The Archers. No need to share the thread with anyone else darling, we can have a lovely time just us together. It must be Henry's bedtime.

[PseudoBadger]

New thread for the Omnibus.

spiker she's had bruises before, after the rape. I imagine this massive betrayal will be 'paid back' later and it's going to be nasty.

Is tonighte's episode as harrowing as you guys make it sound. Eeek....

It was very upsetting to listen to tonight. He definitely is reading her phone messages, presumably her internet access is monitored too. I suspect the second car will be sold by the weekend.

This can't go on much longer because her health is going to fail - either from not eating or from him force feeding her. Something food related anyway. She can't go on like this anymore

Thanks for the breakdown of the plot!

Horrible listening. Why has Helen given up the fight so quickly and so completely? This is why I find this whole storyline so unbelievable - in my (thankfully limited and mostly theoretical) experience, many victims of 'domestic abuse' blame themselves for any conflict because they just can't stop themselves from 'arguing' when they know that they have a right to speak and they're being reasonable yet Helen doesn't even question anything at all or stand her ground?

Also......did she actually drive to school? I thought driving was banned?

Think I will actually have to stop listening now. Too unpleasant and no end in sight.

I was annoyed on 2 fronts:

1. Kirsty did not come right out and say to Roy she was suspicious of Rob.

1. Helen didn't say that she was unhappy not being allowed to go anywhere.

Second is probably accurate, I admit. God he was awful. He really had no qualms about her knowing he was obviously reading her texts, did be? She needs a secret phone.

She doesn't need a secret phone, she needs to rally her family around & kick him out!!

I've not listened yet but am wondering bruises that the midwife questions / Rob explains away.

I think Helen appears weak as she knows now to acquiesce immediately to prevent it escalating.

That sent shivers up my spine. Chilling. At least Kirsty is sharing her suspicions now but I feel really shaken!

Does anybody follow the 'invisible woman' on Twitter? She does a hilarious tweet along to the omnibus and hates Rob with a vengeance, having experienced 2 similar relationships. She has written a tremendous article in the 'new statesman', worth a look.

Those asking why Helen doesn't do anything should read the New Statesman article linked earlier - that is truly chilling because it is not fiction. Interesting that Kirsty was clear tonight she feels on shaky ground with Helen because of what happened with Tom - she's hesitating to go in too strong because she thinks Helen is still angry with her about that. She doesn't like Knob, but I still don't think she has the full picture.

Theresnoone - she did indeed drive to school....

Jessie - I thought he covered up about reading her texts with that 'I was passing and saw your car at the school' line.

I didn't know H had bruises before.

I get the impression that Helen can't quite work out why she's so unhappy and is very confused. Or maybe she does know and is wretched and bottling it all up.

I think tomorrow is going to be another hard one to listen to. I might have to duck out of it soon, it's too much. And I really should be revising for an exam...

But he was supposed to be in the shop all day and had no reason to be anywhere near the school- it was an obvious lie.

Gosh I almost switched off ( listening on the car radio ) I was so sure Rob would give her a beating.
I think Helen is genuinely terrified of him. She dare not stand up to him.
She knows she has made a huge mistake and feels trapped in the relationship. The starving is the only way she feels she can cry for help.

She had bruises on her arms after the 'date night'. That's the only occasion there's been physical abuse that we know of. He made a passing remark shortly after that horrible time to the effect that he got a bit carried away.

Utterly awful tonight.

Glad I've read this before listening.

Oh dear.

Gruach it's a tense, breath holding sort of episode....

Why has Helen given up the fight so quickly and so completely? This is why I find this whole storyline so unbelievable - in my (thankfully limited and mostly theoretical) experience, many victims of 'domestic abuse' blame themselves for any conflict because they just can't stop themselves from 'arguing' when they know that they have a right to speak and they're being reasonable yet Helen doesn't even question anything at all or stand her ground?

"Many" isn't the same as "all".

My mother only had to hit me once. After that, I always knew it was possible, and did all I could to avoid conflict with anyone. I hadn't deserved it that first time, so I didn't know what I could do to prevent it again, but I did what I could to keep the peace. I literally couldn't speak around arguments (even if I wasn't actually involved) for years - my mouth dried right up, and I got very shaky and was mostly concentrating on not crying, because I didn't want anyone to know I was affected.

Not everyone behaves the same.

Rob's now going to use this as an excuse to keep her virtually under lock and key. "You know it's for your own good, darling, you seem to get these irrational urges which you can't explain to lie to me and go off and do things on your own, you might do something dangerous."

I was annoyed on 2 fronts:
1. Kirsty did not come right out and say to Roy she was suspicious of Rob.

Kirsty might be being a bit wary - she might be partly still working out what Roy thinks of Rob - don't want to be too anti-Rob if it turns out Roy is one of the many who thinks he's some sort of saint.

Meanwhile, on another front - surely they've got the theatre curtain from the old village hall? It may not fit exactly but maybe with some splendid work by Fallon inserting extra panels it would be usable?

I guess they were too badly flood damaged

But you're right - I'm surprised fallon hasn't offer d to up cycle some vintage tea towels into a set of curtains

Or come up with a funky alternative using old lampshades and a winch

Isn't part of Helen's problem here that it is an odd thing to take a child out of school for a treat (with the requirement to lie to the school and make the child keep it secret)? So, when Rob confronts her, she does crumble because it's not something she can easily justify? And so, Rob plays it cleverly and has another stick to beat her with.

When I heard Helen talking to wee, I thought she was planning on leaving altogether. I was cheering. AND THEN HE TURNED UP.

It was truly horrible to hear. I don't normally mind DS listening (we have had many conversations about evil Rob) but that ep was up there with Kathy's rape in terms of disturbing listening. Just not something I want a 9YO to hear.

Surely the situation's about to explode?