And listeners are battling the nerves as the jury debate whether she is guilty of his attempted murder.
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The high-profile domestic abuse plot culminated in the first hour-long episode in show’s 65-year history.
“Archers fans weep tears of joy as Helen is found NOT GUILTY”, read the Daily Mail front page, while the Guardian wrote: “Helen not guilty in Archers drama that gripped listeners”.
Celebrations were short-lived for Helen (played by Louiza Patikas) who had to endure more torture from Rob, played by Timothy Watson. “Congratulations Helen, you must be chuffed with yourself”, he said.
She replied: “The whole world knows what you are now Rob”.
The fictional stabbing followed Rob’s long-term emotional abuse of Helen – which had been slowly drip fed to listeners of The Archers over two and a half years.
The storyline, in which Titchener was emotionally abused by her husband, sparked fervent discussion under the Twitter hashtags #FreeHelen and #TheArchers, and highlighted British courts’ approach to controlling or coercive behaviour in relationships.
Speaking at the event Patikas said: “Playing Helen in The Archers has taught me a great deal about the horror of domestic abuse and coercive control, and also introduced me to unbelievable people – the most courageous survivors of abuse, and the wonderful people who work for and support charities like Refuge”.
Sandra Horley, Refuge chief executive, said: “Never before in my 33-year career at Refuge have I seen such fantastic public support for our work”.
The actress, who has played the character for 16 years, said she was looking forward to “rebuilding Helen”, but added it would “take her (Helen) some time to process the verdict and its implications”.
“I hope that she’ll soon get back behind the wheels of her vehicle and start some therapeutic cheese-making when she feels up to it”.
Statistics show that up to 80 per cent of women offenders are also domestic abuse survivors.
More than 7,500 people have supported a JustGiving fundraising page for the women’s charity Refuge set up by fan Paul Trueman, “because for every fictional Helen, there are real ones”. More specialist training on domestic abuse is needed for all who work in them, especially judges.
“They speak both to the scale of the lives affected as well as the healing power of charities like Refuge to help families put their lives back together”.
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Some 5 million people listen to the serial, broadcast in six 12 1/2-minute episodes a week, with a 75-minute catch-up edition on Sunday mornings.
