The Archers BBC

Writers, Liz John and Adrian Flynn
Director, Gwenda Hughes
Editor, Jeremy Howe

Ruth Archer ….. Felicity Finch
David Archer ….. Timothy Bentinck
Pip Archer ….. Daisy Badger
Helen Archer ….. Louiza Patikas
Brian Aldridge ….. Charles Collingwood
Rex Fairbrother ….. Nick Barber
Shula Hebden-Lloyd ….. Judy Bennett
Alistair Lloyd ….. Michael Lumsden
Kirsty Miller ….. Annabelle Dowler
Philip Moss ….. Andy Hockley
Elizabeth Pargetter ….. Alison Dowling
Lee Bryce ….. Ryan Early
Vince Casey ….. Tony Turner
Russ Jones ….. Andonis James Anthony

Russ persuades Elizabeth to find half an hour in her busy day to meet the artist he’d like to feature in Lower Loxley’s next exhibition. He’s impressed with how Elizabeth has time for fun along with everything else and tells her to “go for it” with Vince.
Pip vents to Ruth about Phoebe making decisions without Pip’s input. What’s more she doesn’t know how she’ll ever trust Rex again. Pip is shocked when Ruth appears to waver on their decision to expand their dairy herd. Pip shares what she’s learned about out-wintering a herd which would save on costs including more building work.
Brian’s keen to fix a meeting with Pip, Phoebe and Rex about rewilding. He proudly tells Pip that Phoebe will make sure Rex’s spiteful review about the Brookfield barn doesn’t become an issue for the project.
Vince wants Elizabeth’s opinion on the wine he’ll buy for Stephanie’s wedding. Elizabeth quickly rates Lower Loxley’s own wine above all of Vince’s potential plonks. This leads to a wine tasting which makes them both merry. Elizabeth insists Vince comes with her to meet the artist that’s visiting the gallery. Afterwards, Russ tells off Elizabeth and Vince for giggling the whole time. They didn’t realise most of the works would be made out of wool. Nevertheless Elizabeth thinks it’s the right fit for Lower Loxley and urges Russ to book the artist. As a stunned Russ departs Elizabeth and Vince both agree they’ve found what they have been looking for.

Pip and David discuss who could have written the vitriolic online review about their barn venue. David wonders if it could have been Toby which gets Pip thinking. Could it have been Rex? David visits Rex who quickly admits he was behind the review. David is furious but Rex stands his ground. He’s felt hard done by with The Archers in more ways than one. David accepts his point of view and Rex apologises. Later, David stops Pip from following up his visit to him. David thinks both sides have messed up and should move on but Pip won’t let Rex’s betrayal go.
Back from exercising Alice’s horse, Shula asks after Jim. Alistair reports he’s fine since their visit from Philip though Jim would still like to know what’s happened to the lads that Philip forced to work for him. Meanwhile, Alistair is livid for allowing Philip into his house. He wishes he’d blanked him like Shula has done with Philip’s calls.
Shula answers an unrecognised number to find it’s Philip. He’s in prison on remand and is desperate to talk to someone he knows. Gavin has handed himself into the police and given evidence against Philip. Shula tells Alistair about the call and that Philip would like her to visit him. Alistair hopes Shula gave him short shrift.

Ruth tells David that an upcoming wedding booking has been cancelled after a scathing review was posted about their barn. The original post has been removed but not before it’s been copied across social media. They watch in horror as the post continues to be shared.
Brian advises David to stand firm in the wake of the negative review about the Brookfield barn venue. He also points out how specific the details are in the review. Could this help them work out who wrote it?
Lee finds Kirsty searching for clues to Blake, Kenzie and Jordan’s whereabouts and warns her not to put herself in danger. Kirsty bristles – anything she comes up against can’t be as bad as what those lads faced. Lee reports back to Helen and their thoughts turn to Philip and Kirsty’s house. It would have been perfect for Helen but now it’s tainted.
Helen tries to convince Kirsty that searching for the lads Philip enslaved is a job for the police. But Kirsty has twigged that they must have been sold on and she can’t give up looking for them. Helen wants Kirsty to focus on herself and reminds her again of how dangerous trawling the streets could be. When Helen dithers at Kirsty’s invitation to join her, Kirsty compares their situation to her support of Helen through her problems with Rob. If Helen won’t help, Kirsty would prefer to be left to her own devices and she hangs up.

Alistair’s shocked to find Philip on his doorstep. Philip insists everything he’s been accused of is fake news. Alistair finds that hard to believe and Philip admits there are some issues that need sorting. Alistair has realised that Gavin’s gambling problem wasn’t real. Philip jumps on this and appeals to Alistair as the only person who has been willing to help. Alistair invites him in.

Kirsty quizzes Helen about the Elms homeless shelter. She wants to volunteer there as soon as she can. Helen thinks Kirsty should get herself sorted first before looking to help others. But Kirsty is adamant she must do something now. Helen can’t believe that Kirsty has been looking for Blake, Kenzie and Jordan in places where people sleep rough around Borchester. She’s not thinking straight. But Kirsty corrects Helen; that was the case when she was with Philip but now her eyes are open and she wants to find those three lads.

Philip tells Alistair that his arrangement with his workers was equivalent to paying them at least the minimum wage. He insists it was better that way as the lads were no good with figures. He asks Alistair to get his explanation to Kirsty. Alistair doesn’t want to be involved and asks Philip to leave just as Jim arrives home. Jim is keen to hear Philip’s side of things. He lets Philip talk and then starts to throw his verbal punches. Philip walks out. Alistair asks his dad if he’s alright. Jim replies yes, he’s been needing to say that for decades but only now has he found the right words.

Tracy wakes up in Jazzer’s bed. With Jim not taking his usual morning walk because of bad weather there’s no way of leaving unnoticed. Jazzer tries to persuade Jim to go to the shop but the refuses. Jazzer leaves his room to have breakfast with Jim and Jim can’t help notice that he’s agitated. Jim insists he’s comfortable in the kitchen when Jazzer tries to get him to move but then suddenly decides to go for his morning walk after all.

Neil calls Brian with news that an auditor is on the way to Berrow Farm. Neil worries about what the auditor will make of their records. He’s finding it hard to sleep thinking about the lads that Philip enslaved. Brian calls for calm and asks if there is anything he should know about Justin’s running of Berrow. Neil assures him that everything has been above board. Nevertheless, Neil’s terrified that Berrow is going to go under but Brian tells him to pull himself together. Neil hasn’t done anything wrong and Brian promises that he won’t let Berrow or Neil be destroyed by the Philip revelations.

Jazzer calls Tracy who reveals she’s back home after climbing out of his bedroom window. She’s exhilarated by her escape but Jazzer isn’t impressed. He feels bad for forcing Jim out into the rain. Later, Jim asks Jazzer who his mystery woman is. Jim was hoping that Jazzer was on his way to finding love but Jazzer quickly says his liaison was nothing important and will never happen again. He admits he does want more from a relationship but this woman isn’t the one for him.