The Archers

Its just a drama for goodness sake. Noone is victim blaming anyone In real life. Helen to me, and this is only me speaking, is all about herself. In the past she has only thought about herself and didnt care about what she put her parents through. This is just a made up story get off your soap box DaisyAnneReturns!

Peartree

Rob is so conniving and Helen is a bit dopey regarding him she should play him at his own game, like saying yes we should sort out you seeing your son. Put him on the back foot and get him to beg instead of being frightened or letting hin know she is frightened of him. I wonder how long they are going to drag this story out.

I wonder how each of us would appear to the outside world in the same circumstances? I imagined appearing "dopey" would be the least if our problems. Survival for us and our children would be a much greater one.

Perhaps they should "drag this out" until more people understand what this is and until the victim blaming stops.

Rob is so conniving and Helen is a bit dopey regarding him she should play him at his own game, like saying yes we should sort out you seeing your son. Put him on the back foot and get him to beg instead of being frightened or letting hin know she is frightened of him. I wonder how long they are going to drag this story out.

Yes, Farzanah quite right. He was born six weeks early by caesarean as Helen had pre- eclampsia.

Wasn’t he conceived via a donor when Helen was single?

where did he come from, biologically ?

I wonder what Helen has told Henry about his own biological father? He must have asked her by now.

NotSpahetti I don’t think you dismissed Helen abd you’re so right, it’s only a soap so we can enjoy getting cross - as I was about the ferret

The script writers portrayed the coercive / rape abuse in the helen/Rob story well. As things are now without good therapeutic input helen, her sons and immediate family will face real struggles. They will even with good support. Those sw seem determined to subject helen to trauma on trauma.

Yes I know, she has a history bore Rob of bad Choices

You are right of course Iam - I often wondered why she had no proper counselling.

I was wrong and unkind when I dismissed her upthread.
I know I would never have done that in my working life!

Luckily this is only a radio show - and this "Helen" doesn't exist in real life so I won't beat myself up about it.

Thank you Iam.

Helen shows behaviour and emotions seen in people with complex post traumatic stress disorder. So far as we know, neither she nor Henry had any significant therapeutic input after stubby/hmp/release.

Given up.

Helen should still have rung the police. Rob was definitely breaking the non molestation order as Helen didn’t know Henry had been in contact.

Her solicitor would argue that visiting Rob after his diagnosis was evidence that she was still being coerced.

Well,, without doubt, Rob's return has breathed new life in this Soap. Welcome back!!!!

NotSpaghetti

I think you are wrong DaisyAnneReturns - I think he was actually goading her to kill herself.
He said something like "it's the only way you'll ever get away from me".

I expect you're right. I just remembered that he was holding the knife.

Think Kirsty said she'd take him to Tony and Pat.
Presumably leaving Helen to continue her meltdown at the pool?

Why was Kirsty there in the first place? I totally missed that...?

I wondered where he stormed off to as well. Why didn’t Helen go after him? 🤔

Did anyone follow Henry or is a distraught 12 year old about to go missing?

I think you are wrong DaisyAnneReturns - I think he was actually goading her to kill herself.
He said something like "it's the only way you'll ever get away from me".

It's definitely slow radio, it always has been, but I like it that way. It means story lines can be played out in real time.

I know what you mean about pictures in your mind

Gosh what a good memory DaisyAR. Thanks for the reminder. I completely agree, Rob is can’t change, it’s who he is, and he will be ruthless in pursuit of his son. I will be tuning in in anticipation.

I get a bit bored from time to time but there have been some interesting storylines lately. Pip and Stella, George. There can’t be high drama constantly (like Wolf on tv 😱) I know because it’s a long running serial.
I like radio because I have a picture in my mind of the characters. I don’t like seeing photos of the actors.

I am pleased that, at last, the Producers have decided to propelry end the sotry rearding Rob.

WHen it ran, it was excllent and was slow and drawn out just like real life, Could not fault either the scripting or the acting of all characters

Then, quite suddenly (and I have a vague memory of a change of peron in charge), the story was just finalised with a very silly ending. None of it made any sense at all and Rob disapeared.

Does seem as if this has now been re=visting and Rob, in all of his brilliantly chilling manner is going to bring a proper final ending to this saga.

Recent stories have been so poor, I have only been half-listening. Getting on with washing-up, knitting, doing puzzles, etc. With these scene listen intently.

I'm not sure how easy it would be for Rob to change. Coercive control is his 'modus operandi' and he has now turned it back on Henry. We got a hint of this from the time of Helen's trial.

If you remember, Helen did not attack Rob whdn he raped her. It was when Helen decided to leave Rob and had packed a bag. While she cooked dinner, she told Rob and he took a knife and challenged her to kill him as this was the only way she would be able to get rid of him. He then seems to have run past her to get Henry and she took the knife and stabbed Rob.

While Helen was in prison and Henry was with her parents, Rob failed to return Henry after the first contact.

It's not Henry he wants but Jack and he will be prepared to destroy Henry, Helen and anyone else who gets in his way.

Rob hasn’t changed has he? George is going to be in such trouble and I feel so sorry for Henry. No revealing spoilers as some of us listen at 2.00 and some on catch-up. Where will it go now?

Ruth may not know what’s going on, but we do!

I wonder how George is going to come out of this?