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This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk. Most travellers stick to the highlights, but in Turkey, if you go off the beaten path, you'll experience a whole lot of adventure. Like the St. Paul Trail, where cyclists chase the thrill, or Ola, where you can kite surf to your heart's content. For exploring on your feet, hike up to Mount Nemrud, or walk in Patara through ancient civilizations that might reveal the the history of humanity itself. Plan your detour@goturkier.com for a gripping adventure. Hello, I'm Emma Freud, host of the Archers Podcast, which celebrates everything about the Archers, from interviews with the cast and creators to digging into the issues behind the stories and delving into the riches of the archive. Do stay on after this week's Archer's Omnibus to hear our latest episode, exploring this week in Ambridge. And if you enjoy it, we'd love you to subscribe to the Archers podcast, only available on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds Music Radio podcasts. You're listening to the Archer's omnibus from BBC Radio 4. Well played, Tracy. Only three more needed now. Well run. One more boundary and we've done it. Don't count your chickens, Freddy. We could stick. Still lose wickets. Oh, come on, Adam. Three to win and five wickets in hand. We're not losing this one. It's cricket, Tom. You can never be sure. Ah, this time you can. We are going to win. Yes. And this is how we should have played all season, with a bit of spirit and carefree. Carefree, because the pressure's off. We already know we've been relegated. Well, I hate to point this out, but maybe everyone should have listened to what I said way back in April. What? What did you say? About playing for fun? No, no, we're not going there. We're on the brink of a rare victory here. This is no time for dissent. Quiet, everyone. This could be the last ball of the season. Let's show it some respect. Great stretch racing. Well played. You don't have to walk me home, Brad. I'm fine. George would want me to. I know we would. You're missing the party, though. Party? Yeah. I mean, I know, not really lots of cardigans talking about sport, but I mean, you're lot one or something, didn't they? So you probably wanted to celebrate. I was only the scorer, Amber the scorer. Though it's gotta be crucial. Not really. So that was the first time you watched cricket? First time ever. Right. What did you think? Boring, Bored rigid? Never been so bored in my life. You didn't like it? No. No, I loved every minute. Of course I didn't like it. It was pointless. And no one understands. Takes all day for nothing to happen. Oh, but what about the win in here? Square cut for four. That was neat. And Adam's catch. Brad. No, no, I'm gonna stop you there. You know you had that word with me about school and how I used to be bullied, only now I was the one doing the bullying. Okay, well, I didn't exist. No, no, listen, this is me having a word, because that is now what you are doing. What? Bullying me into liking cricket? No, I'm not. It's never gonna work, Brad. Life's too short. Now, what were we talking about? When? Before all this. Oh, Kate. Oh, Kate, Yes. So she's giving me this massage, right? And all of a sudden she stops and throws me out. And I'm like, what have I done to deserve this? I mean, what's wrong with the woman? Well, if she found out you're George's fiance, so what? Well, she's one of the ones who don't really like George. Even so. What happened to forgive and forget? I don't know. Maybe it's just harder for some people. And anyway, you can't stop a massage halfway through. That could cause trauma. So not Kate for the party, then? George's release day party. Wouldn't want her there. Well, we'll have to make plans, though. It's got to be special. Special for George. Where should it be? Dunno. A pub. Mind you, that's a bit dull. But what about the village hall? We could do it up. Yeah, I'm not so sure. What's wrong? I don't know. Might be a bit expensive. They're not gonna charge. I'm pretty sure they would. Yes, for a genuine celebration for the community. Well, you'd have more control if you held it at Grange Farm. Would I? Yeah, probably. Yeah. Yeah, I reckon. Maybe have a word with Clary. Yeah. No, no, no. I'll have a word with Eddie. These are your followers? Are they keep pinging in? Yeah, it seems a shame. Shame? It's great. Well, you miss stuff and stuff in the real world. No, I don't. Did you see the owl? Yeah. Oh, really? Well, are you trying to catch me out? No, I just thought that you might. This is work, though. You miss a lot. I have to do this. But I keep it under control. I can switch off. Go on, then. What? Switch it off. I bet you can. I can. No probs. I bet you can even do it for an hour. I heard it Was sparkling elderflower. It was a cold drink, Freddy. That's all you need to know. No, no, no, no, no, no. I want to picture it. What difference does it make? You need the detail if you really want to picture it. Like what? Where was Zaynep when she tipped it over? Here? In front? Behind. Yeah, he's got a point, Linda. Actually, it was orange juice, but all you need to know is Lawrence was being obnoxious in the tea room. In the tea room? Yes. And not for the first time, so he's standing there all damp and humiliated. Oh, yeah. Haha. Right. Freddy. Huh? Oh. Oh, I think. I think I see a free table in the corner there. Excuse me. Linda. Ah, Linda. I was hoping you'd be here. I think I'll join you, Freddy. Oh, dear. You seem to be on your own. I'm quite happy to be on my own, thank you, Laurence. Not when we have so much to talk about, surely. Oh, we have nothing left to say to one another. You're stirring victory today, for one. There must be some mileage in that. Look, I know what you're up to, you toad. You made it perfectly clear last week. Drop the golf club complaint or you'll spread the word about our payment arrangements. Succinctly put. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but for me it's a matter of principle. And as a matter of principle, I will be standing by Zaynab. So why didn't you go ahead? Don't just talk about it. Do what you said. I never meant things to turn out this way, you know. I'm sure when we first met, my liking for you was perfectly genuine. Last thing I wanted to do was offend you, so I'm sorry if I did. And does that apology extend to Zaynab and Chelsea? Does it extend to Khalil? I intended them. No hurt, certainly. And intention is the important thing here, surely? Yes, well, I think the hurt is the important thing. It's not so easy, though, Linda, when people take offence at the smallest thing. What? When I was growing up, offence wasn't so easily taken. Most of us were ignorant then, but some of us managed to learn. Well, thanks for the sermon. Tinged with hypocrisy as it was. Hypocrisy? Well, what was it you said last week? That Ambridge had played with respect and dignity. I feel as if I've apologised enough for one day. You said it yourself. The deal is simple. Your principles against my silence. Just a minute. Now what? Ladies and gentlemen, a few brief words. If I May. This won't take long. Oh, look at that. It's a full moon that is hanging there like it's completely weightless. Like it's made of paper or something. Floating. You stare at it and it sort of pulls you in, don't you think? Amber, you're not on the phone again. Oh, yes, you are. You're looking at it now. You couldn't even do 20 minutes. This doesn't count. This is work. How can it be work? It's a message from a follower. So an important follower. She expects to be DMed straight off. So you don't have to take any notice. Though of course you do. You absolutely do. So you never switch it off? Oh, I don't want to. Even when there's a full moon hanging over you? Well, that can be part of the story. Me in a field with a full moon or whatever. Can't you do something else for a change? Why would I? Well, you were good at other stuff at school. I was never known for it, though. Not smart enough, pretty enough. Not till I found out how to look out for myself by being an influencer. I'm actually good at it, Brad. And I make a bit of money. So like I said, why wouldn't I do this? And I'm gonna get better at it. Oh, the things I do. The way I present myself. The way you present yourself? What does that even mean? Like I'm getting my teeth done. Oh, what, this veneering business? You're still going ahead with that, are you? Of course I am. Yeah. In Turkey. Turkey? Flight's already booked. Well, it's been a difficult season. I won't pretend otherwise. There have been moments, small islands of success. Very small islands. But until the very end, last week and this, we've not always pulled together, played with pride as a team. All for one and one for all. I. Linda. Who? Let him in? Mind your own business, Lawrence. And yet. And yet, in spite of all this, you've not been ground down. I love the way you've responded to adversity. And the fact that you now play as a unit, not for yourselves, but for the whole team. You mean respect and dignity. So I just wanted to say I've loved being part of it all. Thank you. Nothing more to add? What is the matter with you? No, Tom, let him speak. You heard her. She wants to hear what I've got to say. Well, I don't. Please, Adam. You have a question? Do you, Lawrence? I do indeed. This is not interesting. Let him speak. Let him speak. Is it true? That Ambridge pays its players. What? What is this? Or at least some of its players. What are you on about? The paying of certain players. I've already told you, that's not the Ambridge way. I know what you mean, so sit down and shut up. No, it is true. We have been doing that. What? We've. We've what? Paying people to play Some people. Yes, which was. Which was badly misjudged. It should never have happened. I know that now. Who? And who knew about this? It was my responsibility, my idea. And I got it terribly wrong. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Freddie. Why did she say that it wasn't. It wasn't Linda's idea. Keep your voice down, Lily. This could turn nasty. Okay, But. No, no, maybe we should just go. But what Linda said. Listen, listen, listen. We're gonna have to think this through very carefully, or we could be in serious trouble here. But right now, our best option is a quick exit. Come on. We're here. So we are. There's Clary at the window. You want to give her a wave? Look, Amber. What? I know it's none of my business. Well, you're dead right there. I just wonder. None of your business if you have to do this veneer stuff. Chelsea's been sticking her written, hasn't she? Or are you being pushed into it? It is, isn't it? Chelsea? What? No. She's been giving me earache about it. And now she's got you. Chelsea's not said a word to me. Well, how do I know that's true? Because I'm telling you. Look, I'll stop going on about it if you just tell me you're not doing this because someone online says you have to. And George wouldn't know, too. You've got a proper reason. Amber. Amber, are you all right? Oh. What's the matter? What have I said? Just. Just leave me alone. So what do you make of all this? Well, being paid. You mean. Being paid? You mean you. What, you're not. No. No. Well. Oh, well, you wouldn't say, though, would you? No. No, because you wouldn't want people thinking you took the money and your teammates didn't. Yeah, you'd keep quiet about it. Or if you weren't being paid. What? Well, you wouldn't want to let on about that either, would you? In case everyone thought, you know, you're not. Not worth paying. Well, yeah, so it's best not to say. But either way, it's wrong, though. Paying some and not others. Not telling people. That's definitely wrong. Definitely. It's underhand. It's device that sets friend against friend. I can't imagine what Linda thought she was doing. We should do something about this. You know, you're right. Some sort of definite action. Yes, but what? Rosie, Ben will be here in five minutes, sweetheart. She'll be ready. She loves it when Ben takes her to school. It's lovely to see you, by the way. Ah, well, nice early start. Well, not farm early. Well, no, not farm early, but you look as though you've got some news. Do I? Can't think why. You have, haven't you? Is it a job? Where I say it's a job? Partly a job. You've got an interview. No, no, no, no, not yet. But I have submitted the application form for that job your dad told me about. Oh, excellent. There's not much chance. Oh, Stella. Well, I'm not qualified enough, am I? You're perfectly qualified if they've got any sense at all. All they have to do is talk to you for 10 minutes. Oh, yeah, and they'd snap you up. I would. In fact, I did, if you remember. Yes, I do remember, actually. Well, just in case that doesn't happen, which it will, I'm gonna keep on looking. But the other thing I was gonna say, they think they've found me a new dog. Stella, that's wonderful. Yeah, a perfect match. They reckon she even likes cats. So she'll be quite happy to come around here if she's invited. Of course she'll be invited. Thank you. You might even both be invited. I don't know what I'm more pleased about. I do. Dog or job? Well, the job's only a remote possibility. The dog's much more likely to happen. When did you know? The adoption adviser called just now and that's why I came round. And what if you get this job? They're still happy for you to take on a new dog and a new job. Are they? Yeah, yeah, they are. I've said I was perfectly honest with them. Whatever work I get would be in farm management. Same sort of obligations as I had on Home Farm. And, you know, they know me now, they trust me and they think we'll make a good match. When do you meet her? Well, we can go to the rehoming centre this afternoon. This afternoon? Yeah, I made an appointment for after school, so Rosie can come too. Oh, can you make it? I'd love to come. You know I would, but Dad's busy with the union today and I promised I'd check on the Hereford sucklers for him. They started carving last week. So with that on top of everything else. Well, why don't I see to the Herefords? You? I do know a bit about cattle, Pip. So if I do that for you, then we can both go. And Rosie. All three of us. Actually, I'm not so sure about Rosie. Why not? Well, it's not a done deal, is it? I mean, what if you and the dog don't get on? I don't think that's likely. Yeah, but it could happen. And suppose you don't get on with the dog and you have to start again looking for another one? And what if Rosie's fallen in love in that time? It'd be devastating for her. But it's important that Rosie and the dog get on. I won't be bringing a dog into the house if it hasn't passed the Rosie test. So when we see this dog, Rosie absolutely has to be part of the interview panel. We'll go and look under the bed, Xander. And make it snappy. Morning, Adam. Ben. I was just. Is this important? Well, because, to be honest, the timing's not great. Ian's already gone to work, I'm trying to get Xander ready for school and his library book has disappeared. Yeah, I could. It was there last night. I was reading it. But this morning, at the same time, I'm trying to work my way through the home farm crop records, because that has to be done now and then. I can't stop thinking about the cricket. The cricket? Yeah. All this payment business. Oh, yeah, no, I heard about that. Some of the team getting paid and some not. Yeah, which is underhand and, well, just plain wrong. Linda's idea is what I heard. And the problem compounded by not telling anyone about it. At least not until yesterday. Even then, I got the impression she only confessed because her arm was being twisted. It's not really like Linda, though, is it? It's disturbing. And we have to do something about it. But what? What can you do? Exactly. Our options are limited, but we have to find the right response. Well, yeah, something meaningful, but proportionate. It keeps running through my head. Has Linda apologized for it? Well, if you can call it an apology. She says she's sorry she kept the whole thing a secret. Who was being paid? Nobody knows. Well, we might be able to work it out. No, Ben. No. Not with library books going awol, paperwork piling up. As I said, this is not a good time to call. Well, no. Well, so can it wait? I just thought, you know, as I was on my Way to Darrington. I start a shift there at 9:30. Well, you obviously have to get on. I have to get on. Do you want me to take Xander to school? What? I'm taking Rosie. And I thought it might help if I took Xander as well. Oh, Ben, I'm so sorry. It's okay. That's really kind of you. No, no, it's fine. No, it was so surly. Okay. Honestly. Tempered and frazzled. Thank you. Thank you. It all sounds pretty full on. Well, it is. Yeah. Yeah. Not enough hours in the day. You know how it is. Maybe you should. What? I don't know. Save a bit of time for yourself. Take a walk or something sometime in the day. Just to switch off for a minute. Yeah, well, maybe I'll add it to my to do list. I'll get the car seat. No, in the end I was glad to have the Herefords to check on. I was dragging otherwise. What did you do with the rest of the time? Mostly looked up job opportunities. Didn't find anything? N. Not much. Nothing much. Close enough to my ambring, anyway. Rosie? Rosie. Any thoughts about tea time? She can't hear you, Pip. She's got headphones on all plugged in. Oh, good. That means we can talk uninterrupted. About the dog, of course. About the dog. What did you think? Well, I liked her. Yeah? Yeah. She's still quite young. Yeah, about a year, I think they said. Yeah. And? And a nice terrier mix. Bit of border fox, think. And there may even be a bit of Parson Russell in there. Yeah, I'm happy with that. Yeah. What do you think? Oh, it doesn't matter what I think. She'd be your dog. I'm not having a dog that you don't like. Well, I did like her well enough. Well enough. Stella. She's gorgeous. I thought you sounded a bit cagey because I didn't want to influence your decision. I was trying to work out what you thought. I loved her from the moment they first bought her out. And Rosie loved her? Yeah, I think so. She did. You could tell when we took her for a walk. I thought she'd never give her back. So that is three nail to Cleopatra, yeah. What? It's not that simple though, is it? Well, no, not really. That was one short visit under controlled conditions. We don't yet know what she's like in all situations, do we? Hi, Adam. Ben and Bess. Hello, old girl. What are you up to? Hey. This looks suspiciously to me like a walk. It is. I left a pile of paperwork Half done on the desk. Well done. Now I'm fighting the urge to go back and finish it off. Well, keep fighting, then. Ian's doing Xander's tea, so I had a good half hour spare and I thought work or walk. And you made the right choice. That's not how I'm feeling. Which is what? Guilty? No. There's columns of figures calling to me, like little scratching insects. And the scratching is getting louder and louder. You have to ignore them. I'm not sure I can. That's why I was so ridiculous this morning. You weren't ridiculous. Pompous and ridiculous. I'm impossible to live with. When I get like this, then I don't sleep and that makes things worse. It's grueling. A walk should be a lot calmer than this, shouldn't it? This is all the extra stuff at Home Farm, I suppose. Mostly, yeah. Isn't that why you left in the first place? To, you know, get away from all that? Well, that was different. Home Farm wasn't under threat then. Now it is under threat. It's in a bad way, Ben. It's the family farm. I can't stand by and let it fail. I can't. You can see that, surely? Yeah, absolutely I can. I mean, you couldn't watch Brookfield crumble away in front of you, could you? Hey there. Ben. Adam. What? Wait, that's not. It is. It's. RORY ROARS what are you doing here? Looking for Adam. I went to the office. So good to see you. Oh, I knew. Ben. Hello there, little brother. Oh, Adam. So, go on, then. What are you doing here? Well, you come straight from London? More or less, yes. And I went to the farm, but no sign. Then someone in the yard said he'd seen you heading towards Long Wood, so I left my bags and came to see. Yeah, but why? I mean, like, why now? Haven't you still got stuff to do in London? Oh, well, this and that. But Kate called me. Ah, yeah, last week. She said things were a bit difficult for you and dad with the farm. Did she actually say a bit difficult? Not exactly, no. A lot more dramatic than that, I bet. Well. But she did say I might help if I could spare a few days. So I made some arrangements and, well, here I am. Great. So tell me, what can I do? I think the leaflets explain it well, don't you? They do, yeah. We have to train both of them, Cleopatra and Rosie, for it to work properly. Yeah. Rosie has to learn how to be the dog's birthday best friend. Do you think that's a problem with Rosie. No, no, I don't. No, I'm sure she'll get that. We know what she's like with Beth. She'll be fine, then. It's Cleo. She's the unknown quantity. Well, not exactly unknown, Pip. We took her for a walk and all. That was good. It was fine. She is young, though. She could be boisterous. We saw no signs of that. No, I know, but it still worries you. I can't help that, Stella. No, no, of course. No. Anyway, it makes sense to be cautious, but I'm confident Cleo can be drained. Look, let's see how we get on next time we go to the rehoming centre. Nothing needs to be decided yet, you know, Kate, Rory. This is what she does for dramatic effect. But she did sound genuinely worried. Well, she would be. I'm not saying she doesn't believe in her own version of events, because she clearly does. And your version is? Well, nothing catastrophic. Nothing. What did she call it? Existentially damaging. She's not entirely wrong, though. There was a blip, that's all. A blip? Well, Stella leaving threw up some problems. Yes, but we're getting to grips with that now. Well, and when she's been replaced, we'll be more or less back to normal. Well, that's great. And in the meantime, I'm here. I can still do stuff if. You are doing this graduate training scheme, aren't you? What? Well. Oh, yes. Well, that comes with job opportunities, doesn't it? Don't you need to be around to take advantage of that? But Rory could still be helpful here, though, don't you think? What? For a while, at least. And what makes you think that? Well, there are things. I wouldn't want him to go away thinking everything's fine when maybe it's not. I'm sorry, Adam, this is nothing to do with me, really. No, it's not, but. Well. But what? It seems to me that if someone wants to help and help is needed. So is it needed, Adam? Is it actually true you're coping perfectly well and Kate's got the whole thing out of proportion? Is that what you're saying? No, no, not exactly, no. Ben's right. The work keeps stacking up and I can't. Well, I can't keep up with it. So, yes, I would be very grateful for a little help. You wanted to see me? Yeah, Lily, I was just thinking. Take a seat. Take a seat. Thinking about what? How goes it? How goes what? You. You and Greg Abels. How do you think you're doing well because Greg Abels thinks you're doing just fine. Really, really well. In fact, you have people skills in abundance. You take initiative. You're inventive. That's kind of you, Dane. No, it's a fair assessment of how you're doing here. I believe you rise to a challenge. I like to think I respond well to flour and produce. Sorry. What can we do about it? Do about it? It's on Sunday, isn't it? It is, yes. It should all be planned. But it needs a lift. It is planned. The committee has planned it. But I was thinking it needs, I don't know, some Grey Gables sizzle by Sunday. Because, you know, all it is, from what I've seen, is carrots in a tent. Not very sparky. Carrots in a tent is maybe what people want. Yes, maybe so. But what people also want is atmosphere. Sizzle. So I was thinking we need to do something and we can at least make the tent something special. How big? Candy stripe marquee. Where? Where from? Surrounded by smaller tents, all different colors. Like a sort of medieval camp before Agincourt, Something like that. By Sunday. And the stewards, the hotel star, all done up as squires and ladies in waiting and the like. Maybe someone in the stocks. Yeah. There's the wedding on Sunday, though. Well, yeah, the very big wedding. With at least half the staff attending to that. I know, but they'll manage. You know I have every confidence. Sorry. So you want me to arrange all these tents and. And costumes? No, no. By Sunday. No, I can work on that myself. In fact, I've already made a start. I've got a few possible suppliers lined up. Then what am I supposed to do? We could still do with more sizzle. I see. Take an hour or two, think laterally, see what else you can come up with. Right, right. Must be in keeping with the flour and produce ethos, but with added sizzle. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Fallon. Oh, hey, Lily. Have you got a moment? Ah, yes. Talk to me. Talk to me. Why? What's the matter? Dane's just given me this ridiculous job and I can't do it. And, oh, it's just boring and I need distraction. Okay, but I was gonna ask. Oh, did you hear Rory's back? Oh, yeah, Lillian mentioned it. He just turned up out of the blue. Yeah. What's he up to, do you think? Well, don't know that he's up to anything. Lillian seemed really happy to see him. I'll have to message him, see if there's any gossip. Yeah, speaking of Gossip. Can you believe Linda? Oh, cricket. Harrison was shocked when I told him. Yeah. No one actually knows what really happened, do they? The ins and outs of it all, I mean. Well, I was hoping you might know more. Well, no, I left pretty soon after the announcement, to be honest. So all we know for sure is that Linda was paying some of the team without telling the others. Yeah. Don't you think it's terrible, though, what Linda's done to the team? They're split now. Properly split. And this is the team that Harrison helped build up. I'm so cross. I'm sorry. I probably should be getting on, actually, Fallon. So if there's anything. Oh, yes, sorry. I was phoning about Dross. Your band? Yeah, we've got this memorial thing coming up for Ash. Ed and Jazza are doing a lake swim. A sponsored lake swim. So will I sponsor them? I'm kind of asking around. I hope you don't mind. No, of course not. You can say no. Put me down for ten pounds. Oh, and you can put Freddie down too. You sure? I'll tell him later. Oh, thank you so much. Right, I better let you get on with whatever it is. Flour and produce. Yawn. No, that's a lovely thing to be doing. Lovely. Flour and produce. Of course. It's such an important part of village life. It's like our heartbeat. What are you doing? Dane wants me to add some sizzle. Sizzle? I know. That's Dane, though. Don't let him muck it up. I have no control over him, Fallon. Well, it's very important, though. People take it so serious. Now, what have you come up with? Well, as I say, I think we can manage these. It'll take a bit of financial outlay, but it should be worth it in the long run. There is money if investments need it. In that case, my first idea is that we donate proper prizes for the main categories, which will give the competition an extra edge. And by proper prizes you mean. Spa treatments, meals for two, weekend breaks, maybe cash. Go on. I'm also suggesting we run a Grey Gables wine tasting competition. Wine tasting? So you pay to enter and you'll be given, like, five mystery wines, two from the village shop, two homemade and one from our cellar here. Whoever gets all five, right, wins a half dozen bottles of the Grey Gables vintage. Right, Noted. Anything else? A celebrity judge. Now, I've been checking and we've had them before, usually from the Borchester Echo or Radio Borcher, but I think we can do better than that. Give it more national appeal. That sounds Promising. In fact, I've taken a bit of initiative on this one, Dane, and made a few calls. And I have got Charlotte Smith standing by off Country File and Farming today. Ah, brilliant, Lily. Absolutely brilliant. Maintains the traditional feel, adds a bit of pizzazz. Well done. Now, go out and do it. All of it, all that you can. You'll oversee the F and P. I'll take on the wedding. What? And while I think of it, I've just heard that Ian's had to drop out as baking judge. And maybe Charlotte Smith could do that. Hi there, Lily. Dr. Malik. Have you come to see Zaynab? No, no, I've come for the sauna. Oh, nice. A treat for my day off. I hope, to offset the effects of a sweet tooth. Sweet tooth? How are you on cakes? My appreciation of cakes is unparalleled. Why? Well, it just happens that the Flower and Produce Show. Oh, no, no, no, no, not another village event. Oh, it's only judging. It's quite simple, really. It always starts off simple, then it never is. I get drawn in. No, sorry, Lily, It's a no to the Flower and Produce, whatever it is, and however simple. Oh, that's a shame. You'd have made a good judging pair, you and Charlotte Smith. Charlotte Smith? The other judge? Yes, Charlotte Smith of Farming Today. The one and only. Anyway, enjoy your son. Order. They're just some flyers for the Flour and Produce, Fallon. Right. If you wouldn't mind putting a few up. Well, you're quick off the mark with these, Dane. That's just me. Don't let the grass grow, you know. And you've got Charlotte Smith judging. Yes. Bit of a coup, thanks to Lily. She was telling me about your ideas for jazzing things up. We're not jazzing. No, it's very much a traditional thing, the Flower and Produce. We want to capitalize on that tone. Oh, that's nice. Well, if there's anything I can do to help. Yeah, actually, possibly a couple of things. Oh, I understand you've got cake stands we might borrow. Haven't you got any? Yeah, but not enough. And displaying things properly is vital, I always think. Well, I can do that for you. I'll drop some round this afternoon. Azra, you're back. Is everything all right? I never went away, Lily. I kept thinking about what you said. About what? The Flower and Produce Show. Ah, yes. You didn't want to get drawn in. Yes, I did say that. But one of the lessons you learn over the years is that life's not simple. It's always wise to allow for wriggle room. So you'll do it? If you'll still have me. That's wonderful. What made you change your mind? Charlotte Smith, my farming friend. You know her? No, no, not really. But I feel as if I do. When we first moved to Ambridge, I started getting up early, make the tea house all quiet. And I put the radio on. Farming Today, 5:45. I knew nothing about farming, nothing about rural English life at all. And there she was. First light, my farming friend, and now the chance to judge cakes with her. If I get the job. Oh, believe me, Dane will be thrilled. Oh, he's got someone in with him at the minute. Oh, has he? Thanks very much, Dane. That's lovely. I can't tell you. Hi, Fallon. You'll never guess. Dane's asked me to judge the baking with Charlotte Smith. He hasn't. Oh, I know. I couldn't believe it. I said I'd bring some cake stands over. He said, when you do, pop into my office for a quick word. And I did. And he just asked me. You sure? It's finally why there's not a problem, is there? No, no, no, no. I'm really pleased for you. Congratulations, Fallon. Well, thank you, Azra. Yeah. Right. I better get back to the ball. Yeah. I'm so sorry. Oh, well, it's not to be. I had no idea he was going to do this. No, it's all right. I feel like I've let you down. Oh, don't. You were trying to help. Anyway, this will be a tonic for Fallon after the disappointment of the cricket. The cricket. Yeah, I know. She feels Linda betrayed Harrison's legacy as the former captain. Now, that really is letting people down, don't you think? In Turkey, if you're willing to take a detour, you'll discover the food even social media hasn't got to yet. From Michelin stars and wine and ULA to traditional recipes and the home of baklava in the East. Discover the culinary capital of Gaziantep and talk to the locals. 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Not since Sunday, I should think. Not since Sunday, no. Well, that's why I've come to see you. It'll pass, you know, Lily. Will it, though? Well, anyway, we. We don't want to talk about that, do we? Actually, I do want to talk. Not when there's flour and produce in the offing. What's all this about? Increasing the value of the prizes. Can that be true? Yes. Yes. Spa treatments and. No, no. Bad idea. Oh, well, it stimulated a lot of interest. The flour and produce is about standards, not material gain. So what else has been going on? Dane wants to give a medieval feel to it all. Medieval? Mmm. Lots of colourful tents and period costume. Oh, naff, Lily. That's what I thought. Thoroughly naff. Still, when Dane gets an idea in his head. I know, I know, Linda. Why did you do it? No, we're back on that already. Are we? Everywhere I go, it's what people want to talk about. I keep trying to change the subject, but it's still hanging in the air. When I do, people feel betrayed and they blame you. And it wasn't your idea. As I said on Sunday. The responsibility was yours. Yes, the responsibility was yours. I know, but you also said the idea was yours and it wasn't. It was my idea to pay Rex and Kalatma. You didn't even know it was happening. What does Freddie say? He says he was pushed into it, so don't blame him. Well, he has a point there. He also says if we keep our heads down for a while, it might all blow over. I see. Predictably enough. Well, he's not completely wrong. He's a bit of a pragmatist, your brother. Linda, this isn't going to go away and I don't want you to take all the blame. But my hand was forced, Lily. That toad Lawrence found out about the payments and was going to expose us. I didn't want to give him that satisfaction, so I. I thought I'd speak first. I had no idea you were going to do that. Well, there wasn't time to consult you. I had to say something. But, I mean, technically, there's nothing wrong in paying players. Yes, but keeping the payments a secret, that was wrong. Morally wrong and tactically wrong. I should have seen that. By keeping quiet, the problem became worse. It festered. And making it public would have been tricky, but it would have been the honest thing to do. Well, then, do the honest thing now. Share the blame. And what would that achieve? Lily, you're at the start of things. You have far to go. This could tarnish your reputation in the village and I can't see the point of that. And what about your reputation? Oh, my reputation has weathered greater storms than this. People half expect this sort of thing from me. So, please, Lily, let's leave things as they are, shall we? Let's not talk any more about shared responsibility. That's it, Cleo. Have a good sniff around. Good girl. Oh, she looks happy enough to be here, Ben. Don't you think? Yeah, she loves it. You can tell That's Stella's cushion. Well, your new cushion now, I suppose, in your new home, eh? Oh, I heard Ruri's back at Blossom Hill Cottage. Yeah, since Monday. To lend a hand, I suppose, with Home Farm. That's the plan. Though I don't think he's been kept very busy so far. Well, does he know enough to be useful? He's willing to do whatever, really. Sit now, Cleo. Sit. Good girl. What a good Cleo. When are Pip and Rosie coming round? About half six. Pip said so. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Well, you know what? I'd like everything to go smoothly. Why wouldn't it? We all have to get on for a start. You will. Mmm. Won't you? We should do. Yeah. You've had several visits to the rehoming centre and they all went well, didn't they? Cleo's obviously very devoted to you. Look, Ms. Center wouldn't let her be here if it wasn't going to work. This is her home now. And Pip's talked to Rosie about how to behave with her, hasn't she? Yeah, of course. Then what's the worry? Oh, well, there's just a degree of unpredictability about it, that's all. Everything's new to Cleo. New faces, new smells. And she's young. And Rosie, she doesn't always do what she's told. Oh, please don't tell Pip I said that because it's, you know, it's not a big deal. Most of the time it's fine, but with a young dog about the place, a bit lively, Rosie has to be consistent. And she probably will be. Yeah, probably. Anyway, I can't really keep them apart, can I? You don't mind doing a late shift, do you, Brad? Not really, no. Only, isn't it Chelsea's birthday today? I thought you might have planned. Me? I need to keep out of the way. Why? What's she doing? Going out clubbing with some of her feral mates tonight. And an impromptu, impromptu party round. Ours on Saturday. Impromptu party meaning not properly planned. But you'll go? If I have to. Which I will. Lily, can I ask you a personal question? What sort of personal question? Oh, no, no, no, it's all right. Personal to me, not to you. Oh, well, I mean, I don't know how helpful I can be. Just a bit of advice, really. Go on, then. Right, well, you know Amber, George's fiance? I think I've upset her. You think you have? Well, I said something and she started crying. When was this? Sunday. This is about something you said on Sunday? Yes, and I've been worrying about it ever since. Okay. So what did you actually say? Oh, a good few things, really. I was rabbiting on a bit about the cricket and the moon. Okay. Wouldn't have been that, though. No, Most likely it was me moaning about her phone, pinging off all the time. So you said something about her phone and what, she burst into tears? Not exactly burst, no, she kind of went quiet and she was sort of quietly sobbing a while before I realized. So. Sorry, what's your question? What have I done wrong? How can I make it right? Two questions. Sorry. To be honest, Brad, I don't think it's that tricky? No, that's good. Ask her. Ask her. You want to know what upset her, ask her. Maybe it's nothing to do with you. Maybe something else upset her. Maybe. I don't know. She saw something on her phone and you just happened to be there. Right, I see. All I'm saying is anything could have made her cry. Just as likely it wasn't you. Oh, maybe. I'm pretty sure it was me, though. She won't mind being asked, will she? I don't want to set her off again. That's a risk you'll have to take. But I'm sure it's the best way to find out. Yeah, well, thank you, Lily. It's okay. Thank you for helping me out. I had a feeling you might know what to do. What's happening with this cricket business? What do you mean, what's happening? Well, I thought you might know a bit more. No. Even though you're Director of Cricket. Oh, right. Well, I don't think anything is happening. Nothing's changed. It is weird, though, isn't it? What's weird about it? Well, I don't really get it. I mean, how could Linda do something as dodgy as that? It's not like her. Not like her at all. No, you're right, it isn't. Because what it's done is divided the team, mate against mate, which normally Linda would hate to think she was responsible for. Look, I just Forget about it, Brad, if I were you. Forget about it? Why? Because these people don't know what they're talking about. Don't they? No, because like most things, it's a lot more complicated than they make out. How is it? It just is. And people talking about Linda being to blame is. It's not really fair. No, no, it's not the whole story. And she's not entirely to be blame, Brad. She's not, believe me. Who is, then? 20 more minutes, Rosie, and then we really do have to go. Right. Right, Rosie, what can we play in 20 minutes? We asked Leo. I'd say they were getting on. Yeah, all three of them, by the sound of things. Well, all four if you count Herbert. Herbert? Oh, come on, Stella. Herbert the giraffe. Ah, yeah, that Herbert. Course, Rosie's very special friend. I hope he gets on with Cleo. They're bound to get on. Oh, she's such a friendly dog. She and Hannah hit it off straight away. So Cleo passes the Hannah Test with flying colours. And Rosie. The Rosie Test? Yeah. Yeah. I'll be honest. No, Rosie's Been brilliant. She's remembered everything she was told. She didn't get at all over excited. What do you think? I think so far so good. I mean, Rosie will love having Rosie. Stay where you are. What is it, Ben? Can you come in here please? What's the matter now? As quick as you can. Ambridge Hall. Linda, are you free to talk? Lily, what's the matter? I'm at work. I'll have to be quick. You've told someone, haven't you? I didn't mean to. I just. I couldn't stand it anymore, the unfairness of it. Who've you told? Everyone's blaming you, Lily. Brad. I told Brad. Brad? Well, he was going on about the same old stuff about you betraying the team and letting Ambridge down and I just. I had to stop him. Did you actually say you were to blame? I told him the truth. Did you say you were to be. Yes. Yes I did. And I thought it was only fair to let you know because you were just doing your best to protect me and I ignored your advice. Well, it could be worse I suppose. Brad's a decent young man. He won't go blabbing round the village. Well. What? Well there's more. What? I've sent a message round to the team. Oh, Lily. So you've told them? Well, not yet, no. Well thank goodness for that. All I said was that there'll be a meeting on Friday in the Bull to discuss the current situation. I'm going to tell them then. Linda, are you still there? I have to say I think that was unwise. Well yes, you're probably right. Unwise, but really rather courageous. Let's hope they all appreciate it and show a degree, degree of tolerance and understanding. Yes, let's hope so. Ben's waiting with Rosie in the yard. How is she? A bit jittery, but she'll be all right. Sure you don't want to stay a bit longer to come down? No, thanks. I ought to get her home first. But we will have to talk through what happened here. And what did happen exactly? Was Ben able to tell you? Yeah, it was all quite simple really. He says Cleo got hold of Herbert by the neck and she started to rip into him. Which upset Rosie? Well, it would do. So she took a step towards the dog only to get Herbert back to rescue him. And that's when Ben shouted at her to stop her taking it from Cleo. So do you think it was Ben shouting that upset her that much? Partly that and partly seeing Herbert being mauled. Well, Ben was Right. To shout, though. Oh, well, yes, because Cleo had taken possession of Herbert. She'd claimed him, and as far as she was going concerned, Herbert was hers and she was going to defend her property. And she can't be blamed for that. No, no, of course not. That's perfectly normal behavior for a dog, isn't it, girl? Stella, I'm not blaming Cleo, but we have to deal with the way things are. Yeah, of course. And that means Rosie being genuinely sad about losing Herbert, but also a bit more nervous of Cleo, which isn't ideal. No. So I honestly think we have to sit down together and have a proper chat about what happens next. Sorry, I've been pretty focused on all this stuff, Rory. No, no, no, I understand. So I haven't been around for you. You know how it is, though. Bills to be paid. Paying bills. Sounds like something I could help with. It could be, yeah. Except in this case, it would take me longer to explain to you how to do do it than it would to just get on and do it myself. Okay, then. Sorry. Well, then, is there something else? Well, because I've come down to the office for the last two days. I came this morning, and either I've just missed you. That can't be helped. I've just missed you, or I get given things to do that don't really need doing. They all need doing, Rory. What? Tidying up the stationery? Home Farm isn't going to sink or swim, according to whether or not we run out of paper. No, maybe not, but it still helps to have. In fact, I'm getting the distinct impression that you're just trying to keep me out of the way. It's not that, Rory. No. If you really don't want me here, I'd rather you just told me so. Better that than being fobbed off. No, of course it's not that. It's genuinely good to see you, it really is. But honestly, when I think about it, I'm pretty much coping here. That's not how it looked on Monday. Monday was just a bad day. You were clearly stressed. We all have days like that from time to time. But you battle through and things begin to fall into place. And as soon as we can find a replacement for Stella. Look, I do care about what happens to Home Farm, you know, I don't doubt it. But you have your own career to look to, and that's in London. Why does everyone assume that London is where I want to be? Oh, come on. We all knew you'd make it there. How on what evidence? The way you talk about it, I thought you had your sights set. Well, maybe I did once. Stella here. Oh, hi, Stella. This is Dr. Malik. Azra, have you got two minutes for a chat? Oh, I can't at the moment, Azra. I've got to see a farmer about a dog. Is anything the matter? Oh, no, don't worry, Stella, it's not a professional call. I've just got a quick question for you, that's all. Well, if I can help, but just not now. How about I buy you a coffee in the tea room? Oh, yeah, sounds good to me. Five o', clock, quarter past. Great. Thank you. I won't keep you long, I promise. Bye. Bye. Hiya. Hello, Cleo. Hello, girl. Hey, is Rosie not with you? No, she's with Mum. Oh, yeah, well, probably a good idea. Yeah, they're baking something for the flour and produce show. Oh, something nice, something non descript and tasteless, I should think. Yeah, which we'll all admire when it's done, won't we, Bear? Of course we will. Listen, listen, I. I called the people at the rehoming center this afternoon and I had a long chat with this woman, Frankie. She's a behaviorist specializing in child dog safety. And she knew about Cleopatra. She did? And? And she said that she'd always found her good natured, friendly, problem free. Not completely problem free, obviously. Well, no, no, no, no. But no more problems than any normal adolescent do. Look, I'll put some coffee on and we, we can talk about it. Should I cover Cleo's ears, do you think? Look, if you can't take this seriously. Brandon. Sorry. Sorry, Pip. Sorry, Stella. Sorry, Cleopatra. Ben, I've been feeling, I don't know, at odds with London for a while now. There's this permanent intensity about it, like a kind of humming noise in my head. Well, that's not necessarily a reason to give up on what London has to offer. It's full of opportunities and one of them might be the perfect fit for you. I can't see that happening. Well, what about this City graduate scheme? Surely there's every chance that might lead to. No, Adam, it won't. But you can't know that. I can. I know it in all certainty. The chances you get from that scheme are based on how well you do on it. And you didn't do well. Well, let's just say there'll be nothing coming over that particular horizon. Rory, I'm sorry. No need. I didn't feel as bad about it as I thought I would, but I Haven't told anyone else yet, so of course, I won't say a word. Thank you. Well, give me a chance to manage the disappointment. Dads in particular. Sorry, I really didn't mean to offload all of this on you. That's how you feel, though? Well, then it kind of is. I do understand, Rory. The way the pressure builds, problems come at you from all directions. You don't have to be in London to feel like that. No. Yeah. I felt it here. When I left Home Farm and began to do some work on Bridge Farm, well, it was like swapping a headache for simple, honest labor. You know, just do the job in front of you and do it as well as you can. And that's enough? Yes. You don't have to join in with the race, this endless race. Right. Always having to prove you're better than good enough. Because good enough doesn't cut it anymore. No. Good enough's no longer good enough. And sometimes, well, you just can't. You can't do all that. But then, isn't that. What? Weakness? No. Your own personal weakness. Why should you think that? I don't know. Sometimes I wake up in the morning with the light of the new day coming through the curtains, and I feel. I feel completely useless. No, Rory. Look, Kate phoned you and you came as soon as you could. Why do you think you did that? To help, I suppose. Of course, it was because you cared. I think maybe her call was timely. Timely? Yeah. You're feeling bad about London, and then you get a call to come down here. So it gives you a chance to reset, to reassess what you want to do, where you want to be. You keep saying Cleo's a perfectly normal dog. Well, so she is. So does that mean it was Rosie's fault, what happened? No, no, of course not. But she has to learn how to react when something like that does happen. They both do. Well, that's what Frankie was saying. It's best to train the child and the dog together. And the training will be fun. A lot of it's more like playing games anyway. But the main thing is learning what to do and what not to do in any given situation. And you're sure Cleo's trainable? Absolutely certain, Ben. As sure as I could ever be. Well, in that case, maybe I should trust your judgment, you mean. Well, I mean, as far as I'm concerned, Cleo is staying. Yes. Thank you. You won't regret this. I know you won't. No. But there is one condition. What condition? If we get Any acts of aggression from Cleo, that's it. That's it, yeah. We'd have to stop coming here. Both of you? Yeah, Rosie and me. I wouldn't bring her to the bungalow again. It won't come to that, I'm sure. No, Ben's right. It won't. Then you agree? Yes. Yeah, I'm all right with that. I agree. You're still young, Rory. Time's on your side. Any changes you might make now, well, they're not set in stone. You can change again. You mean if I turn my back on London now, it doesn't have to be forever? No. You can reassess. I think you're right. You know, just being here will give me the chance to do that. Yeah, to ask yourself what you really want to do. What's genuinely worth doing. You know, when I came back in June for Grandma Peggy's funeral, I suddenly realized how much I was missing home. Mostly the people. Dad and you, Alice and Kate. But also the place itself. The fields and the lanes. That sounds like a decision, little brother. It isn't. It's just how I'm feeling. Not set in stone. Still, I can see it might be an idea to find you something more purposeful to do around here. Yes, please. Assuming you really want to help. I do. I really do. Well, I can't have that conversation now, I'm afraid. But we could this evening in the ball. Great. With something to eat. And to save any unnecessary arguments, I've already decided. It's on me. So, Stella, what do farmers talk about? Sorry? Or to be more precise, what do farm folk talk about? You know, those people who are on the edges of the farming community but might not actually be farmers? Why do you ask? Well, I don't know if you've heard, but Charlotte Smith is coming to Ambridge on Sunday. Oh, I did hear something about that. Yeah. Well, I'm a big fan of Charlotte's. Honestly, I hang on her every word. And she'll be judging the baking competition, and I'll be baking, so our paths might very well cross. Will cross, in fact, if I have anything to do with it. What I don't want is to be stuck there, there, mouthing pathetically like a beached fish. I want to engage her in intelligent conversation. Farming conversation. Yeah, exactly. I've got a starting point, but it might not get me very far. I'd have to be ready to segue onto something else. And what is this starting point? What's your favorite cow? What's your favorite cow? Because I have Noticed people do have favourites. And they like a property. Probably ask her why. Yeah, why is that your favorite cow? But after that, we might struggle, you know? I mean, what if she asked me what my favorite cow is? Because I don't actually know, and then I feel like I should know and. Well, what do you think? Well, am I on the right tracks? I don't think so. No. Listen, let me put it like this. When you get a group of doctors together. Yeah? What do you talk about? What's your favourite illness? Oh, no. Then what? Well, we usually talk about other things. Other things? Yeah, you know, ordinary things. Then that's probably the way to go, Azra. Ordinary things. Just between you and me, many of the problems we're currently facing on Home Farm have been brought about by Brian himself. Like what? Threatening not to bring in the harvest, for one. That was a major headache. But he wouldn't actually have left the wheat to rot, would he? That's what he says. Who knows? Because Stella got us out of that particular hole. Brian got so worked up about what Justin was doing, well, he lost control of the situation. And of course, perhaps the biggest blunder of them all. Driving Stella away. He should have acknowledged how important she was to the smooth running of Home Farm. Made his peace with her. Do you think it's maybe time to consider retirement? Or at least working reduced hours? Well, you think we haven't put that idea to him? With varying degrees of subtlety, from broad hints to direct challenge. Time to put your feet up, Brian. What do you think? Think he won't even consider it? Maybe if I tried. Yeah, something a bit different, coming from a different direction. Well, you could try. See what he says. No, what we really need is a Plan B and even a Plan C. Well, if dad won't retire, you'll need someone else to run things. New farm manager? Yep. Fresh ideas, good work ethic, plenty of experience. Experience? They're few and far between at the moment, I'm afraid. Or Plan C. Persuade Stella to come back again. We've tried. I've asked her. Even Brian swallowed his pride and asked. And again, she's not yielding an inch. Well, I could talk to her myself on the same principle. The silver tongued Rory? The unexpected Rory. No more than that. And at least worth a try. So? So, A, B and C. And ideally, we'd need two out of three. Otherwise, Home Farm's going to find it's been built on shifting sand and the next storm that hits could blow it all away. Amber, do. Do you mind if I. What Brad. Where? If I join you? No. No, of course not. Okay. I just wasn't sure. I thought there was this emergency cricketing meeting tonight. Yeah, there is. But you're not going? No, not. Why are you here, Brad? Why am I here? All the way over to Grange Farm on a Friday night. Well, what's wrong? It's hard to explain. Hard to explain? Why you've come. Yeah. Did you know when you set out? Yeah, of course I did. Thing is, I've come to say sorry. Sorry? What for? What? For upsetting you. What? When? Last Sunday. You upset me Sunday? How? Well, I think it was the phone business. Getting you to stop using it. I'm not sure, though. But you ran into the house crying. Oh, that. Yeah, that. I didn't mean to upset you. You told me off. Did I? I don't think so. Yes, you did. You were telling me off for wanting to get my teeth done. No, I wasn't telling you off. I was just asking about it. No, you were right to tell me off. It was like you saw right through me. I wouldn't tell you off, Amber. That's not what I was doing. I'm a fraud. No. Pretending to be what I'm not. You're not a fraud, Amber. The teeth, they're all part of it. That's what got to me. Because you're right. I put this picture up of what I want to look like, what I want to be like. And it's not real. I reckon if I say it proud enough and long enough, it'll stick eventually. And I will become what I say I am and turn into the picture. And online. That's easy. You can be whoever you want to be, can't you? You don't have to pretend, though, Amber. You only have to be who you are. But what happens if George doesn't like who I am? What happens then? You know what this is all about, do you, Freddy? Oh, no. Lily said nothing to me. It'll be about this payment business. Bound to be. I suppose so. And what we're going to do about it? What can we do about it, though? It's all happened, hasn't it? You know, it's in the past. No. Something has to be done. There have to be consequences. And anyway, there's still more we need to know. Is there? Like who actually was being paid? Yeah. What about you, Freddie? Me? Well, you're the skipper. Yeah. Were you getting handouts? Certainly not. And. And don't ask me who he was. Management didn't always let me in with their you know, little secrets. You had no suspicions? No. Anyway, Lily might not want to talk about the payments at all. Here she comes now. And she's got Linda with her management United. I'm surprised Linda dares to show her face after Sunday. Lily, you're sure you still want to go through with this? Absolutely. I just want to get it over with. Excuse me, everybody. If I could just say a few words. Thank you. And thank you for coming. Sorry to keep you waiting, but this won't take long. I wanted to tell you this while we're all together as a team to clear the air, because there've been rumors flying around, mostly about Linda, and, well, they're just not true. So it was my idea to introduce payment for certain players. You what? I thought of it. I set it up. I decided it should be kept a secret. This just gets worse and worse. I'm sorry. I did. Was a mistake. It was a mistake, all right. You treated us like dirt. Please, listen. Listen to me. Why should we? I want to ask Lily why she did this. Give her a chance to explain. Lily, I thought it would be good for the team. Yeah, of course. I thought it would build a stronger team. That's all I was trying to do. And that was the wrong thing to do and the wrong way to go about it. But it was done for the right reason, for the team. I advised Lily against facing you all like this, but she said she wanted to clear the air, to face the music. So she risked your considerable and perfectly understandable anger to put a wrong right and to say sorry. That's all well and good, but it doesn't change anything, does it? The team is still divided. Some paid, some not. And we've been lied to. But we're telling you the truth now. So will you tell us who is being paid? I. I don't think I can do that. It wouldn't be fair. Well, there you go. Them and us. When George is out and we're together, properly together, and he sees me without makeup and not trying to pitch an image, I can't help thinking. That he won't like me. No. That I won't be good enough for him. No, you will be. I can't believe that. But you must know he's completely in love with you. George has made some heavy mistakes in his life, but being with you isn't one of them, Brad. In the kind of way you've saved him. He's a much better person now than he was was before you. Oh, Brad, that is such a sweet. No, no, no, no, don't. It's such a sweet thing to say. Oh, not again. Please. Please don't cry, Amber. I'm sorry. I said I'd give Lily a lift back to the stables. Oh, good. And you'll see she's all right. Oh, well, how do you think it went in there? My. Much as I feared it would. I suppose I'll be next in the firing line. Oh, do you think I should call a meeting to give my side of things? Not funny, Freddie. No. Sorry. How will she cope, you think? Oh, I don't know. I mean, she is good at coping, though, you know, on the whole. Well, at least she's got the flour and produce to deal with. Which will give her a focus on something else for a while. Although she's worried about that as well. Worried? Why? Will they have enough staff to handle the show and the wedding? Oh, I'm sure Dane would have thought of that. You will keep an eye on her, though, won't you, Freddie? She's pretty low at the moment. I'll do what I can. In time, this will all settle down. Of course, it's. It's probably no bad thing that it's now out in the open. You mean we can start to rebuild bridges? Well, we can try. Meanwhile, though, we'll have to be ready to operate. Offer Lily what support he can. Sorry about that. Tom was keen to carry on arguing. He can be an angry soul at times. Was he all right about it in the end? I don't know. I said I'd be resigning as Director of Cricket. Resigning? I'm not sure you should have done that, Billy. Well, he seemed to find some satisfaction in the fact that I did. So give it a little time and things will begin to settle. I don't want to give it any more time. Can we go now, Freddie? Yes, of course. Bye, Linda. Goodbye. And you will remember what I said about keeping an eye on her. Weren't you feeling okay now? I'm all right. You sure? Don't go on about it, Brad. Sorry. I'm trying to put it behind me. Start again. Know what I mean? Good idea. George always said you were a real good mate. The best. That's nice. Couldn't see it myself. Not at first. But I can now. Thank you. Well, you've said your sorries. Yeah, several times over. Yeah. So I better go, I think. Thank you for listening to me. I don't mention it going on and on. I did listen to you, as it goes. Well, I didn't say very much when you were Telling me off? Honestly, Amber, I wasn't. Ever. Anyway, I've decided to ditch the picture veneers. Really? Like you said, they belong to the fake. Amber, I don't think I actually. Well, the made up one. Of course. The flight's all booked, so I'll probably go anyway. Have a bit of a break. Kind of feels like I've earned one. Yeah, why not? And I'll be saving money on the treatments so I can put that towards George's party. Yeah. There you go. Baked beans on toast. Thank you. I was right. No one else knows how to do this. It comes with plenty of late night practice. Yeah, patching me up. I know. The ultimate comfort food. I'm fine either way. Yeah, I know. In case you were wondering. No, Lily, I can see you're fine. You look fine. Oh, come on, Freddie. You drop me back here after the pub and then you turn up on the door, doorstep at 11, demanding beans on toast. I know what you're doing. I just thought it might be nice. You just thought you'd check up on me. You were never very good at subtlety. All right, I am. I'm checking up on you because I'm worried. But you say you're fine. I am. I'm fine. Really fine. Absolutely fine. Five out of five fine. I mean, who's ever five out of five? Five. So, three, Maybe threeish or one. Not quite one. Oh, Lily. Do you want to tell me about it? Oh, no, not really. I just keep fouling things up, which doesn't help. Like the cricket. I sort of knew it was a bad idea from the start. I'm now making a list of everything I try, beginning with the cricket and going right up to this week, when I more or less promised Azra she could be a flower and produce judge. And I had to let her down. I failed her. So I've now got a whole list of debits and nothing on the credit side. So. Yeah, that makes life feel aimless at the moment. Aimless and empty. It doesn't look like that to me. Your life, I mean. Oh, well, this does feel the wrong way round, though. What does? It's usually you looking out for me after one of my many notorious disasters, sitting in Mum's kitchen, you picking up broken pieces of Freddy and putting them back together again and having beans on toast. I wish I knew how you did it. You're doing all right. Thanks. Look, if I were you, I dump that list. List? What? You were just saying debit side, credit side. Get rid of it. Yeah, it's only in my head. Well, clear it out anyway. It's not helpful. Linda was right. You were trying to make things better for the team. I could easily go on the credit side with all your other abilities. Like what? You have special talents, Lily. And you know you have. Starting with beans on toast the proper way, I'll grant you that. You'll come back from this, Lily. I know you will. Sorry, I just need to see who. Oh, hello. It's Tom. I've been talking with the rest of the team. All agreed we're never playing for Ambridge again. Hello. It's lovely to have you with us. This week the Ambridge cricketers learnt that certain players were secretly paid to play and the entire team resigned. Brad made Amber cry by saying she didn't need veneers. And in my head, she'll now forever have Wurzel Gummidge's teeth. Stella got a new dog which bit Little Rosie's pet giraffe. Yeah, it doesn't sound like much, but blimey, there was a lot of fallout. And Rory, the illegitimate Aldridge heir with an innovative approach to student debt is back in the village. I'm Emma Freud and this is the Archers podcast. This week we're talking about extramarital relationships from a few different angles. A long affair kept secret from a wife, but witnessed by 5 million listeners. A child born from that affair and the dark storyline about how that child financed his college education. Plus all the other affairs and near misses in Ambridge you may have forgotten about, but we haven't. We're joined by the returning home farm prodigal son himself, Rory Donovan, played by Arthur Hughes. What exactly has Rory returned from? Arthur? Nobody here knows. He's been working in London on a graduate scheme. I don't think it's a particularly well paid or something he really loves. In what area though? It's finance. Is it though? Did you just make that up? Well, it's. This is what I think. Rory is, you know, deliberately vague with everyone about what it is he's doing. And quite a secretive guy, I just think. Never really wants people to know exactly what it is he's going. Keeps a few cards pretty close to his chest. So you're in completely the wrong place then. Cause we are gonna bust it all open. Yes, let's do it. Also with us is the script writing queen of Ambridge, secret romances, Joanna, Toy, Jo, Brad and Amber. Did I imagine it or was there a vibe between them this week? Well, I think there was definitely a vibe. Oh, good. When we came to that final scene and Amber revealed that she, in fact, wasn't going to get her veneers done. She. But she was going to go to Turkey, but she would have some money left over. If I'd been Brad, my heart would have skipped a beat, you know, thinking, oh, is she going to invite me along? Can I just stow away in her suitcase with that spare money? But no, it's going to George's party. But Brad is the paragon of virtue. I know he would. He would not take advantage. No, he wouldn't take advantage. But, I mean, poor boy deserves a free holiday. He's such an old soul, isn't he? All that talk about the moon and the owl. Very well parented. Yeah. I promise. Tracey. I would say that whenever anyone's nice about Brad and the former BBC foreign correspondent and Archers fan Emma Jane Kirby is here. She also did a spell as an Archers producer, so she knows a thing or two about crossovers and might have some advice for country fireland farming. Today presenter Charlotte Smith, who's going to be guest judge at the Flower and Produce fair this week. Any thoughts for her Jay? For Charlotte Smith? Gosh. Well, if I were her, I would think of how she needs to talk to the village doctor who was thinking about talking to her about her favorite cow, so maybe her favorite illness or, you know, that. That kind of thing I'd suggest. Wasn't that the sweetest scene I know? Practicing how to talk to a celebrity. Charlotte Smith. Yeah. I think Charlotte Smith is going to, you know, be bowled over, frankly, by a. By Ambridge. I know I was everybody. But you were never on it. You were just backstage. No, no, but I felt I was. I used to wake up in the middle of the night, and this is the absolute truth. Worried that I'd missed Ruth Archer's birthday. Oh, that feeling. It was ridiculous. I used to worry about earthquakes and being sent in the middle of the night to a plane crash. And then I'd wake up worried about Ruth Archer's birthday. High class problems. Uh, we're going now to my scene of the week. It's the one we've waited for since Amber first burst onto the prison car park. The moment the mask finally slipped. I didn't mean to upset you. You told me off. Did I? I don't think so. Yes, you did. You were telling me off for wanting to get my teeth done. No, I wasn't telling you off. I was just asking about it. No, you were right to tell me off. It was like you said, sort Right through me. I wouldn't tell you off, Amber. That's not what I was doing. I'm a fraud. No. Pretending to be what I'm not. You're not a fraud, Amber. The teeth, they're all part of it. That's what got to me. Because you're right. I put this picture up of what I want to look like, what I want to be like, and it's not real. I reckon if I say it proud enough and long enough, it'll stick eventually. And I will become what I say I am and turn into the picture and online. That's easy. You can be whoever you want to be, can't you? You don't have to pretend, though, Amber. You only have to be who you are. But what happens if George doesn't like who I am? What happens then? Did this change how any of you feel about Amber? Oh, definitely. Yeah. I really warm to her. She's just irritated me. Until now I thought she's a, you know, a dangerous influence on George and. But now I feel terribly sorry for her. She was so vulnerable. I. I really liked her. I've always found whenever I'm doing these scenes, someone comes with something. They come with something difficult to say and it changes. It changes the dynamic of what a relationship is. There's so many times it's happened and it's. As an actor, it's just great to be in those moments. And I think this is a huge one. You know, it changes Amber. And I think, yeah, we. I, you know, from what we've. How we know Amber up to this point, it does. You see a softness. You see a change in someone. I think that's where. And just. Especially just through a voice, just hearing that in the. It's those, like, delicacies. I think that's what makes it really special. Was also so touching. I thought that Brad hadn't really criticized her, he hadn't had a go at her. But she's the one who said I'm a fraud. So she. She owned it rather than. It was defensive. Yeah, I thought that was brave. It was a whole week about truth, wasn't it, really? And people just facing up to who they are and what they got to say. Just like Lily with the cricket and. And so on and so forth. And I was just bowled over by the kindness that everybody was showing to each other. I thought it was a classic Archers week. And I'm so impressed by these emotionally aware young men. Rory again. Yeah. Ben, Brad. They were just spectacular. Very well parented. Very well parented. I don't know if you remember, but George actually had a very similar fear back in July when he was talking to the prison chaplain. Not good enough for Amber. No. And then someone else could come along and they would be good enough. They'd be more worthy. Yeah. Do you think that's the foundation for a strong relationship because they're both insecure and vulnerable, or is that actually quite a dangerous cocktail? I think if they were. If they stay together, George and Amber, and if they're supported by the Web of Ambridge, that would be okay. I think if they were sort of on their own, adrift in the world, they'd be like the babes in the wood. There's no other character in the program who has given us so many clues as to their appearance and built such a complex visual photo for us. She's quite different. Like, I have such. Such a view of Amber, whereas I have feelings about most of the other characters. It's difficult to be, you know, young person these days with how you. You are portrayed. Your physical appearance is so much an identity, aside from what the people who you're sitting opposite see you. You're broadcasting to millions of people potentially how you look. And it's just. It's. It's so different that what that representation is on a screen, in your hand and in everyone's hand. And I think Amber is such a victim of that, of, you know, really investing so much in that, you know, feel for Amber in that, because you just. You're just caught up in it. Everyone is, I think. I'm sure it'll resonate with the younger listeners. I think it's actually very important as well for older listeners, because it's such a confusing world as an older person to see young people going through, and it's like suddenly going, oh, okay, this is what's happening down there. And I love the fact that it's Brad that sort of brings Amber through his very gentle way to understanding that she's a lot more than her veneers, you know, you know, the way she looks. Because, of course, Brad has never apologized for being who he is. He's the one character. I mean, I think every single character in the Archers goes through some sort of identity crisis trying to be something else, trying to be better, bigger, bolder, whatever they think the quest is. But Brad's just remained, you know, the one thing he did was to try to go to university and have friends, and of course, then couldn't find. Do it and just said, this isn't me. I'M just a homeboy, need to be home. He's very solid, isn't he? Very well parented. We had an email from John to the Archers podcastbc.co.uk who said, When Brad walked Amber home on Sunday, we only heard the sound of one stepping foot. The only logical conclusion I can draw is that Amber is a monoped. So that's a little bit more for the visual picture of Amber. That's what we need to take on board. Right, let us dive into the deeply complicated life of young Rory Donovan. I've looked forward to this for ages. Arthur, you've played Rory since he was 15. He's now 22. Your first big storyline was you just existing, just being born, being the love child of one of the central characters in the show, Brian Aldridge, and his affair with the Irish newcomer to the village, Siobhan Donovan. Your family are great listeners to the Archers, aren't they? Yes. How did they react when they heard that you were going to be Ambridge's most notorious affair? Baby? Oh, my. My dad could not believe it. He was, oh, my gosh. I remember listening to that. You're roaring Brian's Rory. I was like, yeah. No. So they, they, my dad especially, very close, closely follows and you know, and knows him and that the family. Every time that there's something coming up with Rory, it's what, How's Rory doing? He wants to know, like, you know when I've been, like, I've been chatting with him and I'll go, oh, you know, he's, he'll be back soon. He's doing this. It's so. It's lovely, actually. It's like another member of the family. Okay, so let's go back to the start of this story. Brian and Jennifer had been married for 25 years when Brian began a two year affair with the doctor's wife, she, Siobhan. It ended in 2002, but the Aldrich family were blindsided when it was revealed Siobhan was pregnant and determined to keep the baby. We've talked here on the podcast about the affair, but we haven't seen that period from Siobhan or Rory's point of view. Jo, you wrote a lot of Siobhan and Brian's scenes. What, what was she like and why was she attracted to Brian? Well, of course, Siobhan came in and Siobhan Hathaway, wife of Dr. Tim, and essentially they were urban professionals, really. Tim had been in the army and then he'd had a practice in Islington and they moved to the country, to start a bit of a new life and to start a family. Oops. Yeah. Not quite how it worked out, but things. Unfortunately, Siobhan suffered a miscarriage and she and Tim became somewhat distant after that. She wanted to establish herself. She was bright, bubbly, intelligent. She'd got her own career as a translator. And, of course, that was how she met Brian. He needed some documents translated from Hungarian because Debbie was in Hungary. And, I mean, I did write this. He went down to Honeysuckle Cottage to collect his translations and they never looked back, really. They had a glass of wine and I remember rang me up after the episode had gone out and said, oh, my, they surely are going to have an affair. And you could just. You could just tell. I mean, Charles Collingwood had had a sort of twinkle in his eye and in his trouser, frankly, for, you know, about the past ten years. Ever since. Well, more than that. Ever since, you know, the affair with Caroline. And every time we, as the writing team saw. Chanting, oh, darling, can't I have an affair? You know, it's about time. But of course, the difference with this one was that Siobhan was going to produce a baby. The much longer son. After Siobhan gave birth to Rory, she moved away with him to Germany. But in 2007, she returned to Ambridge with the news that she was sick with cancer. And in the event that she didn't pull through, she asked Jennifer to take in her baby. I have to know he will be loved and cared for. He needs his father. Look, you've got a mother and a sister. I thought about asking them, but. Look, Brian said you had some reservations, but given the services, I don't want to. I can't ask them. They can't give Rory the love he needs. Well, neither can I. Siobhan. Oh, you don't know him. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Brian's tried to show me photos once or twice. I can hardly bear to look. I'm sure he's a very nice child. He's my angel. But I'd never see him like that. And all I'd see is where he came from. Remember what I suffered so I couldn't love him. There's no chance at all. No, please. If I'm not there, Rory should be with his father. You're making too much of rather. No, Brian's hardly spent any time with him. There can't be much of a bond if you only saw them together. The way Rory's eyes light up. That's why I'm so determined. They belong together, father and son. I'm sorry if I'm embarrassing you. I can well understand why you've asked. You'd ask, too. All that matters is Rory's future. I mean, it's the unthinkable, isn't it? Oh, Arthur has upset you, hasn't it? No, well, not, Not. It's just, you know, there's. It comes into, you know, Technicolor, like, especially hearing Jennifer as well, you know, like, there's two mother figures there and both gone in his life in the present moment. Now I'm just thinking, you know, I was recording this week for the Archers, and Jennifer and Siobhana brought up a lot. And then just to hear them now at this, you know, at the beginning of it, and especially the bond with Brian, what that is now and what, you know, figuring it out 22 years before. It's hit me in the heart there, I can see. Yeah, it's an extraordinary scene. Jo, Did Jennifer love him? I think Jennifer did. I mean, what came out in the end with Jennifer and. I mean, she'd had a terrible, terrible time. There was a point where, I mean, Siobhan wanted Brian, of course, to leave. To leave Jennifer, and there was a moment when Brian thought he might, and all the rest of it. Jennifer had weathered so much by this point, in terms of the village gossip, when Rory had been born, and she'd got through all that, but deep down, she couldn't deny a small child the right to a secure home. I mean, all the talk about the sister and the mother in Ireland, the mother was fairly elderly and not well, from my memory, and sister had a job. You know, she. There was not going to be the kind of home that Jennifer had managed to create for her children, two of whom, you know, Brian had welcomed by different fathers. And it just shows what an enormously strong character Jennifer was. Well, Listener Pat took issue with me last week. I called Linda Snell the Queen of Ambridge, and she said, no, no, no, no. The Queen of Ambridge was Jennifer. She was horribly treated by Brian over his affair with Siobhan. She brought up his love child, Rory, and held the entire family together throughout the entire thing. Do you think Jennifer ever looked at Rory, Arthur, and didn't see Siobhan? I'm not sure. I think Rory was, for a long time and maybe up until her death, a painful reminder. I think Jennifer's love for Rory grew up and put into the shadow. I think her feelings of. I don't think it ever went away. Cause how could it that such a betrayal? And, you know. But as you said, it's testament to her strength as a character to overcome that and truly accept Rory and be there for him. The Queen of Anbridge. Can I peel back the curtain on the Archers backstage for a moment? It's an extraordinary place. There are detailed show notes kept about every aspect of every character. Some of those aspects make it into the scripts, but many of them were just imagined and recorded by the writers as part of their silent history. I found this note made by scriptwriter Kerri Davis about Siobhan as part of her backstory. We may never have heard these details in the show, but it had been thought through nonetheless, and I wondered if you could read it for me, Arthur. The entry begins. In the final stages of her illness. Siobhan was desperate that Brian should know as much as possible about his son. She would want him to know that Rory likes his books, Three Little Pigs and Where the Wild Things Are. And when he's watching the Jungle Book, he needs a cuddle. When Baloo dies, his favourite food is hot dogs made with bratwurst. Mousey is his comforter. So Siobhan bought a duplicate in case the original got lost, but Brian would need to dirty it up a bit. The show lost Siobhan two weeks later, but they never lost the knowledge of Rory's favorite things. We still have the records and I just love the fact this is knowledge that exists and we feel it as listeners, but we never know it because it's not talked about. It's just felt in the depth of the characters. I think on my first week storylining for the Archers, I came up with some tiny little story for Linda Snell in the bnb. And she dropped a plate, or Robert had dropped a plate of breakfast as he was serving a difficult guest. And I'd written something about the white china. And immediately that was picked up, I think, by Mel, who said, no, no, no, no, no. We know this from the archive. It's blue willow china. She always serves breakfast on blue willow china. That was my first week at the Arch. I thought it was incredible. It completely brought it to life for me in this 3D picture of every single character. Rory's comforter. Yes. Willow china. It's not a show, it's a way of life. It is a way of life. On Rory's 18th birthday, he got a memory box from siobhan, who died 14 years earlier. Inside was a CD with a private message to him that she'd recorded when Rory was. It was an audio theatrical coup. And when the Archer's editor, Jeremy Howe, joined us on this podcast last year, he selected this as one of his favorite moments in Ambridge, where a story is given the space to unfold over decades. I'm wondering what your life is like now, Rory. I wonder what's changed in the 14 years. I wonder if you've got a girlfriend or maybe you've got a boyfriend. Evening. I hope you're happy. I hope you are. That's all I want, really. Be whoever you need to be. Do whatever you want to do. Don't ever think I mightn't be proud of you, because I promise I am. Or I would be. I trust you. I know you. I. I'm mad about you. I desperately want you to know how fiercely I loved you. Love you. I'm so sorry I'm not there. Why did you. Stop it. Are you okay? Me? Yes. Yes, yes. And what about you? I just can't believe she said that. She said what I really needed to hear. How did she do that? Well, I think she was a very special person, your mother. Mother. I think so too. Wow. It's when you said. Are you okay? Yeah. It's when you heard that, and your concern was that your other mother would find it hard to listen to. How hard was that to play Arthur? You know, it's. It was just. I really had to listen, kind of put the script aside and properly lock into it, because when we. Because we listened to it because she, you know, Siouan was in another room. So we were sat there next to each other, you know, So I was just trying to imagine that really. Just being sitting on a bed with a CD player, having this voice come. Come out that you've never heard or you couldn't. Couldn't certainly remember while you were sitting next to your other mother. Yeah. And I was just thinking then, listening to it, having this, you know, this combination of hearing exactly what he needed to hear, having this, you know, these powerful affirmations from your biological mother whilst the woman who's raised you sits next to you holding your hand. That combination, you know, this cobbled together mother figure in Rory's mind was probably at its most complete there. And asking Jennifer if she's okay first. It just. I think it just. It brings the full. The goodness out in him just to go. The love and care that he was just brimming with there to go. He's full of the emotion, and it's palpable between the two of them to. To, you know, extend his Arms and go. Are you okay? Like, just. It was a privilege to play. And beautiful to hear again. Then the generosity of Jennifer as well, saying your mother was a very special woman. Oh, yeah. You know, hearing it now. Oh, I know. It's heartbreaking, isn't it, really? I mean, even when you hear about adopted children who subsequently find their birth mother, it's not as if the mother who raised them is there at the same time. I mean, that's extraordinary, isn't it? To have that, both those voices in your head. Oh, yeah, yeah. We found this moment in the archive. Jennifer, by this stage, had made her peace with bringing up a fifth child. And this is from 2021. At the height of her drinking problem, Alice gave Rory a piece of her mind. Don't you get it? You're a mistake. The little bastard. That no one planned and no one wanted. Alice, do you know what a pain it's been to have you around all these years? This pathetic little brat sobbing over his dead mummy. Stop it. Adam, Kate, Debbie. We could never say how we really felt. We all had to tiptoe round this. This cuckoo in the nest. Don't you think? I was being nice to you with spearmint and that stupid hippo. I was trying to shut you up. That's enough. Oh, I've hardly even started. I don't care what you say to me, but can't you see how you're hurting Jenny? There's only one person who hurts her, and that's you. Just by existing. All those things that, you know, Alice is saying, I think Rory has said in his head a million times and has to convince himself that he's not all those things, that he does belong here, that he's made to feel like this is home. But I don't think he's ever 100% like the others are, because he does have that feeling of the knowledge of where you came from, what your situation is. And so, yeah, I remember when we recorded that. And to hear that, to hear it all out loud, when we say things out loud, they become real. And in your head, they are. You can't. They're not quite tangible. And, you know, no wonder that, you know, Rory's life is so. He's never quite on solid ground because things can very easily happen to just these seismic shifts which just throw him sometimes geographically away. And, yeah, just hearing those things, it's. You know, there's. There's a truth in them that resonates in him. That's what. That's what leads to you know a lot of the things that happen to him because he's. It's never. It's never solid ground. So let's talk about the things that have happened to him since then. In 2021, Rory started living the high life, despite being a student with a dad who was then in financial chaos. So where was all his cash coming from? As he explained to his second cousin and best friend, Ben, he was now a sugar baby. She's more than twice your age. Yep. So where did you meet? Online. What, like a dating app? Sort of. Rory. Okay, okay, listen. So there's this girl on my course, Keisha. Her dad's unemployed and her mum's a nursery nurse, but money never seems to be a problem. She's always wearing the latest clothes. She's out every night. Okay? So this one time I bump into her at the su, we have a few drinks, and that's when she tells me. Tells you what? She's a sugar baby. There are these websites you can sign up to. Did you say sugar baby? They're full of rich people looking for someone younger to spend their money on. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. When you say spend their money. Divorced, no kids. She lives in this incredible apartment just off Old Street. Rory, hang on. No, you don't understand, Pen. It's like another world. Emma Jane, you. You spent a year working as a producer on the Archers, but you're also an award winning radio journalist. And you made a BBC documentary about that other world. You called it Sugar Daddy. Sugar Baby. Explain to me how a sugar baby works. So I made that documentary in 2015, and I met a number of young girls who at the time were wondering how on earth they could get through university with the exorbitant fees, et cetera, and still have a very nice life. And it came from America, this idea that it was particularly for girls could find themselves an older man who was willing to be the father figure and take them out for treats and all this kind of stuff. And it was always written up that you have the control as the sugar baby. You know, you have the say on how much time you're going to spend on what you do. And there are certain rules that the sugar daddy will say. You have to come to certain events with me. You have to be free these weekends or whatever. And the girls that I met, they all had really interesting things in common a lot of the time. Absent fathers. So they were looking for somebody who could be daddy to them. They loved money and they often had money worries at home, and they really loved the nice life. And they had ambition. They had ambition to network. They thought, you know, a lot of the girls I spoke to were in economics, things like that. They wanted people who could take them to, you know, investment banking dues so that post university they could find a career. And sex was part of that package. Well, on the person that I spoke to in that documentary, she said, oh, no, sex is not expected. Sex is aspired to. That was the killer phrase for me. And these girls never really understood until it was way too late, till they were really feet in that. That was, of course, what it was about. It was about high class prostitution. So when you spent this year as the producer on the Archers, you brought that story in into Ambridge. Why did you choose Rory? Why did you do a gender swap? We thought it would be a really good. For a start, Rory was about to go off to university, so he was the prime person to go. There were others who were going as well, but we thought, what fun to flip that on its head and see if all these things that I'd seen could be applied to Rory here. We had, of course, a little boy who didn't really have a mother, who we've just heard those dreadful clips from Alice, the Cuckoo in the Nest. We had somebody who loved the high life, who loved money, who was very ambitious for his future. He didn't want to be a farmer, thank you very much. He saw himself in the city. And also, of course, there were the dreadful money worries going on at Home Farm, you know, the selling of Jenny's wonderful kitchen going. And Rory was hearing all of this and. And knew that he was very expensive to run. So we thought, let's put the pressure on Rory to do this and see how he gets on. And just like all the girls that I'd interviewed in the documentary, Rory, of course, thought that he was the one in control. Let's have. Let's have a little listen to a little bit of that relationship. I just need to warn you that in our office we call this Clip ick. It's a scene between Rory and Julianne and it takes place the morning after the night before. You're a very sweet boy. A boy. That's what you are. It's not a bad thing. I'm a man and I want you to think of me as a man. 19's not a kid. I didn't mean to offend you. You haven't. I think I have. Well, maybe a bit, but that's probably me being stupid. I. I think you're great, Rory. And I think you're gorgeous. Thank you. You're not so bad yourself, huh? Can I have a kiss? Oh, I suppose so. Shame. I've got to go. Really, it is. You're welcome to hang out here till 12. Really? Of course. Go for a swim, get a massage, do. Do whatever you like. Is that okay? Absolutely. Perk of the job. There's quite a few perks to this job. I'm very glad you think so. Arthur, you were very young to have such a complicated and unhealthy relationship. Do you think it damaged Rory further? Yeah, I do. I think, as I was saying earlier, you know, the maternal figure that Rory's always looking for and found in Julianne for a time, I think gave and gave him the sense of place and direction. And as a young ambitious person to suddenly be dressed well and living the high life in London, I think it's easy to. Easy for him to think, oh, well, this is. This is it now. And at that age, it's easy to be that naive. Rory's best friend Ben became increasingly worried about his friend and eventually confronted him and for the first time used the word that Rory had been so careful to avoid. You're one mature adult and one 19 year old idiot. And really, how mature can she actually be if she's hanging out with you instead of someone her own age? You're being ridiculous. I'm trying to be your friend, okay? I'm just not talking about this with you anymore. Forget it. Julianne can just be out of bounds. It's none of your business what I do or who I see, okay? Who are you right now? Just stop it. Stop moralizing. Seriously. I don't recognize you. I'm going. Wait. Rory, wait. Please just listen to me. What? Look, these are not words I thought I would ever say, but there's no other way of putting it. You're a prostitute. So in 68 years of the Archers, this was the first ever mention of prostitution in Ambridge. You did that? You. You brought it. I know. I'm very sorry. I brought down the tone. I come from a dirty world of news, Emma. So, I mean, it wasn't. Prostitution wasn't really a thing. It was about, you know, how manipulative these relationships were. Poor old Rory went into it thinking that, you know, he'd get all the nice goods and the nice hotels and hanging out in those nice hotel, you know, spas and what have you. And little by little, of course, Julianne manipulated Rory and she was making him spend more and more and more time and like with all the girls I interviewed, he ended up becoming very lonely because he's cut off from his peers. He hasn't got time, you know, when they're all out playing football. Nope. Julianne's wanting him at this conference or be on his arm for this thing. And little by little, he was sort of separated from friends, from family and, you know, the gold watch and everything doesn't. Doesn't really cut it after a while. But of course, she wanted something much more than he initially was prepared to give. And that was another thing. It's the pressure on a nicely brought up, young, middle class person. You know, Rory has been brought up very nicely. He. He knew that when an adult gives him something, he has to say thank you. And Julianne was quite open about, little by little, how she wanted Rory and how she expected Rory to say thank you for the opportunity she was giving him. But Julianne's take on the morality of the situation was very different, as she explained to Justin, who was confused as to why she was spending a lot of time with Rory. Why does it bother you so much who I choose to surround myself with? It doesn't matter. Don't tell me you feel threatened by a successful businesswoman. Absolutely not. I just had the impression that you and Rory were. Well, you were so often together, weren't you? And now you've moved on. Oh, just him. What I had with Rory was purely a business arrangement. A business arrangement? You mean you were paying it? Well, that's what a business arrangement usually entails. Do you mean Rory was working? Do you mean he was a pro? He was your escort? Bingo. Arthur, Rory got out of the relationship with Julianne. Well, I say that she chucked him in an email, which was called Final Invoice. I think he's yearning to be loved and looked after. Yeah, yeah. He just needs someone, someone to be loved looking after him. And I think, you know. Ej, thank you so much for those, for that storyline. It was, you know, so great to play. Like what? Yeah, well, thank you. But, you know, fascinating couple of years for. For Rory to go through. Arthur, I am so glad you've come back to the village. I can't wait to see the next chapter in the really odd life of Rory Donovan. So, since we've had with us the most famous byproduct of an Ambridge affair, we thought we would trawl the archive to remind ourselves of the less famous but still infamous village affairs and near misses. Emma, Jane, Jo and Arthur. I want you all to grab the moral high Ground, just for a moment here. I want you to play both judge and jury and see whether we approve or disapprove of the following shenanigans. First in the dock is shockingly Dr. Tim Hathaway, husband of Ambridge's first lady of unfaithfulness, Siobhan. This was before Siobhan and Brian got jiggy. And here he is cozying up to Janet, who I would like to remind you, was a certified vicar. Oh, what a lovely scarf. Put it on. It looks beautiful. We're under the mistletoe. Susan put it up here, but hardly anyone ever stands under it. She should have put it up by the door. Well, sorry, I'd better go. I've got a parish visit to make in Hedgeley. Classic outline, isn't it? Shameless. Is that a def. Rockable offense? Well, the glory of that whole affair at whatever it was, was that they actually met whilst collaborating on a calendar. A nude male calendar. So for the church, for the rural stress line. So it had a very worthy cause. And so here we had like the two village professionals who. Who had responsibility for the physical and mental, spiritual, emotional welfare of the village. And this was of course coming off the back of the Full Monty, which had come out at the end of the 90s and that very successful WI calendar. So 12 of the Ambridge men got up on Lakey Hill. This is in winter time, obviously, with various things covering the essential bits. Eddie had an oil can. Mike Tucker had two bottles of milk. Two. Tim Hathaway. I know Tim Hathaway strangely. Had a stethoscope, I hope folded up. Yes. So that was how Janet and Tim came to be working together. And maybe more. And was there more? Was it a full on of her? She backed off. So it was just. So you really did go to her parish meeting at Edgeley. Oh, okay. So that was. That was its height. That was the height. Passion we could forgive. A short Christmas smooch. Yeah, I guess. You're still cringing. Yeah, I was. But let's return to the doc. Back in the 80s, John Tregoren was married to Carol. But the rumor mills swirled when he struck up a strong friendship with Jennifer Aldridge. Then 35 years later, when his will was read, it turned out he'd left a romantic let and £50,000 for Jenny. What's Carol going to think? She'll have seen the will. She'll know already. That's another reason why I can't possibly keep it, John. Leaving all that to me. The. The other woman. The what? Come on, Whatever went on between you and John was strictly in John's mind, wasn't it? So Joe, were they more than friends? Well, it was. It was genuinely all in John's mind, really. There was a moment where John tried to kiss Jennifer in a wood and she ran away a la Janet. The vicar. Really. Again, they'd got together on a perfectly valid project. Which was? A history of Ambridge. Poor movie. Not this time. Tasteful illustrations by one Caroline. Actually, Caroline Bone and John appealed to the sort of intellectual side of Jennifer. You know, whatever Brian's faults, foibles and virtues, you know, sitting down to talk about Bertrand Russell was not one of them. And John was perhaps willing to do that. But £50,000, that's an awful lot of money to leave to a friend. Serious money. Serious money. Okay, we have more. We have more affairs. Can any of you remember who was the infidel in these indiscretions? Lillian and Paul. Yes. And Paul was Matt's brother. Was Tiger's brother. Yes, of course. That was a cracking. Have a go or have a pop at your brother in law. Okay, well done you. Jennifer, 12 years after her romantic involvement with John Tregoren, had a dangerous liaison with. Oh, Arthur, you look clueless. You don't know anything about your other mother. I know. Well, she's hardly going to tell her son. Well, I guess. E.J. do you remember? I don't. Joe, we've got to be talking. Her previous husband, Roger Travis Macy. Only in the arches. Husband. Father of Debbie. Fantastic. Ruth and her paramour Sam. Oh, cowman people. Yes, they used to go out in the fields with the plate meter measuring the length of the grass. Yes, Brian, 15 years before the Siobhan affair. That's your father, Arthur. Had a fling with Brian. You're counting on the fingers of two hands practically. It must be Mandy Beesbrough. Wasn't Mandy Bees Caroline. It was Caroline. Fifteen years. I thought it was more. Oh, dad, Mandy Beeser was the redhead, wasn't she? Yes. Yeah, yeah. So Siobhan actually a bit of a thing for them. Nigel, after three years marriage to Elizabeth, had a romantic liaison with Caroline. Caroline again. Village bike. She used to be known only by you. Surely not Adam, your step brother and his one night stand. Oh, come on Arthur, get one point in this quiz. I don't know, I might go for zero. But we need to do more listening. The picker. Yes, the picker. Very good. And his name was Pavel. Very good. You could also have got a point for Charlie, but I was thinking of Pavel. And this Last one is complicated. Rory, while he was being paid Good Bunny by Julianne, had a passionate moment with. Oh, what was her name? Can't remember. Can you remember? It's zero. I know, I know. Yeah, gone like that. None of you? It was with Denise's son, Paul, the vet's assistant, of course. And being unfaithful to your boss does still count? I thought there was someone else as well. There's so many. I just lose track, you know. Oh, that one. I would like to declare Joe the winner. That's very kind, Emma Jane. A nice second. And where did I come? You tanked. Oh, you actually, in minus points. Couldn't even remember your own affair. It's been nothing to me. Clearly. Well, it's quite an accolade. Thank you to my honest and faithful guests, Arthur Hughes, Joanna Toye and Emma Jane Kirby. Next week we're going to be recording at Radio 4's Speech and Language Festival. Contains strong language. My guests include Ben Archer and Susan Carter. If you'd like to be in the audience, we would love to see you there. Tickets are free, but they're being snapped up for far, so just go to the BBC's contain strong language website to reserve some seats. And do email us with any questions for next week's guests or with any questions or suggestions about the podcast. We're on the archers podcast@BBC.co.uk or you can WhatsApp us on 08289044. And finally, this week's cricket team Disaster took us right back to 1998, when the Ambridge cricket team faced closure once again. This was partly because one of their best players, Richard Locke, had done a runner when it was revealed he was having an extramarital affair with Shula Archer. From me and my producer, Jess Bunch. Have a very good week and may your listening be uninterrupted. We all know why Richard Locke left Ambridge, and it certainly weren't anything to do with cricket. Well, we do, don't we? Oh, great. Excuse me, can I just get past Susie? I know. Don't go on at me. I mean, for goodness sake, what did you have to say that for? I never meant it. It just came out. Was that tooting like a bear? Yes, yes. Stageless. Oh, no. And now she's a vicar. What is it with these vicar Adam Macy here, just to remind you that you can only listen to the Archers podcast on BBC Sounds, so do subscribe and make sure you have push notifications turned on. We'll let you know as soon as a new episode is available right Must get back Herbal Lays Wait for no man at Designer Shoe Warehouse we believe that shoes are an important part of, well, everything. From first steps to first dates, from all nighters to all time personal bests. From building pillow forts to building a life for all the big and small moments that make up your whole world. DSW is there and we've got just the shoes. 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