The Archers BBC Radio 4

Plans take shape for Harrison, and Stella is in panic mode.

Lily and Josh discuss Paul’s boyfriend Etienne, who’s asked for an open relationship. Paul’s really down about it. Josh thinks Paul would be better off without dull Etienne and they wonder what they can do to help. They decide that it’s best to keep their distance - Paul only has to ask if he needs any support.
Lilian visits Paul at the Vets to discuss Oliver’s horse Duke, who’s not showing any signs of improvement from his Strangles infection. Lilian notices Paul’s not himself and asks Josh what’s wrong. When Josh says it’s boyfriend trouble, Lilian points out that Paul’s lucky to have Lily and Josh as housemates to shore him up. Later Lily agrees with Josh that it would be better if they reached out to Paul.
George tells Emma that someone called Meg Mellor really took to Bartleby at the County Show on Sunday. He’s invited her over to see Bartleby in his home environment – there might be a commercial opportunity in it, like sponsorship for Bartleby or buying online advertising around George’s posts. She might even make a charitable donation which would help with vets fees. Emma’s surprised when she discovers Meg’s visiting today. When she arrives early, Emma learns that Meg wants to buy Bartleby. She runs a sanctuary for veteran horses, and she’d really like Bartleby to be a companion pony. Ed thinks they should tell Meg to sling her hook but is stopped in his tracks when he hears how much she’s willing to pay for Bartleby.

Lilian and Paul look over Oliver’s horse Duke, who’s struggling with Strangles. Lilian confides to Paul that she feels she hasn’t managed the situation at The Stables very well – she wouldn’t blame Oliver if he held her entirely responsible for this whole disaster. There’s no guarantee that Duke will survive this. Later when she visits Oliver, he’s understanding and apologises for being snappy last week. Lilian opens up saying she thinks she’s losing her grip by failing to control the spread of Strangles. Oliver knows exactly how she feels – he’s felt like that in the past with Grey Gables, but it turned out alright. With Roy away, Oliver feels that chaos could be one step away again. But we cope, he says! Lilian’s comforted and admits she thought Oliver would shout at her about Duke. She’s not a flimsy woman, but Oliver’s sympathy has made her feel tearful.
Lily and Josh sunbathe in the garden and chat about Paul’s messages from Denise who’s having a great time on holiday. Lily muses that now she’s finished her course for the summer and her placement at Grey Gables is coming to an end, it’s going to be the start of her hot girl summer. She’s going to a spin class at Grey Gables as part of her summer plans to get tanned, then toned. Paul turns up saying he’ll join her at the class as he needs a distraction. They have fun but afterwards Paul receives a text from boyfriend Etienne, wanting to open up their relationship. Paul worries that it might signal the end for him.

When Alan catches up with Harrison, he admits that although things are now good with Fallon, he can’t get away from a nagging feeling about the miscarriage. Alan advises talking to Fallon, but Harrison doesn’t want to rock the boat. When Alan suggests doing something practical, Harrison says he’s already applied for a baby loss certificate, to acknowledge it happened. Alan wonders whether he would also consider a Church of England service for the loss of unborn babies, but if so Harrison would need to share it with Fallon. Later Harrison tells Alan he’d like to do the service and Alan suggests calling round later in the week to talk to both Harrison and Fallon. Harrison’s not sure about putting Fallon in the picture, but he’ll definitely let Alan know if Fallon’s not going to be there.
Ed and Emma are at the Borsetshire County Show where Bartleby’s the star attraction in his VIP enclosure. George looks miserable though, but they agree that the recent hero worship may’ve affected him. Will arrives with the ‘Little Grange Tree Surgery’ flyers and business cards to distribute, and Ed gets a phone call. It’s a local tree surgeon needing emergency help to clear a tree from a road. Ed and Emma accept the job, leaving Will and George to do publicity work. Afterwards Ed and Emma are delighted - their business is up and running! Will’s less delighted at being left leafletting, but mentions a woman who was keen on Bartleby. But despite being a celebrity, Bartleby is costing them more that he’ll ever make.

Fallon and Harrison wake up together feeling close again, but she checks he was ok that they just cuddled? Of course. Harrison looks for Jolene at the Bull and shares good news with Kenton – Markie has been arrested for receiving stolen goods and should be facing jail. Kenton asks about Fallon and Harrison admits that recently has been the worst time they’ve faced together. Kenton and Jolene really care about Harrison - Fallon is like a daughter to Kenton, and Harrison is like a son.
Fallon feels that things are on the up, and Harrison comments about the importance of finding justice for hurt loved ones. Fallon knows what he really means and asks that they don’t go there.
Jakob instructs Lilian on dealing with Strangles, and she feels like crying. Lilian is critical of Justin over his assumptions that Alice’s drinking is connected to problems at the Stables and Jakob thinks Justin’s being unfair.
Oliver hopes his horse, Duke, will survive, and acknowledges that the Stables have just been incredibly unlucky. But Lilian confesses that she can’t find the essential paperwork about Cinnamon, the original horse with Strangles – which means she could be seen to be personally at fault for trusting Alice. However, Lilian phones Oliver again, relieved to have found it, and to reassure him. Oliver is cool with Lilian and suggests she get to the bottom of what happened so that it doesn’t happen again.
Jakob looks over Duke again and tells Lilian he’s sorry, but he can’t make any promises about whether the horse will survive.

Chelsea and Ben prepare for their D-Day performance, dressed in authentic costume. Ben carefully asks Chelsea if she’s ok about doing this play with him, and she agrees. Ben also fills Chelsea in on Freddie and Vince’s discovery last night.
Chelsea does Fallon’s hair and Fallon’s amazed at how much she looks like her Great Aunt in her photo. Chelsea jokes about how much Harrison will fancy Fallon in her vintage look, and admits that she’d like to fall in love, before sharing that it’s weird that everyone knows about what happened between her and Ben – but doing this play has actually been good for them both.
Joy tells Emma about Mick’s work at Grey Gables, and the issue of his motorhome, and Emma complains about snobbery. They share a joke with Harrison, before Lynda introduces her short play performance - a promenade piece. Ben performs as a young soldier, writing a letter home to his beloved before their wedding, in which he dreams about their life together after the war. Then there’s a playful hair-washing scene between Pearl (Chelsea) and Connie (Fallon), which takes a sad turn.
An emotional Emma and Joy congratulate Chelsea and discuss the story – the soldier was killed the day before starting leave to get married, and it was all a true story. Chelsea finds Ben to say well done. Meanwhile, Fallon marvels at how Lynda wrote the play in a day and tells Harrison that she can’t imagine what she’d do if he died. Harrison comforts Fallon and jokingly reassures her he’s not going anywhere.