The Archers

Joy calls in to see Helen at the Beechwood house and helps with finishing off the packing and cleaning. Joy declares she’ll miss Helen even though she and the boys will be around a while longer. Helen assures her they’ll still visit one another. She presents Joy with an attractive gift, which Joy loves. She invites Helen to dinner; Rochelle’s cooking. Helen mentions her sighting of Rochelle with a friend at the cafe yesterday, but her description doesn’t ring a bell with Joy.

Freddie’s keen to meet with Lily, but not so much when she wants to talk about how to keep spirits up on the cricket team. He wants to get out of his head, but can’t shake the concern of the camera being planted at work. Vince is too distracted to think about it and besides, he doesn’t seem to be taking it very seriously. Freddie’s stuck his neck out and asked the staff if they know anything but they’ve all played innocent – and he doesn’t want to appear as if he’s accusing them and risk the Academy visit next week. Every time he feels like he makes progress at work, something like this puts him back to square one. Lily reassures him. Vince clearly respects him. Freddie resolves to keep everything peeled. If something’s going on, he needs to know.

Zainab and Chelsea are admiring the new-born kids. Zainab’s happy to follow instruction and not get too close, while Chelsea would love to be more hands on. Helen tells her she’s welcome to pop in any time and maybe help when the kids are older. Satisfied with this, Chelsea heads off to the morris dancing event. Zainab shares her plan to recreate her parents’ wedding photos, and asks Chelsea if she’d get Azra to model for her business as an excuse to get her dressed in her wedding outfit. Chelsea agrees to do some research. In return she wants Zainab to come to the morris dancing experience with her.

Kenton’s struggling to make the morris dancing steps stick despite Jazzer’s coaching. Jolene’s impatient. Kenton insists it’s just the final fine points he’s wrestling with. Jolene gives him one more hour. They have a pub to run and the bar’s busy. When he adds sticks to the routine she’s horrified; someone will get injured. Reluctantly Kenton agrees to keep it just to the dancing. Later Kenton concedes defeat – he’s never going to get it in time. Jazzer will just have to take over as instructor. Jazzer starts to refuse until Kenton offers to throw drinks in to the deal as well as food – only Jazzer can’t tell Jolene.

Brad and Chelsea are finding interesting material in their library research. Brad’s unearthed a wartime news film, and Chelsea’s come across the mysterious Reg but there’s still not enough clear information to decipher his full name, or his story. Elizabeth’s impressed – the lack of clarity makes it even more intriguing.

Natasha suggests Chelsea wears Kathy’s old Easter bunny costume to help business at the Tearoom. Chelsea declines. She reckons their current plans for Easter treats and a treasure hunt will be enough, but Natasha’s keen for something bigger. Chelsea suggests the goats could be an attraction. Natasha thinks this could work, if the kids arrive in time. Pat confirms kidding is imminent, and explains how you can tell. Natasha asks if there’s anything that would speed the process, but Pat advocates letting nature take its course.

Kenton drops off some wartime photos to Elizabeth for the Lower Loxley VE Day commemoration display. They find Chelsea admiring the pictures already assembled. Elizabeth’s intrigued by a picture in which Nigel’s granddad is with a chap identified only as ‘Reg D.’ She’s disappointed Lily won’t have time to do the research she was planning. When Chelsea offers to do it instead, Elizabeth’s delighted.

Pat and Emma agree that a hosepipe through Martyn Gibson’s letterbox isn’t an effective way to protest, but that further action is definitely needed. Neil points out the water company is aware of the problem in Ambridge and may need to prioritise. Emma’s aghast that her dad might not be on their side, but Neil is rescued by the arrival of Joy, keen to talk VE Day event plans. Emma and Pat continue their positive action talk. Pat tells Emma about someone effectively building a moat around their property. Tom overhears and advocates caution; interfering with a watercourse could be illegal. Mick brings the news that a well known water campaigner is at Grey Gables right now. Emma cant’ believe it’s Feargal Sharkey. She rushes away to catch the celebrity before he moves on.

Freddie comes across Rochelle seemingly disorientated at work. He offers to escort her to the canteen, which she’s struggled to find. Over lunch Freddie shares the story of how he came to be working at the abattoir. Rochelle wonders if perhaps she might train in boning. Freddie acknowledges her enthusiasm, and she admits she wants to get decent money coming in so she can move out of her mum’s. Freddie advises giving further training a month or so – she’s still very new. Later Rochelle impresses with her improvement at cricket nets. It’s clear to Freddie she’s keen to do well, both at cricket and her work. She won’t be in packing for long.

Elizabeth’s delighted to see Joy back serving in the Shop. Joy admits she needed time away because of everything going on with Rochelle. Elizabeth sympathises, then suggests a distraction. Later, Joy thanks Elizabeth for inviting her to the planning meeting at the Village Hall for the VE Day celebrations. Elizabeth’s happy because Joy came up with most of the ideas, including a beacon on Lakey Hill.