The Archers - It's so much more than just a soap. It's a bloody drama!

[PseudoBadger]

Will it still be Sunday tonight?

What I'm trying to articulate, through my choking rage, is that we are the only people who were ever in that room with him when the behaviour that he should be sent down for was exhibited!

Although tbf all of the above 'behaviours' of Henwee are perfectly normal on a kid who i used to be an only whose mum is expecting a baby. Fear of the unkniwn
Etc.

What the actual f* is going on? That's all I have to say.

and his stoma would not be permenent

Depends on the injury. A direct knife wound to the bowel would probably not lead the a permanent stoma - it could be reversed once the bowel had healed. But, if the stabbing injury was to the blood supply to the bowel and a large part of the gut was deprived of oxygen as a result (ischaemia), the stoma might be permanent.

I fear you are right Vango, which is why Miles' evidence will be crucial

Unfortunately I think we are pinning too much hope on the police & Helen's solicitor doing a thorough investigation. Helen is currently weeping & wailing and doesn't seem to understand the significance of what she's done. Rather than taking a deep breath and examining her relationship with Rob and how it got to the point of trying to kill him, she is still in shock and incoherent. Luckily Usha had the sense to send in a criminal lawyer, but a good lawyer will need time and a bottomless pit of funding to get to the root cause of Helen's predicament, especially as she isn't helping herself.

The police have a fairly clear cut case at this point. Helen has virtually admitted stabbing him, she has been deemed mentally fit, so with over stretched police budgets and a rush of theft and arson in Ambridge, this is an easy crime to process quickly.

Things are not looking good for Helen and I doubt if she will see Henry at any time soon. The only bright point was Pat coming to her defence in front of Bruce & Ursula and, of course, admitting that she should have stuck with her gut instinct about Rob. At least she has switched allegiance from Rob swiftly.

My mother told people for years that I was difficult. .ost people from my years before I married seem to realise she's the one with issues now. Pat's a saint in comparison.

Why was it an induced coma? That's not done for laughs. And people can loose a pint of blood, have a wee lie down a biscuit and a cup of tea, and off back to work they go.

Bruce is a liar, and Ursula believes it.

Buttered Jess said Rob raped her. Jess said he kept tabs on her. Can this be corroborated by anyone else?

Robs controlling and violent behaviour isn't even relevant unless he dies though.

Brian may prove himself the unlikely hero and fund the defence on behalf of family. He does, after all, k ow what it's like to have wayward daughters.

Why was it an induced coma

Normal for anyone as seriously ill as Rob. We know he has a lung and bowel injury. The majority of people in Intensive Care after accidents/medical emergencies (as opposed to after planned surgery) are in an induced coma for part of their stay.

Yes let's get Miles in because he will be believed.

Helen and Jess? Nah!

A few people have mentioned a scar on Rob's arm. When was this mentioned? I seem to have missed it. I'm assuming you're referring to an old scar and not from this one?

Why was it an induced coma? That's not done for laughs.

No but it is done to service the plot.

Bruce said "they are keeping him under [until after next op]"

Onviously SOC saw this on casualty or something and thought it might come in handy.

It's all an enormous pile of pish

I just listened again and it struck me that the way Arsula and Bruce spoke to each other sounded exactly the way Hells and Knob used to. Arse was all anxious, walking-on-eggshells and "sorry, sorry" and Bruce all bullying and "put your coat on, woman".

Knob would have turned Hellin into another Arsula - deferential and timid around him and spectacularly passive-aggressive to everyone else.

Arse probably dresses in mauve and has her hair the way Helln is now wearing hers too.

Tbf Hellin already was spectacularly PA to everyone else. Maybe Rob married his mother.

Rob will wakeup from the coma unable to remember anything.

I may have said this before, in which case I apologise. can't keep up.

Vango I'm sorry I wasn't being snotty. My point was that as listeners we don't know if a lot of the things Rob said were true. On the other hand, we know that both Helen and Jess were raped, even if there is no evidence.

Although the focus has been on the DV storyline, Helen will be tried for (potentially) murder of her husband. Rob won't be the one on trial, so I don't think vague hopes of Miles appearing like a knight in shining armour to say that Rob once pulled the wings off flies and pushed him over in the playground can have any bearing on her guilt. Can anyone legally qualified confirm or rebut this? Helen may or may not decided to say how Rob treated her in her defence. Would Jess even be called in court to give evidence? Logic would dictate that Jess could be called as a witness if Rob was being prosecuted, but she is a weak witness in Helen's defence.

bit of loght relief. Anyone new to TA drawn in by the current misogynistic, sensationalist and cynical exploitation of domestic abuse for cheap ratings hike story line

Can catch up with who is who and what is what here in 60 seconds.

YY Small - the raw material was there already, wasn't it?

stick I agree. But hey. As if SOC gives a fuck about actual boring shit like realism.

It doesn't matter if the violence is documented or not. And it's violent to be gas lighted, coerced into sex, and fists aren't obliged. That is what this new law is all about.

I'm pretty sure I know now what the new law is about. What I need to know is how much evidence is required to secure a conviction. If it turns out that Helen can claim, post-stabbing, that she's been in a coercive and controlling relationship, despite telling more or less everyone who knows her, including her parents, that she was married to the most wonderful man on earth, then where does that leave her? How is she going to prove it?

Love the Reduced Archers