The Archers

Khalil hatches a plan, and will Justin learn his lesson?

Justin’s at Rewilding Ambridge for a meeting about its future. Rex explains their hopes for renewing the existing agreement and some strategies for increasing footfall. They’re also upgrading their website; Brad’s got Robert’s help with the interactive side. But all Justin’s interested in is a solid five-year business plan. He tells them to get their house in order before they meet again. Kirsty and Rex are left feeling that Rewilding Ambridge is hanging in the balance.Harrison has a meeting with his boss, Inspector Norris. He’s concerned that due to lack of staffing Harrison’s doing more admin rather than actual police work. When he asks if it’s because Norris thinks he can’t handle the job, she’s reassuring. Later Harrison apologises to Norris who wonders whether returning to full-time work might be contributing to the pressure. But Harrison says his priority is Fallon’s happiness and he’s doing his best to support her in every way he can.Khalil bumps into Henry at The Bull where the results of the kitten naming competition are being announced. Khalil reckons ‘Tortoise’ is a bit basic, and Henry agrees even though it was Jack’s winning entry. Khalil tells Henry how he really wants some pets - chickens in particular, but Azra’s said no to any pets. Khalil wonders if Henry’s up for helping with that. Later Henry pushes the benefits of pets to Azra who sees through it. However, she might consider trialling a cat. Khalil isn’t that pleased because he’d rather have chickens. But when Henry talks about how evil Hilda the cat is, Khalil formulates a plan.

Kirsty and Rex take up Brad’s offer to revamp the rewilding website. Rex thinks it should be interactive and if they incorporate AI then a test website could be made really quickly. Kirsty comes across their lease agreement with Borchester Land, admitting she’s forgotten it expires soon. She’s been distracted by the private sale of her Beechwood house to Helen. They decide to flag the lease to BL as soon as possible and renegotiate the terms. They’ll reach out to Stella first as she’s looking after the BL’s environmental side. Later Stella agrees to meet up with them, but cautions talking to Justin directly as she can only offer guidance to BL. But Kirsty’s still worried – if BL were to pull out the whole rewilding project falls apart. At The bull, Jolene struggles with not saying “my darling” and forfeits a pound with each mention. She visits Fallon’s EV Charging station unit, but when Jolene mentions it’s a bit smaller than the original plan, Fallon admits there’s been a mix-up. Jolene also wonders whether Fallon’s meat and dairy free brief is a bit niche. Fallon’s irritated; she invited Jolene there to share the excitement of her new venture, not to pick holes in it. Later Jolene gets fed up with trying not to say, “my darling” and she and Kenton agree to put an end to the challenge. They catch up with Fallon to tentatively check about the impact of the new café on Fallon and Harrison’s relationship. But Fallon shuts them down saying things have never been better between them.

Collector Wesley Hutchinson arrives at The Bull to look at the collection of Shires memorabilia. Lilian and Jolene show him into the cellar where Wesley says he’d be willing to take the entire collection off their hands. But when Jolene wants to talk money, Wesley would rather finalise the deal with Kenton. It’s either that or the deal is off. When Wesley goes, Kenton tells Jolene they made a tidy sum but explains that Wesley felt that all of the ‘darlings’ from Jolene and Lilian were patronising. When Jolene’s hurt by it, Kenton’s reassuring and then comes up with the idea of making The Bull a ‘darling free zone’.Justin meets Brad At the EV Charging Station, explaining he’s had a word with the Cellcharge team. They’d like Brad to make a promotional video prior to the station’s opening next year. Brad starts to outline the cost of George’s packages, but Justin’s not interested. Instead he explains that he would rather they negotiated something between them. When Brad says he’d have to run it by George, Justin reckons it looks like more trouble than he’d realised. Back-tracking, Brad asks Justin what he’d suggest. Brad’s flustered when Justin comes up with a low rate, explaining that Brad would also have the added benefit of being recommended to Justin’s business associates. But Justin’s shifty when Lilian arrives unexpectedly and suggests they catch up about it all later. Lilian’s furious with Justin for doing a deal with George’s business and warns him that if he’s not careful, he can forget Christmas in the Caribbean!

Jolene and Kenton discuss Fallon’s plans for setting up her new café at the EV Charging Station. Kenton’s worried about the impact on Harrison who’s returning to full-time work but really doesn’t want to. And the extra pressure won’t do Fallon or Harrison any good in the long run. Justin and Lilian arrive for lunch at The Bull and chat turns to the kitten naming competition. Lilian thinks it needs to be decided soon, although Jolene and Kenton haven’t been inspired by the suggestions so far. They decide to pick a name at random but keep pulling out unsuitable ones until they agree on Jack’s entry of ‘Tortoise’. They’ll announce it on Wednesday. Jolene has some other news – the collector who’s interested in the old Shires ashtray is visiting tomorrow to look at all of their Shires memorabilia.Brad touts for promotional video work at The Stables but Lilian says he’s wasting his time. She won’t allow any connection between her businesses and George Grundy. Brad heads to Bridge Farm where he asks Pat if she’s interested in any marketing. Pat appreciates Brad trying to support George’s business but doesn’t think it would go down well with the family. When Pat wonders how George is getting on, Brad lets slip that George is having a tough time. Pat advises that Brad talks to someone impartial because he shouldn’t have to deal with this on his own. They’re interrupted by Justin ringing with a proposition for Brad. Without explaining what it is, he suggests they meet up tomorrow.

While Jazzer’s driving Brad stresses about what’ll happen when he gets to prison and sees George. Jazzer offers to turn round and take Brad back home, but Brad acknowledges that for him the visit will soon be over. It’s George who’s trapped inside. At the prison Brad’s reassured by a fellow visitor, Rhea, who’s been several times before and still doesn’t find it easy. She tells Brad about her boyfriend, who’s in for assault, before they head inside the Visiting Hall. After some initial small talk, George tells Brad about the gang who run the wing. He’s learnt the hard way that you don’t grass on cellmates. When it’s time for Brad to go George affirms that he doesn’t want his family seeing him like this. The best thing Brad can do is keep George’s business going. Back outside, Brad and Rhea share how awful they found their visits. After spilling her shopping while crossing The Green tearful Emma admits to Fallon how upsetting she’s finding the fact that Brad’s allowed to visit George while she can’t. Emma then heads home to hide away until Brad gets back. But Fallon then drops in on Emma at Little Grange, full of concern. When Emma tells her about the letter she’s writing to George, Fallon thinks George will be relieved to know people still care about him. Once they’re home Brad begs Jazzer not to tell Emma how badly George is doing. When Emma calls in Brad covers that George is fine. But after she’s gone Jazzer assures uneasy Brad that he did the right thing, lying to her.

At Home Farm Stella and Ruth have their presentation on the history of women and the plough all ready to go, when Brian arrives and compliments them on their vintage hairstyles and outfits. Stella then gives Ruth a corn dolly for luck in her ploughing match. But first they give their presentation, which gets a good reception and Brian says went down well. He’s delighted too with all the compliments he’s been getting for putting the event on, overcoming his initial reservations about agreeing to do it.David awaits his flu jab at the surgery with trepidation, while Neil is in denial about having an issue with stress. They try to deflect with chat about ploughing, but end up being honest with each other about David’s fear of needles and Neil’s struggle to cope with everything that’s been going on with George recently. Later, David compliments Ben on how good he was putting David at ease for his jab. Azra was complimentary about Ben’s first day too.During Neil’s appointment Azra tells him that his blood pressure is up and suggests ways he can help bring his stress levels down. These include sharing with others how he’s feeling, rather than keeping it to himself.At the end of the Home Farm ploughing match Stella praises both traditional methods and modern, more environmentally aware approaches to farming the land. Ruth is presented with her trophy for winning the whole event, while Neil is awarded the Ladies Cup as runner-up. He’s happy to accept the title in tribute to the strength, skill and resilience shown by women like Ruth.

Ian rings and tells panic-stricken Lottie he’ll be late getting to the disco, but he’s arranged for Adam to pick up and deliver all the things they need, before wishing Lottie luck and ringing off. Later, Ian’s shocked to discover that Adam stayed and helped at the disco, while he’s going to miss it altogether. Lottie’s sure Ian can help with the tidy-up though. Afterwards, at The Bull, Ian and Lottie celebrate surviving the disco, though Ian reckons exhausted Adam is the real star.When awkward Emma and Fallon bump into each other outside the Village Shop Fallon mentions being offered the unit at the EV Charging Station. Emma then tells Fallon she’s meeting Alice at the Stables, before Fallon goes. Brad arrives, assuming Emma’s visiting George too. Emma tells Brad she hasn’t yet received an invite, but she’ll be happy to give him a lift there, once she’s got the details.At the Stables Emma and Alice watch Martha being led round on Champion, the pony, by Keira. Emma admits they’re having problems with Keira at home. Alice assumes it’s to do with George, while Emma hopes things will improve with time. At least she’s talking to Chris again. Emma then teases Alice about having a flame still flickering for Chris. When Emma gets an email from the prison it turns out George only wants Brad to visit. Brad apologises to Emma and explains that Jazzer has offered to drive him there on Friday, but he’ll let Emma know how George is when he gets back. Disappointed Emma has to accept that’s all she’s going to get.

Ruth’s been practising her ploughing and Ben offers to help polish Bert’s old tractor for the match. Although Stella’s pulled out of the ploughing she’ll still be dressing up in fifties gear on the day, plus giving talks about women’s roles in harvesting and the no-till drill at Home Farm. Ruth’s got another rival for the Ladies Cup, though – a farmer from Loxley Norton. Ben then tells Ruth he’s got a job as part-time Health Care Assistant at the same surgery where Azra works. Ruth worries about him doing too much, but Ben’s sure he’ll be fine - and anyway, he needs the cash. Azra has suggested David can be one of Ben’s first patients, having a free flu jab. But Ruth reckons David will take a lot of persuading as he hates injections and in the past only submitted to them when he absolutely had to.George calls Brad from prison, but tells him he can’t say much about the fight in the prison with guards and prisoners around. They talk about Brad’s course and Poppy’s guinea-pig, before George whispers that because of others in there he has to keep his head down and mouth shut. He cuts Brad off. When Jazzer asks who he was talking to, Brad invents a conversation with Mia. Later, Brad tells Jazzer he’s had an invitation from the prison to visit George - on Friday. Brad admits he doesn’t exactly want to go, but thinks he should. Jazzer expresses doubt but concludes Brad should ask his mum about it, and in the end only Brad can make the decision.

While Xander and Maddie play outside at Honeysuckle Cottage, Ian and Lottie set up Ian’s first online PTA meeting. Ian’s set a clear agenda, but Lottie doubts it’ll be as straightforward as he thinks. Later, she’s amused by Ian’s exasperation at how chaotic the meeting was. Ian’s determined to stick with it though, and determined to prove his mettle at the disco on Wednesday. Lottie heads off to Apple Day, but Ian won’t join her out of loyalty to Adam, who’s still firmly anti-Grundy. Alice sees Chris at The Forge and tells him she’s taking Martha to Apple Day. Chris says Alice has an unhealthy obsession with the Grundys, but Alice argues she’s making an effort to move on. Chris is scathing about Alice’s attempt to make up with Emma. Nevertheless, Alice tries to persuade him to go with them. Later, while Emma’s writing a letter to George, Clarrie tells her how a lot more people than they expected have turned up for Apple Day. When Emma goes outside, she finds Chris there with Alice. Initial awkwardness between the siblings eases when Emma and Chris have a laugh at the apple peel predictions. Meanwhile, when Alice helps Clarrie make apple sauce, Clarrie’s full of praise for how supportive Alice has been today. Alice sees it as part of her recovery process, including with Martha. Clarrie’s just happy to see that Chris and Emma have at least broken the ice. She thinks the whole family have realised they need to stick together. All they want is for the nightmare to be over.