The Archers

Suspicions are raised for Harrison, and Joy realises a new approach might be needed.

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

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 j

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 t

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

Chris has the rug pulled, and Eddie spots an opportunity.

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 la

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 com

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 r

Receptionist Lottie and Azra are relieved to have heating again at the doctors’ surgery. However, their prescription delivery man is ill and they need an appropriate replacement. Azra wonders if Akram could step in. Alan has an appointment to discuss his low energy levels. He notes Lawrence Harrington’s inappropriate manner towards Lottie. She confirms to Alan that she suspects his attitude is racially motivated. During his appointment, Alan and Azra discuss Felpersham mosque’s structural issues. Until it is re-roofed, the Maliks will have to travel to Birmingham for Jummah. Alan suggests a temporary move to Ambridge for Friday prayers, and that he’d ask the Village Hal committee. Touched, Azra says that Akram will be amazed by the offer. Josh and Lily are weakly attempting one of Joy’s jigsaws when Paul joins them from his sickbed. Paul has been blindsided by his appraisal with Alistair. He’s been warned that he has to pass his driving test to continue working at the vets’, as he’d agreed to get his licen

Akram is working hard to try and finish the repairs today. He broaches the idea of moving to Pakistan again. Akram thinks Khalil would do great there. While Zainab is adaptable, and student loans are cheaper if she changes her mind about university. Azra points out that visiting family is not the same as uprooting. Akram wants to be a farmer, not a plumber, and he’s not getting any younger. Ed and Leonard chat in the crowded waiting room. During Ed’s appointment about his wrist, he asks what counselling is available for George’s temper, but Azra says as he’s an adult she’s got to speak to George herself.Paul has succumbed to whatever is going around the Stables. It clearly isn’t food poisoning. Josh slowly makes some toast. Lily’s stomach doesn’t agree with it. Josh and Lily discuss the job at Grey Gables. Leonard turns up masked and gloved to help the plagued household. He starts on cleaning up the kitchen. The discussion moves onto Lower Loxley and Lily’s lack of inheritance. Leonard suggests to Lily that

The Maliks have a dilemma on their hands, and Ben's nursing skills are put to the test.

The flat at the Stables is a complete mess whilst Josh, Paul, and Lily try to pin the blame on each other. The boys question Lily’s Australian tour, as she searches for her passport amongst the rubbish. Lily is determined to go and miss the UK winter despite their ribbing and finds her passport under a broken games console. Paul brokers peace with the bickering over plans for the Sunday roast. Everyone is pitching in with a Brookfield beef roast, cauliflower cheese, sponge pudding and cocktails. Stuffed and slumped, they plan a Christmas dinner to make up for Lily being away. Josh receives a text from Shula: she is coming on Saturday to Ambridge and plans to call in for a visit. The Stables need a deep clean and tidy, but that can wait until tomorrow.Zainab and Azra discuss their plans for the day. Azra is heading into work to check the IT system records against her manual notes as she’s not convinced the system is recording the data for tests properly. Zainab is looking forward to getting her scooter back.

Susan’s convinced there’ll be bad news about the shop; what if Hazel wants to sell? Neil reckons there’s no point panicking at this stage; there are other options. Susan’s not convinced about Ian’s pizza van double act plan. When Ian comes round later full of ideas Susan begins to employ her strategy of letting him down gently. However she takes a call from Hazel, and just as Neil’s struggling to hold off Ian’s enthusiasm she returns with the fantastic news that the building work’s finished. The shop can re-open next week. Delighted Neil and Susan declare it’s a shame Ian’s collaboration scheme won’t work out. Ian’s philosophical – no creative thinking is ever wasted and it’s opened up his mind to new possibilities.Ed passes off the bruise on his face as the result of a branch hitting him. Emma’s sympathetic. George calls in and Emma heads off to pick up Keira from the cinema, leaving Ed and George alone. George is shocked at the state of Ed’s eye. He thinks Ed shouldn’t make excuses for him – he’s a monster.

Joy wants a catch-up with Tony and Hannah about the tractor run. She lists other participants’ plans, majoring on their festive themes. She doesn’t want Hannah and Tony to feel uncomfortable with their space and sea creature tractors. Hannah and Tony laugh when they realise they’ve both been fibbing to Joy in order to keep their real concepts under wraps. They each claim their entries will be special and will require a prime slot in the order as the main attraction. They agree to be judged on whose tractor collects the most money for charity. Ed confesses to Brad that he’s never seen George this low. He remarks it’s understandable given the situation with Amber. Brad agrees uneasily. Ed suggests they all go bowling tonight to distract George a bit. Awkward Brad accepts, but later calls George and makes an excuse not to go.Working with George on some trees at Berrow, Ed struggles with his wrist. Alistair spots his predicament and comes to his aid, helping him put a support brace on and recommending he gets it

Joy’s curious to see what Tony’s concocting in his workshop for the tractor run. She’s worried some people aren’t sticking to the Christmassy brief. She’s open to a broad interpretation, but she’d imagined something generally festive. Tony declares his theme is sea creatures – but he can definitely incorporate Christmas. Joy’s anxious; she doesn’t want it all to look random. But Tony thinks it’ll be fun to have some variation. He suggests everyone should relax. It will all work out fine in the end.Eddie unveils his automatic turkey plucking machine ready for the big day. It looks promising though it makes a bit of a racket. Clarrie has errands to run before they start, and calls in on busy Pat and Tony. Pat notices Clarrie’s arthritis has flared up again and wonders how Clarrie will manage the turkey plucking. Clarrie reports Eddie’s enterprising creation – though she’s not counting her chickens! Sure enough there’s disaster later when the first turkey in the machine gets mangled. Clarrie concludes that they

Susan calls at Honeysuckle Cottage. Ian’s offered her the pizza van for shop deliveries. There aren’t many but she’s hoping word will spread – she doesn’t want people to forget about the shop. Adam assures her that won’t happen, everyone’s missing it. He confirms Ian’s looking forward to accompanying Susan so he can catch up with village gossip. Susan’s hoping the same thing – with the shop closed she’s never been so out of the loop. Later Adam tells her Ian’s come back full of ideas about linking with the shop more formally – a sort of mobile shop combined with pizza delivery. Susan reckons the deliveries are a temporary measure. There’s no substitute for a proper community shop. She’s interrupted by a message from Hazel, who wants to update her on the shop. Amber announces she’s going to visit her cousin in Ireland for a while, to have some space to think. George concludes she’s breaking up with him even though she assures him this isn’t the case. He talks to Brad, who suggests it might be good for Amber a

Amber struggles with her emotions, and Joy has reservations.

Eddie’s concerned about Clarrie, whose hands are swollen and sore. With turkey plucking day fast approaching it leaves them with a problem. Clarrie shouldn’t be doing it, but she sees little alternative. Everyone she’s tried for help is busy. Eddie ponders; there must be something they can do. Later Clarrie’s horrified to find Eddie’s taken the back off the washing machine. He’s had an idea that might make her life a bit easier. Clarrie retorts the only thing that will do that is if he puts the machine back together, this instant. Reassuringly Eddie makes a trip to the scrapyard and acquires a drum and motor to progress his plan. He now has the makings of a Grundy Turkey Plucker! No more hand plucking necessary – Clarrie won’t have to lift a finger. Sceptical Clarrie’s will believe it when she sees it.Chris makes plans to drop off Martha for a sleepover while he has a date with Carly. When George finds out Martha’s staying at Little Grange he says he’ll come over – he hasn’t seen Martha for ages and misses he