The Archers

Zainab fears the worst and opportunity knocks for Stella.

Bored Stella gets stuck into the Brookfield milking with Pip. Later she suggests an overseeding scheme for the pasture. David’s non-committal, telling Ruth later that he didn’t want to shoot Stella down at the time because Pip was clearly hanging on her every word adoringly – but some of her suggestions weren’t appropriate for Brookfield. Ruth agrees they don’t really need any extra voices when it comes to the farm. David reckons Stella’s bound to get a job soon; she needs to earn a living. He admits it would annoy him if she was hanging around Brookfield all the time. Chelsea’s alarmed to hear from Lilian that Lynda’s being blackmailed by Lawrence. She doesn’t want Lynda to send the email to the Golf Association now, and she’s never going back to the golf club. Lilian points out that’s just what Lawrence wants, but Chelsea’s fine with that if it means he’ll leave Lynda alone. Lilian’s distracted by a message from Justin saying he wants to buy more land. Amber tells Chelsea she thinks Emma over-reacted about George’s help with locating Markie. George can take care of himself – it’s one of the things she loves about him. Chelsea invites Amber to her birthday celebration next week, but when Amber hears some old school friends will be there, she declines. Instead she takes Chelsea for a drink at the Bull. Chelsea questions Amber’s decision to have her teeth done, but Amber defends it. She wants to do it for herself, and her brand. If she’s fine with it, Chelsea should be too.

Lilian confides to Lynda that the current tension between Justin and Brian is making her feel uncomfortable and embarrassed; sometimes Justin seems to forget that she and Brian are related by marriage. Lynda in turn has an awkward situation of her own. Lawrence’s threat to expose her over the cricket payments is troubling her. She doesn’t want to give in to blackmail, but she’s hesitant to report his behaviour to the Golf Association. She preferred it when she had the moral high ground. Lilian counters she still has this, over a racist misogynist like Lawrence. Brian makes the radical suggestion to Adam of selling the no till seed drill; they don’t have the contracts to justify owning it. Adam thinks this is shortsighted panic thinking. Later as Kate clears some of her things in readiness for moving out, she and Brian admit they’ll miss one another. Kate observes that Brian looks stressed. He confesses he’s unable to see an obvious solution to the farm’s current economic situation. He can’t fault Adam, who’s being fantastic and patient with him – it’s Justin who’s to blame. Kate tells Adam she wishes she could help. He and Brian clearly need more support. Adam notes that farming isn’t really Kate’s thing, and there’s no-one else to ask, so they haven’t got much choice.

Brian suggests they skip servicing the maize harvester this year to save money. Adam sees it as a false economy – if it breaks down it will be costly to repair. Brian maintains he currently has the final say in Home Farm business. Adam concedes the point. Later he tells Tom he’s made a decision; rather than keep messing Bridge Farm around he’d like to hand in his notice. Tom understands – Adam’s been biding his time and now he has another shot at the running of Home Farm he should take it. Adam protests he’s loved working at Bridge Farm, but they agree it’s time for him to move on. Brian’s on the cusp of advertising for another farm manager when Adam updates him with the news. He loves Home Farm; it’s where his heart is. Brian thinks this is brilliant. Lawrence compliments Tom on his game yesterday. He asks how much he gets paid for playing. Tom assures him he doesn’t get paid and neither does anyone else. It would be against the ethos of the team. As Chelsea serves Lawrence his lunch, he insists he’s tried to apologise to her and Zainab for his recent comments. He hints that if the complaint to the golf association goes ahead he might be forced to take action. Rattled Chelsea reports this to Lynda, who tells her not to worry. Lawrence presses Rex on a decision about payment, and Rex declines. Lawrence announces to Lynda that he knows her secret, and if she reports his comments he’ll tell the whole Ambridge team.

Tom breaks the news to Lynda that Henry can’t play cricket today. He’s struggling with the fact that the Borchester Fourths player he accidentally injured last week has two broken fingers. Adam too is unavailable. Lynda appeals to Adam – they currently don’t have a full team. But Adam’s busy at Home Farm and can’t be moved. With Chris out for six Lynda’s in despair, until she spots Adam, who’s relented and turns up to play after all. Lynda’s cheered; she loves this team. Tom promises if Adam can score fifty he’ll get him released to work at Home Farm again tomorrow. However despite a decent fight, Ambridge still lose. Rex has Lawrence in his taxi, who introduces himself before engaging Rex in cricket conversation. Rex admits he misses playing. Lawrence offers to pay him to play for Roserran-in-the-Vale. This is something they could offer that Ambridge doesn’t, isn’t it? Rex declines to comment. Later Lawrence taunts Lynda, alluding to the interesting conversation he’s had with Rex. He asks unnerved Lynda why she didn’t just offer Rex a fee to keep him. Lynda brushes him off and turns her attention back to the match at hand. Undeterred, Lawrence commiserates with her over Ambridge’s loss. Lynda asserts the team are in it for the love of the game. When he questions her coldness, she calls him out for his recent treatment of Chelsea. He dismisses it all as snowflakery. Even when Lynda declares she’s contacting Borsetshire Golf Association Lawrence insists he just doesn’t understand. And that, retorts Lynda, is the problem.