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Life in Ambridge: Comments week of February 27, 2019
Life in Ambridge: Comments week of February 27, 2019
Whatever happened to Home Farm?
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.
Pip and Toby are made for each other.
ReplyDeleteThey both are truly ghastly, that's for sure.
DeleteWhy is Toby always trying to placate Pip instead of telling her a few home truths? (Maybe because he's hard-wired to habitually tell lies, like one of them really annoying 6 year olds?) Sex with a grumpy farmer can't be worth walking on a combination of glass & eggshells for can it?
And why is Pip constantly aggressive? She's like a wasp trapped in a jam jar! Enough already...
Gary - just a quick reply to your comment about Charlie on the old blog - I so agree, he had a beautiful voice and I was devastated when he was so unjustly exiled by Justin. I have long hoped he would return to Ambridge but I guess he has now been gone too long.
DeleteI should have much preferred him to partner Adam than dreary Ian and I expect the whole surrogacy storyline would not have happened. (Ducking for cover!!)
👏👏👏
DeleteFrom the way baby Rosie is wowing the good folk of Ambridge (“I’ve fairly taken to her” said dear Bert), I reckon she has inherited the famous Fairbrother charm gene (yes, I know - shame about the one it skipped). She may grow up to be like Grace in more than name.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been waiting for an answer to the question at the top and who are the Gills?
ReplyDeleteThe people who bought Brian and Jennifer's house
DeleteIf Freddie is not allowed to live at home for the next 6 months (the remainder of his sentence) but has to stay in a bail hostel or with another relative.....does that mean we are stuck with me-me-Russ as there will be less chance of them having a confrontation at Lower Loxley?
ReplyDeleteUnfair, Archerphile! 🙂 Russ was totally you-you last night!
ReplyDeleteSorry, Maryellen. Me-me-Russ is just my pet name for that character, just as yours is T♥️O♥️B♥️Y is for young Mr Fairbrother! 😄
DeleteIs ‘pet’ the right word? 🙂
DeletePerhaps me-me-Russ is playing the long game as you-you-Russ to win for me-me-Russ?
DeleteI can never make up my mind about him, but I think he will turn out to be a problem for all concerned. The scriptwriters' difficulty is that he cannot be the same-ole coercive controller like Rob - we've done all that - so they must come up with something a bit different. I thought Lily was showing signs of waking up and dropping her rose tinted glasses, but she hasn't, as yet. When Freddy is back eventually, there are going to be some jolly rows. Lily will fall out with her brother, before seeing the light - hopefully not before the cad has caused unrepairable havoc.
And by the way, HELLO everyone! I just thought to pop back in and see how you are getting on. Not for long, mind, as I have a biopsy (men's problems) under a general anathestic tomorrow so will be all at sea for a while.
Bienvenue & bon courage..
DeleteLovely to hear from you FOSO, thought you had forgotten us !
DeleteHope hope all goes well tomorrow.
At the moment Lily needs his support, particularly as Elizabeth is so focused on Freddie, I'm sure when she gets her confidence back, she will drop him, I think she has seen the light, but the moment has to be right, she is after all carrying a huge burden
Thank you Cowgirl. I expect it'll be fine. Maybe you are right about Lily - I always put her as a very capable person, so I hope she will get control of events in her own time.
DeleteAll the best, FOSO.
DeleteSame here Foso 🤞
DeleteLovely to have you back,FOSO.
DeleteAll the best to you.
As you can see,you have been missed.
Pip sends her best wishes too!
Ditto to all the above FOSO.
DeleteRuss might get some respect from me when he goes out and earns the money to support himself instead of sponging on others for all his living expenses.
ReplyDeleteSorry Maryellen, I can have no respect for Russ, he took advantage of his position and Lilly.
DeleteHe may not have been MeMe yesterday, but it was calculated, he needs to keep himself ingratiated.
✓✓ CowGirl. He is calculating. He does what is easy for him, coffee, cooking & making soothing noises, but graft ? Responsibility ? Cleaning the toilets ? No. He's taking advantage of the situation to embed himself in a 'cushy billet'.
DeleteDoes Lily clean the toilets, then? I’d assumed Lower Loxley employed either an individual or a firm, neither of which would want to be done out of a job, I imagine.
DeletePshaw - a detail ! I think everyone gets the point...
DeleteWell, it certainly keeps getting made!
DeleteI'll take responsibility for giving Russ the toilet cleaning job because that is where he should start if he really wants to gain favor - no job is too low for me since I am sponging the family right before their eyes. But then again, I don't believe a sponger would clean toilets. Did I hear Lily gush about Russ's painting of a vase? Oh - you are soooo talented. She is still in denial - or just trying to make a good impression of him before mommie?
ReplyDeleteI thought Elizabeth’s opinion of the painting “ it’s very... erm...colourful” was very telling!
DeleteCowGirl - very well said inregard to Russ to continue to ingratiate himself - that is how he has remained with Lily and now living in LL.
ReplyDeleteHow is Russ managing to purchase his fine Italian coffee, gut calming nuts, special cakes etc when he doesn't have any money. Is he raiding the kitchen of the orangery and leaving IOU notes explaining that Elizabeth will pay?
ReplyDeleteElizabeth must have suddenly realised a visit to Freddie was better than having to endure Mr. R. Unctuous tapping on her bedroom door, inviting her to eat, drink and be merry on all her own food.
In order to save his mother and eventually his inheritance Freddie must come clean, and explain to his probation person that the college was the main source of his business and that the deputy "vice" Principle was aware of the problem.
What will make interesting drama is the shouty sound of a more mature Freddie confronting Mr. Calm voiced Pretentious, and sending him packing, " get out of my stately pile you slimy old git, you are not free loading here any longer". Freddie will have picked up a different lingo and some muscles whilst inside. Matey.
Brilliant - Could not agree more.
Delete✔✔✔⭐⭐⭐
Absolutely, Stasia ! A chilling picture....✓✓✓
DeleteI order for Russ to succeed in his long game, he has to be the cuckoo in the nest to Freddy. Freddy is the current heir, so either he gets killed in an accident, or Russ seduces Elizabeth thus gaining control. It's going to be an epic story.
DeleteHello FOSO, good to hear from you.
DeleteThanks Sarnia.
DeleteMy comments are;-
ReplyDeletea) Russ is out to get whatever he can get, without spending anything. He is just using Lily + Lizzie.
b) Natasha is using Tom + Bridge Farm, in a similar way.
c) Pip + Toby will never be a couple, just biolohical parents. Pip will remain single. Would like to say independant, but she needs to sort a nursery + childcare for Rosie first.
d) Where will Freddie reside on his release? Hopefully not with Shula.again.
The Gills.
ReplyDeleteThere bought the Home Farm Home, this is known but:-
1) Why did they insist on an early completion in December 2018
2) Why have they not been seen or heard from
3) What is their background as to be able to buy Home Farm so quickly?
I would love to learn more about them, their background, their ages, is it family money or are they Lottery Winners, will they become proper Ambridge residents or Ambridge silent ones?
So many questions and ideas, I just want to know more, as I bet Susan does!
Susan could invite them to her dinner party 🤣🤣
DeleteSilence from the Gills until.............. the SW have made up their story.
DeleteThis is what happens when one SW says, ' let Kate suggest that her parents sell the house ', everyone thinks it's a good idea, and weave a story around her suggestion............. then have to ' imagine' all the ramifications of Kate's 'off the cuff 'remark.
So true Mrs P!
DeleteSo Tim has come up with a van for Eddie - knight in shining armour.
ReplyDeleteDid I detect a certain frisson between him & the grateful Emma ?
Not only that, but I sometimes sense there is a stirring of old passions between her & Will...
How prurient of me.
Did anyone else think that Tim( is that his name? ). sounded a bit seedy this evening.?
ReplyDeleteI hope he doesn't turn Emma's head.
Haven't we had enough of smooth talking men?
I thought he sounded a bit too smooth.
DeleteWhat is he up to? I feel there is an ulterior motive in there somewhere.
I was suspicious of Tim from the beginning. I haven't changed my mind. Ed and Emma, and Eddie, are now indebted to him. He's got something illegal lined up for Ed.
DeleteKenton and Ed, with their stunning wives, both admired by Tim, didn't appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteI thought he came across as a really nice guy.
ReplyDeleteBut my antenna told me something else.
I am suspicious !
Sounds genuine.
Nice to Ed AND buys him lunch.
Turns up with a van for Eddy. Golly, so quick ! And easy ?
Turns the ladies heads with flattery.
He's gonna be a wrong' un. You mark my words.
Well, Tim is certainly up to no good, and well all know it! I think our antennae are all finely tuned to this sort of plot. At the very least, it'll be "I'll do you a favour, if you help me on the parish council to get what I want" - at worst he'll be up to no good with Emma.
Delete✔️🙁
DeleteEmma in a pissy mood - to start - then got charmed by Tim
ReplyDeleteIan in a nagging mood - go see Lexi yourself!
Tim in a generous mood - nerve of him calling Emma a stunner - and has his eyes on her and for future favor?
Jolene in a panicking mood - new to FB?
Nice to be back, and thanks for saying "hello": but how long I'll stay depends on whether I feel there's much to say. However, I have never forgotten you guys and just had to call back to see who is still around - good to see some familiar names. I don't want to get too addicted again!
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to get addicted to something, TA's is as good as any! 😊
DeleteEmma's ALWAYS in a pissy mood - "We're supposed to be saving for the new house!" will be the words on that woman's gravestone. Does she ever stop whining on & on about it?
ReplyDeleteI reckon that Tim is trying to win Emma over on planning issues. Hmm he won't succeed as Parish Councils have little power if the scheme isn't OK from the county council point of view. - That's a shame as I thought Tim was going to bring sunshine and light into the Grundies' llives
ReplyDeleteWhat a pain in the neck Ian was tonight! Getting a book on the development of the foetus was a bit much, gush, gush! Then he started nagging Adam about never being there while the poor man is in the middle of lambing and why is he so desperate to go racing out to Bulgaria when Lexi has only recently left? Will he be there once a month pestering her through the pregnancy? Adam was slow to accept the idea of a baby but now he is being responsible in earning the cash to give it a decent upbringing. All Ian can see is the rosy spectacle of a little bundle of joy! Hope he will do the night feeds and nappy changing so Adam can earn the readies!
ReplyDeleteIan......go see Lexi on your own...then don’t come back!
ReplyDeleteTim.....deffo a wrong un. Very shifty. Not worried about him and Emma cos with all those jobs she’s got and all the constant nagging she must be too knackered to get up to any mischief!!😇
Jolene......sorry, someone tell her fgs that she cannot sing!!
FOSO - lovely to have you back again, even if only on an hoc basis!
ReplyDeleteHave been missing your comments on the current storylines.
Good luck tomorrow, hope all goes well for you and you will get good news.
PtobeY - I agree with your three comments completely. Jolene's singing is toe-curlingly bad. Tim will be a wrong 'un and Ian is a pain.
ReplyDeleteI second Anneveggie's comment on PtbY's post.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Janet that Tim appears to be expecting something in return. I do hope that is not the case. Like Mrs P I thought he might be a nice guy when he appeared but no - we seem to be getting another unpleasant incomer introduced to TA. (BTW I wish he'd settle on one accent! I heard last night a touch of Antipodean, Suffolk/Norfolk and the generic Mummerset.)
Not with some of you about Iain's attitude to the pregnancy, seeing it rather as understandable & completely natural, as indeed is Adam's, given the nature of his work. It's an interesting SL, in that the couple are embarking on a (21 way to have a child, but their behaviour in relation to it is early (20 traditional - the man concerned with providing, the woman intimately concerned with the process. Thus, Iain feels closer to what is going on with Lexi.
ReplyDeleteFair comment Carolyn.
DeleteAn interesting way of looking at this conundrum.
Isn’t it Adam who is the biological donor father? Or have I lost the plot.... also Lexi has only just returned home and what is there to see yet - too soon for a swollen tum?
ReplyDeleteYes, Adam is. My point was that Iain identifies more with the Lexi side of things, hence his eagerness to see her. That seems natural - he wants to be involved in the pregnancy as much as possible.
DeleteI think he’s way over the top in seeking so much involvement and although Lexi is acting as their surrogate she is entitled to her own life. I would have thought maybe a visit half way through and then maybe go out there to travel back with her. In between there are wonderful ways of communicating between countries so maybe a weekly Skype or similar. Ian is fussing far too much. Still disapprove of all this in view of their age and am uncomfortable with surrogacy. Attitudes have changed in this century but we don’t have to embrace all the mores of our new society, we have that freedom.
ReplyDeleteAgree Ev.
DeleteSee ( Conundrum) above.
We have no personal choice in accepting one way or the other.
It is happening, because it can !
But as individuals, we still have the freedom to say 'I believe this to be wrong'.
A saving grace surely is that they can afford to have a child - I believe it to be wrong when people have kids (often more than one) that they simply cannot provide for! And then invariably moan non--stop about it for years and years.
DeleteSo many (NOT all!) people seem to have children simply because they can't think of anything else to do it seems. It brings to mind the Victoria Wood joke about the couple who decide to start a family simply because they won a buggy in a raffle!
I've done a lot of pondering on people's reasons for having children during my career as a Family Planning and Sexual Health doctor, it's a complicated subject for which I still do not have all the answers.
DeleteWomen become pregnant for many reasons and it is not always with mutual consent. Ian and Adam can do it their way, money talks. So does religion, culture, style, need, inheritance and family pressure.
DeleteAt least in this country women can also become unpregnant. However, knowledge is a wonderful thing, if one has it to use when it comes to sex, sexuality and procreation of self.
Never saw the need myself.
Did anyone else think Tim’s accent was a bit strange last night? I couldn’t work out what it was supposed to be....a bit country bumpkin, a bit Welsh, a bit Black Country? Seemed to swerve from one thing to another. Or perhaps the actor was just trying to sound patronising but dodgy?
ReplyDeleteI remarked upon it an a post above Archerphile. I picked up East Anglian (Suffolk/Norfolk?) and I even thought, when he first started speaking, it was either Aussie or Kiwi! That's when I thought "Who the heck is that?"
DeleteI thought they were trying to make him into a working class southerner
DeleteThink back to Les Miserables on the TV.
The wicked Inn Keeper although French had a cockney accent.
His accent was enough to tell us he is a bad un.
Sorry to reiterate, Spicy. I hadn’t read all the previous posts before adding my own as I normally would do.
Delete'country bumpkin'?
DeleteFOSO, if you are looking in,I hope all went well today and nothing nasty was found
ReplyDelete✅✔️
DeleteMissed your earlier posts until this evening FOSO
Deleteso welcome from me too and hope positive results from biopsy today.
I'd like to add my best wishes FOSO. Hope all went well today.
DeleteAnd good wishes from me as well. Hope you are going to treat yourself to something nice now it's done.
DeleteThis sounds like familiar territory! I'll be thinking of you as you wait for the results.
DeleteWe are all keeping fingers crossed for you FOSO !
DeleteGood wishes too from here in Glasgow FOSO.
DeleteLate in the day, but hope all went well for you, FOSO.
DeleteI'd like to add my good wishes to FOSO too.
ReplyDeleteOh Susan!
ReplyDeleteArrgh!
How I hate that character!
OK, she ended up being sympathetic to Alice and made her a cup of tea, but really, has she no sense of when to make a diplomatic exit or when her gossipy, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses witterings are not welcome?
I suggest she serves up prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest Gateau to the Aldridges - that should impress Jennifer! 😒
Alice just wanted her to GO ! She can make her own tea, when she needs a break from work which she was trying to focus on.....Alice has a way of dropping appalling clangers, but very polite yesterday, but, then, she wasn't drunk.
DeleteLove your suggested menu for Susan's dinner party, Archerphile! Very Abigail's party! 😄
DeleteI adore Susan! My only quibble is when the woman playing her over exaggerates her vocal delivery, and it’s the same with Clarrie and Lynda who also sound as if their voices are ‘put on’. I don’t get that sense with the younger women, Emma and Fallon for example.
DeleteFallon irritates me as she drops her T! She loves a par’y! Love Susan too! She has a bit of bo’’le although often misguided!
DeletePrawn cocktail, steak, Black Forest Gateau, a very retro dinner party. I can just hear Susan exclaiming, "Oh, lovely, nice bottle of Beaujolais, just pop it in the fridge".
DeleteRumours will abound in Ambridge, shotgun weddings, mini Toms, more babies? Can't see Empire building Natasha agreeing to that.
Hapus Dydd Gŵyl Dewi to all Welsh Archer bloggers.
ReplyDeleteMay the daffodils be in bloom for everyone today.
Wonder if Philip and Kirsty will be celebrating today? 🌼
Susan can be preposterous but I always feel that she's got a good heart. I also get the impression that Charlotte Martin has great fun playing the part. There are certainly some wandering accents around, but I think that Susan and Emma have got theirs well aligned (not unexpected from two of the best actors in TA).
ReplyDelete100% agreement Ex- Londoner
DeleteI am with you ,Maryellen about Susan.
ReplyDeleteI like her too
I agree about the voices of some of the female characters as well.
For me,Clarrie is the worst
Back to last night's episode.
It is the fault of the script writers.
They always over egg the pudding.
They don't realise that some of the listeners are so intelligent that they are able to do joined up writing.
We do not need reminding every couple of seconds that Susan is a social climber..
We managed to work that out for ourselves ages ago.
The really clever thing to do (I hope they don't) would be to make Leonard into a bigamist .
They have got most of us thinking what a nice bloke he is.
On the other hand they could make Tim into a really good egg-but they won't.
He hasn't got the right accent for a start.
Apropos of 'vocals'.......my particular irritation is that all the Grundy's use 'aint' all the time to signify the lower orders...... ridiculous!........They've hung around long enough with the upwardly mobile crowd to have had that gently squeezed out of them I would have thought, particularly Emma.
DeleteI wonder if Ian may go to Bulgaria by himself ?
ReplyDeleteWhat a ridiculous thing to want to do when Lexi is saying that she is suffering from morning sickness.
Another thing I wondered was thet she might say she had lost the baby but then in about 20 years or so a young lad called Marius might turn up to for his ageing father!
You youngsters will be able to say"She told yer so" as I ,maybe will have a quiet gloat because I was right as I read the telegram from the King!
I love your optimism Lanjan. Yes, it’s fun speculating what might be happening in Ambridge in 20 or 30 years time.
DeleteWhat will all the youngsters be like as adults, what skeletons will emerge from cupboards and will the village have been subsumed into a big New Town as the village’s around Milton Keynes were?
Personally I am beginning to wonder if I shall still be around to watch another Coronation, such a Huge Event in my childhood. I do hope so, I’d like a reason to get the bunting out again! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
I was 5 when the last Coronation happened and can only remember it rained and the planned street party had to decamp to a room over the butcher’s shop! I remember red jellies in those little paper dishes we used to have but no more about the food. We each had a balloon, red white and blue with I think the Queen’s picture on it. I had a red, white and blue ribbon in my hair. Well here we are and I am now 70, the same age as the next king. Will either of us see another Coronation?!! I hope Her Majesty sees quite a few more years. Hasn’t she done well?
DeleteI wasn't around in 1953 {nor even on the way} at the time of the coronation. What I remember most is the HM 25th Jubilee. I was studying for final exams at that time, and travelled home on a train from Edinburgh to London, which was packed with people going to The Capital to be there for that event.
DeleteWill Helen have sex with Lee tonight?
ReplyDeleteIf so I hope not too many sound effects! Have memories of Sid and Jolene in the shower and Jenny getting together with former husband, father of Debbie! I mistook Lee for Tom again today! Hope H can tell the difference! A bit clumsy of Emma mentioning Rob I thought.
DeleteActor who plays Ben Archer is 19 years old. Why does he sound almost 30?
ReplyDeleteAll that RADA training I expect Ruthy!
DeleteI think that's a different (Australian) Ben Norris. This one is in his upper twenties, as far as I can tell.
DeleteListening to Lee and Helen gives me the creeps I'm afraid. Only because she sounds mid-thirties and he sounds like 16 year old. The thought of them together.......well it just doesn't bear thinking about! 🤢
ReplyDeleteI wish Adam would stop saying 'our baby' too. It will be 'ours' if and when Ian has some imput into the raising of the child. Lord help us if we have another seven months of Ian whingeing and whining because Adam is not willing to drop everything at one of the busiest times of the year just to hold Lexi's hair back while she throws up! This is such a stupid storyline and the scripwriters are making it more preposterous by the week!
Well Spicy it appears that's their job!..........More's the pity. 🙄
DeleteMost of the S/Ls are preposterous, at the moment.The presentation of Elizabeth's depression, Tom's marriage, Hannah, here today to supply Tom with mutual gratification, gone tomorrow. Where? The three of them sharing a house with apparently thin walls doesnt bear contemplating.
DeleteRuss, Lee, Leonard, Tim. Phil, Lexie. Anisha, Fairbrother twits.
I have no difficulty with Ian and Adams forthcoming baby, but the way the S/L was developed had an impact on poor silly Roy, and me.
Tim is suddenly written in just to make sure Ed gets some work? Then he present Eddie with a van, free, gratis and for nothing, never having met him before.
Kate returns for five minutes, then joins the silent clan, depriving me of some listening fun.
Some who were silent were suddenly given voices inappropriate to their age. Jolene is given a singing voice, awful.
I could go on, but I'm boring myself with these witterings. Should stop listening, but can't, physician heal thy self. I need to reflect.
Oh dear Stasia! It sounds as if you could do with a break from TA!
DeleteNo, the van would cost a couple of hundred quid.
DeleteI am actually enjoying all the current S/L's. I think that the TA S/W.s are teasing their avid listeners at times. I cannot believe that every newcomer to Ambridge is a manipulative person. up to no good, and just out to cause trouble and even more problems. It seems far too unrealistic to my little "grey cells".
ReplyDeleteEd is Oliver's protogee and he put Ed in touch with Tim. Would Oliver have done this, if Tim appeared "shady"? I
Deletedoubt it.
I still like Tim and am giving him the benefit of the doubt at the moment as there is no proof otherwise.
I know I am in the massive minority, but am standing by my thought. I expect I wil be proved wrong again - but that's nothing new.
I’ve given up suspicion for Lent, so Leonard, Tim, Russ, Lee and Natasha are getting the benefit of the doubt fro me until Easter........
DeleteNow, that's a good idea, Maryellen, I'll have to give it some thought. Last year I gave up watching the news and it improved my general wellbeing to such an extent that I've kept it up ever since. Giving up having operations (2017) hasn't worked nearly as well... ...
DeleteMust admit to suspicions about Tim myself but what are we like? Maybe he’s just a kind and caring person. In this modern age we all are made to feel you never get something for nothing! He did say the van would cost Eddy £200, far less than the £1500 or so for a new engine but where can you get a functioning van for £200? I sit firmly on the fence!
ReplyDeleteIt may be a similar case to Philip. So many people thought he was a wrong ‘un but as I predicted early on, he is a kind an genuine chap with a lovely accent. Perhaps Tim will turn out to be the same.......not sure about the accent though!
DeleteHow do you know that Philip is a kind generous person Archerphile?
DeleteAs for the accent I think I prefer Tim's.
Which of Tim's accents do you prefer, Lanjan?
DeleteGood one bootgums!
DeleteNow come on admit it .
ReplyDeleteWhich one -or more-of you have been saying not very nice things about Jolene on Facebook?
Someone has been reading this blog.
DeleteNot guilty! Abandoned FB ages ago!
DeleteWell we didn't see that coming!
ReplyDeleteDear Ms SW...... was that really necessary ?
ReplyDeleteI knew it'd be the music that'd kill it, right from the start, even though I don't recognize it.
ReplyDeleteYup I thought that something would kick off tonight. Then there was the point about forgetting the music so was expecting something to happen with that.
DeleteSo now will Lee find out about Helen's past?
She’s not ready for a full blown relationship but will she ever be?
DeleteI am relating back to Tim + Oliver.
ReplyDeleteI have had an off tangent thought.
Is Oliver financing Tim, to pay for Ed's work and helping the Grundys - in an indirect way?
Far fetched but possibily plausible
Could be and maybe he has supplemented the van costs.
DeleteEvery single part of this evening's episode made me cringe with embarrassment - it was badly written, juvenile, third rate shite! I didn't believe or engage in a single word of it. Going to give up listening for a while again...
ReplyDeleteTend to agree GG. Why on earth was Pat styling Helen's hair? She is 38 for goodness sakes! Helen and Lee were behaving and talking like teenagers.
DeleteSadly Joe sounded very frail. I noticed that Clarrie said that that she and Eddie couldn't afford Grange Farm. It sounded like Joe makes no contribution to the family income?
I wonder does that mean more incomers to rent Grange Farm?
Helen will be 40 in April. Tom was 38 the other day.
DeleteWell that went well didn’t it?
ReplyDeleteBit of an upside down script tonight....
Expected Joe to be terribly upset after hearing Eddie and Clarries little talk about probably having to move, but he wasn't.
Expected Helen and Lee to have a very romantic evening, but they didn’t.
Not at all what I was expecting and a rather disappointing Friday night episode.
As soon as Lee said he had put a play list together I thought something to do with that was going to “kill” the evening. Had the same thought as you Spicy re age and actions - Helen is a grown woman how is she ever going to be a support to her children in the way her “grown up” parents have been. (It happens so often now, one wonders how they will cope when they lose their parents and become the head of their own.) Tom as well what a wet week he is and now about to be “taken for a ride” I think by Natasha. My mother and one sister were Grandmothers by 40yrs and yet this lot can’t even manage their own children or are just discussing having them in their 40’s and 50’s 😮
DeleteWhy is it nigh impossible for even one couple to have a successful relationship. I guess the SW think we will find that boring 😡
I agree the flat scene with Helen and Lee was cringe making. As Helen is still so emotionally vulnerable, should she not have told Lee at least a bit about her past in order to avoid what happened tonight. If Lee was in full possession of the facts he would be walking on egg shells and making an effort not to upset the apple cart. At the moment we are to believe he doesn't know her past.
ReplyDeleteI agree Anneveggie, in reality she would not have allowed it to get this far without some hint at her past.
DeleteI cringe whenever I hear Helen. Lee, well he just sounds to goody goody to be true.
ReplyDeleteHe should take tonight as a sign not to get involved with such a loony. Yes I know I’ll get criticised for calling her that but I don’t care. That’s my opinion of her.
I am disappointed that you would use such a word, PtbY. I'm sure you're better than that.
DeleteLoony is an old fashioned word and we can be forgiven for using terms now outdated but descriptive. I think though Helen has always been unbalanced in some ways and not helped by her experiences both with Rob and the gamekeeper who committed suicide. Her reaction to the music was extreme even if it did bring back memories. I think I would have just made a polite exit keeping emotions to myself but who knows? I’m not Helen! She is in spite of outward appearance very emotionally scarred. Agree it’s strange Lee doesn’t know about her background. You’d have thought local gossip, someone like Susan would have filled him in!
ReplyDeleteWould you be OK with Alan's first wife being described as a nigger and their daughter as a half-caste? I hope you wouldn't. 'Loony' is in the same category. I tried to react to PtbY's use of the word moderately, but defending it is almost worse.
DeleteMaybe the word used was meant to describe Helens reaction as OTT, words are taken so literally now such as someone saying “If he /she does that again I’ll kill them” for the majority of us that would be an expression of our frustration not a real threat of that particular action. I certainly don’t think ptby had any intention of offending any of us personally, as is known my mother had dementia for many years but it hasn’t upset me, I have taken it in the spirit it was written 🙂
DeleteSo okay to call Elizabeth a loony, then? And Pat? I think not. I absolutely agreee with bootgums. Language reflects attitudes and old-fashioned language reflects attitudes that belong to the past, or should do. I don’t think loony has ever been used in any other than a perjorative sense.
DeleteBootgums and Maryellen I don’t personally use such terms but the modern way of jumping on those who do reflects the pc world we live in and is sometimes an over- reaction.
DeleteI should add that it is abhorrent to use these terms to directly offend others in a prejudicial way but ptby used this word about a fictional character within this blog and doesn’t deserve admonition. I would directly intervene if a person was being insulted in this way
DeleteOf course P tbY had no intention of offending anyone as you say Lady R.
DeleteLet us stick to the programme and not criticise other Posters.
I think Helen was completely over the top.
She should have told Lee about her situation before yesterday evening.
We all know what she (and probably he ) was expecting to happen.
I don't think he knows that Henry isn't Rob's child.
She had a rough time with Rob as we know -but no worse than other women who have tried and succeeded in putting it behind them .
I do hope we are not going to have another bout of therapy.
I am sorry but I think the programme has lost its way and if the editor isn't careful will lose its audience.
I have no problem if I were decribed as loony and I have had depression and been treated for it three separate times in my life,including psychiatric consultations.
DeleteHowever to associate what PTBY said with Pat and Elizabeth is a totally manufactured argument for the sake of argument.as Helen ,as far as we know,has never been diagnosed and or treated with depression.
I have used the word loony as something offbeat, out of the ordinary but certainly not in a perjorative sense.
The other character who could also be described as loony would be Kate. Both her and Helen do behave in unpredictable ways and usually to their own detriment.
As to comparing the use of the word with the 'n' word ! Rubbish!
I am totally with Ev in her comment that 'jumping on' the users of words considered un-pc, is an over-reaction.
✓✓✓ I support both your comments above, Ev. PtbY, you expressed the exasperation many of us share about the Helen character, & , imo anyway, it's sensible to see comments in context, rather than be distracted by language choices.
DeleteI reckon the problem with both Helen & Elizabeth is that they're unlikeable ! There's no question that what has happened in their lives would cause severe mental & emotional imbalance in anyone, it's a subject worth exploring dramatically, but it is not easy to empathize with them because their characters have never been very appealing.
Add to that, even agreeable people suffering mental illness are hard work for others around them.
Think our comments crossed, Spicy ! Very similar in content.
DeleteAs far as the term ' looney ' is concerned, it is and was, often used to describe a person prone to hare brained ideas and actions.
DeleteMany of my friends, different people throughout my life have used the term about me.
I have and do you use the term about friends, two in particular.
We each have in common, mental health issues around personality.
I view ' looney' as a term of endearment coupled with exasperation for the situations that derive from some erratic behaviours.
I do not consider the word in the same category as ' nigger'.
When PtbY used this word she did justify it and said she knew it would upset some.
We all use language in our own way and we all know that some words will bring forth ire from some others.
Considering her justification, i think PtbY should be given some slack, and agree with Ev about over reaction.
To add to offensive words, I must admit that ' cretin' is one that I overreact to.
DeleteIt refers to stupidity and was used to describe a person physically and mentally deformed due to congenital under active thyroid.
It is not used frequently today, but was in the past.
Suffering from an under active thyroid from my teenage years I have always found it difficult to hear the word spoken to describe a person who isn't very bright.
I may have to give up TA for lent.
ReplyDeleteI think Helen would surely benefit from some sessions with Elizabeth's therapist (? name). Always supposing one could get her to admit she really needs some extensive help. If she continues to suppress all her bad past experiences I believe her future (in real life!) would have dire consequences. Her relationship with Lee is only the tip of the iceberg. Her children, home circumstances, other relationships, general social activity......all would be in jeopardy. Just telling Lee about her past would not be enough......Helen is a car crash waiting to happen. This being the Archers though I expect a little chat with someone or other will sort it all out!!
ReplyDeleteI feel you have summed up Helen and all she has been through very well BB.
DeleteHowever, can't agree about ' some sessions'.
I think it would need to go considerably deeper.
I think Jack is a time bomb waiting to explode.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. Very controlling of the adults around him.
DeleteThe child is 21 months old! How on earth can you tell that he is or has a 'problem' from what we have heard of him?
DeleteIf anyone is going to have a problem it will be Henry.
DeleteHe has already had two fathers and may get a third with a couple of half siblings thrown in.
We know children can be cruel and some may well have a field day with Henry.
Spicycushion- that is why I prefaced my comment (as I often do) with. ‘I think’, ie it’s my opinion that dramatically speaking - and remembering The Archers is above all drama - Jack is a time bomb waiting to explode. I am not presenting this as a demonstrable fact.
DeleteI think Helen is neurotic.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if we are stil allowed to use that word.
My son when he was in the infants' school wrote that his mummy "has yellow hair and is neurotic".
Fortunately he didn't know how to spell the word "neurotic "so his teacher hopefully never found out.
She would no doubt today have had to report it to somebody had she known what he had written.
I have been reading the above posts this morning with a sense of dread - that we are being asked to censor our use of certain words on this blog.
ReplyDeleteApart from downright swear words, which I would hate to see on here and thankfully nobody seems to use, I think we should be able to use our own language in our descriptions of these FICTIONAL characters. I don’t think the use of the word objected to was particularly bad, in the sense that it was not applied to a living person in a perjorative or nasty way.
Please do not let us get so PC that it stops bloggers from contributing their views on the programme. If I felt I had to weigh every sentence and scan it for un-pc language it would put me off writing and I think the opprobrium heaped on PtbY has been unfair and unnecessary.
👏👏👍
DeleteI wish to replace the word ‘opprobrium’ with ’criticsm’. The former was too strong.
Delete✓✓✓
DeleteMeasured and fair as usual Archerphile. 👏
DeleteExactly ,Archerphile
DeleteWell said.
✔️ from me too AP 👏🏻
DeleteAgree Archerphile 👍
DeleteLast nights episode between Henen and Lee was a wonderful example of a crap storyline, involving two adults pretending to be sixteen.
ReplyDeleteI would rather have had more of the three Grundys gently discussing their future.
Gary, I'm with you cringe worthy bad.
Language evolves, not so long ago imbecile was a clinical description, as was lunatic. I would describe Kate as bonkers but not mental. If I engaged with others sounding like I came straight out of a text book, most people would think I was a bit funny in the head.
Archerphile. Maybe I should take a leaf out of OWIAS's book.
When I was a student one of our lecturers was a prominent forensic psychiatrist. He referred to one of his patients (obviously no name!) ; As being " stark, staring, bonkers". This summoned up for us a better picture and understanding than, "this person has issues".!
DeleteWell, yes, BB ! ( Happen to dislike 'ishoos', it's so prissy, why not just say 'problems'? Though it's so prevalent, do sometimes, wince, find I've said it myself...)
DeleteIt all depends what you want to stress, doesn't it ? Your lecturer described how the patient presented, all of you would have taken for granted that someone behaving like that had severe problems. If he'd wanted to explain & analyse cause(s) at that point, he wouldn't have focused on presentation.
Helen, of course, is as much in denial as Elizabeth, neither able to acknowledge they're in trouble. Witness Helen snapping at Emma, she can't face telling Lee the truth yet, so she gets caught out by the music trigger. It's going to be much harder to explain to the poor guy now.
Burnham Beeches - surely, as this was a teaching situation, it would have been more helpful for his students if the le turret had described that patient’s clinical diagnosis? Unless he was trying to be funny - which would have been both pathetic and grossly insensitive (imho).
DeleteThat’s lecturer not le turret - naughty iPad!
DeleteReally warmed to the Grundy scenes last night. Joe continues to sound more frail, but his attitude has changed since Nic's death in that he has become philosophical with an awareness of real life priorities. Not so much the naughty old scrounger these days, but a man who values the important things - family over property.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Carolyn - and his reward may well be that he can stay at Grange Farm yet through Oliver’s kindness, maybe a peppercorn rent because they are the family of Caroline’s godson 🤔
Delete👏👏👏 with you Carolyn on that.
DeleteOh, that would be just the ticket : Oliver, step up to the plate !
DeleteThis is the wrong blog, but Carolyn has given me an entree - has anyone been listening to 'The Ferryhill Philosophers' on R 4?
ReplyDeleteIt is marvellous - dramatic, fuuny, thoughtful.
The Archers it ain't.
Think you mean Burnham Beeches, Mistral, but thanks for the recommendation - will investigate !
DeleteJust found said prog episode 1 has just been removed, however will pick up easily I guess. I can hear “Jim” the prof is in it....
DeleteJust caught up with the blog.
ReplyDeleteOoh.....nothing like causing a bit of a stir!
Bootgums/Maryellen.....don’t get your knickers in a twist. Life’s to short!!
By the way.....what happened to freedom of speech? Reckon that got the push years ago now.
Yep, PtbY ! A lot more talk about it, but in practice, a lot less....
DeleteSeems so ptby 🤭
ReplyDeleteFreedom of speech doesn’t include language that is slanderous, libellous, insulting, derogatory or used in the knowledge that it has potential to upset, offend or make uncomfortable. Loony and loony bin fall into those categories,
DeleteThere's too many things these days that 'have the potential...' a culture of taking offence, in fact. Wish society in general would lighten up, brighten up, & reserve being offended about something that is objectively offensive, & not look for trouble which isn't real.
DeleteGive over Maryellen.
ReplyDeleteGood job you don’t live up north cos we call a spade a spade....or even a bloody shovel.
My opinion stands , she’s loopy. In fact she’s what a lot of folk would call a right nutcase.......that ok?
I take Archerphile’s point - much better hurl insults at a fictional character than a real one! How would you describe Elizabeth? The same or something more Northern?
DeleteA right mental case.
DeleteA reet mental case?
DeleteI quite often say that we have done our Power of Attorney forms in case one or other of us goes "Do lally"
ReplyDelete.
I have never been pulled up about it
Many of us have been rude about the way the characters on the programme speak or act.
DeleteNone of us would dream to go up to one of them and tell them to their faces what we really feel about them because 1) they are not real and 2) in some cases they are totally unbelievable .
However it is good to express what we really feel about them on this blog.
Agree LJ
DeleteHow sad that some posters are going OTT due to a perfectly, innocuous remark.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are along the lines of the saying, along the lines of - those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
PS Cartoons were called Looney Tunes for years - Bugs Bunny, the Lone Runner, etc.
✓✓
DeleteOn iPlayer Radio/4Extra there is a great series about topography called "On The Map", and the 10th episode called "Maps of the Mind" has got an interview with Eddie Grundy telling us about the imaginary geography of Ambridge.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great. Will look it up. Thanks.
DeleteI listen a lot to R4ex and enjoy the variety of old and new.
DeleteMe too Miriam. At the moment I am loving "Space Force" & " Doctor Syn" - have heard both of them before but I don't mind a welcome repeat!
DeleteAgree with Dr. Syn. but I am also enjoying Rent, Ed, Reardons week, and just loved the "Woman in White"
DeleteOff topic for this blog - Sorry.
I don't think there is anything wrong in using 'certain' words in conversation. We apply them is an informal sense during conversation. "When I use a word. Said Humty Dumpty, it means exactly what I want it to mean, no more nor less". Some would describe Adam and Ian as those queer blokes, horror of horrors who want a baby. Queer was/is used as a derogatory word. But the LBGT community have taken back the word, just as Helens barrister might refer to herself as a Dyke. Black Americans have also reclaimed the word and use it positively. That is one way of erasing the negativity of certain words. If I am proud of my identity that's all that matters.
ReplyDeleteWe have a wedding next week, and I would apply, in the vernacular a word for Tom I wouldn't use to describe anyone else. He is simply a nitwit and imbecile. But then I think many politicians fall into the same category.
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DeleteWarner Bros stopped making the Looney Tunes series 50 years ago. We have become more sophisticated in our handling of diversity since then, My understanding is that you don’t use a term to describe a person that they wouldn’t use of themselves, so You wouldn’t (for example) call hearing aid users eagirs or cloth ears unless those terms are acceptable to them.
ReplyDeleteThat's me told off again.
ReplyDeleteHow I hope this wonderful Ruthy"s Blog, which she maintains in her own time for our benefit - stays calm and friendly. I would hate to see it go.
To add.
ReplyDeleteIt's not anyone views I object to, as we can freely post our own thoughts + ideas. OK these might be very different to others, which is accepted and understood.
What I find upsetting, is the tone and often, the almost, dictarorial stance in some posts.
This situation has upset me, so will sit back, read and only post when things are more normal.
It is coming to the 1st year since the BBC closed its TA Blogs. Why spoil this one - which has been a life-line for so many.
Sorry - I have now gone OTT. 😭
Delete