Quelle surprise! Rob hasn't FOTTFSOF and is in fact hiding in the bushes at Henwee's school. Discuss the latest unlikely Archers events here.

[PseudoBadger]

What do we want?
Realistic storylines!
When do we want them?
As soon as the writers see this!

Faintly you described my FIL

And whoever was talking about rural primary schools - DH's school had about 30 children in the school too.

Interesting how we all ' see' the storyline differently. I just hope it is not doomed but the last 12 months been pretty dire and I really do hope it improves. I would love to see it return to believable storylines and have characters who I cared about. But I just keep listening☺

Well around here Tom or Josh would probably have got a tractor to unblock the road. But it could well have stayed at the side of the Road for ages. Maybe it's because I live in one of the most heavily wooded counties?

Just L A to catch up with last two episodes. Enjoyed them but why does Henwee sound like my 3 year old DGS?

It would have been a dreadful copout if there'd been some disaster leaving Rob dead. I'd have liked him to be arrested, but in a way for him it was almost worse being so thoroughly defeated by the woman he wanted to destroy and two other women he despised. Plus, of course, finally losing MySon - he must know he can wave goodbye to contact with Jack now.

That was quite satisfactory as a semi colon on a story line. Stymied by the three people he despises the most. Tom called the police so Rob will be arrested, hopefully charged, tried, found guilty and be locked up for years. I hope he comes back, the character is too good to lose.

I tried to watch the Q&A on Farcebook but it just wouldn't stream. My connection isn't fast enough, though it was fast enough to see all the comments being posted whizz past at an unreadable speed.

I was really hoping that Kirsty was videoing the scene, so that Ursula can't say the archers just made it all up.

It was great to hear Helen stand up to Rob, but I agree she must report it.

I hope josh had his phone hands free

Can't understand why kirsty and granny weren't on the phone to police while it was happening.
Can't understand how she told him to go, then turned her car in a seventeen point turn and drove off with him behind her.

Can't understand why diverting flood water away from his farm and into the village is more embarrassing than systematically abusing and raping your wife. Why is that the crime, of all of them, that he doesn't want to admit to and that helen uses to control him?

Can't understand why kirsty and granny weren't on the phone to police while it was happening.

This. The police should have been called three or four times, by Helen - though I can understand wanting to find Jack with no delay. By Kirsty, by Pat, by Tom. They didn't need to have Helen's permission for it, and it would have been okay to get the response, "we've already got a car on its way, should be there in 2 minutes." If Helen had called the police at Christmas, or at he very least told someone, it might not have gone this far. Surely someone would have given them all some guidelines on this?

I'm an occasional lurker here. I missed yesterday's episode so will catch up with the omnibus, but wanted to second Polyhymnia's question about why Henwee has the speech patterns of a three year old. I rant about mention it to my husband every week.

My overriding reaction is the frustration with no one calling the police. After everything they've been through.
Helen thinking she could sort it out by screaming at Nob. Why that wouldn't actually provoke him more.
I find Hellin's absolute need to do everything on her terms slightly unhinged now.

I can understand Helen, she rushes off in the car trying to follow him. Rationally she should have rung first, but didn't see the car so can't tell them what to look for and knows he isn't far ahead of her.

The others should have at the first sign of anything happening.

I kind of see why Rob backs off- starts to realise he doesn't have a plan, struggled with the car seat, doesn't have supplies, and is about to be outed for something he actually knows was wrong (unlike his abuse of helen).

Just listened again, such a good episode! Yep she agreed to Tom calling the police right at the end but I think in that moment she was too drained and relieved to have her boys safe to care and I can get that.
She is right though, she has so much on him now, rape, coercive control, the flood, kidnapping. He's out of their lives. Well, for now

Tbf the rape and coercive control are already out there. She made no threat to him that she would report it to the police so the only threat she has is to tell people he did something that negatively inpacted on them personally

Although I don't believe the blocked culvert drama. I found the flood lacked credibility as the flood waters were extremely high over a large area and the am was bursting its banks. The flood would have still been terrible

Yes but he knows the more people that know the higher the chance of any of them going to the police. He's lost his power.

On the culvert yes - but everyone already knows about his crimes against Helen so the only threat there is to pursue it with the police.

I was responding to popcorn about why the blocked culvert was the crime he didn't want being made public knowledge

Just listened. No one here seems to have mentioned this - why oh why did they not call the police from the scene?

The other crimes (or to be accurate, and from his perspective, allegations) are already public knowledge. The culvert is new, may have directly affected many people including possibly being part of the reason for Freda's death. If Helen exposed this, it would remove the tattered shred of face-saving 'headhunted by someone in the US' - everyone would know for sure he'd been ignominiously sacked.

'No one here seems to have mentioned this - why oh why did they not call the police from the scene?'

They really should have had Kirsty doing this in the background but failing to get a connection (quite likely in the country on a foul night) just to save the nit picking. But to me, it seemed as though Helen at last had the measure of the man and her conviction that she could deal with him was a large part of why she was able to demolish him. Calling for help would have weakened her position psychologically, perhaps.

Having said that, other than a criminal conviction, I don't get why he would care. He just moves to a village the other side of the contact centre surely

Don't forget he was the 'hero of the flood'! He cares very deeply how other people see him and to have his hero status overturned would be terrible.

But spousal abuse and rape? That was all lies made up by a deranged harpy. He's a man who thinks the husband is king and can treat his wife exactly how he pleases, it's no one else's business.

But a flood hero who caused the worse flooding of the village?

I'm hoping this comes back to bite Justin's arse too!

Too many buts

He just moves to a village the other side of the contact centre surely

I'd imagine he's blown his contact for the foreseeable - what would actually happen in a case like this? More psychological assessment/treatment? But what would he do anywhere in the vicinity if there was a public scandal which badly compromised his former employer - no-one would touch him with a bargepole.

I listened last night while there was a crashing storm outside to add to the atmosphere

Yes on the whole I thought it was good. Helen had slipped in the mud , I THINK she kicked the bugger too. HOORAY for Helen . She didn't want to waste time while driving to ring the police. They'll be there tomorrow night.