The Archers

Writer: Tim Stimpson Director: Jessica Bunch Editor: Jeremy HoweBrian Aldridge.... Charles Collingwood  Lilian Bellamy.... Sunny Ormonde Alice Carter.... Hollie Chapman Chris Carter.... Wilf Scolding Neil Carter.... Brian Hewlett Susan Carter.... Charlotte Martin Rex Fairbrother.... Nick Barber Amber Gordon.... Olivia Bernstone Ed Grundy.... Barry Farrimond Eddie Grundy.... Trevor Harrison Emma Grundy.... Emerald O'Hanrahan Will Grundy.... Philip Molloy Brad Horrobin.... Taylor Uttley Tracy Horrobin.... Susie Riddell Jazzer McCreary.... Ryan Kelly Fallon Rogers.... Joanna Van Kampen

As the New Year begins Emma and Will desperately search for Keira, unable to contact Ed or Eddie, while drawing a blank with Keira’s friends. Will reassures Emma, who believes that somehow it’s all her fault. Lilian finds Fallon treating a cut to her hand, downplaying any effect George’s appearance earlier might have had on her. Meanwhile, Neil and Tracy meet up on the Green, joined by Jazzer, then Will and Emma, the strain beginning to tell on all of them. Jazzer and Neil head off to check a bridle path, while Emma blames herself again, before Tracy suggests calling George, in case he knows something. On the bridle path Neil hears the sound of a phone, before spotting a body. Fallon joins Emma, Will and Tracy, suggesting they ring the police, before Will tries George and increasingly frazzled Emma despairs her phone has died. Elsewhere, Neil calls 999, reporting that George hasn’t got a pulse, while Jazzer reels in shock. Neil then wraps George in his coat, desperately looking for signs of life, while an ambulance someone else has called approaches. Emma panics, thinking the ambulance is for Keira and chases after it, followed by Will, not hearing Tracy report that Keira’s been found. On the path Neil tells Emma it’s not Keira, while Will passes on the news that Keira’s safe. Neil then tells them George has been attacked, but won’t say how badly he's been hurt. He tries to hold Emma back, but she tears herself free to be with her son.

Emma and Ed are about to go The Bull for New Year’s Eve when they realise Keira’s not there. They find a note saying she can’t stay there any longer and wishing George was back in prison. Fearing the worst, Ed blames George for tearing the family apart. Lilian and Tracy have been distributing free bottles of wine they were given after winning the Best Local Pub award, before George bursts in through the door, drunkenly demanding to be served and then mocking Kenton’s fear of dogs. Alice tries to reason with George before Brian takes hold of him and George sends Brian stumbling backwards. Tracy takes George aside, threatening to get the likes of Harrison to throw him out. George then beats a retreat, sarcastically wishing them all a Happy New Year. Lilian is full of praise for Tracy, while Alice reflects knowingly on George’s drunken state, before they hear the news that Keira is missing. Alice goes outside and stops George from throwing a rock through the window, reminding him he promised to be a better person. He tells her the terrible things he’s said and done to his family and Alice responds in kind. But despite all that her family have forgiven her. His family will too, but he has to earn their forgiveness. George is stunned that Alice is being so helpful, agreeing to go and talk to his mum. But as George walks home, shouting defiantly that he’ll prove everyone wrong, he’s smashed over the head with a bottle and falls to the ground.

At the Rewilding, Alice is hoping for a photo as Rex points out the beavers handy work, before wondering how Alice really feels about Chris looking for a new partner. She admits it’s difficult, the idea of Chris moving on, then realises that’s what she needs to do and work out what she really wants, which might include having another child. Before going to work Jazzer tells Brad to take care of Amber. Amber didn’t sleep well, due to George texting constantly, and asks Brad what she should do. He offers to be with her as a friend, but Amber wants him to be more than that. They’re interrupted by George hammering at the door, then trying to force his way past Brad, before Amber calls to let him in. George then apologises to Amber for flipping out, claiming that’s not who he really is. The counselling will help sort him out. Amber calls him out on the disgusting things he said to his family. George reckons it was all true, but doesn’t care about them anymore. He wants a fresh start with Amber, somewhere else. Amber says she’s not going with him, before Brad tells George to leave her alone. George accuses Brad of wanting Amber for himself, mocking him cruelly until Brad launches himself at George. Whereupon Jazzer intervenes, threatening to do some serious damage to George, who slinks off, with Amber saying she’d rather be with Brad and doesn’t know why she ever wanted to marry him.

Emma confers with Will over what Brad said about George and Ed, with Will admitting he’s thought sometimes that George might hit him too. Emma reckons they have to do something to stop it getting worse, but what? Then Eddie asks them what’s going on. George tells Amber he’s been referred for counselling over his temper. He later interrupts Amber making a video, pushing her to have sex, before Will calls him downstairs, where Emma and Eddie are waiting too. They insist George tell the truth about what’s been going on, which he does very reluctantly. Emma accuses George of emotionally blackmailing Ed, like he did with Emma so she wouldn’t tell people he was driving Alice’s car. George tells them about the counselling, but shouts at Eddie when he berates George for deliberately hurting his own family. Amber then snaps at George for not telling her the truth. George tries to justify his actions, claiming they’ve all felt like killing Ed, before doubling down with vicious comments about Emma and Nic, only stopping when Amber slaps him in the face and walks out. Will tells George to pack his bags, with Emma and Eddie adding that he’s not welcome to stay with them either, before George storms off. Amber tells Brad she’s finally seen the light about George, after what he said to Will and Emma. She clings to Brad for solace, asking if she can stay the night, while rejecting a call from George. She needs somewhere she can think.

George is helping Ed with some tree surgery at Grange Farm, but accidentally hits Ed in the face with a branch. Later, when Brad comes over to Little Grange, Emma notices blood on a door handle. When Emma and Brad see the cut to Ed’s eyebrow they wince at how deep it is. George explains what happened, before Brad remarks on the same thing happening the other day. George insists last time was different and he never meant to hit Ed. George and Ed cover that both incidents were accidents, but Brad isn’t convinced. Emma patches Ed up, before he heads back with George to finish the job. Brad confronts Emma with his suspicions about all the “accidents” happening to Ed – that’s three in a month. Is Ed getting sloppy - or is he letting George hit him? Brad thinks Ed might be protecting George by taking the blame off him, so he won’t get sent back to prison. Emma can’t believe Ed wouldn’t have told her if that was the case, but Brad’s worried George might do Ed some serious harm if it happens again. Chris takes Alice and Martha to the last day of Deck The Hall, then while Martha’s crafting a reindeer he teases Alice about appearing as a fairy in the Tractor Run. Alice sympathises over things not working out with Carly, before suggesting her and Chris are doomed to being single. Chris disagrees, showing Alice a dating app he’s signed up to. He thinks Alice should do the same, but she isn’t keen.

George cycles up to Bridge Farm, asking Pat if they’ve got any work going. She puts him off, saying she’ll let him know if they need someone. Tony then joins Pat, ready to take some winter bedding over to Meadow Farm. On his way back George has a barbed exchange with Hannah, swapping insults over who has the sadder life, before Hannah gets upset and goes. Later at The Bull, Hannah talks through with Fallon what just happened. Hannah knows she shouldn’t have risen to George’s bait, but Fallon reckons it’s like George is on a mission to rile everyone. They agree someone should talk to George – but not Harrison. Fallon then knocks at George’s door, telling him forcefully he needs to leave them all alone, including Hannah. George tries brazening it out, but underneath it’s clear Fallon has rattled him. Pat and Tony find Esme in the yard at Meadow Farm, in the middle of clearing out a storage barn. She’s stunned when they tell her they’ve been collecting spare bales of winter bedding for her, from local farmers. When she offers them money they refuse, telling her it’s a gift from the farming community. Esme then lays out a thank you tea for them. She’s so grateful for all the help she’s had from everyone. Pat and Tony encourage Esme to contact the land agent about the tenancy, now the likes of Josh are showing interest, before sharing thoughts on coping with bereavement and how time is the best healer.

Jolene and Kenton start early on some cleaning jobs before Fallon arrives and gives them the present of Christmas Day off while Harrison and her take over for the day. Later, Harrison broaches the subject of George, but Fallon warns him off. Harrison though is grateful to Kenton for trying to protect him from hearing about what happened, even at the cost of being traumatised again. Fallon insists, no more George, not on Christmas Day. Trying a different tack later, Harrison tells Fallon he’s been working on his anger management – and it paid off when Kenton got scared by George and Holly. Dealing with what George said to Fallon will be harder, but Harrison suggests dealing with it together in whatever way Fallon prefers. Fallon repeats that she just wants a lovely Christmas together and not to think about George, which Harrison accepts. Alan catches Hannah going nowhere in particular. She explains about her mum’s dementia and how her planned visit today has been postponed. As she doesn’t have any other plans, Alan invites Hannah for a drink at the pub. Where Fallon catches Kenton and Jolene raiding the kitchen for snacks, while the hired-in chef is serving in the restaurant. They confess that rather than heading to Lower Loxley they’d prefer to stay in, slobbing about in pyjamas. Fallon offers to pass on their excuses, before she joins Hannah for Christmas dinner. It’s clear Hannah would have eaten alone otherwise, as she usually does. Joined by tipsy Jolene, they pull crackers together and drink in the Christmas spirit.

Hannah and Jazzer are driving their tractor to the start of the Run when Tony calls saying there’s a problem with his Fordson. He offers Hannah his place at the head of the line. Hannah thinks it’s a ploy for Tony to nab her position at the back, but Jazzer believes Tony and persuades her to agree. Hannah makes it clear how serious she is about winning the race to collect most money. Everyone then loves it as Hannah and turkey Jazzer lead the Run with angelic Eddie not far behind. Fresh from his motorbike stint, wise man Alan joins Joy to count the donations, with firm instructions to count Hannah and Tony’s buckets separately. Meanwhile, Lynda and Ruairi are marshals making sure everything runs smoothly. Ruairi wants to know if buying Paul a watch to apologise for upsetting him is a good idea and Lynda delivers a little sermon about not conflating a gift with an apology when the sincerity of the apology is what really matters. Then Tony’s Fordson passes with sleigh bells, a snow machine and Pat dressed as an elf, before Ruairi runs over to apologise to Paul sans gift. Alan confesses he inadvertently mixed all the collected money together, but Joy is happy to deal with Hannah and Tony if they kick up a fuss. Joy then announces they’ve raised over £1200 for charity, while Hannah and Tony are mutually complimentary about their entries, before wishing each other a Merry Christmas!

Joy has called a final meeting of the Tractor Run entrants, with Tony and Hannah amongst them, bickering over the running order: Tony is in first place, Hannah, representing Berrow Farm, is fourteenth. Hannah proposes swapping places, throwing Tony’s justifications back at him, but to no avail. Joy then goes through some housekeeping rules, before Tony and Hannah approach to argue over the running order. Joy nips their complaints in the bud by justifying her decision and making clear it’s final. As everyone disperses Hannah asks Joy to change her position to last, before heading off with Jazzer, followed by curious Tony. Hannah’s planning on having Jazzer in his terrible turkey costume as part of her decorations, though she’ll have to do some work on it. She then assures Tony that last place in the run is the best place to be… With Amber having come back last night, cocky George gives Kenton short shrift when he tells George to never say anything again like he said to Fallon the other day. George brings up the risk he took getting Markie rearrested, putting his life on the line, then defiantly tells Kenton to stop taking their nonsense out on him. Later, Kenton’s on the Green with Harrison when George’s dog, Holly, jumps up at him. This triggers Kenton, who hides behind Harrison, while George saunters up casually. George is completely unapologetic, despite Kenton’s obvious distress, before leading Holly away. Shaken, Kenton goes back to Woodbine Cottage with Harrison, where he reluctantly starts telling Harrison what George said to Fallon.

Jolene’s looking forward to Christmas dinner at Lower Loxley, but Joy’s stressed about the Tractor Run. Jolene doesn’t understand why Joy isn’t more relaxed, but Joy outlines the struggle she’s had just getting all the farmers on the same page about the rules, plus there’s the health and safety. She dreads thinking what would happen if anything goes wrong and she has to sort it out. They both laugh at the thought of Eddie dressed as an angel in a bedsheet and thermals, though. With Alan and Akram riding motorbikes, plus Zainab on her moped, Joy happily takes up Jolene’s suggestion they could be the three wise men. But she’s still short of marshals and as for the running order - how on earth can she navigate that without offending anyone?Harrison senses something’s different as he snuggles up with Fallon, before there’s a ring at the door. It’s Kenton delivering a basket of goodies, but when Fallon overreacts to an upstairs door banging Kenton senses something’s amiss and Fallon tells him about George yesterday. Fallon’s really angry, hating that George can make her feel like that. She begs Kenton not to tell Harrison, fearing his reaction. But after Fallon goes out of the room Harrison puzzles over why Fallon’s so sad, worrying it could be him. Without admitting what Fallon’s just told him Kenton assures Harrison that whatever’s bothering Fallon he can pretty much guarantee it’s not him.

Fallon tells Joy she’s just taken Martha to an uplifting advent service at St Stephens, before Alan headed off to a multi-faith prayer for peace at Felpersham Cathedral. George then comes into the shop, buying crisps and a big bottle of vodka, telling them pointedly he’s not going to New Year’s Eve at The Bull, seeing as he’s barred. Fallon follows George to the playground, where he’s demolishing the vodka, and mentions a job she’s seen that he could go for. George is negative and self-pitying, telling Fallon that Amber’s left and isn’t coming back, before implying Fallon’s been sleeping with Chris. He grabs Fallon’s arm, propositioning her himself. Fallon pulls away, accusing George of trying to provoke her. He needs to move on and stop blaming everyone else for his problems. George tells Fallon that instead of saving her that night he should have let her drown.At Home Farm, Ruairi is attaching a lotus flower made by Kate to their tractor for the upcoming Tractor Run, while grumbling light-heartedly to Adam about decorating the tractor without much help from the rest of the family. But what’s really bothering Ruairi is falling out with Paul after an off-road driving lesson yesterday which ended badly. Ruairi hopes that giving Paul an amazing Christmas gift will repair any rift between them – but first he’s got to work out what it could be. Later, Joy compliments Ruairi on his efforts with the tractor and asks if any of the family might want to be marshals on the day.

Emma and Susan share the hope that Chris might meet someone he can settle down with soon. Emma reports Keira’s mood swings. Susan reckons it’s normal for a teenager. Emma wonders if her mum will have time to come up to Grange Farm on Christmas Day when they have Martha. Susan observes they’ve come a long way as a family since last year. Emma wonders which is worse, Christmas without your mum, or your son. Susan observes the tough ones make the good ones even more precious. Emma agrees, but George is struggling so much without Amber, she feels like nothing she can do will make him want to celebrate. Tony’s hunting for some fairy lights for the Fordson. He starts to explain the intricacies, but Pat isn’t really listening. She’s had an idea sparked by something Esme said but wants to look into it before sharing. She wonders what’s going on between Helen and Dane but doesn’t want to pry. Meanwhile, Tony finds a tin angel John made at school, and they reminisce. They start to decorate the tree, and Tom and Helen join them. The four of them enjoy memories of childhood and John. Pat comments on what a strange Christmas this is, with John gone so long and now Peggy. They all agree it’s been lovely to talk about both of them so freely. Wondering how to mark John’s fiftieth birthday, they settle on a bonfire disco party and a homemade pig cake. They turn on the tree lights and wish each other an early Merry Christmas.

As Susan and Joy prepare for tonight’s big celebration of the shop re-opening, Joy hopes plenty of customers turn up. The marquee provided by Justin looks magical. Martyn comes in to help carry provisions and admires the newly refurbished shop. Ed and Emma arrive with Susan’s surprise celebration cake, and Joy declares it perfect. Emma receives a text from Keira wondering when they’ll be home. She tells Ed she’ll call Keira; she and George had another row this afternoon. She’s worried about both of them. When there’s no reply Ed nips home. He reports that Keira was tearful but won’t talk about it. They observe wryly that with two kids, things will never feel easy. Martyn’s enjoying being at the heart of a village event – it can get lonely living on your own. He offers Chris a listening ear. He’s pleased Chris is moving back in with his parents – it’ll give him time to get over Carly. Chris assures him there isn’t much to get over. It was finished before it really began. Martyn advises getting right back out there – no negative self-talk! Chris escapes but not before Martyn insists on a drink tomorrow, so that he can impart more of the excellent life-coaching advice he’s had from Chelsea and Zainab. Full of generosity he asserts he’ll be making a donation at the tractor run, declaring to Joy that giving to a worthy cause puts one’s own troubles into perspective. Delighted with her cake, Susan makes a rousing speech giving thanks for village life, community and their wonderful new shop.

David has concerns for a loved one, and Jazzer finds himself the subject of ridicule.

Whilst packing vegetables Tom gives disgruntled Tony the bad news that he can’t drive Tony’s vintage Fordson in the tractor run as he’ll be setting off for Wales with Natasha and the twins early on Christmas Eve. When Helen arrives Tom wonders who’s in the worse mood, Pat or Tony. Then Tony takes Tom to task for letting him down at such short notice, backed up by Helen. Tom gets very defensive, blaming anyone but himself. When Pat walks in she too can’t believe Tom didn’t realise he wouldn’t be available, but offers to drive the Fordson instead. Tony gets upset about people not being there on Christmas Eve to decorate the Christmas tree, declaring that maybe they shouldn’t bother with it at all this year. Discussing the tractor run with Tony, Joy praises Tony and Pat’s resilience at a difficult time, and they end up swapping notes about family Christmases. But Tony resents the suggestion that he’s locking himself away with his tractor. Esme comes to Bridge Farm for some farming advice from Pat. On a tour she admires the sustainability of the planting, before asking about Helen’s dairy operation and how they dealt with the sewage leak. Pat suggests Esme comes back again tomorrow. Esme can’t because she’s driving to South Wales in pursuit of silage. So Pat takes her to see the Montbeliardes, where Esme opens up about the problems she’s facing just to keep going. Pat offers sisterly support – women farmers need to look out for each other whenever they can.

Eddie drops in on Jazzer and Tracy to flog one of his turkeys, but they tell him they can’t afford it, even with a family discount. Eddie then details how he’s cobbling together a turkey outfit for the Christmas market, but what he really needs is an assistant to help drum up sales. So, in return for a Grundy turkey, Tracy nominates Jazzer to give up his day off on Wednesday to be Eddie’s assistant. When Susan and Chris step inside the Village Shop for the first time since the repairs have been completed they can’t believe how perfect everything is. Susan reckons they should be ready for a party there on Thursday, then re-open on Friday. However, when they go upstairs the flat is a complete mess with most of the work unfinished. Chris despairs of the flat being ready for him to move back in before Christmas, ruining all his plans with Carly. With Harrison returning next week, he can’t stay on with Fallon either. Later, Chris tells Susan that Hazel was furious when he told her, but she did fall out with the builders, so that’s probably why they left it unfinished. Then to cap it all, when Chris phoned Carly, she told him she’s been invited on holiday with her ex and their kids, plus they’re going to try couples counselling again. So, it’s all over between Chris and Carly. Susan’s sympathetic, though at least she’ll be able to spoil Chris over Christmas. But that’s not really what Chris is looking for at his age…

David catches up with Esme at Meadow Farm, pleased to hear she’s settling into Ambridge life, having watched the Christmas lights switch-on and been introduced to half the village by Akram. Esme’s getting to grips with looking after her cows too, but with finances still tight she’s keen to get David’s advice on sourcing extra silage. Later, Ben and David look forward to Shula joining the family for Christmas, before Esme phones and David has an idea to help raise money for the silage: getting Josh to sell some old farm machinery that’s lying in one of Esme’s barns. But when they look at what’s there they’re not hopeful it will raise much, though Ben takes some pictures anyway. The farmer Esme is talking to is based in South Wales and she thinks her best bet of getting a good deal on the silage is to go and see him. Ben suggests Josh could go with her and catch his girlfriend Nina, who’s playing a gig in Cardiff, at the same time. Grateful Clarrie and Eddie have brought Pat some treats after she helped with last week’s turkey plucking. They compare notes on what a hard year it’s been, but look forward to a new farming year, and the Christmas tractor run. Later though, Clarrie wonders to Eddie if Pat’s okay, as she seemed a bit off-colour. Eddie’s more interested in getting Clarrie to make him a turkey costume he can wear at the Christmas market on Wednesday, but Clarrie tells him there’s no chance.

Josh and Lily nurse a recovering Paul, updating him that Josh’s girlfriend Nina did not turn up on Thursday. Josh admits that he finds her captivating on stage, but that he deserves more than he’s getting in the relationship. Lily reveals that she’s not going to travel with Mason in Australia but is just going to spend a short time in Perth. They no longer need to look for a new housemate. Lily will speak to Dane about the wedding planner job. Now that she’s staying around, she’s motivated to get the house clean before Shula arrives tomorrow, despite them feeling ill. Leonard arrives and suggests a refreshing walk ahead of cleaning. Toasting Lily’s birthday in The Bull with lemonade, Paul shares that he is booking a driving instructor who specialises in nervous students. Returning home to The Stables, the grateful flatmates find that Leonard and Joy have completely cleaned the house. Akram has been reflecting on the proposed move to Pakistan. Over the week he’s really noticed the impact Azra makes in the community. His family’s happiness is the most important - the children have made good friends and Azra is so at home in Ambridge. He has found it humbling. Azra admits that her earlier wishes to move had been her reaction to a bad week. Akram suggests that they take a family walk down to the Green for the Christmas lights switch on, as they all belong in this village now, him included.

Josh and Lily attempt to eat plain rice as their first meal after their illness, now confirmed as norovirus. They do not feel up to tidying the house ahead of Shula’s inspection. Instead of looking forward to Australia, Lily admits that she’s rethinking her trip plans. She’d still like to see her university friend in Perth, but doesn’t want to travel for a year. She wonders if her plans had been motivated by feelings of rejection at Lower Loxley. She is also not sure about her co-traveller Mason as she doesn’t know him very well. Josh’s girlfriend Nina is due to visit but as the day wears on it’s evident that she’s not coming. Zainab chats to a distracted Azra and suggests a family trip to Deck the Hall at Lower Loxley. Azra confides that her difficult week has included the partners suggesting extended patient hours. Lottie calls from the surgery to say that the locum has called in ill. They are an hour behind schedule when Lawrence Harrington comes for his appointment with Dr Laing. He refuses to see his replacement, Dr Malik, and is rudely offensive to Lottie. His anger rising, Lawrence struggles to breathe and collapses. Azra performs emergency care, despite Lawrence’s protests. She reports later to Zainab that Lawrence has been taken to intensive care. Realising he was the same person who’d been racist to the Malik children, Azra was not sure he’d be grateful for her medical help today. She wonders if Akram was right - would the family be better off in Pakistan?