No more walking on eggshells for Helen! Heading for an eggsplosive Easter weekend in The Archers - will Helen Archer be resurrected by the end of this thread?

[PseudoBadger]

Helen knows she's not cracking up - Knob is an eggomaniac.

Are we eggshausted with this storyline?

Sarf - welcome to the thread, ask as many questions as you like, we are all nice here and before you ask TASWAMA stands for The Archers scriptwriters are misogynistic arseholes. BOOP point means something is really good (named after BitOutOfPractice)

And you are all very naughty - if 3^D sees what has been done to the end of the last thread he will be very cross I'm not going to mention bananas, ever again

AugustaFN yes - didn't he increasingly describe jess as unstable and deluded? I wonder if Hellin will remember and question that now?

I thought I was probably pushing my luck to find anybody on the thread who was listening to TA back in 60s/early 70s! I will ask MIL what she can remember about Peggy and Jack Archer. I know it was a different situation but I thought once Peggy got an inkling of what was going on she might be surprisingly supportive because she could empathise. Or maybe SWs have forgotten all about the first Jack.

If Helen were going to say that though its hardly Jess she'd go to.
Going to the ex wife to say what did he do to you smacks of why didn't you warn me? that your husband was an arse while I was busy trying to convince you he wanted me now.

Hellin is not Jess's responsibility.

Fair enough if Hellin goes to court and Jess also wants to prosecute. Then they both get some justice from it.

But otherwise all Jess can do is one of

• yes he was a shit to me too

I told you so Or sorry about that I should have tried harder to warn you.

The general MN rule is do not engage with the OW there is nothing to be gained. If I were Jess hearing that Hellin had an awful time wouldn't be something I'd want to deal with.

I could try to warn my ex's current gf (not ow afaik) but he'd just tell her I am mental. I don't bear her any ill will in fact I feel quite sorry for her but there's no point. Likewise I wouldn't go to his ex and ask was he shit to you because I know he was but I have no right to drag that back up.

Yes he did say Jess was mad.
She did tbf come across as a bit unstable at times.
I think Hellin might realise if Jess were unhinged then it was because of Rob - so he was always like this, won't change and isn't like this because of her.

that may have sounded harsh about my ex's other partners. I am actually on speaking terms with his previous ex (no overlap). But we still never talk about that^. We both know. And it wouldn't help either of us. Yes she could have said something but I probably wouldn't have listened. I do know however, that she had a far harder time than me and I have no desire to compare notes and remind her just how appallingly bad that was. I did stick up for her when I could when he slagged her off in front of dsc when we were together - this didn't usually end well.

I wouldn't say anything to his current gf as I have only seen her with him and I'd be worried she'd tell him and it would drive them together. I'd love to give her the number for WA but if she isn't ready for it it might do more harm than good.

If I thought she was in immediate danger I would call the police but other than that I have to hope she has good friends and he isn't too shitty to her as she does not have his dc and doesn't live with him I am hoping that reins him in a bit.

But really a rapists previous victims are not responsible for his future victims. The rapist is. The same goes for DV.

When Jess came round to tell Helen that she'd slept with Knob 2 years ago?) on Valentine's night, she did warn Helen but only in vague terms (eg "you don't know what he's really like") but of course Helen didn't believe anything she said

I remember Shula trying to warn Debbie about Guy Pemberton. I think Debbie told her she found Guy's assertiveness 'exciting' and Shula couldn't bring herself to say any more. Debbie was beaten up.

So true that Jess did try to warn Helen but Helen wouldn't listen.

Imbroglio, I'd forgotten that (it was Simon, not Guy though - Guy was lovely).

Lurker coming out of the shadows. Long time Archer's listener but on off for last few weeks because the SL was so grim, I couldn't cope with it.

I'm glad Helen is finding courage from somewhere to stand up to Rob. She is very isolated now as last night's episode showed. She was ignored by her mother and Gran unless they were praising Rob or telling her she looked tired.
Helen said she was wearing eye make up which we know Rob dislikes. So... question .. Do we think this was another small act of defiance or was she covering up some bruises?

I don't remember how the Jess/ Helen encounter went at the time but if my bf's ex came round and told me that she'd slept with him then that he was dodgy, I'm not sure I would believe her, either! Mixed messages somewhat.

Thanks everyone - all is clear now. I have been listening for about a year, but listen at work, so don't always get to follow it very closely. Thanks for the background about Rob's first wife, so Helen was the feisty strumpet then - the 'transformation' has been quite quick then. There was talk about a DNA test for Jess' baby wasn't there? Do we think that Rob's ultimate goal is to have Helen put away and then inherit the farm?
Listening to the Rob/Helen storyline makes me really uncomfortable - I can't actually work out how it's going to resolve itself. Maybe Jess will come back onto the scene Not that I think it is her responsibility to save Helen, but it would be quite neat twist.

Kathy gave evidence at the rape trial because someone else pressed charges and she came forward.

It might be the that Jess comes forward later but I can't see her being much help now.

Given that pride is such a massive hurdle for Helen, I think Jess is the last person shed go to.

I still shudder every time I see a fish kettle.

recycling, I think I'd still shudder at a fish kettle too, but luckily my lifestyle is not of fish kettle standard so I don't have to worry Jennifer Aldridge would be grimacing at my lack of class if I ever darkened her door! Pass me an instant coffee, luv, 5 sugars please.

Welcome lurkers, one and all!

I'm becoming exhausted with SOC's interminable leaving do. Nothing but pain and misery wherever one looks. And they make us suffer more with the tedious love lives of the inheritor generation - first Pip and Matthew, now Dan and Dot. And poor Elizabeth bring made to worry about insurance ...

50 threads. I've been on every single one. May have to go back to lurking.

Hello. Couldn't miss a thread but am on holiday with limited internet access!!!! So Peggy is being Peggy then!!

I've chosen an abysmal time to go on holiday. Away from next weekend. May have good enough internet access to use i player. I hope so!

Shula is an out-and-out coward, she prefers to avoid and ignore unpleasant truths rather than do the right thing.

As for the character progression of Rob, when Jess said "You don't know what he's like" to Helen way back when, in fairness, nobody did, including the SWs, as they hadn't decided how he was going to turn out.
So it was a quite weak statement in the context of the current SL but also intentionally ambiguous.

But I think Jess's Christmas party showed exactly what he was like. It was a massive red flag. Surely at that point the script writers knew what they were doing, or maybe it just developed from there.

Yes selsigfach & Gasp you are both right- it is The Regeneration Trilogy. I was thinking of the one book, Ghost Road & drifted off into a reverie of how brilliant the books were! Perhaps due for another re-read as well.

Sorry for derail again.

Sarf I'm not sure that Rob is being quite as calculating and cynical as planning to do all this to have Helen sectioned and for him to get the farm. Their initial affair and relationship seemed quite genuine. I think he's just an abusive dickhead and getting the farm, if that's what happens, would just be a nice bonus.

Yes, Regeneration books very good, dark but so is the subject matter...

I agree he doesn't want Helen sectioned, or custody of SOK.

He is a controlling arse and therefore needs someone to control. He doesn't want to actually look after a baby - he wants someone else to do it according to his precise instructions.

50 threads ... I've been on every single one ... May have to go back to lurking.

Is that one of Tom's pigs I see flying past the window?

Recycling I think you're right about it all being about control with Rob.

I think that deep down he has rather low self esteem so constantly has to be top dog in order to deal with his feelings of insecurity. That's why he broke up with Jess (she wouldn't let him dominate her), why he left Berrow Farm (where he had to account to Charlie who was younger than him and gay to boot) and why he wants to be in charge not only at home but also at Bridge Farm. It's pathetic how he has to be the one making every decision from how Helen wears her hair, to whether or not the Farm Shop stocks scotch eggs, to what sort of chairs there are in the tea room. It must be exhausting trying to be in charge of everything.

After he hit Helen the first time I remember that he said something like, "I don't know where my Helen's gone." And he was reminiscing about the first time he saw her. It struck me that he might have seen things in that Helen that he didn't have himself: happiness (I don't think that Rob is a happy person); a child (Rob very much wants to have his own son); a family that loves her (from what we can tell Rob's family is fairly disfunctional); her own share and role in a successful family business (Rob has only been an employee in other people's companies).

The irony is that in his efforts to possess the things that first attracted him to Helen he is destroying them. His happy, independent wife is miserable and fast losing any love she had for him. Rather than becoming part of that loving, supportive family he is jealous of Johnny, constantly battling with Tom over the shop and trying to keep Helen away from her parents. His step son is bedwetting, getting into trouble at school and terrified that he will be sent away. It's like everything he touches turns to ashes in his hands.

Absolutely spot on, Emily. Brilliant post.