Ben gets Christened; David gets tipsy; Jill gets even more worried about Kenton as his version of events re Mel does not stack up.

Radio Times: Ben’s big day.

Characters: Alistair, David, Heather, Jill, Ruth, Shula

• Another Archers Christening at St Stephens. This time it’s baby Ben’s turn and bedecked in the ancient Christening gown, handed down through countless generations of Archers, with the addition of some new Christening shoes from Heather and Solly, everything runs smoothly.
• With Jill still fretting about Kenton’s turbulent life, and the possibility of never seeing their antipodean grand-daughter again, Heather persuades her (Jill that is) to give Mel a ring, just to keep up contact if nothing else. Well, it turns out that Mel has not run off with someone else after all (as per Kenton’s version of events) but that she (Mel) left him (Kenton) because he was completely useless, untrustworthy and what’s more, he owes her money! Jill pours out all of this to Shula, making her promise not to say a word to anyone. Jill is still naively expecting Kenton to come clean in his own good time.
• Alistair seems to be all fired up and enthused by the prospect of converting some of the stables space into his new surgery. He needs to sort out some details and properly ditch his coke snorting partner (Theo – not Shula).
• The Christening party is in full swing. David has had more than his fair share of the champagne, but still manages to complete the Archers Christening tradition with a toast to his new son, Benjamin David.