The Archers

Ben finds Susan at the Shop struggling under a mountain of deliveries and helps her clear some space for customers. The deliveries are part of Susan’s initiative to expand the Shop’s range of products, but it looks like it’ll be a struggle to put new shelves up and fit everything in before Joy’s next shift on Saturday. Then Joy turns up, dismayed to find the stock room full and boxes all over the place. Susan tries to sell Akram some screws and is delighted she can offer him a mallet, before he starts revelling in the cornucopia of hardware items Susan has ordered. Susan’s convinced everything’s going to be fine now.When Justin tells Lilian he’s changed his mind about going on a months-long cruise she replies that it’s too late, she’s committed to staying in Ambridge, looking out for Alice, Tony, the Stables and The Bull. Lilian wonders why Justin’s made a U-turn. He can’t exactly say why, but the meeting with Arthur has prompted thoughts about looking after one another as they get older. Justin fancies doing

While doing some gardening at the Dower House Lilian and Justin agree it was a clever plan of Peggy’s to get Natasha and Fallon working together for her funeral. They were at Harrison’s party last night too, which was a great success, despite his absence. Lilian then gets a message from Christine at the Laurels: they want to talk to her about Peggy. Intrigued, Justin goes with Lilian, joking that they’re about to find out what Peggy did with her money. A regular visitor to The Laurels, Arthur, introduces himself as a good friend of Peggy’s. He tells Lilian that the charity where he volunteers, a local dementia support network, is very grateful for Peggy’s generous donation. Arthur suffers from dementia himself, although it isn’t obvious, and impresses Justin with his Savile Row background. Justin and Lilian agree, he’s an inspiring example and that Peggy made absolutely the right decision. And of course Arthur should come to Peggy’s funeral.Ruth asks Ben to tidy up the Events Barn – Fallon will be setting u

Having decided to go ahead with Open Farm Sunday, David and Ruth have been working hard to get things ready at Brookfield and are still checking up with each other about the various events booked for the day. Jill wants David to look over the eulogy she’s written for Peggy’s funeral and Ruth wonders what happened to all Peggy’s money. Jill then asks David if he will read the eulogy during the service, before he reads it out loud. Jill has written that after arriving in Ambridge in 1957 she and Peggy were friends for sixty-eight years. And it was Peggy who helped make her feel that one day she might belong in Ambridge. She valued Peggy’s honesty and straight talking and will miss her more than she can say. When David finishes Ruth proposes a toast to Peggy. Alice and Chris meet on the way to Harrison’s surprise party at Woodbine Cottage, neither of them in the mood for it. When they get there Fallon quickly has them helping with last-minute preparations. Kirsty is there too, while Dane, on his second date with

At Brookfield, David’s talking through the events they’ve planned for Open Farm Sunday. Ruth senses how concerned he is about security, even though they’ve got Rex, Ed and Will keeping an eye on things. While Ruth mulls over the details of the day and possibly having more “fun” events, David suggests a bag search on the gate, then admits he’s having flashbacks to what happened in the boardroom at Casey Meats and can’t help projecting his fears onto Open Farm Sunday. He wishes he'd been more proactive, despite everyone saying how fantastic he was, keeping people calm. Ruth sits David down with a coffee and does her best to reassure him, before suggesting it might be better to cancel Open Farm Sunday if it’s causing him so much anxiety. Alice’s self-laceration continues at the doctor’s surgery. Both she and Chris cover when Fallon appears. Fallon checks they’re coming to Harrison’s party tomorrow night and still providing the salads and playlist they promised. After Fallon’s gone, Chris and Alice confess they’d

The guilt eats away for Alice, and Ben considers his options.