Archers Addicts 4!!

Just caught up with Fridays episode. Blooming marvellous?!!!

It's real to us sara4 .

I'm glad Tom went in the house with Kirsty, because where was Rob? Blossom Hill cottage was rented by Rob when he first came to Ambridge wasn't it? Then Jess joined him, so he would be the tenant wouldn't he? He must have spent a lot of the £10 thousand Peggy gave them, he had legal representative to pay for and only salary from his jobs at Bridge Farm. Yes I know it is not real, but we are all gripped with what is happening.

You really don't know what you don't know do you, which is why these dramas are so good at raising awareness. Thank you LG and Elrel for filling in the gaps for me.

I was going over the top re guards but with Rob I would even be worried about what he was saying to Jack. I can imagine though that, as with so many of these areas of life, people will generally be more sad than bad.

How did you come to volunteer Elrel. I have a friend who used to volunteer at the crèche run at visiting time in our local prison and I have a feeling that was a WRVS project. It is amazing how many things are held together by women of a certain age

Xpost, Lazigirl. Apologies. Ours were younger, physically fit women in their 50s. I assume there must be degrees of supervised contact. It would be too easy for Rob to take off with Myson. He'd need to be in a secure building with security guards on the doors IMHO!. Helen may be in a very bad way when the contact happens wherever and however it's done. No grandparent or new partner would be allowed in, contact is only for the one specific person granted it.

Will Peggy find out what happened to her very generous wedding present?
Gracesgran - it's a good few years since I volunteered at a local contact centre. I'm sure things have changed since. Ours was a church hall complex run by 'kind but firm' experienced people, at least one was a SW. I found most NR parents were appreciative and a touch sad, hoping for a step forward to unsupervised contact. Some had legal permission to take their child(ren) from the centre for the contact, so only the handovers were supervised and the parents didn't meet. There were no 'guards' but we were all vigilant and NR parents could not leave the contact room, we took children to the loo, not them.
I do remember a professional mother in her 30s, well spoken, well dressed and very nervous. She told me that her partner turned out to be not the man she thought, like Rob. She brought her only child, a few months old, like GiddyJack. Handsome charming father had been allowed by the court to take the baby from the centre, unlike Rob. She was understandably worried. All was well in fact. It's unnerving however to see a small baby carried out by a plausible estranged father.

I assume that Rob's supervised contact will be very different, in a more secure environment.

Independant Contact centres are run by volunteers in this area, mostly women in their 70s and 80s. No match for a determined parent and they do occasionally have problems, their only recourse being to call the police!

No funeral Galen it was just a comparator for what people do in highly emotional situations.

Would Rob we allowed to stay in that house? After all it was Helens not his. Don't see why He should be allowed contact after his true character was revealed.

Pat Archer's turmoil: Pat Gallimore Interview

custody battle highlights unfairness of legal aid eligibility rules The Law Society reveals how Rob would qualify for legal aid but Helen wouldn't.

A bit legal and dry but very worrying.

Are there guards at independent centres to stop him running off with Jack? If there are plenty of people around I would feel much happier for all the RL people in this situation. I wouldn't trust a man like Rob an inch at the moment. As you say there is the "if I can't have them no one will" scenario. I think some of the men who kill their children may be very depressed - that doesn't make it better but I understand it more than the psychopath mindset. I wonder if any research has been done.

What funeral please? I have so many days at work at present and can't listen on a Sunday as it conflicts with archery.

gracesgran I think supervised contact would be at an independent contact centre as the judge does not seem to trust Rob. I dont think it would be right or safe for any of the Archers to have to host this contact.

I am actually quite surprised that the judge has come out so much against Rob having much contact or custody. Far too many judges have made really bad decisions in this situation.
Far too many fathers have commited a murder/suicide on contact days with their children.

Am SO pleased Helen has children back. As OP have said this is going to last for years. . . . . Hope Rdoesn't get the job and has to go away to find work, somewhere like Oz.
Ah I could see Tom and Kirsty get back together-lovely.
And Oliver being all magnanimous too!
What a satisfying week after all those months of angst for us all.

Forgot to say thanks for instructions Graces. Will try and give it a go.

Helen hasn't shown signs of being gay BUT her experience with Rob is enough to turn her off men for life.
I think Kirsty and Tom will eventually get back together and end up getting hitched quietly with no big wedding malarkey like last time. Will take at least a year of building our expectations.........Think I'll apply for SW job!

Has Helen shown any signs of being gay?! I thought she had a passionate love affair with a gamekeeper type back in the mists of time.

I had that thought too shyshal but they are both emotionally damaged so I am hoping for really good friends.

The circumstances are real enough though Nandalot and I think, in RL, I would have been very worried.

So now, twice a week Rob visits Jack ... at Bridge Farm or would it be elsewhere? If it was elsewhere I wouldn't like to be on my own with him if I was Pat. It really isn't over yet is it. And what is poor Henry going to make of not seeing 'Daddy'?

The Social Workers didn't seem happy with them being with either parent although the Judge disagreed. Will they keep an eye on Helen - that wouldn't be easy either.

This is the start for the children not the end I feel and for all its complications it was the best they could hope for.

Strange things happen after funerals, so I am told, because of the high emotional charge and that is no doubt what Kirsty and Tom felt but I hope they don't hurt one another.

How about a future relationship between Helen and Anna? Just a thought.

Pat found her balls at last. Let's hope Jack doesn't have contact with Ursula supervising, surely the Archers could.claim that was dangerous. Glad Rob has lost claim to poor Henry. He needs some counselling or psychotherapy.

What a relief! Well done for the social worker spotting that Henry had been manipulated. I was so pleased to hear Henry's voice at home with the Archers. I really thought Rob might turn on him. There are so many cases of fathers killing themselves and their children.
( P.S. I know it's not real.)

Now all that is needed is for Justin to put the boot in by withdrawing the job offer, Stefan to return and spill more beans and Charlie to tip them off that Rob was fiddling the books.
What is termed, I believe, a RESULT

Yaay! (although the episode hasn't ended yet)