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50 ways to leave your lover. Get on the bus Gus, give a knife to your wife, Rob. How not to write helpful storylines masterclass from The Archers.

970 replies

PseudoBadger · 03/04/2016 20:04

Poor poor Henry Sad

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8
redshoeblueshoe · 04/04/2016 00:13

If I was the Queen I'd re-think the honours list
really, badly done SOC
badly done Keri
badly done Tim

as for Hellin its still all about her pride. She couldn't just walk whilst Rob was out, no she had to make a point, She had to show she knew what he was.
She didn't put Henwee first.
But she did have to tell Rob what she thought why oh fucking why

Vango · 04/04/2016 00:14

But who's going to believe her Augusta? She has no witnesses. Rob and Ursula recently told Pat that Henry was afraid of her. Helen herself told the psychiatrist that she tried to hit him (Rob). Rob told the boarding school that she wasn't coping with Henry at home. She's been well and truly set up. All tracks have been covered. Kirsty, her only ally, has never liked Rob but hasn't witnessed any abuse directly and Helen's done a very good job of convincing everyone and anyone that he's the perfect husband and father. Even her own Mother and Grandmother now think he's a saint for putting up with her and her 'moods' He'll probably argue (since I'm certain that he's not dead) that he was protecting Henry from a knife-wielding Helen.

Travelledtheworld · 04/04/2016 00:16

Thanks PseudoBadger for another great thread title, just in time !

SmallLegsOrSmallEggs · 04/04/2016 00:19

I think Refuge and WA to an extent had their hands tied. This has raised their profile and raised money.
They also cannot say abused woman kills/wounds husband in desperare situation is wrong as they would back a woman in that situation BUT as a resolution to a high profile sl highlighting an important issue it is piss poor.

Yes some radio listeners night get a lot of satisfaction at hearing a character they dislike get stabbed but in reality if it was them, their mother, their sister, their daughter (or male relative) in that situation I am sure woo hoo would not be their response to an outcome that will likely see them in prison when there were other options.

And if she stabbed him more than once then I am not sure she does have a defence. Any response much be proportionate. No evidence of a history of violence against Henry so she had no reason to think he'd seriously harm him (in eyes of the law). No prior evidence of injuries to her either.

SmallLegsOrSmallEggs · 04/04/2016 00:21

So Jess may feature heavily as her only corroboration. (I was going to say we might hear a lot of Jess but changed it because I won't be listening anymore. Fingers in ears la la la)

spiker · 04/04/2016 00:22

Ahah, here you all are...I'm on jolliday but have finally managed to enter the 20 character wifi password correctly (not easy - DH bought 7.5% beer whilst in a demob-happy mood).

So...have I missed anything?

redshoeblueshoe · 04/04/2016 00:23

Or WA could say we did advise and we were clearly fuckingignored

redshoeblueshoe · 04/04/2016 00:25

spiker Star Star Star

have I missed anything

Vango · 04/04/2016 00:28

SmallLegs - Jess (domestic violence/marital rape), Shula (violence against hunt sab (though would she then have to admit lying to the police at the time?)), Ian (punching incident), Tom (bruise on Helen's wrist after the night Rob gave her our son)? Hopefully Stefan will feature again, dead or alive.

CuttedUpPear · 04/04/2016 00:30

Cripes. 14 pages in a few hours Shock

AugustaFinkNottle · 04/04/2016 00:34

SmallLegs, the rule about responses being proportionate is interpreted very flexibly. No-one expects someone acting in the heat of the moment to save themselves or someone else to weigh up the precise degree of response that's proportionate.

ColdTeaAgain · 04/04/2016 00:39

The more I think about it, the more I just can't get my head why H chose to try and end it this way. Why on earth not just get to Bridge farm while he was out?

But, when trying to see it from Helen's viewpoint, I think she just hugely underestimated how nasty Knob could get and thought she was doing the right thing by telling him face to face. She only very briefly spoke to WA, they didn't get the chance to warn her about leaving safely and from her perspective I doubt she could of imagined it escalating the way it did. She thought she would calmly tell him it was over and then walk out with Henry to Kirsty waiting in the car for them. In her head it all made sense and her plan to have Kirsty waiting was her safety net so she felt she was covering her back. It never crossed her mind that it would get so out of control that she wouldn't even get that far.

redshoeblueshoe · 04/04/2016 00:46

this is now being discussed on sky news !

NotnowNigel · 04/04/2016 01:10

ColdTea That rather leaves out the fact that TA has been building up over the last two years, that Hellon was terrified of Knob. No woman experiencing abuse would think it was a good idea to confront their abuser, let alone by telling him in advance that she was leaving, especially with her child in the house and pg.

So very unrealistic it's insulting.

ColdTeaAgain · 04/04/2016 01:30

I know, I think I'm just trying to make it all seem less shit it my head. She was afraid of him but she had only just started to admit to herself that it was actual fear she was experiencing so maybe the severity and danger hadn't fully sunk in yet. Jess didn't experience anything different to what Helen had already so maybe she felt that's as far as he ever goes.
It's such a disapointing outcome. I LA and it really does sound like she stabbed him twice, each time he sounds pretty winded and then he falls to the floor and Helen drops the knife. I think might well be deaddead rather than nearlydead. Bugger.

LyndaNotLinda · 04/04/2016 05:56

Most peculiar - that Telrgraph article seems to have disappeared Hmm

GigotdAgneau · 04/04/2016 06:04

I've woken up still fuming at this - it is such a disappointment after the excellent meeting with Jess. Do you think if I have a shower now, when I come out, Hellbent with have escaped with Henwee to Kirsty's place? Anyhow, that's another listener lost (again), but this time permanently, but SOC doesn't care about me as I don't watch EE.

iisme · 04/04/2016 06:19

I'm disappointed about the statements from WA and refuge too. I can see that they are in a tricky situation and can't just say 'wow that was crap' but they could at least have added a ps to the statements to say that most women manage to leave abusive relationships without killing their partner.

LillianGish · 04/04/2016 06:52

I am lost for words. Aside from the fact that Helen could easily have taken Henry and left while Knob was out or left with Kirsty or asked Kirsty to stay, but instead opted for the theatrical set piece of the tuna bake, that was Tony and the bull all over again. It didn't really work on radio.

aLeafFalls · 04/04/2016 07:00

As a woman who has not long escaped a man like Rob, this storyline would have given me no hope at all. No strategies for escape and the last episode would have scared the shit out of me and confirmed my long held view that there was no safe escape.

I've listened to the Archersvsince the late seventies, but not after this.

GypsyFl0ss · 04/04/2016 07:07

I was so angry after Nigel died for the ratings but this has just left me feeling very disappointed. I wanted to hear the professionals doing their job and Hel and Hen getting to a place of safety. I mostly wanted to hear Rob getting his comeuppance. Now I just don't think I care enough to listen anymore.

Stickerrocks · 04/04/2016 07:10

It's hitting the Today programme this morning.

vixsatis · 04/04/2016 07:17

That was terrible from every perspective! There is no way that Rob would have risked a knife while Helen is carrying the knobspawn and Helen would not have risked the inevitable row while Henry was in the house. I was hoping that she would use Kirsty's phone to call WA and that with their and Kirsty's help she would leave for a safe place.

I did like the tuna bake bit.

There will now be a very EE trial in which Arseula and Pat will testify that Helen is mad and Hellin's only witnesses are Kirsty, Jess and crucially Henry. It will also be used as device for revelation (once the Ambridge amnesia has lifted) of Rob's generally evility beginning with theft of the curtain fund. The local gossips will proclaim that they knew all along that he was a bad egg.

Perhaps worse, there will be an excruciating "comic relief" storyline involving Bert and the fairbrethren.

Can't wait to have the old "Archers" back

GigotdAgneau · 04/04/2016 07:17

Stickerrocks, do you have a time for that, or are you speaking in general, as a headline, if you see what I mean? (Trying to find it on iplayer.)

lostinyonkers · 04/04/2016 07:25

OK, Keri/SOC. Please take note of what happens next - seriously. Harrison is drafted in to investigate the stabbing of Knob. During his investigations he discovers several surveillance cameras dotted round Blossom Hill Cottage (obviously placed by Knob to monitor Helen's every move.) He finds footage going back 8 months, including Knob raping Helen at least twice, Knob and Ursula threatening Henry, Ursula putting boiling water in Henry's bath etc etc etc. Helen is vindicated. Knob the undead is jailed for a VERY LONG TIME. Ursula is slapped with a restraining order. Helen moves in with Jess and Ethan and they have a lovely life sans men. OK.