Rob - dead? No, no, he's, er, resting. He's just pining for the Canadian plains. As Helen is taken into custardy, discuss the Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

24 hours for 1 thread!!

Ursusla and Rob don't want Henry. It was only a couple of weeks ago they were making plans to send him to boarding school.

True Moving but they don't want Pat and Tony to have him either! He could have been farmed out to them at any time 'to give Helen a break'. Rob controls what happens to him.

But surely Pat is still a Patbot & Rob a Knob?

I like Tom as Sausage King. Did anyone ever have a nickname for Jenny or Brian?

I've only been on here since around the time Helen was raped & became pregnant. I often lurk, but events over the past few months have drawn me back.

I started coming on as DP & friends are not interested in TA. Although yesterday DP listened to Sunday's night's episode on repeat, of his own accord. And another friend was drawn into Rob/ Hel SL last autumn.

Returning to Knob's relationship with his father and brother - we have only ever heard his (and to an extent Ursula's version) Allow me a flight of fancy - imagine Knob was a bullying, thoroughly unpleasant brother who physically assaulted Miles, who was defended by his over-bearing and indulgent mother who always made excuses for him. His father tried to bring him into line, but was always over-ruled and undermined by Ursula. Knob and Miles are long since estranged - not because Miles was the favoured son but because of how Knob had behaved towards him. I like to think Knob has other unpleasantness in his background too, which would have been uncovered by an background search for adoption. I'm hoping Knob at death's door in hospital might bring his unseen father and brother out of the woodwork to reveal his true colours - in spite of Ursula's attempts at a whitewash. If they speak up and Jess - and then other people in the village remember various bits and pieces Helen will have some proper support for her mitigation - I think she'd still have to be guilty, but who knows - if the Ambridge legal fairy is in cahoots with the Ambridge Health fairy.

I don't think it's entirely clear that Helen stabbed for the second (and possibly the third) time purely out of rage. From the recording, it sounded as if it's at least possible that Rob was coming back at her after the first stab, and indeed the knife could have hit his wrist on the way to his body - so it could still be self-defence.

I suppose there's a scenario where Knob pathetically implores his parents to look after Henry because Helen's insanity is probably inherited from her parents, in which case they might take him - even if it is only to shove him into boarding school at the first opportunity.

Anything is possible I guess - beauty of radio.

I enjoyed this article from The Independent ( hope link works) - it does sum up the pro/anti storyline pretty well.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/after-two-years-of-complaints-about-sexing-up-the-archers-bbc-has-produced-most-important-storyline-a6967951.html

WA are currently on the Jeremy Vine show, looking at the impact of offering a helpline during these kind of storylines. WA were keen to stress that they've been involved throughout the whole storyline and believe it is realistic.

All the Ambridge Fairies are in cahoots. Job Fairy, House Fairy, Finances Fairy (although s/he spends a good deal of time enabling TV soap characters to maintain Hollywood smiles and million £ houses on about £50 a week ...)

HHMNBN was sleeping outside and couldn't get any work - but there's Kirsty with two jobs and the brethren ensconced at Brookfield.

Anyway I'm assuming it's pure primogeniture that was eating Rob back at the ancestral home. I'd be sorry if they provide anyone else to blame.

Tried to clarify but it didn't post.

I agree that if H stabbed him repwatedly it wasn't warranted. Unless it turns out that he was making another attack - she can of course claim whatever. Henwee is the only witness.

So in Jordache case- it was justified 1) because although he was poisoned the coup de grace was struck when he was actually attacking them
2) they had made repeated attemprs to escape and had sustained years of hirrific abuse with inadequate response by justice system

In Tracy Barlow case she got the jail (later released on technicality) because she used his abuse as a pretext to kill him because she was angry not scared or in danger.

Can't spell! HWMNBN ...

I am still.preducting a table turner where she finds herself in the dock accused of abuse including wounding and no one but Kirsty believes her.

Shameless place marking. Can't keep up with you lot….
Inspired title. We need a bit of levity in a big way.

But Notdead, isn't that was the Fairbrethren are supposed to provide?

Hollow, hollow laugh.

It certainly looks as the job fairy has been working hard on Johnny's behalf this week.

I'm sorry Words but as I long-term listener I take exception to this:

If it was up to these listeners, Helen and Rob's slow, gradually augmenting domestic abuse storyline would never have happened.

We are not stupid people. We come from all walks of life. As said upthread, The Archers has handled real-life issues sensitively before, without the need for sensationalism. Will any real-life Helen, listening now, learn anything from Sunday night's events?

And this line:

But The Archers is a drama with a duty to entertain first, a medium for public service announcements after.....

....contradicts almost all the media coverage that preceded Sunday's climax where the BBC, WA etc were very much touting the storyline as a public service. In my opinion. I think it's patronising.

So how about this for levity - for those who do like the stats (and thanks to all those who said that they did)... (others, please ignore!)

Before March this year, in the three-year history of these threads, the record for the fastest thread was 23 April 2014 :
109 ppd (posts per day) - just over 8 days to fill a thread (seems like another world now )
including
329 posts in a 24 hour period.

Then March 2016 saw those tumble:
117 ppd, 168 ppd, 146 ppd, 194 ppd for the last thread in March.

On 1 April, we set the new record of:
343 posts in a 24 hour period (when Helen met Jess)

In the past few days, to quote a previous TA Editor, we've been shocked to the core - Sunday / Monday following the stabbing, we filled an entire thread in a day!

That thread starting 3 April managed 924 ppd. And if we pick the right period (end of one thread, start of next), starting 7:01pm on the Sunday:
1025 posts in 24 hours

I get the feeling that the police investigation, Ursula, the birth, (what else?) could mean we will see these records broken, although that won't be easy.

(Tag: Titchener stabbing - this will help me find this post in the future).

Statman now returns you to your usual discussion....

God DadDadDad, for the love of God, please don't show those stats to SOC!

Well, if SOC cut open that big fat juicy plum of audience response he would find a rottenness crawling with the maggots of outraged criticism.

(From stats to purple prose - numbers and words are my thing ).

Thanks for the stats, Dad. I do think it's interesting, like the spikes they report on Peet's of the highest number of posters on-line at once (last Sunday, unsurprisingly).

Lord save us from the Fairbrethren, please. Though I did see a comment on the BBC blog (I think, apols if it was someone here) where the poster suggested they were just one person talking to themselves in the manner of Gollum/Smeagol. That made me laugh out loud and I now find it v difficult to hear them in any other way.

Other former nicknames I liked was 'Moody & Broody' to describe Adam and Ian (at the time of the awful Mads/Ian's baby SL), and 'the baby Cheezus' for Henry, which was inspired.

grin]

That was for Dad 3
Three grins intended, not two and a Rob-like leer...!

Though I did see a comment on the BBC blog (I think, apols if it was someone here) where the poster suggested they were just one person talking to themselves in the manner of Gollum/Smeagol.

OMG that is SO apt!

Did anyone hear the trailer for the podcast before the WAO? It was utterly chilling. Shame Helen can't cite it as evidence.

I mostly lurk on these threads but I never feel too intimidated to post! You are a friendly lot. I was there at the beginning but my posting lapsed somewhat.

Humphrey I didn't hear it just then but if it's the one I think it is then they haven't stopped playing it for the last 24 hours! Horrible.

Yes, that podcast trailer is terrifying!