Shula (played by Judy Bennett) seemed distracted as The Archers began this evening, with she and Jill Archer (Patricia Greene) discussing stumbling across Leonard Berry (Paul Copely) painting horses.
Whereas Jill stayed with the amateur painter, Shula met with Jim (John Rowe) to discuss an incident during a recent Christening at the local church which saw the religious character stumble and unable to give a speech at the ceremony.
With the pair having a fraught relationship on the BBC Radio 4 soap due to their conflicting religious beliefs, Jim and Shula seemed to make peace as the father-in-law tried to offer some comfort to the disheveled character.
However, at the end of the episode, Shula teased she could take a break way from the village after admitting to Jim she wasn’t sure what she believed in anymore.
I need to think all this through
Shula Hebden Lloyd
Sitting down for a coffee at a local cafe, Jim recounted the events at the church, telling Shula: “I could see there was something wrong and I guess it was nothing to do with feeling faint?”
Shula replied: “I didn’t know you were going to be there. After our exchange of views…” she went on to say, before Jim interjected.
“It won’t be the first time I’ve put people off their stroke, merely by turning up,” Jim said, with Shula adding: “I thought you’d be pleased to see me struggle like that.”
Following his daughter-in-law’s sentiment, Jim told her: “Pleased? Really? That does me little credit. We’ve had our differences over the years Shula, and no doubt, a good many of them have centred on religion, but you walking away from the pulpit like that looked to me like an act of honesty. It was, wasn’t it?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’d been so certain about what I wanted to
