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Since was arrested after the incident at Blossom Hill Cottage, her younger brother has been working flat out to keep Bridge Farm going.

Will Troughton, who plays Tom in the series, says his character feels like “he has the weight of an entire farm on his shoulders”.

Times are tough at Bridge Farm. and are reeling from Helen's arrest and the charge of attempted murder, and the fact that they can only see their grandson one day a week.

The whole family is trying to come to terms with the realisation that neither , nor , were what they thought they were.

On top of all of this, Tom is running the farm. While he has help from , soon after Helen’s arrest Tom sacked after hearing him make fun of Helen’s situation, which has only increased Tom's workload further.

Will Troughton says Tom is “really worried about Helen, and he feels quite guilty that he didn’t spot something earlier. I think the family as a whole feels very guilty about not seeing through Rob.”

Tom and have both been nursing concerns about Rob; but they never shared them with each other due to the rift caused by the break-up of their relationship.

As Will explains: “Kirsty and Tom both had inklings about Rob and what he might be like, but they just couldn’t quite talk to each other because of the whole standing her up at the altar thing”.

Tom and Kirsty were college sweethearts, but in 2005 Tom ended their relationship. In 2013, their love was rekindled and Tom asked Kirsty to marry him.

It wasn't to be, however, and on the day of the wedding in April 2014, Tom told Kirsty he could not marry her.

Helen and Tom, who are two years apart in age, had an older brother called . In 1998, on the day of Tom’s 17th birthday, John was killed when the tractor he was driving overturned. John's death has cast a long shadow over both of Helen and Tom's lives.

Will Troughton says, "The long-term impact of John's death can be seen in today's episodes. Tom and Helen both looked up to him and very much loved him, and miss him.'

Will adds, since Tom's return from Canada, "they’ve had a lot to do with each other, they’ve had the shop together, they’ve been working very closely together and Tom feels very responsible for what’s happening to Helen.”

Johnny, who is now an apprentice at Bridge Farm, is John's son. No-one in Ambridge knew John had fathered a child, including John himself. It was only by chance, after John's death, that Pat and Tony found out they had a grandson.

On the day before Helen’s pre-trial plea hearing, Tom and his father Tony visit her in prison where she is being held on remand.

Tom isn’t unfamiliar with being accused of a crime: when he was 18 years old he was charged with causing criminal damage while protesting against genetically modified organisms (GMOs) – at the trial he was found not guilty.

Then, in 2006, Tom took the blame for a when it was really Helen behind the wheel.

Now the family face a very different set of circumstances: Tom is sure that Helen did not deliberately attack Rob and he urges her tell the truth. It's hard to say what exactly influences Helen to plead not guilty, but Tom's impassioned appeal to her must have had a considerable impact.