The Archers - We Listen So You Don't Have To

[PseudoBadger]

Happy(?!) Sunday everyone

What will this week have in store for us I wonder?

mondays episode

features cows, Bert, Jill, some discussion with solicitor and Pat. No shouting at the radio.

still not sure if I can listen to last Friday due to its description.

I'm waiting for Ursula to have a cup of tea and be found unconscious the next morning and have to be taken to hospital for collapse ?cause.

Is there still Legal Aid?

So glad the barrister's a woman. We might at least have some chance of distinguishing her voice..............

Ooh looking forward to listening later!!

Yes there is still legal aid, especially in areas covering domestic violence.

I was surprised about the reference to legal aid. My sister does mainly legal aid work and all I hear from her is how hard it is to qualify now. Although I suppose Helen doesn't currently have an income so it's probably fair enough (or is she on sick leave from the shop at the moment?)

I've been away since Thursday, hence my stupid questions. These threads move so fast.

Do episodes like this qualify for the klaxon? It's going to be like this for a while: Rob's not saying much and Helen's interactions are a bit limited.

This would be criminal legal aid, so it doesn't matter whether it's domestic violence or not. Mind you, the rates would be peanuts, you wouldn't get a senior solicitor obediently going out to visit the accused's mum on those rates.

Buy yay for SHWL (Shit Hot Woman Lawyer)! Now all she needs to do is borrow some of Carol's tea for the prosecution barrister, or maybe get her to make up a truth serum for Knob, and we're sorted.

Although I suppose Helen doesn't currently have an income so it's probably fair enough (or is she on sick leave from the shop at the moment?

I've never filled in a legal aid application but I have a vague idea there may a capital cap as well as an income cap. That £10,000 might be a problem.

Lass I think you will find that Rob has kindly taken care of that problem

Yey for the SHWB Jill has conjured up. But can I rant about Pat?

Yes, the Patbot was annoying, but you could sort of understand Pat being blinded by her desire to see Helen settled after all her traumas. But Pat's general uselessness now is giving me the . She has always been a coper and not afraid of facing up to facts. This whimpering hand-wringing about how Helen must come home because she is pregnant and why can't the entire justice system accommodate this - as if Helen has been nicked for shop-lifting a bag of Haribo - is so, so out of character.

I understand Pat and Tony being completely flabber-gasted on the Day of Reckoning itself, turning up at the house to see Helen in handcuffs. But, one week on, the real old Pat would have been all about the practicalities and working out what was best for Helen - not constantly falling apart as if she has never faced a decision or a hardship in her life. Argh.

Lass, even if the £10,000 were intact, it's jointly owned money so only half of it would be Helen's capital

(Unlikely there's much/any left)

For the benefit of a newish listener, has Tony always been useless?

He is giving me the rage.

As others have said - yay for Carol!! A barrister specialising in DV has to be good news.

Two things/questions:

1. I get the concerns re: Helen influencing Henry but why can't a supervised visit be ok?? With a police officer present or social worker or whatever?

2. So from Dominic's remarks and Pat's as well, it sounds like Helen hasn't told ANYONE what/how it happened? Did she only tell Kirsty about Rob threatening Henry? Did she even tell Kirsty that? My sleep-deprived brain can't remember... I don't understand why Hen hasn't even told her solicitor...

BOOP for the SHWL! I'm picturing Maxine Peake

I didn't understand why Dominic thought it might be difficult to instruct a barrister - as though it was at short notice. Criminal matters always come up unexpectedly and at short notice so criminal solicitors and barristers work round this. Civil matters can take months/years so counsel might be instructed a long time in advance.
Presume SHWB won't be played by Maxine Peake though expect that the Judge John Deed criminal procedure rules rather than Archbold will operate.

Not exactly no. Years ago it was actually Tony who initiated their move into organic farming and Pat had to catch up.

He's always been hampered by unfeasibly wealthy (through marriage) sisters and a mother who clearly prefers a more alpha type of man. But he must be pretty shrewd and dogged to have kept Bridge Farm going through the eras of threatening landlords and John's death.

But he doesn't seem to have had much opportunity to leave Ambridge for any significant length of time barring pantomimes so some of his views are a bit encased in mud.

Not this useless Wolpertinger. Moaney, yes. Useless, not so much.

All hail Queen Jill though! It's like she descended through the ceiling on a cloud with her own personal chorus of cherubim and seraphim. If Ann Tregoran doesn't ride in on a white charger channeling Joan of Arc, I will be displeased.

Mixed feelings about Patbot. Generally I am irritated by her, but I get this actually. I know she's normally all practical etc but this is her child, and also she's doubting herself. Knob groomed her too and she must be horrified and incredibly unsettled as a result. All she can focus on is getting her chickens home (as my Mam would say) - it's a totally defensive reaction.

(That was for Wolpertinger)

Arrrgghh! Right - I've googled this to the point of shrieking and can't figure out how to tell who plays Helen's current solicitor. It's been bugging me for days where I know that voice from.....
Is it or is it not young Scrooge from the Muppet Christmas Carol? please somebody's that understands the Archers website tell me where to look!!!!

glowfrog I think Helen said, "He was shouting at Henry" when Kirsty came over immediately after the stabbing. Kirsty asked if Henry was okay and Helen said he was. I'm not sure that it's clear to anyone yet that Rob went to grab Henry. Not that that would necessarily be a reason to stab Rob unless Helen is able to explain more clearly than she's done so far why she felt that she and Henry were threatened.

Hoping Carol's daughter is able to get Helen to tell her what happened. At least if she's a specialist in domestic abuse she'll know what questions to ask.

Actually, thinking about it, Carol's daughter either: didn't notice that her mum killed her dad; covered up that her mum killed her dad or felt that it didn't merit bringing to the attention of the police. Probably the last one I'm guessing.

Backtowork he's played by Lex Shrapnel (great name!) according to the episode cast list.