The Archers BBC Radio 4

Adam faces an uphill struggle, and Paul has a delicate issue.

At the Tearoom, Paul’s surprised to see Fallon looking so well after her drunken night out last week. That is until Fallon explains that she spent most of yesterday in bed at Kirsty’s. But now she feels like a reset button has been pressed and is feeling much better about everything. When Fallon notices Paul looking a bit uncomfortable, he says he’s fine. But later when Kirsty asks him if he’s got fleas or something, he brushes it off as sunburn. Later, Fallon starts to get flashbacks from her night out – and Kirsty’s forced to remind her of rapping and being thrown out of the club. Although Fallon’s embarrassed, it was also just what she needed, and she now feels she’s drawn a bit of a line. And Harrison seems much happier in himself too. Fallon was dreading her birthday, but now she’s looking forward to it with Harrison.
Justin mentions to Fallon that there’s been no further cases of Strangles at The Stables. Things are still fraught there though with Oliver’s horse still struggling. Justin’s worried about Lilian which is why he’s insisted she take a lunch break. When Lilian talks about how stressed she is, Justin broaches finding a replacement for Alice. Lilian’s defensive, pointing out that alcoholism is a disease. And anyway Alice didn’t do anything wrong, any horse can get Strangles. Justin concedes that they do at least need to look at the practicalities. He’ll compromise by sounding out a few potential replacements on a no obligation basis, just so they’re prepared for the worst. Lilian agrees as long as Justin’s discreet.

Alan and Harrison meet in the church for private prayers and meditation for Harrison to think about his loss. Before they start Alan checks that this time Fallon knows what he’s doing, but Harrison hasn’t told her because it always leads to a row. He wants these prayers to be unspoiled. Afterwards Harrison feels more at peace with everything, and Alan says he’ll remember both Harrison and Fallon in his prayers. But he reminds Harrison that he ought to let Fallon know what he was doing and why.
Fallon’s out on the town with Kirsty, celebrating her birthday early. She’s told Harrison that she’s staying at Kirsty’s and watching a film. Fallon just wants a night away from all the recent angst with Harrison. They agree not to talk about anything work or man-related. As the evening goes on Fallon gets tipsy and tells Kirsty she bumped into Lily, Paul and Josh in the bar. Paul’s there trying to take his mind off his relationship troubles with Etienne. Fallon’s agreed to go on to a club with them afterwards, commenting that it’s good to have mates – she’s glad she’s got Kirsty. As the evening progresses Fallon gets drunker, but Kirsty stays with her. When Fallon opens up about how she feels that people are trying to control her personal life, Kirsty counsels that sometimes it’s not about control. There are people out there who love her. Fallon adds that there’s also fun out there as well as worries, so she’s going to dance the night away!

Stella can’t get over yesterday’s cyber-attack – she should’ve been prepared, but Pip thinks Stella shouldn’t blame herself and anyway Stella may not have been responsible. When Stella starts catastrophising, Pip checks whether everything’s been saved on to the cloud and Stella confirms it has. So nothing’s been lost. Later they discover that it was Brian’s fault – he’d clicked on a link and let the virus in. Stella praises Pip for dealing with it all so calmly, when she’d fallen to pieces.
Lily and Josh check in with Paul about his relationship with Etienne. Paul’s very unhappy, particularly when Josh let’s slip that he thinks Etienne is dull and then Lily confirms it. They wonder if Paul might be better off without Etienne, especially as it sounds like he wants to cheat on Paul. Paul’s not sure if he wants to end the relationship yet, but he does want to take Lily and Josh out to thank them for being true mates.
The Grundys discuss what they should do about Bartleby – Meg needs to know whether they’re willing to sell him by the end of the day. But when they share what they think, they all have opposing views. Later they ask for Oliver’s help, and he suggests holding a secret ballot with family members who can text their votes to him. As there’s an even number of voters, Oliver will have the casting vote if there’s a draw. In the end Oliver declares that selling Bartleby has won by a single vote.

Stella asks for Pip’s opinion on a sustainability paper she’s writing for Borchester Land. Stella agrees when Pip suggests commissioning an ecological survey of all the BL land. But as Stella’s about to add that to her document, the computer starts to crash. Pip realises it’s a cyber-attack, telling Stella to shut it down immediately.
Kirsty catches up with Fallon to ask what she wants to do for her birthday next week. Fallon says truthfully she’d just like to spend it with Harrison. She’s missed being close with him. They’re interrupted by Alan who mentions that he’s on his way to see Harrison about the order of service. Fallon knows nothing about it and is upset when she realises it’s a service for the loss of unborn babies. Alan’s apologetic, realising Harrison didn’t tell Fallon, and makes a quick exit leaving upset Fallon to wonder how Harrison could do this to her.
Furious Fallon confronts Harrison about organising the service behind her back. He tries to explain that he and Alan were only looking at it as a possibility. He didn’t mention it because he wasn’t sure how Fallon would react. Fallon feels betrayed. Harrison has really tried but he can’t turn his feelings off. Harrison goes and Fallon tells Kirsty she’s changed her mind - she wants to go out and celebrate her birthday with Kirsty before next week.
Alan counsels Harrison, saying he needs to acknowledge his own grief. Perhaps instead of a service, Harrison and Alan could have a private time of prayer. But Harrison needs to tell Fallon this time.

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.