Storylines - Brian and Siobhan

Ambridge's most notorious affair

Pictured: Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge)

Freelance translator Siobhan Hathaway and her doctor husband Tim moved to Ambridge from London in March 1999. They settled into Honeysuckle Cottage hoping to start a family but the marriage soured after Siobhan had a miscarriage and Tim developed a friendship with the then vicar Janet Fisher.

Siobhan carried on a brief flirtation with gamekeeper Greg Turner but by November 2001 she was getting on very well with Brian. He correctly interpreted the signals that Siobhan was giving out, and audaciously turned up in Brussels on 10 December, when she was working at a conference there. After a luxurious meal, they spent the night together.

Secret trysts at Honeysuckle Cottage and outings to the races followed, and they danced together at Lower Loxley's New Year's Eve masked ball. Brian packed Jennifer off to a three-day spa trip in order to have time alone with Siobhan but was frustrated when she had to work on in Hanover, leaving him without either woman. Jealous Brian started to wonder about the men she was working with there and Siobhan mentioned the handsome Christian Dorfman to Elizabeth, leading to suspicions that this was the man with whom Siobhan was "playing away".

Siobhan had her own moments of jealousy too, when Brian took Jennifer to view the Hungarian farms in which he had an interest. It was when Tim discovered Siobhan trying on an expensive pair of earrings in February 2002 that she was forced to admit she was having an affair. Although she refused to say with whom, it wasn't long before Tim noticed the atmosphere between her and Brian.

After a few futile weeks trying to save the marriage - and once Brian had told her he would not leave Jennifer - Siobhan moved into a flat in Felpersham and divorce proceedings started.

Baby blues

On 25 March, Siobhan had some electrifying news which she thought would change Brian's mind. She was pregnant. But he didn't take the bait as she hoped; all he could offer was financial support. After Siobhan's previous miscarriage, the pregnancy was a massive blow for Tim. Brian had to plead with him not to blow the gaff "for Jennifer's sake".

When the divorce papers arrived in May, Brian was hugely relieved that he was not named, and his relationship with Siobhan gradually improved. Tim couldn't resist punching him in the face, though, resulting in a black eye which Brian had to pass off as the result of a farming accident.

Brian and Siobhan resumed occasional outings - even one to London, although there was a dodgy moment when they met Matt Crawford, who was also with a young woman: Cindy - his "accountant".

There was another close shave in July, when Brian's daughter Kate and her husband Lucas were visiting from South Africa. They nearly caught Brian and Siobhan together in a hotel but Kate's suspicions were assuaged by good-natured Lucas. Brian was on tenterhooks until the couple returned home, though.

Shortly after, Brian's protective instincts were inflamed when Siobhan's flat was burgled. He installed her in a much nicer location at his own expense and even stayed the night, giving Jennifer a tale about meeting up with a friend and drinking too much.

The following month they managed an ambitious trip to the South of France, with the cover story that Brian was going to Scotland for the "glorious twelfth". He even brought back shop-bought grouse, although the dinner party at which the birds were consumed was agonising, the guests being Nigel and Elizabeth, who knew that Brian had been nowhere near a grouse moor that August.

Siobhan was desperate for Brian to be at the birth, hoping perhaps that the experience would lock him so solidly to her and the baby that he might leave Jennifer. But he claimed it would be impossible, so Elizabeth volunteered to be the birth partner.

September saw another complex subterfuge as much of Ambridge decamped to London for the Countryside Alliance march. Brian travelled in advance, claiming he had meetings, but of course spent the night with Siobhan. He planned to return to Ambridge with Jennifer but when Siobhan rang to say she had fainted he dashed off on the pretext of having left his electronic organiser at the Farmer's Club. By now, Jennifer was starting to suspect that her mercurial husband had some dalliance in hand, although she had no idea of the scale of his deception.

It takes one to know one

When Brian's hated son-in-law Simon Gerrard saw Brian and Siobhan together in Felpersham he soon suspected that something was up, although he had no moral high ground as he was meeting Brenda Tucker at the same venue. When Debbie started to suspect that Simon was philandering, he tried to deflect the accusation with one about Brian. Brian was persuaded at about this time to help Debbie and Simon as they planned to buy Honeysuckle Cottage – half owned, of course, by Siobhan. Hush money for Simon, possibly. But it wasn't long before Debbie had irrefutable evidence that Simon was unfaithful, so the sale - and their marriage - fell through.

As Debbie was reeling from this, Brian had the torture of knowing that Siobhan was giving birth to his child, on 14 November 2002. And this, for the father of daughters, was the son that he had wanted for so long. Jennifer's suspicions increased further at his erratic behaviour over the next few days as the besotted father incautiously spent as much time as possible with Ruairi and his mother.

Tell-tale hanky

It was Debbie who proved to be Brian's nemesis when she saw Siobhan with one of Brian's handkerchiefs and realised that her husband and father were cut from the same despicable cloth. In an emotive scene, she confronted Brian and forced him to confess to Jennifer. Confirmation of the affair was not a surprise to poor Jennifer. But the fact that there was a child, and that several family members already knew, was devastating to her.

With everything out in the open, Siobhan believed that Brian now had nothing to lose. But she underestimated the strength of the 26 year marriage. Despite the enormous temptations of a possible fresh start, Brian's Christmas present to Siobhan was the news that he had chosen Jennifer. But soon Siobhan had her own trump card to play. She was returning to her family in Ireland, and Brian would not see his little boy grow up.

The next few months were hugely difficult as Brian tried to mend relationships with the remaining women in his life. Debbie proved to be a lost cause. Unforgiving, she left home to take a job in France, as Brian and Jennifer tried to patch up their battle-scarred marriage.

Last fling

Then in August 2003, Siobhan decided to return, in a last-ditch attempt to win the man she still loved despite herself. She presented Brian with the prospect of a new life with her and Ruairi in Germany. Again, Brian was entranced by his growing son and the continued attraction of Siobhan was undeniable.

But he had cast his lot in with Jennifer and as they drove through his beloved Borsetshire countryside, he gave Siobhan his final answer. Furious Siobhan grabbed the wheel, insisting he let her out of the car. Brian lost control and was seriously injured in the ensuing crash. This time, Siobhan really had got the message. The hospital saw a sad and clandestine farewell in October.

Debbie's concern for her injured father was a step on the road to reconciliation there too. Just as well she didn't know what had caused the smash.

Aside from an occasional emailed photo, Siobhan and Ruiari were basically out of Brian's life until a chance encounter at the Paris agricultural show in March 2005. Brian was disturbed to be a stranger to his son, and to find the lad had a new father figure in the shape of Siobhan's German partner Dieter. But once Dieter left Siobhan for a younger woman Brian tried to fill the breach in his son Ruairi's life with a series of secretive visits.

A final bombshell was in store when Siobhan gave Brian the news that she was dying of cancer. As well as the shock of this, Brian had to deal with her request that he take care of Ruairi. This is how Jennifer ended up raising the child born of the affair that nearly ended her marriage