So is that how Family Court Hearings are usually conducted?

For some reason I thought it would be much more informal with various background reports and comments made by professionals involved in assessing the home/care situation. I did notice that Rob's Barrister was using a slightly less aggressive tone than in the Criminal Court proceedings but nonetheless it was all very adversarial.

The preening Jezebel!

I don't know how they tend to go. Do you think this is merely tying up loose ends to give Helen residence but Rob supervised visiting rights with Jack, or are they going to give us a dreadful sting, giving the boys to Rob?

All that tonight from Anna about how rosy it looked all screamed 'JINX!' to me

I think Jill already knows.

Thanks Wels-lad. So nothing decided?

You're right - I'd forgotten

I still think she'll be a bit troubled though if it's out in the open, and Pip and Toby are taking it more seriously.

And even though she knows, Jill will sound surprised when Ruth or whoever fills her in, because she always does

No - it'll be Rob tomorrow, I guess.

Pat and Arsula come to blows on Friday.

Are the locals on her side and was her verdict the right choice?

It sounds fantastic.

The locals are currently split or at least they were up until the trail last week. The husband Rob was seen by some as a hero who rescued a number of villagers during flooding some months ago (flooding he may have caused but we only suspect this). He also presented as a loving husband and a doting dad and has been carrying out a sustained campaign to present his wife to others as fragile, unwell and mentally unstable.

Yes Helen's acquittal was absolutely the right verdict. There is no question there. Every listener in the land has been absolutely rooting for her because we were earwigging on the many, many occassions when her husband bullied, belittled and manipulated her. He was also raping her. The listeners knew all this but the other characters didn't.

Very glad about the acquittal and all that but as the 'old' Helen comes back into play, I still really do not like her. Is it just me?

They're discussing the Archers and what could happen to Helen's children on Woman's Hour at the moment (10.05am if you want to listen on catch up)

She is a bit 'precious' isn't she?

Maybe that is the right word.

I don't like how she talks down to people (most of all her mum) and her 'I'm an adult and will make my decisions myself' attitude that just grates on me. She was even at it last night and just look where her strongheadedness has got her so far.

That's exactly it.

She lost her rag a bit with Pat the other night too, telling her not to fuss or something.
I know it's been dreadful for her and it wasn't her fault but she must acknowledge that her family has been through the wringer too.

People complain about the inaccuracies of the trial, but if the writers are to remain accurate to the portrayal of a victim of coercive abuse, the effects of it are long-lasting and they don't suddenly return to their former chipper selves once a trial is over. So we may well be seeing Helen taking a long time to regain her confidence and ability to assess and react to events "rationally". ie she could be blimmin' annoying for ages.
Poor love

I thought, when she first got out of prison and was waiting for Henry to visit, that it hadn't taken Helen long to start snapping at Pat again. She doesn't seem to give a stuff about how she makes others feel.

I'm glad she got away with stabbing Rob and is now free - I can start disliking her again -

I don't remember Helen (or Helin as Pat calls her) ever being chipper. Hasn't she always been a self-centred misery guts?

Helen is right back to normal! Always has been annoying

Haha good old Oliver I know Joe laid it on thick with the emotional blackmail but I had a right old grin through the whole of that good news.

Grange Farm will be falling down (again) within a year with the Grundys in charge!

Druth are back on all cylinders too.

true dat

Horrid the way Rob leered and taunted her at the court - that's probably troubling her.
She should have immediately reported that - but easier said than done.

Hope she gets the boys as that will be a real positive first step.

Absolutely agree about Oliver and the Grundys - I grinned all the way through too.

Druth are (is?) awful, especially David who seems to be getting even more pompous.

I think Pip might be starting to grow on me - I like the way she stands up for herself and pretty much does what she wants. I loved her refusing to explain or talk about Toby at all to David and Ruth.

She has, everything up to now has to go her way. I cannot forget how she treated her Dad when he was not happy with the artificial insemination, and she snubbed him. He has a right to his opinions just as much as she has to hers. She was only too pleased to take Rob from his wife, and it all went wrong when she finally got him. I don't say she deserved everything that happened to her.......not in any way, maybe now she will be a more 'rounded' character and not the spoilt self centred woman she was. There seems to be a lot of childish women in the Archers, Pip was one and Alice is definitely another.

Had to laugh at this. I have a mental picture of the farm as it is, all modern and spick and span, and then afterwards, with pigs running in the yard, and the Grundys brewing their cider in the bath, and poor dear Clarrie trying her best to keep everything as nice as possible......oh dear.....

Hehehe do you think we're softening towards her because she is showing contmept to Druth?