Discuss The Archers here. There's hut construction, new teen arrivals, pastured eggs, pining Pip and other fun Spring-like stories to choose from.

[PseudoBadger]

Maybe if we don't look directly at the other storyline it will disappear?

Dad3 good point. If Rob would have let her shut down the convo... But yes, thinking about it, you're right.

Where is Ursula? Not that I want to hear her voice; it makes my skin crawl! But she has been strangely silent which I find ominous. Truly cant wait for this storyline to be over.

It doesn't matter if this is happening in houses up and down the country and is highly believable if they don't bring the audience with them

I don't think anyone listening believes rob isn't an abuser but we are getting to the point where the drama is being ramped up too far.

My biggest concern is that they don't bring this to an end responsibly. Rob being killed or Helen being killed or the baby dying will not help any woman listening to this as its her life. They need to show you can escape and you will be believed. Even more dangerous if rob is shown to successfully bring health professionals in to aid his abuse

Only just catching up from last night. I would give KD the benefit of the doubt on the grammar front. He's probably doing a Pilate ('Truth? What is that?') and actually asking who Truth is ... I hope he gets some interesting replies! This could turn into even more of a Greek tragedy.

I am with you BYOS. we need an empowered Helen with a 'this is what to do' message. PLEASE.

I have the impression SOC thinks Carol is Truth!

Fink - I thought of Pilate too, but I'm not convinced KD was being that clever. It was just an error (which I don't think is a big issue on a transient media like Twitter, easy to switch homophones when typing quickly)

I hope Henwee will be her saviour. He will recount the sleepwalking incident to someone and when Knob tries to ramp it up will ask in all innocence why he is telling lies. Henwee is in that house and is a witness - that's why Knob wants to ship him off to a non-existent boarding school for five year olds.
Surely with the psychiatric intervention Knob has ruled out the possibility of a home birth?

Just remembered the 'secrets are wrong' lecture Knob gave to Henwee - I really hope it's going to be Henwee who raises the alarm.

Absolutely agree BYOS

That's a good point, Lillian. If Knob persuades Helen into telling the psychiatrist that she is wholly irrational, concerns will start arising as to whether she's able to make decisions about the birth in the best interests of the baby.

Knob doesn't actually like his mum very much, we've seen that before. Why would he want her to raise the baby?

Broadcast fiction is usually fable, it isn't supposed to be realistic, so I can handle plot holes, tbh. Knob has been a two-faced liar for ages, so the nonsense about Hell menacing threats in her sleep fits ok for me. I would like some dots to join up at end, though, so we have more insight into what he thought he was doing. So much of this SL is so well written, I'll be very disappointed if we don't get closure on Knob's mindset before it ends.

Hell's such a perfectionist, makes sense she'd want to avoid the drugs.

I still find the slap trivial compared to all the psychological abuse (mind games) she's had. Maybe she can't see the slap as outrageous because then she'd have to think about what else is outrageous.

'I shouldn't have hit you but you attacked me first.' He's taken the moral high ground and she's forgotten the really vicious thing he said that made her want to hit him. The bit about she shouldn't have been allowed to have Henry.

I wonder what mumsnetters would advise someone who came on here saying that they found their partner looming over their child in bed "saying horrible abusive things like something in a horror movie"?

Isn't that the point? We really (as a society and that filters down to the individual too) believe that "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me". The thinking then goes that it doesn't matter what he said,^^ because words don't matter, she got physical first.

Not that that's true, but it's what very many seem to believe out in RL.

• absolutely no idea where those two arrow thingys came from!

But Bertrand, he didn't find that at all, so what you'd advise in that situation doesn't really matter, does it? Or do you mean what the psychiatrist would think if a woman said they'd apparently done that?

Psychological abuse ultimately does far more harm than relatively minor (slaps/pushing/threatening) physical abuse because it destroys the personality, but it's often the first tangible thing the victim can identify as abuse.

Victims often don't realise they are being emotionally abused like Hellin, and it's the physical stuff they recognise.

My exH psychiatrist said to him (both of us there) "words can hurt more than blows". Wasn't 100% sure of that at the time but I see that now.

Of course abusers like knob (and my ex) are brilliant at turning it round and making the victim feel as though they provoked it, and it's what the abuser believes anyway as a way of excusing their behaviour.

No, I know he didn't. But if he had surely he sensible thing would be for Henry to go and stay with Pat and Tony for a while? Wouldn't you think Helen might suggest that if she really thinks she's "terrifying" him?

Well yes, and I hope he does! But I fear the sainted Ursula will be tasked with 'settling' him ...

I pity SOK if he ends up being brought up by Arsula. He'll be on strict four hourly feeds, being left to cry himself to sleep, plonked on the potty at 6 months, and regularly smacked because "It's only for his own good, and it never did dear Rob any harm".

Does she never get any time alone with Henry? Surely she'd want to apologise to him, giving him the chance to lisp "Mummeee, you were just talking about the lawnmower"

Hell fought tooth & nail to have Henry against disapproval by all, was willing to cut off her parents completely in the process. She won't easily hand him to anyone. I suppose Knob really won't really have the measure of all that.

Yeah Lijkk but we used to think she was equally passionate about cheese, and look what happened to that ....

Squeaver, yes, I thought that too - surely we must hear Henry saying 'It's awwright Mummee..."

@Seek, I know, I know. I can handle fable & plot holes but personality transplants not so much. Argh.