The Archers

Ed struggles to do the right thing, and Leonard steps in to help.

At the Stables, Paul is smug whilst Lily and Josh feel delicate. Lily blames Josh’s roast. Josh blames Lily’s cauliflower cheese. Paul thinks it’s the third jug of cocktail. Paul’s full fry up is not appreciated by the pair. Josh calls in sick, whilst Lily drags herself to work. Zainab questions Lily over room rates, whilst Lily goes pale and faints. Zainab helps Lily back home and they find Josh in a similar condition. They both think it’s more than the alcohol. Zainab calls her mum Azra to ask for advice on what to do with food poisoning. Azra advises Josh and Lily to stick to plain foods and just water or squash. Paul has forgotten his yearly appraisal with Alistair is today. Alistair’s glad that Paul is still at the vets after the difficult personal events of the last year. Paul is exemplary with patient care, but his lack of a driving licence is causing problems. Paul promises to get on to passing his test. Ben drops stool sample kits to Lily and Josh who aren’t feeling any better. Paul is then forced into the role of nurse.Ben and Azra set up space heaters from Brookfield in the surgery waiting room. Ben recalls Akram’s copper pipe rant, whilst the portable hand washing stations arrive. Azra and Zainab discuss Akram’s work at the surgery and how Akram wants the family to relocate to Pakistan. Zainab thinks it would be a pretty huge change for them all.

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. The repairs should have her back on deliveries soon. When Azra arrives at the surgery, she has to quickly call for help. When Zainab picks up, Azra needs Akram urgently as the waiting room is flooded. A shivering Azra arrives home later; the pipes have pinholes and until they’re replaced the surgery will have to go without heating. Azra is left to plan out the week without running water or heat.

Ian Craig, a local villager with a passion for community-oriented projects, shares his innovative pizza-van concept to enhance shop deliveries. He collaborates with neighbors like Neil to delve into logistics and practicalities. Amidst the culinary discussions, tensions rise as George grapples with guilt over a violent incident, prompting family members to urge him toward therapy rather than prison. The dynamics of village life weave through the conversation, blending humor with heartfelt moments.

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 properly checked out. Miserable George reckons Brad doesn’t want to spend time with him. His life’s a disaster. Ed points out George’s family love him but George is inconsolable, declaring it would be better if he was still in prison. Ed counsels that he needs to stop pushing people away or he’ll end up on his own. It’s all too much for George and he hits Ed. Immediately appalled, he apologises to Ed before breaking down in tears. Ed holds him reassuringly.

Joy worries about the festive theme of the tractor run, while Tony's sea creature design raises eyebrows. Eddie's ambitious turkey plucking machine promises efficiency but ends in disaster, mangling the first turkey. Clarrie's arthritis adds urgency as she fears for her hands. Thankfully, Pat steps in just in time to help, showcasing the power of friendship. Amidst the holiday chaos, the team navigates challenges and reaffirms support, emphasizing that sometimes the best solutions come from teamwork.

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 and George to slow things down a bit. He recommends speaking again to Amber, but George wants Brad to talk to her instead and see what he can find out. Reluctant Brad visits Amber. She tells him everything’s a mess. She needs time to work things out. Brad wants to be there for her, but she tells him he can’t and he knows why. She cares about him, and she knows it’s mutual. She makes him promise to forget this conversation happened.

Joy’s keen for information from Hannah on Berrow’s entry for the Christmas tractor run. Hannah tells her Martyn wants them to have a strong presence. She doesn’t share Joy’s enthusiasm at this news – it’s just more for her to do when she’s already busy. Joy offers to help, and turns up later at the Berrow workshop. Hannah reckons she’ll be fine; she’s had a brilliant idea for their entry. Joy’s excited, but Hannah wants to keep it secret until the day. Joy protests that as the organiser she really needs to know. Hannah reveals the concept is ‘space’; she’ll be dressed as an astronaut and there’ll be aliens. She assures Joy it will be fabulous. Emma apologises to George for last night and Chris taking Martha home. George doesn’t blame Chris. Emma assures him people will move on in time. She offers him work with her on a tree surgery job, as an extra pair of hands, which he accepts. When Emma pushes him on his low mood George admits he thinks Amber doesn’t want to be with him anymore. Emma speaks to Amber, who admits she’s no longer sure she wants to marry George. She asks Emma’s advice. Emma counsels Amber, from experience, to take time to think what she wants. She needs to be honest with George. Amber duly tries to explain her confused feelings to George, who protests he still loves her and just wants everything to be as it was. Frustrated with Amber’s lack of clarity, he storms out.

Tensions rise as Chris grapples with George's visit, revealing deep family rifts. Eddie’s inventive spirit shines with his DIY turkey-plucking machine idea, born from a washing machine drum. Meanwhile, child dynamics unfold as Martha and George reconnect, stirring worries among the adults. Chris’s romantic plans with Carly take a backseat to the chaos, while Ed's childcare arrangements add humor to the mix. All this amidst discussions of hand pain and holiday preparations, capturing both the warmth and complexities of family life.

Amber checks in with George at the Pole Barn to see how Ed is doing. She reckons falling down the stairs could’ve led to a far worse injury, before heading off to a nail appointment. While taking Brad to Felpersham for a dating app date Rex recounts his own mixed experiences of online dating, most of which didn’t work out as he’s still single. Rex still hopes to meet somebody one day, though preferably not through an app. Brad asks Rex to turn round and take him home, having decided he’d prefer to meet someone in real life too. Back in Ambridge Brad bumps into Amber, who tells him how attentive George has been with Ed. Emma tells Ed about a two-person job she’s lined up, hoping Ed’s better by next week. George texts, offering to make lunch for them, but Emma beats him to it. Ed then repeats to Emma what really happened with George. Ed’s certain George never meant him to fall, but they have to ensure no-one ever has cause to think otherwise. George turns up, feeling guilty and scared in case anyone thinks he intended to hurt Ed, but Ed assures him they don’t. Brad arrives later, telling Ed and Emma he saw the look on George’s face when Ed fell, suspecting it wasn’t an accident. They admit that George pushed Ed, but didn’t mean to hurt him. However, if the story gets out, George could go back to prison. Brad agrees that if it was an accident there’s no point in making everything worse.