she came back, the fridge emptied. Last week, she begged Jill to move back (after unceremoniously kicking her out) and now she's resentful that she's behaving like Jill behaves.

The whole SL is utter nonsense. I'm sure TA hasn't irritated me to quite this degree before :o

Talking of Lowfield research, the other day when I was trying to remember Rob's introduction to Ambridge, I came across this from May 2013. I was a bit bemused by one sentence:

Jim is going out for the afternoon with Jill but they haven't decided where to go. That's the trouble with Borsetshire, too many tea rooms. Jill is worried about something. Jim wonders whether it's Daniel's exams but she says no, he's a very steady boy and is going to see his Grandfather before he goes to America. It's Pip that's the problem. David and Pip just seem to be rubbing each other up the wrong way. Jim says it's inevitable and that she knows there is nothing she can do about it. Jill reluctantly agrees. Jim cheers her up by teasing her about flirting with Rob Titchener. And then they need an emergency stop to avoid crashing into a herd of pigs. They must be Tom's.

I'm pretty sure Usha's parents are still alive and she also has Auntie Satya. But yes, she'd have to have the patience of a saint not to be starting to find Ruth irritating. Mind you, I always find Ruth irritating, so I am perhaps not best placed to judge.

Ah! Bore - I didn't see your Lowfield post!

So it transpires that at the end of 2006 Helen was depressed because she'd been dumped by Ross - and that's what led to the drink-driving. Her car troubles are man made.

Rob's main concern about Helen speeding seems to be primarily based on not endangering the precious SOK cargo. It must feel horrendous being primarily valued as a walking uterus.