The Archers

Fallon has a brainwave, and is George ducking out?

Preparing for Ben’s graduation celebration lunch, Ruth approaches a resistant David about a date at The Bull on Friday night for Valentine’s. He gives excuses that it’s an artificial, commercial occasion. He suggests an eat in meal-for-two from Underwoods. Ruth confides in Stella that she knows David’s trying to surprise her with a booking at The Bull on Saturday, but she wants to surprise him with a better table there on Friday. Ben good naturedly winds Josh up, but Josh is still feeling raw about George at Meadow Farm and it’s awkward. As Ben moves on to chat to Stella about work, Josh accuses him of being holier than thou about his nursing work. Stella’s uncomfortable and leaves them to it. A heated discussion ensues with Josh accusing Pip of making assumptions about who will inherit the farm. During a tense lunch, David and Ruth reveal their decision. Having done the figures, they’ve worked out that Brookfield will only be able to support one family. As Pip is the dairy expert, Brookfield will go to her, starting immediately with an initial part share, with Ruth and David holding the rest. Josh will keep his thirty acres at Hollowtree plus Glebe Cottage. Ben will receive Rickyard Cottage and the bungalow. Josh appears stoic, stating that he’s not surprised. His parents remind him that he’s a brilliant entrepreneur with a great head for business, and this is the best thing for Brookfield. They assure him that he will do well and they will do all they can to support him.

Susan comes to see Clarrie with some early birthday treats and a proposition. Accompanying her on the school pick-up run, Susan asks whether she might be interested in taking back her old job at the dairy. They’re rushed off their feet at Bridge Farm and they need help. Clarrie admits she misses the place and working with Susan, but she enjoys her work at Underwoods Local and in the school. The people are lovely, both jobs are easier on her body, and she gets to pick up Poppy. Susan’s disappointed but glad to see Clarrie so content.There’s a crisis at Meadow Farm. The cows are out and Esme’s struggling. George lends a capable hand and the animals are soon under control. Later George reassures Esme. He’s located the cause of the escape – there’s a broken gate on the winter housing. Esme’s grateful. When Josh finds George fixing the gate, he admits he must have knocked it yesterday when he was scraping the yard. He feels awful but George tells him to stop worrying, it’s all fine. Josh apologises to Esme, who thinks the work at Meadow Farm might be too much for him. He has his own business to keep running. She needs to stand on her own feet, and besides she has George helping now. When Josh declares he doesn’t trust George, Esme doesn’t share his scepticism. She believes George is genuine and that the job means a lot to him. She offers George the afternoon milking, and Josh has to reluctantly let go of the reins.

At the Bull Ruth takes Kenton aside to ask if there are any tables left for Valentine’s. Knowing that David’s already booked one, Kenton tells her they’re all fully booked. Later he relents and offers her a table for the Friday, explaining David’s secretly booked for the Saturday. Ruth’s table would be a proper one rather than cramped at the bar, so she instructs Kenton to cancel David’s reservation and confirms hers. Later she asks casually if David would like to do something on Friday night. David responds that bearing in mind how busy they are on Saturday, it might be best just to stay in.Amber and George agree that whatever happens at the dinner with Amber’s parents, they have each other’s backs. Anne Marie and Bill politely cover their mild surprise at seeing George before settling in to chat about the ‘situation’, and the plan. When it becomes clear this means questioning whether or not Amber’s pregnancy will go ahead, Amber’s firm that this is not an accident; she’s having her baby and will live with George. Anne Marie persists with her view that they have options. Appalled Amber tries to close the conversation down, but her mother insists she doesn’t want Amber to be trapped. Gutted not to have her parents support, Amber chooses George, and the family who’ll love her just as she is. Amber worries to George she might turn out like her mum, but George reassures her. They have everything they need, together.

Pip and Stella visit Ruth and David. When they’re cagey Ruth wants to know what they have to say. Pip blurts out that they’re getting married, and they recount the story of the engagement ring to her astounded parents. They make a toast, and Ruth offers the events barn as a venue for their party. Ruth reports later that Jill has insisted they all go to the Bull tomorrow night to celebrate. Ruth and David agree it’s lovely news but it gives you a bit of a jolt when your children move on to their next life stage. David observes they’ll need to consider the future of the farm at some point.Amber picks up George from Meadow Farm after work. George reckons the work’s going fine. He admits Josh is posing a problem but it’s no big deal. Amber’s disappointed George didn’t confide in her sooner. George is touched when Amber takes them to his favourite chippy, something he’d been looking forward to since his release from prison. They enjoy a moment eating fish and chips from the paper, before Amber admits she’s going to see her parents tomorrow night, and not going out for a friend’s birthday as she’d originally told George. George is shocked to hear Anne Marie knows about the baby. Amber feels her mum might genuinely want to help, and could even be ready to accept them as a couple. George offers to go with Amber tomorrow. He hopes she’s right about her parents, but whatever happens, he’ll be there for her.

Susan’s working over her hours in order to cope with a large new order. She and Pat agree the order’s good news, they just weren’t ready for it. Pat explains that instead of receiving presents for his 75th birthday, Tony wants to give everyone in the village a packet of organic seeds. Susan thinks it’s a lovely idea. By the end of her shift she’s looking forward to home and a hot bath. She and Pat agree there’s enough work for another person to be in the dairy at least part time. Pat says Helen has someone in mind. Susan says she’ll keep her eyes peeled too.Over a delicious meal cooked by Stella, Pip tries again to raise her worries over her birthday treat, but they’re interrupted by a noise from the kitchen. Cleo the dog’s stolen some of the cheesecake Stella’s prepared as dessert. Stella worries Cleo may have swallowed something dangerous. Slightly bewildered Pip agrees they should get her checked over. Paul shows Stella the scan he’s done of Cleo – she’s swallowed a small object. It won’t do her any damage but Paul reckons Stella should show Pip the scan. As Pip peers at the picture she’s confused to see a ring. Stella explains she’d put it on top of Pip’s portion of cheesecake, as a proposal. Pip’s bowled over and encourages Stella to propose properly, which she does. Delighted Paul appears and suggests an engagement party. They all agree that this ridiculous chaotic proposal suits the couple down to the ground.

Will prepares George an early hot breakfast for his first shift at Meadow Farm. Amber wakes up too and both of them wish George luck as he sets off, before admitting to one another they’re both anxious for him to do well. Esme’s grateful as enthusiastic George offers to fix a blocked gutter once he’s done the milking. Josh arrives and is thrown to find George up a ladder – he was intending to do the repair himself. Esme declares that George has been great, adding that she can manage at the farm now if Josh wants to take a step back and focus on his own business. Josh warns her to be careful that George doesn’t take advantage and expect to be paid extra. Esme counters there’s been no hint of this so far, but Josh isn’t convinced. He’s happy to carry on helping, so why pay George to do the jobs? Later George realises Josh has told Esme his suspicions. George insists he’s just doing his job, before telling Josh he’s off his head.Amber’s shocked when her mum Anne Marie turns up unexpectedly. Anne Marie’s found out about Amber’s pregnancy, and expresses her concern for her welfare. Amber assures her she’s fine and all’s well, but Anne Marie wants to talk further and invites Amber to dinner on Thursday. She misses Amber and just wants to be there for her. Later as Amber, George and Will celebrate George’s successful first day, Amber doesn’t want to break the mood and says nothing about her encounter, insisting all is good.

David and Ruth realise they’ve committed to an event in the barn on Valentine’s Day. Ruth was hoping to offer to babysit for Pip and Stella. David’s affronted – maybe they might want to go out themselves. Ruth comments it looks like they’ll be behind the bar in the barn now anyhow. They can always go out another night. Later David’s disappointed when Kenton tells him the Bull’s Valentine’s event is all booked up. Kenton eventually finds a small space to squeeze them in, if David doesn’t mind sitting at the bar. David’s happy with this. Ruth arrives and suggests Pip and Stella could come to the Bull for Valentine’s if she and David babysit. David hurriedly covers, saying they should probably stick with doing the bar in the barn, to save money.Pip and Hannah admire the art installation at the rewilding site: stained glass set in wood from a fallen oak. Pip admits ruefully that she and Stella don’t get much time together at the moment, though it’s good she’s enjoying her job. Pip wonders whether Stella’s mentioned a cruise for her birthday – she’s being secretive and Pip can’t work it out. She doesn’t fancy being cooped up at sea so she hopes not. Hannah confirms she’s heard nothing, but suggests Pip just asks Stella. Pip duly tackles the topic later but realises Stella had fallen asleep and hadn’t heard a word she’d said. Recounting this to Hannah, Pip asserts there’s definitely something on Stella’s mind. One way or another she intends to find out what it is.

After working a night shift Ben’s late getting up for his graduation ceremony and has to be chivvied along by David and Ruth. Before the ceremony starts David spots that Ben has fallen asleep. For alphabetical reasons Ben will be first up to collect his degree, so Ruth calls his phone, assuming the vibration will wake Ben. It rings loudly instead, immediately waking Ben, who apologises before going on stage to be greeted by the amused Chancellor. Afterwards Ben and David tease Ruth about the phone call and having a cry, but they are all very proud of what Ben’s achieved.Amber encourages George to stay positive about getting a job, before Esme calls, asking him over to Meadow Farm at lunchtime. George assumes it’s a “maybe”, which Amber tells him he needs to turn into a “yes”. He’d be perfect for the job and Esme would be lucky to have him. When George gets there, he advises Esme on replacing some rotting fence posts. Esme knows about his criminal past, spelling out that she’s looking for someone trustworthy and reliable. George assures her he won’t let her down, emphasising how much he cares for livestock and how he needs to step up for Amber, now she’s pregnant. Esme reveals she has worked previously with ex-offenders, before offering George a two months’ trial of part-time work milking, looking after cows and doing general farm work, starting on Monday. George is dead chuffed, going to meet Amber after work. She’s thrilled and they both vow to work hard for their future as a family.

Rex asks Joy about New Year’s Eve and Mick’s story about taking Joy to a real-ale pub after midnight. Joy tells him she met Rochelle instead, and they talked about her new partner. It’s bittersweet for Rex, who says it’s great that she’s met someone.Lilian tells Joy that Justin was bordering on triumphant when he came home last night. This is news to Rex, but he really hopes it means Justin has sorted everything for Peggy’s artwork unveiling at Rewilding Ambridge. When David tells Kirsty about the family members who are coming, he picks up that the artwork hasn’t been sorted yet. But when Justin arrives he tells Kirsty he thinks he’s solved their problem, but they need all the muscle power they can muster to make it happen before two-thirty. Rex, Kirsty, David and Justin, plus mini-digger, then work like crazy digging holes to anchor the new, improved artwork. Joy arrives with news that a truck’s waiting down the lane, before Justin co-opts Joy into helping unwrap several packages. Each piece will go into holes on either side of the path, Justin explains. They’ve all been sourced from Julie the artist’s upcoming exhibition. Justin had to expend a lot of persuasive energy as well as hard cash to get her to agree, but so long as Lilian’s happy with Peggy’s Art Installation it’s all been worthwhile.Later, Lilian gives a speech before the stained-glass installation is unveiled to appreciative gasps and applause. Lilian then tells Justin the artwork is awesome and Peggy would have loved it. She can hardly thank Justin enough.

At Rewilding Ambridge Mick asks if Joy can come to the unveiling tomorrow. Rex and Kirsty explain why it may not happen - they’re still waiting for Justin to let them know whether he’s fixed the problem of the undersized artwork. And when Mick sees it he agrees it should be much bigger. Kirsty still hasn’t got hold of Justin, but they can’t cancel until they know for sure what’s happening. By the end of the day Rex and Kirsty agree it’s too late to cancel now. But then comes the really bad news: Borsetshire Life are sending their Assistant Editor and he hopes the artwork will grace their next front cover, just when they don’t want the publicity.Susan reports to Azra on how well their meal with George and Amber went, with Akram’s help. Susan’s impressed by Akram’s work at Bridge Farm, too. George comes into the shop and has a dizzy turn, before Azra insists he goes to A&E. She drives him, with Susan in the back and George feeling mortified by all the fuss, but Azra impresses on George the need for an all-clear on his head injury before he can start work. Later, Susan tells Azra that Amber’s with George at the hospital now and he’s had a scan. She gives Azra a bouquet of flowers to thank her, before Amber messages to say the scan was clear and they’re coming home. Susan and Azra compare notes on the virtues of constructive criticism, before Susan leaves Azra to enjoy the rest of her afternoon off.

Esme tells Ruth on the phone that she thinks she’s finally caught up with getting the farm as it should be. She knows it won’t get any easier, but at least she can look forward now as she goes for the tenancy. George then turns up and gives Esme his CV, offering his services as cowman and farm labourer, while she does her computer work. George also mentions his work with drones, before impressed Esme tells him she’ll be in touch. Later, Ruth drops round and Esme innocently shows her George’s CV. Ruth then tells Esme all about the risk she’d be taking, but Esme wants to think about it before making a decision.While preparing the meal for George and Amber, Susan tells Neil about the “meal to heal” rituals Akram explained to her. Neil’s not convinced it’s necessary, but Susan thinks they need to give it a go, especially after hearing about Amber’s pregnancy and the bust-up with Emma, both of which they’ll have to pretend they know nothing about. Anxious Amber chivvies George along, not wanting to be too late. She’s worried about her difficult history with Susan and her tastebuds going haywire with the pregnancy. But it all goes smoothly, despite Susan speaking out of character as she follows Akram’s healing precepts, which she explains later, over pudding. Amber then becomes emotional, telling them she’s pregnant. George susses they already knew, despite their best efforts at feigning surprise. He details the negative responses from everyone else, but Neil and Susan are genuinely pleased for them.

Justin waits impatiently for the delivery of Peggy’s artwork to the Rewilding site. Like Kirsty, he hopes it’ll have a big impact. Kirsty’s worried the dimensions of the plans they were sent by the artist are wrong, while Justin admits he did change direction several times on the design. When the delivery arrives, with David there too, they agree the small artwork is exquisite, but Kirsty wonders where the rest of it is. Later, Justin admits there’s been a miscommunication between him and the artist over the work’s dimensions: what’s been delivered is all there is. Justin used up most of the budget on multiple design changes. Kirsty is deeply unimpressed – this is nothing like the large-scale artwork everybody will be expecting to see at Thursday’s unveiling. Desperate Justin promises to fix it by then.Susan’s irked to find Akram has been moving things around while waiting for her at the Dairy. She explains he’ll be observing today before receiving training another time. Akram starts taking notes, but worries he’s got off on the wrong foot. Susan softens a little, but makes it clear she’s in charge. On their break Akram and Susan discuss Clarrie being laid off, with Susan admitting she wanted Clarrie back when Adam left. Susan’s worried about tomorrow’s tea with George and Amber, hoping to get things back on track after Clive’s recent intervention. Akram mentions the “meal to heal” concept, later explaining this in detail while Susan takes notes. She thinks it sounds perfect, reckoning they’ve both learnt something today.

Lilian’s hanging up decorations for Burns Night at The Bull, while the Highland Games are happening on The Green, when Jazzer reveals the shocking news that his bagpipes aren’t working. Later on though, Jazzer’s happy to accept the plaudits and free pints for his playing, which Ben reckons is better than ever. Tracy makes a very rude ‘Toast to the Laddies’, shocking Neil and Susan, before Rex realises Jazzer has been conning everyone. Joy then reveals that Kenton’s been playing bagpipe tracks through the speakers, while Jazzer keeps out of sight. On The Green Joy sympathises with Ben when his caber toss goes awry. Rex, though, does a great toss and is duly announced the winner by Neil, standing in for Kenton and Jolene, who’ve been mysteriously called away. It later emerges it was to deal with Jazzer’s bagpipe crisis. Rex admits he did his research on tossing techniques and Ben teases him for taking it so seriously. Meanwhile, George has been watching the competition from a distance before Neil joins him. George feels sorry for himself, being the village outcast, but Neil counsels that the village is George’s home and people will have to accept that and move on. Later, Neil brings round his and Susan’s leftover haggis with all the trimmings for grateful George to enjoy. Neil then suggests George ask Esme if he can do her milking, while she works on some IT contracts she’s been offered. George thinks she won’t want to take him on, but Neil reckons it’s got be worth a try. Neil then invites George and Amber round for tea on Tuesday and George accepts.

Esme’s got the all-clear on her TB test but shows David an email from her landlord with a generous offer to buy her out. Over a cup of tea, Esme admits she’s very tempted, given the struggle to keep going at Meadow Farm - but she’d be devastated to give up now. Esme’s head says accept the offer and go, but her heart says stay. Despite the downsides she’s loved what they’ve been doing on the farm for the last three months. David thinks she should take her time before making a decision, but Esme reckons she’s already decided to stay. Will and Emma are taking a break from lambing when George and Amber arrive at Grange Farm to announce they’re having a baby. Will’s thrilled, but Emma can’t believe Amber’s pregnant after they’d recently had a conversation where Amber said she wasn’t even thinking about having a baby. Emma calls them idiots, insisting she means it. George thought she’d be pleased while Amber is more uncertain, but Emma doesn’t hold back with her criticism. George reckons Clive was right when he said there was some very toxic behaviour in the family. The mention of Clive riles Emma further, while Will wants everyone to calm down, before Emma suggests talking about it later. It’s not what she wanted for them, though, while George insists it’s up to them, not her. Later, Will tries looking on the bright side, but Emma only sees the downside of getting pregnant that young with their future so uncertain. Plus, the last thing she wants is having to pick up the pieces when everything falls apart.

Fallon has spent a sleepless night, worrying about the CCTV footage and potentially going to prison. Harrison is adamant no-one will find out, but Fallon wishes she’d never done it. Harrison has to leave and they agree they’re sick of living apart, before Harrison confirms he was never tempted by a female colleague, who made it clear she was interested in him. Fallon suggests they stay in touch more with voice notes, even about mundane everyday stuff, and Harrison agrees. Brad goes to see George and tells him he needs to step back from their friendship. He’s tired of being stressed out by it. George apologises for his behaviour but reckons the attack has been life-changing for him, insisting he’ll do better from now on. He’s mortified that he accused Brad and Amber of betrayal. Brad’s his best friend and he loves him. Brad says he loves George too - but he needs some time and space and has to go. Brad then tells Amber how difficult it was with George and that he’s got to leave her and George to it now. Amber thinks Brad’s lovely for not being angry with her at getting pregnant, but Brad reckons he needs space from her too. Amber then admits she’s scared of telling George she’s pregnant. When Amber gets back to Number 1 The Green she starts babbling nervously. George reckons he’s lost Brad forever, but thinks he deserves it, before Amber tells him she’s pregnant, hoping it’s good news. Ecstatic George tells her it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him!

Before his driving lesson Paul admits to feeling terrified. As a calming measure Ruairi gets Paul to talk through what he’s doing as he drives. Paul’s then thrilled that he’s driving safely and Ruairi tells him how much he likes him. When Lilian and David’s paths cross near Brookfield they compare notes on turning down Eddie’s overpriced hay. Lilian’s really worried about running out though and so’s David, who suggests they work together to try and knock Eddie’s price down. But when David rings Eddie he tells him that he’s sold the hay to another farmer, at full price. Later, Eddie apologises to Lilian if he came across as smug. She wants to talk about how bad she feels after what happened to George, though. Eddie then confesses he can’t forgive George and doesn’t understand what’s wrong with him.When Amber turns up for her haircut from Chelsea, she soon realises that Brad has told Chelsea everything. Chelsea justifies that Brad needed someone to talk to, before asking if Amber’s alright. Amber still hasn’t told George about the baby, saying she went away to Ireland to sort out her feelings for him – and Brad – but it didn’t help. Then George was so happy when she got back that they decided to try for a baby. But it came as a real shock to discover she was pregnant after George was so awful to everyone. Listening to Amber then praise Brad by comparison Chelsea tells Amber she should be with Brad, but Amber doesn’t see how they can be together.

Chelsea thinks Brad is faking feeling ill to stay at home. Brad then confesses his love for Amber, but Chelsea had already guessed it from the way Brad looks so happy whenever he talks about her, which is all the time. Brad’s worried about George suspecting something’s going on, especially as Amber feels the same way about him. And they feel terrible about the timing of their kiss. Brad then reveals Amber’s pregnant and he’s completely disorientated. After checking the baby’s not Brad’s, Chelsea is amazed Amber told Brad before George. She advises Brad to keep well away from them. But it’s tearing Brad apart, knowing they love each other and can’t be together. Chelsea insists on making Brad breakfast, encouraging him to get on with his life and promising that one day he'll look back and be absolutely fine about all this. At The Bull Jazzer’s still trying to get an answer about floodlights for Burns Night, but Fallon can’t help him. Harrison walks in to Fallon’s delight, before Kenton tells equally delighted Jazzer that he’s got the floodlights. Later, Harrison makes bacon sandwiches while Fallon works. It was Fallon’s lovely message yesterday that brought him back as quickly as he could. They apologise for upsetting each other and Harrison assures Fallon he would never attack someone and leave them in a ditch, no matter how tempted he was. Fallon believes him, then checks he didn’t report her for deleting the CCTV footage. Of course he didn’t – and they agree to call it quits.

At Meadow Farm Esme tells David how stressed she is about today’s TB tests on her herd, before Paul turns up on his bike and explains to Esme about having a driving lesson with Ruairi on Wednesday. Nervous Esme then starts sending cows through to be tested, while Paul checks them off. She’ll have the results by Thursday, Paul tells her when they finish.Fallon covers to Lilian about Harrison coming back last night and not staying over. They discuss Burns Night with Jazzer, who’s asked Kenton to provide floodlights for The Green. Eddie then tries to sell some hay to Lilian for the Stables. She complains later to Jazzer about the price Eddie’s charging, meaning she turned him down. Jazzer encourages David to take part in the Highland Games on The Green on Sunday, though Lilian’s pessimistic about the floodlights. When Fallon asks if Lilian’s okay, she confesses her unease over what happened to George after she’d been so horrible to him – plus the wine bottle used to hit him was one she’d provided. Fallon reassures Lilian, before they both admit hating this time of year. Later, Fallon suggests Lilian come over on Thursday night for a drink and snacks, when they can raise a glass to Jennifer on the third anniversary of her death. Fallon then leaves a message for Harrison, worried at how they left things last night and the fact he hasn’t been in touch since. Fallon insists she believes he didn’t attack George. She loves Harrison and just wants him to call her back.

Susan’s convinced the police have George’s attacker, Markie, in custody, but Amber isn’t sure it was him. They both worry about the effect Clive could be having on George, as does Brad, though at least Clive appears to have gone now. Brad then pushes Amber to go for a walk, so they can talk about what happened on New Year’s Eve. Brad hasn’t seen George since because of how horrible he’d been. Amber reckons George was right to be suspicious about them though, wasn’t he? They were kissing each other while George was lying out cold. When pressed Amber tells Brad she wants to stay with George. Brad then declares he loves Amber, who admits she loves him too. But she can’t be with Brad, because she’s pregnant – and that changes everything.Harrison makes a surprise return visit, accusing Fallon of knowing more about George’s attack than she’s letting on. That’s why she reacts weirdly every time George’s name comes up. Fallon stuns Harrison when she tells him she knows he attacked George. She’s seen the CCTV footage showing a man walking across the Bull car park, bottle in hand, at exactly the right time – and it was Harrison. He denies it vehemently, but Fallon points out how volatile he’s been recently. Devastated by the accusation Harrison assumes it was Fallon who deleted the CCTV evidence. He should report her, because if anyone found out he was hiding something he’d lose his job straight away. Not only that, Fallon would be charged with a criminal offence too.