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Life in Ambridge: Comments week of February 21, 2019
Life outside Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments" - Episode 14 Life Outside Ambridge Have a seat and let's chat.
Took the train to Washington DC for meetings Thursday. Wishful photo of cherry trees in blossom around the Washington Monument. Snowstorm in the northeast today and was pretty to watch out the window. Warming up tomorrow so all snow should be melted.
ReplyDeleteWow. We'll pretend it's a supersized version of the Ambridge war memorial. 'Loveliest of trees, the cherry now / Is hung with bloom along the bough' – one of my favourite poems.
ReplyDelete*sigh* - oh, the memories! Spent a few weeks in DC many years ago Ruthy, and absolutely loved it. Have some friends there still to this day...
ReplyDeleteHere in the UK we are in the grip of some incredibly mild weather - temp over the next few days to get as high as 18c/64f!
Yes Gary - our weather seems to be upside down at the moment. Warm when it’s supposed to be cold, after a week of heavy snow recently.
DeleteI just hope the warmth doesn’t bring out the buds on the cherry and fruit trees (and my precious wisteria) early - only to have them killed off by late frost in May as happened a couple of years ago. You just can’t rely on nature these days!
As to Russ - it would be preferable if it was a grown up taking him to task in a serious manner about his abuse of power in his relationship with Lily. I simply object to listening to unfunny smart arsed teenagers!
ReplyDeleteHow actually believable is it that there are 2 kids wandering about a pub lamely trying to take the piss out of customers and acting as if they had never seen a female under he age of 30, panting away like that creepy wolf thing in a Betty Boop cartoon? They wouldn't last very long in any of the bars that I know...
Yes, it would be preferable if someone carrying more weight metaphorically ( mmn...I'd say phsically too, for that punch on the mouth) demolished Russ but at least the fact that they're taking the piss out of an ex figure of authority shows him he's lost respect. Even that might help the light to dawn on Lily. Of course they're juvenile, 2 16 yr olds with racing hormones mucking around.
DeleteI am 100% behind you Gary .
DeleteI do not think it is ether clever or funny for those two young Soundalikes to be behaving in the way they are.
Ben was rude in front of his parents to Revolting Russ.
They should have torn a strip off him then.
I do not like R.R. at all ,however Lily is 18 or 19 years of age .
She isn't a young teenager.
Had she met him socially a few months later than she did ,would we have been so much in arms about it all?
(I suppose so because he is just a sponger)
She knows what he is like now and as I have said before I am sure he will either get his marching orders or leave of his own accord.
I just wish he would take those revolting teenagers with him.
(I knew of somebody who married her University Professor -she got a first !- coincidence I am sure.)
Lanjan, I think it was Josh who sang 'me and Mr Jones' at Christmas and I admit it did make me laugh at the time, though it was inappropriate.
DeleteYes Basia,I think you are right.
DeleteWell remembered.
GG. I also found the two "boys" too juvenile and irritating. The actors don't match the words they are spouting. Deep husky voices trying to sound like sexually obsessed sixteen year olds. Would they really behave like that, even with an ex figure of authority?
ReplyDeleteLily still doesn't get the awfulness of the man, when she eventually does, I expect her to tell him " "Russ, SWEETIE it's time you went back to your own home, I have a job to do running LL and you are more of a parasitic hindrance, and your whining is getting on my nerves. Pick up your coffee/ kettle, nuts, Egyptian linen etc and go. On second thoughts Mum bought them, so just depart these shores never to return". Oh, and by the way you are not my PIMP."
Lily wants to get stuck in, LL is in chaos, Kenton's man Glen needs to be supervised, and Lily is just the woman, sweetie.
Brilliant picture Ruthy. Thank you.
So many issues raised last night, but Jolene and country music, awful.
I liked Jolene's singing, even though I'm not a fan of country music, she stood by her man but also stood her ground.
DeleteStasia, I too find it grates when the two older actors try to sound like sniggering mid-teens. I think younger actors would have been better, even if their lack of experience showed. Does the current editor share SO'C's dislike of non-drama-school-trained actors? I suppose they'll be all right in five years or so, when the contrast between real and feigned ages won't be so great.
DeleteI prefer Kenton's taste in music to Jolene's, but I'd rather run a pub (or anything) with Jolene. Is Kenton reverting to the incompetent waste of space he once was?
DeleteSorry, I like Country music - "three chords and the truth"!
DeleteRuss said that he bumped into Danielle Woods from the college office who said she was surprised he had the nerve to show his face, Lily's reply was: oh, sweetheart...
ReplyDeleteYes ! Surely it's getting too uncomfortable for both Lily & Russ.
DeleteI’d forgive Russ a lot for his cooking! Also (lest we forget) for his practicality in an emergency, eg. sorting Elizabeth’s panic attack, sorting Lily’s management priorities when she was getting in a pre-Christmas flap.
ReplyDeleteYes, food is a priority as for the panic attack he took her out of her comfort zone, instead of going to Borchester he drove to Felpersham and she voiced her concerns.
DeleteI must have missed Elizabeth saying if we go Felpersham I shall have a panic attack!
DeleteShe did not say it but was uncomfortable about going to Felpersham and yes, Russ knew what to do inside the department store.
DeleteWell, it ain't rocket science, is it ? A matter of being calm & gentle .He could hardly leave her on the shop floor ! Same as when Jill fell off the ladder; it was obvious that Toby had to take her to A&E, or phone for an ambulance, as he was the only person around.
DeleteLet me introduce you to the concept of giving credit where credut’s due, Carolyn! It applies whether or not we personally like the individual who has earned it. Russ and T❤️O❤️B❤️Y both did considerably more than find Elizabeth a chair or get Jill an ambulance, and in both cases their intervention was effective. So impressed were the hospital staff with Tobes’ care of Jill, they thought he must be her grandson. Which went down like a lead balloon with the ungrateful Jill, of course!
DeleteI can't take the character of Russ seriously, so now I am not so put out at his behaviour. To have someone who is so has so little integrity and self awareness and who is suposed to have risen to deputy priciple of a Further Education College is a laugh! (I expect someone now to say "I knew someone like that!" ) But to me it doesn't seem authentic.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that 'gets' me is the supposed acceptance of everyone (except Ruairi and Ben) to Lily and Russ's relationship. If that was my daughter, niece or granddaughter I would raise hell about abuse of power by a person in a position of trust. And that includes any teacher (or lecturer I think they like to call themselves nowadays!) at college, university or school whether it is 'illegal' or not because that adult is someone the youth/young person is supposed to be able to turn to in times of trouble; NOT to be taken sexual advantage of !
Bearing those two reasons in mind I think the boys' reaction is very well portrayed. If you watch many films where young boys are in groups , yes the hormones come to the surface and they do 'go on about girls, sex etc.' My sons never did in front of me, nor any of the hundreds of Scouts I have dealt with but overheard conversations in schools and at camps leads me to believe much 'joshing' goes on about merits or demerits of various girls. So I am exceedingly glad that they are making Russ feel uncomfortable.
However I don't think their (and Kenton's) behaviour will do anything to push Russ out but the lady from the college and those of her ilk may very well do so. I just loved it when Russ said that she wondered how he "had the nerve to re-appear in the neighbourhood." Probably the first person to say it how it was!
There is a blog on the fb page about Jolene and the C&W singing. I like almost all music and singing (except Jazz!) and I particularly like C&W but she murdered the singing. It was dire and the sort which gives C&W a bad name!😢
It was Kenton who informed the college of Russ's relationship with Lily.
DeleteWe will agree to disagree about the juvenile Archers behaviour ,Spicycushion.
DeleteI wonder what everyone's reaction would be about Revolting Russ had Lily still been at the Cathedral School and met him somewhere else?
How much of our dislike of him is due to his weak character; his inability to take responsibility ; the fact that he is a leech?
Would we have disliked him as much had he turned out to be a worker,prepared to graft so that Lily could continue her education ?
He was actually not her lecturer.
Does that make it any better?
Hypothetical questions.
We will never know.
I don't think any of us condones juvenile behaviour as such, it's a tiresome phase, but Russ has laid himself open to it - he's a gift to those 2 boys.
DeleteHave just been listening again to last night's episode and a couple of things struck me.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Jill sound as if she is about to burst into tears at any point and why did Elizabeth have to say it will be a long process?
It may well be but surely it would be better for her to be positive and tell Jill that she will take each day as it comes.
When Jill mentioned stress,Elizabeth said it was more than that.
Why did she have to say that ?
I questioned that last point as well, thinking that stress had kicked the depression off, so why contradict Jill ? Better to have taken the trouble to explain a little more about depression ( takes longer & involves more than the rest cure that Jill had when stressed & tired)
DeleteAnother thing.
DeleteI didn't realise 1) that Jill ever had an au pair and/or 2) that there were au pairs around in those days.
By "au pair " I mean a girl from overseas
I wondered how Jill had been able to go away for a couple of months if the au pair had just left.
DeleteRegarding 'stress', I think Elizabeth was making a distinction between depression as an illness, and finding life difficult in a more ordinary way. I doubt the line is quite as clear as is being implied, but it is there.
I'm not sure how helpful Jill's story of her own experience was. Well, it was, but I'm not sure it would be in real life. One of the ways in which people fail to listen is by talking about themselves. It was a bit like the time Elizabeth told Siobhan, who had been trying for a baby for ages and had at least one miscarriage, about her abortion. It supposedly brought them closer, as Siobhan felt that Elizabeth 'understood'. I thought it was more likely that Siobhan would have been upset that Elizabeth had been pregnant and chosen not to have the child: it wasn't common ground at all.
LanJan, there certainly were au pairs around then, in the seventies and long before.
DeleteI was an au pair in the late fifties.
I remember the au pairs in TA but didn't remember that Jill went away for a while.
Lanjan - re au pairs at Brookfield. Yes, there certainly was at least one, called Michelle.
ReplyDeleteThis was back in 1970 - 71, when that name was much more unusual than it is now.
Mr A and I liked it so much we chose to call our first baby Michelle Claire, after the au pair.
That was in 1971, shortly after Polly Perks gave birth to her baby girl, Lucy.
So I have very fond memories of au pairs at Brookfield and I think there was another one called Eva. Both of them found admirers in the village, though I cannot remember details.
Eva Lenz, au pair at Home Farm, played by Hedli Niklaus. (I've just looked it up. I'm supposed to be working.)
Delete.......but Hedli Niklaus is Kathy as well or was before she vanished.
DeleteArcherphile - I now have a choice of two surnames for you as there are two Michelle Claires who fit the facts you have given!
DeleteFor what's worth - I think that Ben + Riuairi are behaving as typical 15/16 year old boys. They are after girls and booze thinking that they are older than they are, they are just growing up too fast.
ReplyDeleteThey are certainly having fun. being mischievous, poking fun at others eg Russ, and being generally malicious, but have never been abusive nor violent.
Yes they broke the law whilst joy-riding, as they went to the petrol station to get fuel, but what about George? He is no saint and did he steal the lent money....?
I appreciate that I am agreeing and disagreeing with others. I just thought that I would post what I think at this moment in time. It might well change in the future when R. leaves his boarding school and becomes a regular, and younger, Ambridge resident.
DeleteAlf stole the money. It's what he does.
DeleteI don't buy into two youg boys constantly talking about girls. I can understand them trying it on in an attempt to get a drink, I used to go to the pub when I was the same age.but that involved serious conversations about saving the world from nasty evils. I don't believe all young people are so vacuous.
ReplyDeleteNeither do I get the older man prying on a young teenage girl and nobody making comments about the possibility he might be a paedophile. Lily isn't much older than The two boys, I wonder what the reaction would have been if Mr Russ had groomed one of the boys?
Elizabeth discussed her depression in such a calm manner, I though she might just have been referring to an ingrowing toenail.
Apologies, am a bit irritated with the current storyline.
As said it is agree + disagree. Everyone have their own thoughts. It is just so nice to have somewhere to be able to express them.
DeleteLily was over marriageable age. I think she would have to be under it for Russ to be accused of paedophilia.
DeleteI agree Maryellen !
DeleteLily is over eighteen.
At eighteen I was in my third attempt at a ' career' .
I sometimes wonder if society would like to extend childhood into 35years plus.
There is also the fact that Russ was a married man and left his wife to be with Lily. Maybe these days with so many divorces,, it's not considered a big deal, but to me it is.
DeleteUnlike some others, I do not find the two young boys' comments and jokes at Russ's expense offensive. He deserves all he gets in my book.
✔✔✔ agree with you Anneveggie.
DeleteThere is a S/L which I would like to know more about which is:-
ReplyDeleteHave Kenton + Jolene started to repay David again, for the monies he lent them in order to refurbish The Bull.
My last thoughts were that payments, via a SO had ceased.
Well now - settee... or sofa .??!!
ReplyDeleteSettee. Sofa sounds like an advert, as does 'home' instead of house. I am a scone/Ron person, not a scoone/rune too. I also still side the table after meals.
DeleteIt’s a class thing.
DeleteI'm the same class as you then Mistral.
DeleteSettles are more comfortable than sofas!
I refer to the two seater couch as a sofa. I remember a TV sketch eons ago with Hermione Baddeley and Hermione Gingold and a whole load of men in a show which was made up with comedy sketches.
DeleteThis particular one was where they were all in Georgian/Regency clothes and were a troop of incompetent actors. They had learned their lines fron scripts in which the letter S was written as an F. One of the Herminones told someone to "Come fit on the fofa!"
I know little things please little minds but the memory still makes me smile.
😁
Deletedefinitely settee for me, sofa too prim & pursed..!
I hadn't realised 'sofa' was posher than 'settee'. Where does 'couch' come in the hierarchy? Do the Carters have a non-U-bend?
DeleteBootgums.. :) :) :)
DeleteWhat a dreadful episode, the only thing that got cleared up was the u-bend.
ReplyDeleteGood on yer Mia! Ye gods Will what are you thinking! Yes you hurt like hell and will cry your heart out in private on Nic’s Anniversary but to squash Mia and Jakes wishes so harshly....
ReplyDeleteNo doubt it will all turn around thanks to Mia’s straight talking! 🤞
And good on yer Susan! Who would have thought she and Jennifer would have bonded over unblocking a sink together? Well done scriptwriters for resisting the temptation to flood the kitchen floor.
Deleteallez les girls ! I'm appreciating, & also concerned for, Mia - loved the interaction between Susan & Jennifer.
DeleteYes me too. I thought the ' skit' twixt Jennifer and Susan very amusing, even if we did know what was coming.
DeleteAnd Mia ?
Good girl.
That miserable curmudgeon neede to be told. And boy did she tell him.
I took Jill's reference to "going away" for a couple of months to mean she was in a psychiatric hospital - my mother "went away" a couple of times...
DeleteThat hadn't occurred to me, GG. Don't think so, though. Jill said her case wasn't as bad as Elizabeth's, and there hasn't been any suggestion that E. needs in-patient treatment. Jill's experience was a long time ago though, so who knows?
DeleteTo Mia - you go girl!!
DeleteJennifer and Susan - a fun scene, bonding over the u-bend.
GG and Bootgums- I was slightly taken aback by the same statement as you GG, but then re assessed, my opinion and thought that she meant that she had gone on an extended, rest ? Or ' holiday' !
DeleteI must say, my mother never ' went away', but she did take to her bed with
'migraines' fairly often.
Or ' nerves' as was the expression in those days.
But ' mothers gone away ' was often heard I remember.
yes, one did hear "gone away"...
Deletemy mother suffered from recurring migraines - "Mummy's got one of her sick headaches" - as far as we knew they were for real, she certainly passed them on to me!
GG I wonder if anyone can confirm your thought it makes sense (but I think this might be before my time, I started to listen in the 1970’s) I do hope your own mothers “away” times helped her -a difficult time for family?
ReplyDeleteIndeed J & S tonight! A twist to it in the end and I guess S deserves some praise for teaching J to unblock her sink but boy did she push and push to get invited in for a cuppa and to try and see the whole house. When J told her to use the downstairs toilet she was devastated not to be able to get upstairs for a snoop 😂😂😂
I'm disappointed that Will's gone evil again. I expect his mother will sort him out.
ReplyDeleteHe was such a nice boy. Sigh.
Sorry Bootgums, can't agree there.
DeleteHe was always a horrible person IMO.
uncomfortable feeling of agression just below the surface..
DeleteI feel like William, it's private and go away and don't interfere but there are the children and Mia acts and sounds like a 16-year-old when she talks to him and Clarrie. If they must celebrate and with a musical, so be it, their mother, their life, it's all beyond me.
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree that Will is a ‘miserable curmudgeon’ Mrs P.
ReplyDeleteYes, he is handling things all wrong with Mia (and Alan) but he is a grieving widower who lost his wife just a year ago in a very tragic and totally unexpected way.
He is hardly likely to be looking forward to the anniversary, must be dreading it, and doesn’t know how to cope with his grief.
So he thinks everyone else should feel the same way and want to mourn in the same way he does.
He needs help, perhaps from Carrie, to see things a little differently. To recognise that Mia and Poppy, and others, want to celebrate Nic’s life on the anniversary of her death by doing something positive rather than hiding away and mourning in the Victorian manner - wearing black and wailing.
Please cut him a little slack. Will is being castigated on other web sites too, for his outburst last night. I find it very sad that nobody seems to understand his absolute misery and only want to condem him all the time. Everyone grieves in a different way - there is no right or wrong about it.
Hopefully, other members of the family can help Mia to grieve in the way she wants to as well.
I was calling Will a miserable curmudgeon on his previous life in general Archerphile.
ReplyDeleteYour sentence ' so he thinks everyone else should feel the same way...... '
sums Will up. He has always seen life through his own eyes and emotions only, never able to communicate anything other than me me me.
And he has always been this way.
His handling of Nicks death and the aftermath has been the same as every other event in his life.
He does indeed need help, I cannot deny that, but I feel that the SW will have a long journey ahead with Will before he is able to recognise his need and act upon that recognition.
Just caught up - great scene between Susan & Jennifer ! Both so true to themselves, highly amusing. Also a positive outcome, the reverse of what happened to Mia & Alan's positive plans. Will certainly needs his pipes unblocked, but it's very sad & wrong that a 13 yr old should be doing it, & have to defend her own way of commemorating her mother's death. What a lovely girl she is,
ReplyDelete(Whoops, hadn't finished).....so much more straightforward & emotionally balanced than some of the post adolescent young people in Ambridge !
DeleteDo see the fors & against Will that have been expressed here. Yes, he has his own way of grieving, neither helpful to himself or anyone else though it is, & yes, he only ever sees anything from his own (limited) perspective, & I do agree about the aggression, never very far from the surface.
Coming to the rather lame conclusion that the man is dim, sixpence short of a shilling, head & heart wise.
I too like Mia and want the business between her Will sorting out quic
DeleteI am not convinced that Clarrie is the right person to chat to Willyum.
I would like it to be Emma but doubt it will be.
It would be nice for Mia to have a mother figure nearer in age to her own mother and who in fact is her step brother's mother.
.
Where is George?
Does he live mainly at Grange Farm?
Where isJake?
Does he live with his father now?
I hope he doesn't get mixed up with Ben and Ruari .
Love "sixpence short of a shilling". I do remember old shillings, pounds and pence, as born mid 50's.
DeleteLanJan - I think Jake and Mia have a mother figure in their father’s wife (whose name I believe we’ve heard but I’ve forgotten).
DeleteI hadn't remembered that Andrew had a wife.
DeleteDo we know anything about her?
Mia chose to stay to live with Will though so presumably found it easier to get on with her step father than her step mother.
I can't even remember or know whether Jake lives permanently with Andrew or whether he stays with Will at the weekends
I think Mia chose to stay with William because she wants to look after Poppy.
DeleteSusan said yesterday that it is George who helps her with the IT problems.
I think she was good with Jake in the aftermath of his mother’s death and that may be why he chose to live with her and his father. You said Mia’s reason for choosing to live with her stepfather was to look after him and Poppy in place of her mother? It sounds as if she still visits Andrew. Mia and Jake both seem bright children.
DeleteI assume that George still stays at Will's once a week or so, but he seems to have faded out of the picture somewhat. I was never quite sure whether Jake had opted to live with his father permanently or whether he too stays at Will's sometimes. Are George and Jake friends?
DeleteI've just looked at 'The Archers Who's Who' and Jake and Mia don't even exist! Neither does their father, so that's no help in deciding whether he has a wife/partner.
Bootgums - Mia is listed with the Grundys. It seems a bit arbitrary whether characters get listed with family groups, in Who’s Who, or both, or not at all.
DeleteAndrew definitely has a wife/partner, or did at the time he was trying to reclaim his children from Will.
DeleteOh, I thought they were in order of first name. I'll look again . . .
DeleteLily needs her Russ because she feels unappreciated by Elizabeth. Russ tried to 'pimp her out' to her posh relatives, so they could leave and live together. He's good conflict material, so won't be dropped any time soon.
ReplyDeleteWilliam conceded some points but held something back for himself, I'm glad about that.
Was Lily's suddenly revealed neediness convincing? Her jealousy of her brother was rather odd. On the other hand, I've always felt some sympathy for the prodigal son's well-behaved brother.
ReplyDeleteYes, I found Lily’s ‘need to be needed’ utterly convincing. It made sense of quite a lot of things.
DeleteMe, too ! E. has always fussed more over Freddie, because he was far more of a worry, & Lily has expressed resentment before. Now she's missed a golden opportunity to jettison Russ which he handed to her on a plate, because SHE feels needy. This endless ! Maybe he'll leave her in the end ?
DeleteSo did I Bootgums
Delete(I never understood the wise and foolish virgins either -not that I had a clue what a virgin was!) .
Had I been Lily I would have been hurt by what Elizabeth said.
It won't be long before she and Russ part though.
She can't go back to Manchester,neither of them has a job and if they move elsewhere they haven't anywhere to live .
As Carolyn says maybe Russ will get fed up and leave.
Perhaps he will return to his wife possibly since he has nowhere else to go -if she will have him.
We don't hear a thing about her.
I wonder why ?
Aah, maybe Will isn't so thick after all. He did the right things tonight.
ReplyDeleteLJ Andrew does have a wife. If my memory is correct, which is more doubtful these days, Andrew + Nic split up due to his straying away, whom he eventually married. Jake + Mia only know her as they go + stay at weekends. I remember Andrew tried for permanent custody but Mrs. Andrew wasn't happy about it (might be wrong).
ReplyDeleteAndrew looked at his position regarding custody with the solicitor, but it never came to that as Will and Andrew came to a mutual agreement with regards to the children.
DeleteWell, after tonight’s episode I feel quite justified in my defence of Will earlier today.
ReplyDeleteHe was able to see how unjust he had been to Mia and Alan and was perfectly prepared to admit his faults and To apologise to them both.
I thought he sounded much kinder and more settled tonight, able to discuss his feelings with Alan ( a very helpful conversation) and understanding of Mia’s need to remember her Mum in her own way.
A good conclusion and I hope anti-Will listeners (mainly on other Archers blogs) will now view him in a better light.
I'm so pleased at tonight's episode with Will apologizing to Alan and then agreeing that the rest of the family should go to S of Music. He's justified in wanting to do what he wants on that day, probably the most sensible decision for him. The conversation with Alan was revealing and it made it more obvious that Will is still absolutely grief stricken.
ReplyDeleteAbout the conversation between Lily and me-me-Russ last night:
ReplyDeleteI didn’t understand when Lily said she had ‘tried to go it alone and it hadn’t worked’
Does anyone know what she was talking about?
And did anybody think Elizabeth’s report of a long phone call with Freddie was totally genuine?
I thought phone time from prison was very limited with lots of others queuing up to use the phone. Would E really have had time to tell Freddie all about her illness, treatment etc and receive all his reported help and support, or was she just trying to placate Lily? (Which actually didn’t seem to go down very well and just seemed to make Lily a bit jealous)
I really don’t believe E had the talk with Freddie. Also I thought E wanted to forget about her appointment. Too painful to got back probably, so good reason Lily was there to remind her. So she is very useful and needed, whether she thinks so or not.
DeleteI am in the opposite camp, in that I think Lizzie did see Jamelia again + talked to Freddie. I am sure Lily talking to Freddie will soon show the truth.
DeleteI just don't think that Lizzie can easily hide all this now.
I got the impression that Elizabeth told the therapist everything there was to tell in the first session.
DeleteI also find it hard to think rhat she actually told Freddie anything.
She wants to protect him .
It is up to Lily to come to the rescue now.
I am so glad the the 1st anniversary of Nics sad demise is on a Saturday, when there is no TA episode. Now us listeners will be reminded of it and how everyone reacted, in snippets of conversations over the next few days. Well I hope so.
ReplyDeleteWho has been visiting Freddie recently? I do wish our favourite programme would pay more attention to continuity!
ReplyDeleteSo true. I just want to know about Kenton paying back the money which he still owes to David, who needs it, what with the new milking parlour and feed bills.
DeleteI think Shula was the last one to visit, the same day that she gave up karate.
DeleteFreddie should be out at the end of March, though Elizabeth said in a few weeks.
I don't think David is that desperate for the money.
ReplyDeleteThey still have Ruth's inheritance.
If they put in into long term Bonds or whatever that would have been stupid.
He would not have lent Kenton any money had he thought he might need it in the near future.
If he did ,then more fool him.
Nobody in their right mind would lend Kenton a penny.
He should have pointed him in the direction of a Peer to Peer Group.
I think he is more annoyed that Kenton doesn't take the loan seriously.
Do not a borrower nor a lender be.
I wonder whether Jolene knows that the standing order has been cancelled? She is the sensible partner and maybe Kenton went behind her back. He will keep avoiding the issue left to himself and is probably currently taking advantage of the E situation to deflect David from his failure to repay the loan.
DeleteArcherphile (10:34) This is what I think: when Russ asked Lily if she was using E as an excuse to get rid of him she said she needed him more than ever, having tried to go it alone etc - she must have been referring to the time when she came back on her own (to ask for more money), found E in a mess and decided to stay. She went to visit Freddie on their birthday, E didn't go saying it would make Freddie worse, Lily got back tearful and there was Russ waiting for her with reassurance.
ReplyDeleteI also think that E talked to Freddie, though not in great detail, she went to see Jamilla and she'll carry on with the therapy but we won't hear any more of it I hope.
Thank you Basia - I couldn’t make out what Lily was on about but I think you have given a good explanation. I was very disappointed that she caved in to his blandishments again - I had thought she was beginning to see what a user he is and was going to send him packing, but no such luck!
DeleteBasia I agree with your thoughts, which are similar to mine in some ways. I see what you are saying - Lily is using Russ, so not to be 1:1 with Lizzie, until she knows Lizzie is in more control.
DeleteThe scriptwriters invented Russ and he's such a good material that they can do anything they want with him, nothing will be out of character. There could be some sort of showdown with Freddie when he comes out or perhaps Russ will turn out to be a hero just like Rob during the flood.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why he hasn't even started divorce proceedings. I just have a suspicious mind, but that isn't anything new.
DeleteRuss hasn't started divorce proceedings because he has no income which may be in his favour but then his wife will keep the house or perhaps she doesn't want a divorce.
DeleteI prefer to think that Russ will be long gone before Freddies return.
ReplyDeleteI laughed, when I picked up on the omnibus this morning, when Lizzie mentioned making up their bedrooms, in the plural. Isn't Russ sleeping in Freddie's?
PS I am in the minority I know, but I do think she did talk to Freddie + keep her therapy session. If she didn't then Lily will soon find out.
As to Ruths inheritance, didn't she invest it? I hope that if she did it is safe and secure.
ReplyDeleteI have just had my latest 3 month account from my financial advisors, who I totally trust. It was pretty bad and will affect my future monthly income, (as no capital growth) esp as Ivdon't receive my SSP until Sept. 2020. Am staying calm.
I wonder how this current financial situation is affecting the likes of Justin, Brian + Tony.
The one I feel for is Peggy, who is still financing Chris at The Laurels. Can she still afford to do so?
Miriam, not prying but hope your investments are in ISA’s so not taxed. Don’t panic as uncertainty at the moment overyou know what affects capital growth but whatever happens investments do recover. Just sit tight!
ReplyDeleteYes it's all clevérly done with ISA's and SSIP drawndowns, plus a monthly anniuity, that I don't pay tax. I don't understand how it works- but it does! I am glad I have had such financial advice, though it was costly at the time.
DeleteI heard Oliver say to Ed, most probably, that once he and Emma move out there's no problem about the rent and he'll see to it. Joe is quiet because of the burden of causing Nic's death and the secret she told him. He doesn't know that both William and Ed are aware of it too.
ReplyDeleteJoe knows Ed knows because they talked about it together. I don’t think Will knows they know.
ReplyDeleteShe Knows Y'Know! (Courtesy of Hylda Baker!) 🙄
Deletebut didn't Will talk about repairing car damage, after that night? Perhaps I dreamt that or did Nic say she hit an animal - I can't recall.
DeleteOn 2nd thoughts, it must have been Ed to whom Will told the story of that evening (who else?) so Will knows Ed knows but not that Joe knows. Ed shares the secret separately with both. We don’t know what Poppy knows.
DeleteWho was Hylda Baker?
DeleteA comedienne way, back when! Loved by some, but not everyone. Certainly not in the league of Victoria Woods. 😊
DeleteHylda Baker was from Farnworth,Lancashire.
DeleteBurnham Beeches is right about her.
I never thought she was at all funny.
She used to say "She knows yer know "
She had a stooge called Ely ?? - I think -who I think became her husband but "fame" went to her head and I think she died a lonely and bitter old lady according to a play I heard about her on the radio.
As. BB says not in the same class as Victoria Wood.
Farnsworth was the ultimate destination of my (secondary) school bus (LUT No. 20, Lanjan).
DeleteBB love it 😂😂
ReplyDeleteAh ! The voices of our childhood.
DeleteMemories eh !
Afraid I couldn’t stand Hylda Baker!
ReplyDeleteHer stooge was called Eli, a very tall gangly man who looked like a half-wit, wore a long mac and a flat cap. Hilda, who was very short used him as the but of her jokes.
Not my kind of humour at all!
Her stooge in stand up (usually played by a man in drag ) was called Cynthia. Eli was the name of her brother in the sitcom "Nearest and Dearest" and was played by Jimmy Jewll
DeleteYes, it was Will who told Ed and he said to him later that it'd be best to forget about it.
ReplyDeleteHow come Jennifer can go back to her garden to collect things?
When are we going to meet the Gills?
Isn't it funny how humour changes? I liked Hylda Baker and Eli. I am sure I watched those skits on "The Good Old Days" a favourite of my grandmother's. However I remember HB mostly as an actress and in particular her performance in "Up the Junction" where she played a hard faced back street abortionist. I never watched the ITV comedy shows - our family was definitely a 'BBC' family!
ReplyDeleteI have just looked up the Wiki article about Hilda and saw that, strangely, her first performance was at The Opera House, Tunbridge Wells, my old 'home town!' I had to change buses outside the Opera House to get to my school which was on the road going out of Tunbridge Wells towards Tonbridge.
Her real life was very sad as is the wont with many comics apparently, and after being in a nursing home then a mental institution for a couple of years she died virtually forgotten by everyone. The wiki article said that less than ten people attended her funeral.
Whoops this thread seems to be going off topic!
Just going back to last week's broadcasts. I thought the explosion of William in trying to control how Nic's anniversary would go then the apologetic scenes just twenty four hours later was unrealistic. To me it was just a scriptwriter's device for more shouty conversation. Will broods and carries grudges for years, so to do a 180 degree turn around in a day was unreal for his character. IMHO
Like someone else (sorry can't remember who) I really thought Lily was finally going to lose her patience with petulant Russ ......then it comes........"Oh Sweetie!" Yuk!
I don't know whether 'Six months' inside is calculated on calendar months, number of days or weeks but Freddie is probably due out in about 32 days (29th March) Like others half of me wants to have a meeting between Russ and Freddie and half for Russ to be gone and for Freddie to reconnect with his twin. Things to look forward to eh?
‘Twas I who said that about Lily, Spicy. Looks like we have both been disappointed by Lily’s ‘climb down’.
DeleteLooks like March 29th is going to be a big day in Ambridge - Freddies return, a big do at The Bull for somebody’s anniversary ( can’t remember who) and Brexit Day.
Is this all co-incidental I wonder?
Probably not Brexit Day now if today’s news is anything to go by...🙄
DeleteBut the important question is will Freddie be released then or will he get into bother in the young offenders' place and lose remission?
DeleteI can thoroughly recommend this week’s Ambridge Observer, especially the new feature;
ReplyDeleteThe Secret Diary of Russell Jones (aged 40 something)
It is very perceptive as well as humerous and I hope it will be a regular article - as long as he’s still around!
I don’t think LanJan should read TAO this week - it’s uncomplimentary about Johnny!
DeleteRe Andrew's 'other half': at one point she briefly had a name, which I cannot now recall. Was it Ellie?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDerek Fletcher's wedding anniversary on 29th March, I already speculated about it being Freddie's day of release, certainly no coincidence, perhaps Ian and Adam will depart for Bulgaria on that date, then again there might be some seismic shift, who knows.
ReplyDeleteWhen Freddie returns, will he on probation to serve out the year's sentence? In any event, I don't think he would be up to having a big fight with Russ if he is still at LL.
ReplyDeleteI expect so.
DeleteI think there will be a different scenario when Freddy arrives back at L.L. if Russ is still there. Freddy will have learnt a lot from his incarceration and I think that he will be the one person that can help Lily to remove the rose tinted specs and see Russ for the scrounging wimp that he is. After all, he is Lily's twin and he is the one that can reveal just how devious Russ was in blackmailing Freddy into keeping quiet about his (Russ's) rather unhealthy relationship with Lily.
ReplyDeleteWhen Kenton mentioned Derek Fletchers 40th anniversary event at The Bull, on March 29th, i had actually forgotten it is B-Day.
ReplyDeletePerhaps this is the SW's way of not having to mention it on that night - with Kenton making a mess of things again.
Will he turn up?
ReplyDeleteWill she turn up?
I do not trust that girl at all.
👍 - It's Chilli Night!!!
ReplyDelete👎. - Really? REALLY?? Next week? REALLY???
Chilli Night! 😉 🥰😍😘
DeleteAnd who announces an engagement to their family by themselves? Whilst their other half is en route? Who does that?
ReplyDeleteA clueless man-child, that's who...
Succinct & accurate !
DeleteSummats up, for sure - what's the urgency about getting married next week ? Odd & suspicious.
Still, the family, apart from Helen, were completely bemused by the engagement, it shouldn't have been received with such airprise. No, Tony, they haven't just known each other for 5 minutes. They were friendly for months before they became an 'item', & since them it's become serious, all in plain sight. Presents at Christmas, Tom staying with her parents in Wales, all clearly leading to what happened today.
Now I suppose we'll get to see her real agenda, if there is one - meaning the takeover of Bridge Farm ?
So where do they plan to live from next week? Are they kicking Johnny out or all going to live together with Hannah (who’s been mysteriously absent lately)? Perhaps they will take over Bridge farmhouse and build a granny annexe? Perhaps that land down the road is for a house as I thought Natasha was going to say when she first mentioned it. Or perhaps they will buy a house next door to Philip and Kirsty and have double dates at each other’s houses.
DeleteTom is very bad at getting engaged, considering how much practice he's had. He proposed to Kirsty via a Christmas cracker, if I recall correctly, at Bridge Farm with the family all around. I think a (semi-)public proposal is downright immoral: it so assumes the answer will be yes.
DeleteDidn't I say that spending Christmas with N's parents in Wales heralded an engagement in the New Year. I didn't expect a wedding so quick though.
DeleteWhere is Natasha's home and business? She has an orchard somewhere. Does she live near it?
DeleteI wonder if Natasha will invite Kirsty to the wedding? Will Tom invite Hannah? 😚🤐
DeleteMarry in haste, repent at leisure! What planet is Tom on?!!
ReplyDeletePlanet Natasha 💞🥰😍
DeleteSurely it’s not legally possible to get married with only a week’s notice? Doesn’t there have to be notice given of a certain amount of time (about 3 weeks, I think)
ReplyDeleteRegistrars can’t just say there’s been a cancellation and offer it to another couple within a week unless they have already filled in the necessary forms can they?
Which makes me think T & N must have been to the Registry Office a few weeks ago to arrange things but have kept quiet about it until tonight.
Very Strange.
On public display for at least 28 days...
ReplyDeleteThe notice that is!
DeleteOh dear. Silly, silly Tom.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Helen relaxed about it? Third time lucky. Tom is a serial fiancé.
Will he be a serial jilter?
DeleteWhat's the hurry Tom? Where will the happy couple live? Do hope he doesn't live to regret it.
ReplyDeleteI can't see anything in Tom's character that would make him attractive husband material...so what's in it for Natasha?
ReplyDeleteBridge Farm...maybe will be changed to Natasha’s Farm in the future.
DeleteWe haven't been given any insight into how this strange relationship works. Which suggests it won't. Or the scriptwriters have the original idea of showing the development of a relationship after the marriage.
ReplyDeleteThat's assuming the marriage will be legal.
At least we will be spared the obsession with wedding stationery etc wihich bored me to tears last time and literally drove Tom mad. Is the registry office in Wales or Borsetshire?
ReplyDeleteWhen did he ask her father for permission to marry his daughter or do they not know yet?
ReplyDeleteWill the Welsh parents meet Pat and Tony before the wedding?
Is Natasha actually living with Tom at the moment and if not where is she based now?
Is she actually producing her fruit drinks or whatever it was she is supposed to be doing or does she just spend her time making plans for her future take over of Bridge Farm?
It is the 21st century. Natasha is a mature woman (30-something?) who owns a business. She hasn't needed her father's permission for around 20 years.
DeleteShe went to Manchester to discuss selling fruit drinks in a supermarket. (Co-op?) It's not fruit juice production season. (I may have mixed that up with Toby's gin.)
To those of you who have the Radio Times
ReplyDeletePlease no spoilers as to who will be appearing in next week's episodes or even this week's.
I say this because if my theory of 5weeks of episodes being recorded in 4days is true then because the BBC is short of cash, a lot of the characters will not be heard for 5weeks
(for example we haven't heard Hannah,Ed,Fallon,Harrison ,Lynda for a week or so)
We didn't hear Natasha last night?
Why not?
How far was she travelling to go to the birthday "Do" where she was party to one of the most important evenings of her life?
This makes me ask.
"Has she vanished already?"
(I don't want the answer to that.
I hope we don't hear from her this week either)
I must admit to not being as engaged as the rest of you about Tom and Natasha getting hitched.
DeleteHowever, the one thought that jumped into my head when listening last night was, ' she's done a runner ' !
😁
DeleteTo those of you who have the Radio Times
ReplyDeletePlease no spoilers as to who will be appearing in next week's episodes or even this week's.
I say this because if my theory of 5weeks of episodes being recorded in 4days is true then because the BBC is short of cash, a lot of the characters will not be heard for 5weeks
(for example we haven't heard Hannah,Ed,Fallon,Harrison ,Lynda for a week or so)
We didn't hear Natasha last night?
Why not?
How far was she travelling to go to the birthday "Do" where she was party to one of the most important evenings of her life?
This makes me ask.
"Has she vanished already?"
(I don't want the answer to that.
I hope we don't hear from her this week either)
LanJan:
ReplyDeletePermission from father not required in 2019
No, unless immediately prior to marriage ceremony
No, she has her own place
Yes, she runs a successful business producing natural fruit drinks. She is only planning to take over BF in listener’s vivid imaginations.
Permission isn’t required from father but polite to run it by him and mother first. When we were getting engaged we travelled from Middlesex up to Crewe to see my parents. Mike said if they didn’t like it we’d do it anyway! Fortunately they did! Mind you that was 1974 and things are different now!
ReplyDeleteSeveral points:
ReplyDeleteLanjan - Natasha was travelling from Manchester, Tom said she had been trying to flog her drinks to some outlets there.
Yesterday was the anniversary of John’s death. I was amazed not to hear somebody in the family mention it at some point. Johnny must have realised, Pat and Tony would surely have said something early in the day when getting ready for the dinner or during their late night chat, discussing the big news about T & N. Even Tom might have alluded to the anniversary of his brother’s death as a preamble to imparting his ‘good’ news so as not to appear totally insensitive.
I found the complete non-reference very strange.
So Helen dosen’t bother measuring the salt she puts into the cheese and just goes with her gut?
Maybe this is what the problem was with the cheese previously? What is the point of importing expensive new cows to make better cheese, then winging it with the other ingredient?
And don’t you have to list quantities of ingredients on the wrapping of food these days - especially salt content?
Something else I found very strange last night.
I thought the whole episode was improbable
DeleteCommercial cheese carries a salt content, but whether artisan requires it I dont know. How on earth they meausure the salt content I have no idea as much will be lost in the whey and subsequent pressing. Some cheeses require soaking in a brine bath. Maybe there is some high tech piece of equipment, not something that small cheese makers could afford, if in fact it does exist, that can measure the salt content of the finished product.
DeleteIt is the quality of the milk that makes a good cheese and there are 2 factors in producing this, the breed of cow and what they eat.Certain plants will taint the milk or prevent coagulation The amount of salt is often down to taste as in most cooking.
So Bridge farm were correct in purchasing new cattle. I personally would not have chosen that breed, but it is a matter of personal preference.
We used to keep goats at one time. We used to give most of the milk to a child in the village who suffered terribly from excema as it helped him a lot. But there is no doubt that what the goats had been feeding on affected the flavour of the milk to a great extent. I seem to remember that nettles were one of the worst plants. We once tried using some of the excess milk to make cheese but, unfortunately, it was almost inedible!
DeleteI suppose it's always possible that Natasha could leave Tom at the altar (registrar's desk) this time around instead. That'd wipe the smile off his face! ☺
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, I forgot about John's death coinciding with Tom's birthday, it was set for a purpose, so should be respected.
ReplyDeleteYes, being liberal with the salt content these days is puzzling.
MrsP, like you I thought Natasha wouldn't turn up, we didn't actually hear her and there was Johnny's remark about Tom being left standing at the altar, which went over his head.
There is something about Nataaha I just don't trust.
ReplyDeleteIf she is such a succesful business person running her own enterprise, why has she had all this spare + available time, to become such an expert consultant - I say this tongue in cheek - to Bridge Farm. Does she realise the 10 acre site, she so surprisingly found, cannot come under the Bridge Farm Banner, as it is not organic.
Then there is her so-called ex she had just broken up with when she met Tom. She has certainly got over that rekatiomship very quickly to get married so soon.
It does happen, I appreciate that but I think this so called wedding is part of a far bigger scheme or even scam.
I just hope that Helen + Johnny find out more about her + her so-called, business empire.
I sound suspicious and that is because I am.
The wedding will go ahead but it will be what happens later, which intrigues me.
You are right, those who said that Pip and Toby are right for each other. How many times has he let her down and now lying and then she asking if he had it off with the woman.
ReplyDeleteHe didn’t let her down - he fixed an alternative carer and Rosie and Bert were very happy together, just like Rosie and the regulars at The Bull, and given how Pip carried on on that occasion, is it any wonder that he took avoidance action this time? I used to be able to tolerate Pip but her ruthless exploitation of him and her family to a lesser extent is beginning to a.ienate.
DeleteLying to her is letting her down.
DeleteTo be honest with you Basia, they both bore the pants off me! I care neither for their childcare "dilemma" or their relationship status....😴
ReplyDeleteYep, both pretty dreary, & their SLs so repetitive : she can't organize her life as a mum or a farmer, he makes rash promises & then lies ( why complicate things by dragging Rex in ? Bert evidently just as good). It's farcical.
DeleteWhy doesn't Pip use a nursery like the other working mums - it's all so silly.
Exactly! And love the use of "dreary" carolyn!
DeleteNothing dreary about T❤️O❤️B❤️Y’s voice! I thought nurseries had a lower age limit?
DeleteWhatever floats your boat maryellen! Give me David's larynx anyday...
Delete.....can't argue with that, GG - how about the way Alistair voices his vowels & consonants, also ? Fairly agreeable to the ear...
DeleteNow, Charlie Thomas.
DeleteListening to that man's voice was like having warm honey dripped into your ear...
😆
DeleteI thought Russ was impressive this evening. Elizabeth was beginning to warm to him..
ReplyDeleteIt's a drawing out of the agony. Whilst he still offers meals, paid for out of LL funds I presume, & makes supportive noises to Lily, she'll continue to lean on the broken reed. He sounded almost like a regular person tonight instead of the jerk we generally hear.
DeleteI found both Pip and Russ irritating. Pip with her remark that she couldn't believe that E has depression. Why on earth is it so hard to believe? She makes such a fuss about caring for a baby as if she's the only mother on earth. Russ with his offers of pain au chocolat etc. for breakfast when E was so clearly distracted. Whatever happened to cornflakes etc.!! (joking)
DeleteInteresting development that Freddie may not be allowed to return to LL - hadn't seen that coming !
ReplyDeleteNeither did I. But we should have realised as of course he had to live with Shula before being convicted for the same reason, that LL is the site of the crime.
DeleteWell Russ appeared to step up to the plate tonight - literally at times 😂
ReplyDelete