The Archers

Lynda fears she may have gone too far, and a new arrival causes a stir.

Writer: Keri Davies Director: Kim Greengrass Editor: Jeremy Howe Ben Archer…. Ben Norris David Archer…. Timothy Bentinck Jill Archer…. Patricia Greene Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore Tony Archer…. David Troughton Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde Alice Carter…. Hollie Chapman Chris Carter…. Wilf Scolding Susan Carter…. Charlotte Martin Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond Emma Grundy…. Emerald O’Hanrahan George Grundy…. Angus Stobie Will Grundy…. Philip Molloy Brad Horrobin…. Taylor Uttley Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell Azra Malik…. Yasmin Wilde Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari

Emma and Ed are at Brookfield to take down the Asian Hornet nest from the tree. Jill says the hornets have attacked her beehives, but David adds that because they picked this up early the damage has been contained. It’s Jill’s birthday and she offers Emma some cake to take home with her. The whole family are coming round for tea and the more far-flung ones are joining by video-call.Azra forces Khalil to go to Brookfield to apologise to David for lying about Zainab’s hornet sting. Khalil admits that he may’ve, but he didn’t mean to cause any harm. David chastises him before thanking him for coming round. But as Khalil’s leaving, Jill invites him in to join her tea party. Later Azra and Zainab turn up worried about Khalil’s whereabouts, to discover that he’s been entertaining Jill’s party guests with his tales. Khalil asks if he can come back again, and David says Jill would be pleased to see him.Susan tells Will about seeing Poppy throwing an egg at Bridge Farm dairy window. Susan thinks Poppy’s angry that she and Emma dobbed George into the police. Later Will tells Emma that he confronted Poppy about it all and she fell apart and was frightened by what she did. Emma thinks Poppy’s obviously devastated at the prospect of losing George, and both Will and Emma admit that they are too. They wonder how everything got into such a mess. They’re interrupted by a text from Alice; she needs to speak to George tomorrow

David tells Ben that he’s booked Ed and Emma to take down the Asian hornet’s nest. Later at Ben’s request David pops round to the Maliks, to update them on the hornets. Azra’s not in and David tells Khalil that the nest has been destroyed. When David asks how Zainab’s doing after her sting, Khalil explains that Zainab’s in a bad way and won’t leave her room. There may even be psychological damage and David might be in a lot of trouble and have to pay out for the damage. But later when David bumps into Azra and asks how Zainab is, Azra explains that Zainab’s doing alright. David wonders whether Khalil’s a bit of a wind-up merchant. When Azra asks why David mentions that Khalil said that Zainab’s in a really bad way. Khalil also suggested that Azra might be suing David. David thinks it’s funny, but Azra doesn’t and will be making that very clear to Khalil!Alice pays a social visit to Azra who checks how Alice is doing – not as a GP but as a neighbour. Alice is in a good place, off the drink and going to regular meetings. She’s also working again with her sponsor, Lisa. So, she’s in a much better place to cope with life’s setbacks, like Martha struggling to re-adjust to normality. And Alice has decided to go and see George, because there’s something he needs to hear. When Azra spots Khalil creeping past, she tells him to go to Brookfield tomorrow to apologise to David. It’s either that or she’s confiscating his games console for a month!

Tracy chats to Brad about how he’s getting on at Felpersham University. When she wonders if he’s made any friends, Brad explains that although it’s not been easy he thinks he’s found his ‘tribe’. Brad’s been in touch ‘as friends’ with Mia and she’s loving it at her university. George turns up to see how Brad’s getting on, but Tracy isn’t happy to see him. Brad steps in explaining that although he doesn’t condone George’s behaviour he can see what a state George is in. But Tracy asks George to leave, so Brad suggests a walk instead. George admits he’s scared about the sentencing next Thursday and thinks he’ll be sent down. He would do anything to go back to that car and make a different decision. When Brad wishes he could help, George asks if he’ll keep his online video business going while he’s inside. Brad reluctantly agrees.Emma’s working in the dairy with Susan while Helen’s visiting a customer up north. Pat tells them that some of Friday’s yoghurt’s have been mislabelled. Emma thinks it’s her fault and suggests deducting the cost from her wages. But Pat’s fine and offers some of the mislabelled yoghurts to take home, but Emma refuses. Later Susan realises it was her mistake and they laugh when Emma says she’ll take some yoghurt’s home after all! But they’re stopped in their tracks when an egg’s thrown at the viewing window. Upset Emma thinks it was aimed at her because of George. Pat sends Emma home and then suggests checking the CCTV. But Susan saw Poppy and wonders if she should tell anyone else.

Ben goes round to Azra’s to check how Zainab’s doing after her Asian Hornet sting. Azra explains that Zainab’s mortified and has taken to her room. Ben confirms that it was an Asian hornet and that the investigating team have mobilised the National Bee Unit. They’re coming tomorrow to destroy the suspected nest. When Azra thanks Ben for looking after Zainab, he explains that he’s training to be a nurse. They chat about Azra’s work as a GP, and she suggests that Ben thinks about doing community nursing. Pat visits Alice to explain why she’s written a character reference for George. Whilst she thinks George should face serious consequences, she’s not sure whether locking him up would do any good. As Alice talks about the impact of it all they’re interrupted by Lilian at the door. She wonders what Pat’s doing there, considering she’s chosen to take George’s side against Alice. When Pat defends her actions, Lilian calls her a hypocrite, reminding Pat about her treatment of Alan over Rob’s baptism. And yet Pat’s writing references for a boy who nearly destroyed Alice’s life. Later Pat tells Tony that Alice’s reaction was controlled but Lilian was really horrible and vindictive about George. George will be sentenced next week, and Pat wanted the court to have as full a picture as possible. Tony admires Pat’s ability to look at all sides, but she can’t expect the family to see it that way. When Tony visits Lilian later, it’s clear she won’t change her mind about Pat. Lilian just hopes that Peggy doesn’t get to hear about what Pat’s done.

Alice picks Martha up from Chris’s for a fun day out. When Chris mentions it was George’s plea hearing on Friday, Alice says she doesn’t want to talk about that, she just wants some mother and daughter bonding time. But the day doesn’t go well with Martha screaming for Chris. Gutted Alice abandons the day out and takes Martha back to Chris’s.Ben’s walking Bess on a country lane when Zainab on her motor scooter narrowly misses Bess. They blame each other and part with Zainab telling Ben to keep his dog away from her. But as Zainab tries to head off her scooter won’t start. At the Events Barn David sorts through cricket memorabilia which was on display at the Cricket Dinner on Friday. He returns Chris’s bat, signed by Mike Gatting, which David reckons should be put in pride of place next to Chris’s Bowler of the Year trophy. They chat about Jill’s upcoming birthday; she just wants a family tea, but is insisting on making the cake herself. Ben appears, saying he thinks he’s spotted an Asian Hornet in the orchard. As he goes to grab his phone, he bumps into Zainab, who’s peering through the open kitchen door. Ben asks what she’s doing. Zainab explains her scooter’s broken down and Ben mentions the hornet. They join David as he photographs the hornet for an identification App. David worries there may be a nest nearby. Zainab suddenly gets stung in the face and when Ben offers to give Zainab a lift home he discovers she’s Azra’s daughter

At the Cricket Club’s Division Five end-of-season dinner, Kenton senses there’s some new information about the Flower and Produce investigation that Lynda’s not divulging. Kenton also presses a coy Harrison on whether he’s told Fallon he’s considering quitting the Police. Harrison admits instead that he’s considering going back full-time. After Lynda’s speech as Cricket Club Chair Kenton approaches her, having learned the truth about the collapsed table from Jim. At Kenton’s prompting, in front of Harrison, Lynda makes to go back onstage and confess she caused the accident by not fastening the legs correctly. But Kenton stops her and tells Lynda he’s not serious before whisking her off for a dance. Ed tries getting reluctant George to talk about his court hearing, before joining him in a video game, which breaks the ice. They work together to complete a difficult level, before Ed opens up on how he loves George just as much as if he was his biological son. George admits he’s scared at the prospect of going to prison and saying goodbye to everything he knows. Ed tells him to just focus on getting through it. George feels bad for not getting Ed a birthday present, but Ed knows exactly what he’d like. The two of them surprise Emma, who’s shocked but delighted to see her son come to make up with her. George then goes to see Keira and Emma tells Ed she thought George would never forgive her. But now he’s got his whole family around him and they can face whatever comes next together.

Despite them both wanting to be there Ed persuades Emma they should respect George’s wishes and let just Will go to the Court hearing tomorrow. They’ll focus instead on getting more character references, though Emma can’t believe Ed even bothered trying Pat and Tony. However, Pat surprises them both when she turns up with an employee reference she’s written, admitting it’s just from her, not Tony. Pat believes in the possibility of redemption. Emma’s even more stunned when Pat offers her work at the dairy, covering while Clarrie’s away. Emma thinks working with Susan tomorrow will be a good distraction from worrying about the court hearing. Tony is incensed with Pat for what she’s done, but she felt it was the right thing to do. Tony understands that, but Pat’s on her own when it comes to telling the rest of the family, especially Brian and Lilian. Lynda, Tony and Jim talk about the need to improve standards before the cricket team plays in Division Four next season, before Jim and Lynda continue their sleuthing into the collapsed table at the Flower and Produce Show. Later, at Greenacres, Lynda says she’s been concentrating on MMO: Means. Motive. Opportunity. Jim, however, has made a sketch of the village hall and suggests returning to the scene of the crime. There, Lynda retraces her steps and remembers setting up the table. She points out how damning the verdict could be for whoever was responsible, before Jim turns one of the tables over to discover something that stops Lynda in her tracks.

While George helps Eddie prepare the sheep for tupping he talks about not being around for lambing. Eddie reckons he’s going to find George a new lawyer who can help minimise George’s sentence, but George says no to selling Eddie’s van - and the idea of using the money they got from selling Bartleby. When he calls Eddie a stupid old fool, Ed demands George apologise, but George walks off. Later, Ed catches George and tells him to accept help when it’s offered, as with the character reference Oliver wrote. But who else can they try? Eddie goes to see Pat and updates her on Clarrie, who’s away looking after her sister Rosie. Eddie asks about Helen’s lawyer when she was on trial. Pat gives him Dominic’s name, but at the thought of what might happen to George Eddie becomes emotional and Pat tells him to have faith in the system. George then apologises to Eddie and says he’s not giving up, but needs to face up to what he’s done and accept that he’s going to prison. Tony tells Pat that Eddie has a cheek asking them for help, then fulminates about the pressure they’re all under after having to fire George and with Emma staying away from the Tearoom. When Ed shows up to ask a favour Tony flatly refuses to write George a character reference. After Ed goes Tony gives him short shrift, but Pat defends Ed – and Eddie – questioning what good a long prison sentence will do George. But Tony is adamant, they are not writing George a reference.