Roll up roll up! It's nearly Apple Day in Ambridge. Grab a slice of Borset apple cake and see who's got the longest peel in The Archers.

[PseudoBadger]

I'm so happy with the return to the little things. Enjoy the new thread!

Wasn't there's scene in the bull with him and others and they were condemning of him?

Yes- and Ed was talking to him again the next day even though he had had a go at Emma. And Kenton is still serving him.

I haven't heard David on the subject recently, to be fair.

Maybe Brine will talk to Justin and it won't go at all according to Rob's script? Though I think the SWs won't want to splay Rob's delusions quite yet.

I think if Brine had taken Rob on, he'd have got the 'I've done nothing wrong, your niece stabbed me and then falsely accused me to get herself off, she knows that, I'm not being prosecuted for anything am I?' line. It may be that Rob causing trouble for all and sundry will be what eventually persuades Helen that she must be brave and make the complaints.

I stopped listening for a while during Rob's ascendancy - just couldn't stand it, especially the imminent abuse of Henry. I used to read the strange written-as-if-translated-from-Latvian plot updates on the website to see if it was a 'safe' episode for me. I haven't listened to last night's episode as yet, but reading this thread tells me I shouldn't. Back to the plot updates and circling the radio cautiously again until Rob's fortunes dip again. Sigh.

And why does the great horsewoman, Shula, have difficulty controlling her horse when Rob's around?

Enoch, perhaps the horse is reacting to Rob's satanic nature??

And since when did liking the Pet Shop Boys constitute a guilty pleasure? They're not my favourite band, but they've 30 odd years of making artful, intelligent pop music behind them. I don't think anyone would think you have terrible taste for liking the Pet Shop Boys.

It isn't like confessing to an undying love of James Last or admitting you have everything Steps have ever recorded is it?

I was thinking the same Cromwell! I don't believe in ghosts etc but still remember the time quite a few years ago that my then 18 month old nephew came into a graveyard and screamed and screamed – very weird but it did seem like he was picking up on some vibe (he was fine as soon as he went out again). So perhaps the horse picks up on vibes too!

Dylan I thought the guilty secret was a chance to make Roy squirm about the fake dog!

Shoots near bridleways and public footpaths are perfectly normal round here.

Dylan I thought the same, PSB are not a guilty pleasure. But it was a way of getting that phrase into the conversation so he could squirm about the dog deception... as well as the affair-with-his-boss thing, which she obviously finds a dealer-breaker.

Jasper I take your point that in real life abusers aren't necessarily totally ostracised, but we aren't talking about a circle of acquaintances we are talking about close family - Helen is Brian and Lillian's niece. The families are very close to one another - I think if I was confronted with someone who had raped my niece and tried to take her children off her I would not be politely skirting round the issue. He might not have stood trials, but she was cleared of a pretty serious offence on the basis of her evidence - I don't think I'd be giving Knob the benefit for the doubt. Justin maybe I could accept if he wasn't having an affair with Lillian and employing her to manage his image. Old Justin wouldn't have cared, but new country gent local Justin would.

The more I think about it, the weirder (more shoehorned) the 'I can't stand infidelity' conversation was. Yes, dramatic irony and all that, but IRL who likes infidelity? No one. You don't need to say you're against it, it's a given, unless you accidentally find yourself at a swingers' party or, at a push, at a stage in a relationship when you were discussing having an open relationship.

It made Lucy look completely unreasonable for making such a fuss about a non-existent issue. Also, I'm not an expert in dating, but surely it would be perfectly acceptable to contact a few people at once and arrange dates, then stop contacting others if you wanted to see one person again. She can hardly expect an exclusive relationship before she's had a return phone call from the first date? Or AIBU? I really know nothing about the protocol.

It made her come across a bit loopy. Nothing wrong with her view but the way she talked about cutting off her friend made her sound militant. Sounding militant on any subject can't be good on a first date!! And demanding exclusivity before Roy had really had a chance to consider the date seemed a bit much. I would have thought more a second or third date request!! I thought she sounded a it intense before that bit anyway though! I would have thought the first date is when you mention kids and also the fact he is legally still married!!

The whole thing felt very staged to allow Roy to wallow in self pity and declare the whole thing a waste of time.

Yeah. She came across a bit demanding and a trifle odd. Run Roy, run!

chipolata

I didn't think Lucy sounded loopy really. When I did OLD it seemed to make sense to get all the deal breakers on the table very early on, when neither party has invested anything in the relationship- no point wasting each other's time if there's a big no-go issue for someone.

Also I can imagine coming across a few cheaters at Roy's age (male and female) so best to weed them out on date 1. What I mean is, not many singletons will have always been single so there must be some reason why their previous relationships ended - some will be due to infidelity so it's not an unfounded worry if it'd be a deal breaker.

Disclaimer: Not All Singletons Are Like That obvs

re Brian's convos with Rob-
in my imagination, Rob's deliberate goading would be best met with a raised eyebrow (='really ?' )
but I guess that wouldn't come across well on radio

I guess. But why not just write it on your profile then?

Rob's attempted put-down of Brian was in front of Justin, wasn't it? I was waiting for Justin to say something! & then Brian's comment about having one of the Big Cheeses to lunch made it sound as if he was stung by the beater/out of place comments.

Lowfield says B was "mortified" but honestly, knowing Rob as he does, he just wouldn't have been! Credited SW is Simon Frith. Is he one of the ones who generally has continuity issues with characters' personalities?

But why on earth would Rob have said that to the Chair of the Board? It makes no sense!!!!

Yes, that too.

He is sounding increasingly unhinged in fact. Is that where the storyline is going?

Maybe it's all part of a 'rob goes totally off the rails... why didn't we all spot the warning signs' storyline? Or maybe the various people Rob's been weird with since the trial will put two and two together and avert something terrible?

I don't think the exchange with Brian was in front of Justin - though Rob does seem to becoming less able to self-censor according to audience. He was positively obsequious to Justin.

I don't get Robs role as estate manager. Surely issues of crop success would be out of his remit. I find the whole Rob being employed by Justin, unbelievable. He was a dairy farm manager, and fiddled the figures then. Surely he should be handling rents, managing repairs etc. < I clearly know nothing>

I also thought at least some of what Rob said to Brian was in front of Justin - certainly the crack about needing to go and practise on the clays. If Rob had been my employee I would have had a word about that. More than one word, in fact.

I wonder if Shula will let Rob hire a horse if he decides to go hunting. And how he'd behave on the hunting field. It's supposed to be one of the worst sins to cheek the Master, and he's always done nothing but crawl around Oliver.

Rob would probably believe that the rest of hunt hated the shameful experience of having a female Master and that they would really have liked to ask him but were prevented by village politics over thatbitchhelen, so that really it's his duty to the community as a whole to undermine her at every opportunity.

gasp! Rob auditioning for panto