For Archers’ fans the past week has been an emotional rollercoaster. First came the “not guilty” verdict in the criminal trial and then the family court ordered that the children Henry and Jack should return to live with Helen.
For non-Archers aficionados, Ambridge is the fictional location of The Archers – the world’s longest running soap opera. Over the past couple of years a major plotline has involving a couple called Helen and Rob Titchener.
Briefly, Helen Archer (as she was) had a child called Henry who was conceived via a sperm donor. Helen met the dashing Rob and within a short space of time they fell in love, got married and Helen became pregnant. Rob took on the role of Henry’s father acquiring parental responsibility for him as a step parent; to the outside world their lives seemed perfect.
What no one else saw was the dark side of Rob – a deeply controlling man who physically, emotionally and psychologically abused Helen. Starting subtly, Rob’s coercive control of Helen developed to the point that she thought she was going mad, her confidence was destroyed and her own family alienated.
Matters came to a head when Helen tried to leave; during the argument that ensued, she stabbed Rob in front of Henry and was charged with attempted murder.
The criminal trial and the family case were running in tandem for many months. Whilst Helen was on remand she gave birth to baby Jack, named “Gideon” by Rob. Rob applied for an order in the family court for Henry to move to live with him from maternal grandparents home and was initially successful.
In the criminal case the “not guilty” verdict was not arrived at quickly nor easily; the storyline even included deliberations in the jury room. The seemingly respectable jury foreman attempted to take control and tried to convince his fellow jurors to find Helen guilty; it then transpired that he was going through a family court case and had not seen his children for 6 months.
The final hearing in the family case was fully contested and the judge had to decide what should happen to both children. Rob wanted Henry to remain with him and for baby “Gideon” (AKA Jack) to be taken from Helen and placed with him. A social worker was allocated and fortunately, for Helen (and the listeners) the court preferred the evidence of the social worker and found that Rob could pose a risk of harm to the children. As he was not Henry’s natural father the judge ruled that there was no reason for there to be any relationship. In respect of Jack the judge, quite correctly, stated that it was Jack’s “right” to have a relationship with his father and ordered contact be supervised whilst Rob undergoes a psychological assessment.
This storyline developed over a couple of years to make it real and convincing to listeners. The writers took advice from Women’s Aid and Refuge and even the actor who plays Helen met women who had been subjected to domestic abuse of this kind.
Whilst some die hard Archers fans were not happy with the storyline, the reaction in the main has been extremely positive.
The drama demonstrates that domestic abuse affects all strata of society. Helen and Rob are white, middle class and live in an idyllic countryside setting. Indeed, there has been much commentary that women in rural communities tend to be more isolated and therefore have less access to support services. There is also the fear of the reaction of others in the community which may not be such an issue in large towns and cities.
What is refreshing about this storyline is the depth of research and understanding both in relation to Helen’s experiences and the law and procedure in family and criminal cases. A detail which struck me as a family lawyer was the advice given to Helen at the end of the family case. Her barrister told her that as Jack was so young, it would be expected that the time he spent with Rob would have to be short periods of time on a frequent basis in order bond with his father. This is advice we give clients when young children are involved.
Well done to the writers’ of the Archers for making this story so real.
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