Well of course, first things first and a warm welcome to your posting experience,
Ned1968 !
As far as we know, there are no enforceable rules to stop you doing what you propose in Option 2. Basically you are ensuring that you are away for a Saturday night between your outbound and return on each PNR.
Urban legend suggests BA would of course prefer you didn't do it, but I don't remember anyone ever having a problem with doing so!
In fact, just this morning I was talking to the call centre about adjusting one of these ticketing structures for myself, and the change was made without a murmur..