The Archers

Akram has time on his hands due to a cancelled job. When Tony mentions a predicament with a ripped polytunnel, hoping Helen can attend to the repair while Tom’s out on deliveries, Akram’s happy to offer his help. Later he’s enjoying the sensation of being back on a farm and working outside. But as he tapes up the tear he slips, making the rip in the plastic even bigger. He’s mortified, but Tony assures him that as long as he isn’t hurt, it’s fine. It was kind of Akram to help; they shouldn’t have let him attempt it in such poor weather. Tony observes ruefully that the tear looks unsalvageable, making Akram feel even worse.Jolene reports to Joy that the police have said their CCTV footage could have been wiped remotely, without anyone needing to access the premises, which makes her feel a bit better. The thought of intruders going through her home makes her skin crawl. She can’t be as confident as Tracy that they won’t come back again. Joy reckons she needs to replace that uneasy feeling with something positive. Jolene rallies and declares she’s spent enough time worrying – they’ll make this the Burns Night Highland games the best the village has ever seen. Joy reports Fallon’s on board, and Jazzer returns as a willing volunteer having had a pep talk from Bert. Later Joy reckons they’ve created a monster, having listened to Jazzer’s gung ho ideas for authenticity. Kenton’s going to have a lot more on his plate than neeps and tatties.

Emma makes a decision, and Jazzer is surprisingly unwilling.

Henry’s a reluctant assistant at Bridge Farm as Helen and Tony work on plans to rejuvenate the garden areas. Henry continues to campaign for giving George work. Whilst Helen agrees no-one deserves to be assaulted, she reiterates there’s too much bad feeling for them to consider rehiring George. Henry goes to see Keira. When his mum calls him later, she discovers he’s at the hospital visiting George. Helen’s not happy. She asks if Henry is mates with George. Henry supposes he is. He feels sorry for George – the family are going through a hard time. Tony acknowledges this is true. Helen assures Henry she won’t cause any drama over the visit. She admits to Tony that at fifteen, she trusts Henry to make the right decisions. Tony declares her a good parent – Helen reckons she had a good role model.Amber worries that Will’s spending too much time at the hospital. She also checks in on Ed, who confirms he’s fine – it’s just a lot. Later, Ed spots Will’s anxiety and guesses the cause – it’s not his fault he wasn’t there when Nic died. Will says he couldn’t bear it if the same happened with George. Ed and Amber try to reassure him. Will tells Ed that Nic and what they had was his lot in life; there’s no point trying for more. Ed thinks this is a waste. Will could try something different or start dating again. He asserts Will deserves to be happy. Will reckons the only thing that will make him happy is tomorrow, when their boy comes home.

Tony’s after some help at Bridge Farm and wonders whether Brian might be interested. Alice explains her dad’s angina has been a concern recently. Brian overhears, declaring he feels mollycoddled and patronised by his children. Tony tentatively suggests Brian must have a lot on with his house move. Brian’s defensive, responding testily that Miranda’s house sale has fallen through. Later he apologises to Alice for his attitude. Alice understands. It would be her mum’s birthday this week so it’s a difficult time. She wonders if now is the right time to be thinking about moving house. Brian assures her it’s exactly the right time for a new chapter. Over a pint, Neil updates Tony on George, who’s having a brain scan. Tony’s more concerned about Neil – he knows how it feels to discover someone possibly mortally injured. Neil admits it’s shaken him. He reports Jazzer is also very out of sorts. Tony offers good advice, and they resolve they should meet for a drink more often.Jolene puzzles over the wiping of the New Year’s Eve CCTV footage. Fallon wonders if it could have been deleted by accident. Joy thinks that’s unlikely. Neither can remember seeing anything untoward on the night. Joy broaches the topic of Burns Night, but Fallon reckons they should keep it small this year under the circumstances. When Jolene continues to fret about who could have got access to the Bull’s security system, Joy suggests they forget all about New Year’s Eve. The likes of Markie and his gang will get what’s coming to them.

As George struggles with concussion, worried Amber wants him to tell the police what he remembers about the attack. She’s convinced Markie’s mates were responsible. George isn’t sure, and he’s scared of what might happen to the family if he grasses. He insists he can’t remember much about that night. However he does recall something about Amber and Brad, and apologises for his paranoia over his two closest allies. He’d understand if Amber wants to call it a day. Amber insists that won’t happen; she loves George and wants to put the past behind them. Later having told the police George agrees he did the right thing, though he reckons they won’t find many fingerprints on the broken bottle that was used. He speculates on whether it could have been someone else who attacked him; the whole village hates him. Amber urges him to stop torturing himself. The attack was down to Markie and his mates. There’s no way it would have been anyone else.Jolene updates Akram on George’s progress. They agree the incident’s been shocking for everyone. Alice tells Jolene she’s given a statement to the police. She can’t help feeling it’s all her fault; she could have done more to help George. She feels they’re quite similar – both of them have a monster inside them. Jolene reckons on the contrary, Alice is very forgiving. The police call Jolene to ask for the Bull’s CCTV footage from the night in question. To her astonishment she finds it’s been wiped.