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Life in Ambridge : Comments week of 20/June/2019
Life in Ambridge : Comments week of 20/June/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.
Ooo, how intriguing - trying to work out who all the folk are in the new Cartoon.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that the auburn-haired chap in the red anorak at the bottom looks remarkably like Prince Harry to me!
Regarding tonight’s episode, I’m with Tony 100%. He tried his hardest to explain the problems with her scheme to Peggy but she just wasn’t listening was she? She is completely blinkered that her plan to save the planet is perfect. And I was really cross with her for not acknowledging what Tony and Pat have been doing for years with their commitment to organic farming.
I used to be quite fond of Peggy but she has turned into a stubborn, manipulative old woman who wants her own way despite the consequences and seemingly has no great love for her only son.
Just realised that is the ghost of dear Nigel in the top left corner, if I’m not much mistaken.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, quite brilliant, Gary (I presume!)
I thought that is Prince Harry too Archerphile and Nigel's ghost also. Who's the man with the huge beer belly and tattoos?
ReplyDeleteJazzer?
DeleteEddie?
DeleteFat Paul?
ReplyDeleteFat Paul was supposed to be a reply. Don’t know why it didn’t work.
DeletePresume jazzer is stripy jumper supping from a can.
I also thought of Prince Harry. Brilliant cartoon and fun to work out who everyone is. Thank you GG 🤣
ReplyDeleteIs the auburn haired chap PC Burns celebrating the restoration of the bunting in Fallon’s tea room? Brilliant cartoon, Gary😀
ReplyDeletePeggy did not cover herself in glory last night and I agree it is very sad to see her attitude to Tony. Do very long term listeners remember early signs of this attitude towards him?
I think it IS Harry - I am assuming it was from around the time of some sort of royal occasion. The cartoons are from The Telegraph, I cannot draw to save my life...
ReplyDeleteSo you're doing the next best thing which is great, thanks.
DeleteBrilliant find Gary, thank you 😊
DeletePat and Tony with the organics, Adam and herbal leys, Kirsty with wildlife meadow - many have been moving with the times but now it's a competition, Pip already being cagey about their project.
ReplyDeletePeggy excluded Lilian from the meeting then she was reluctant to see Tony and told him he was selfish by wanting the money to stay in the family. If she loves Ambridge so much why doesn't she contribute to the whole village, like Christine who paid for the changing rooms. Even Natasha's idea would in principle benefit many, so Lanjan she may yet twist Tony's arm, but I don't think the money would go into her pocket. Lastly, Ian has goaded Adam to put in a bid to overcome his risk averse
practice, I don't see how that works.
What a nasty, decisive woman, creating an atmosphere of poison amongst her family. I’m with Tony, creating a competition with exclusive entrance whilst ignoring his contribution to the environment, is rubbing his nose in it. She is a controlling matriarch who belongs to the 19th century despite her lofty plan to set family members on the track of saving the planet. Although Tony wasn’t being entirely altruistic “it’s family money” and I understood that to mean my inheritance.
ReplyDeleteMrsP. Gave up being monosyllabic when I stopped Working.
GaryG. Is that Elizabeth staring at the ghost of Nigel?
Thank you Stasia. I have been pondering how to give my opinion and you have done so precisely re both characters.
DeletePierre, thank you. I meant divisive and singleminded.
DeleteWe are even more in agreement because that's as i read it! Never liked the self important opinionated old besom.
DeleteSo Prince Harry is opening the fete, & it's Elizabeth looking up longingly at departed Nigel ( thought it was Lynda being rhapsodic about something initially, & the 2 ideal children far left top are the twins year ago. The clearest is Jill, right, all smug happy families, Kenton & David flanking her( possibly). Is it Ruth looking askance at Ben by the table, right, & Pip nearby, supervising Rosie's first steps ?
ReplyDeleteYears ago...
DeleteI don’t read the Telegraph so didn’t know they had cartoons of Ambridge. Am still trying to work out some of the characters. Think you are correct it must be David and Kenton with Jill. I initially thought Ian and Adam. could that be Neil ringing the bell?
DeleteYes I would think David and Kenton with Jill BUT then there is someone pulling pints up in the right hand corner who could be Kenton, unless it is a youthful looking Oliver.
DeleteThis is fun thank-you Gary. I hope Ruthy is okay.
Yes, Janice, I wondered about Kenton, too, could easily be the other guy who's ringing a bell ( 'time, gentlemen, please' or 'Silence for Jolene, my songbird wife') The unbearded guy other side of Jill could be Josh..
DeleteAssorted couples could include Tom/Natasha at the top with ice creams or bunch of flowers, maybe GFs of Johnny & Josh, not heard yet, scattered around.
Bottom left : Emma with Peppa Pig the cow, little Poppy, Ed ( possibly George or Will) with Ed's tractor behind them ?
Love all, match between Tony & Peggy so far. Interesting exchange between them, the mother/son conflict, but agree with most that Tony was patient & convincing & the self styled matriarch was as up herself as she always is, at her worst. I don't doubt she's gone into this project thoroughly & the experts on such matters are real, do know how to assess the merits, short & long term, of what comes up in the competition, but surely all this is over ruled by Tony's argument about family divisiveness. It's a vanity project, there are better ways to help Ambridge help the planet, as others have suggested.
ReplyDeleteSorry, should have read your post first, Stasia - mostly similar.
Deletecarolyn. We are matching each other. Great minds and all that.
DeleteI half expected Peggy to say( in a Lady Windermere voice) “ A Handbag, A Handbag”.
Hello Carolyn,
DeleteThe best definition of expert by etymology is that the word is formed by Ex being a hasbeen and Spurt being a drip under pressure.
😆 ! There's literally minded old me thinking 'expert' refers to someone who has knowledge on a specific subject(s) who knows what they're talking about, as far as verifiable, proven facts allow....
DeleteJust ' literal'..
DeleteIn my opinion real experts are too busy being just that to spend time telling others how to do it. Self proclaimed experts spend too much time spouting their "expertise" rather than actually gathering any.
DeleteI used to like Peggy but now I realise that it wasn’t Peggy I liked but the excellent acting of June Spencer.
DeleteThanks for the cartoon,Gary.
ReplyDeleteWhoever drew it got Jill and Prince Harry (wonder why he was in Ambridge) off pat.
I do agree about Peggy. She’s very manipulating!
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear what Helen + Johnny think about Peggy's Plan.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the new Borsetshire Blue cheese is doing - and has Ian tasted it yet with a view to re-instating it at GG?
To add, I don't understand why Tony is moaning. After all he sold land to Justin for £1mill, destroying a wild-life habitat and natural flora, hence the new Beechwood Home development.
DeleteI might have remembered wrongly and confused the farms - which I often do.
This dunderhead me is correcting a comment. I don’t know my Oscar Wilde from my lower posterior.
ReplyDeleteLady Bracknell, The importance of being Earnest.
I don’t know what sort message the BBC is giving in having a character owning an exotic creature, and why Jazzer? Is it because he is the token local yobo and only they would keep such a pet? Many animal rights organisations would be critical of Jazzer’s antics.
I don't envisage Jazzer as being a yobo. He is a loveable character, who loves his new "sweetheart" for whom he seems to care for.
DeleteI read somewhere that June Spencer specifically asked the BBC for a big current storyline to celebrate her birthday.
ReplyDeleteI expect they thought
“Aha, what shall we do? Can’t be Brexit, too political. What else is hitting the headlines these days? Ah, we’ve got it! Global warming, climate change, it’s all the rage, what with kits bunking off school to protest and demos in London. That’ll do, now how can we fit Peggy into that scenario........of, course, stir up family conflict, she’s good at that! Get her to splash her money around and cause controversy in the family and village. We’ve got it!”
Now, where are those scriptwriters........
I agree with you Pat!
ReplyDeleteYes, I know of two separate sets of parents who insisted on a financial protection in case of break up, so that their hard earned assets would go to their child only.
DeleteIt wasn't abundantly clear to me when she said 'contract', but duh, got it now, & she did add 'post nup.' It makes sense.
DeletePip & Alice were so irritating & silly-spiteful, but I suppose it was all to tell us N. uses some Botox equivalent AND spends a fortune on face cream....
Pat is guilty of unfair discrimination. She didn’t suggest a post nup when Helen married Rob. If Tom point this out, I’d say it was a valid point. I suspect she is concerned about Johnny’s future as much as Bridge Farm’s.
DeleteAh, but he was not all over Bridge Farm, spewing out brilliant innovative ideas - too busy abusing & controlling Helen whilst presenting the devoted husband front.
Delete( Which is not to say he hadn't his eye on Peggy's money, & Helen's inheritance,, & he was bossy in their shop, but hidden plans for the future, never to be realized, of course)
I agree with Pat also. Get something signed ASAP.
DeleteLike I said, unfair discrimination. I hope the contract ( if Tom agrees to have one) adequately reflects all the unpaid labour and creativity Natasha has already brought to Bridge Farm enterprises and hopefully will continue to do so.
DeleteI think Pat has probably learnt from the Rob disaster and is, this time, making sure she protects her family, especially as all her instincts are telling her that N is not all she seems. I have a theory about her disappearance, and forgive me if I'm repeating what others have put forward, but.... I think that she was in deep trouble with her finances and that she has done something with her company which means that she has temporarily staved off the immediate cash crisis, possibly involving Trev somehow. I think it will not be long before the whole problem reappears, when she can't finance the new money. Is there any way she could have used Bridge farm as collateral or something?? As to her creativity , I think that is pretty sus as well! Too fast with a business that is not hers. What has all her 'creativity' cost Bridge farm and how much will they lose by trusting someone whose expertise is unproven - and possibly deeply dodgy?
DeleteSorry, another thought, the revelations about her make-up etc reveal something about the honesty of the character imho!
DeleteActually, Natasha’s expertise and creativity IS proven - see Characters pages of BBC TA website for info about the success of her business Wearing makeup tells us something about the honesty of every individual who does it.
DeleteIt's not the wearing of make-up per se , it's what she recommends to others and appears to stand for..... to my mind there is an element of deception there. Likewise there is a contradiction in the food area between what she actually eats and what she is supposed to represent. We also don't KNOW how successful she really is ... her approach to money does not really point to success in business. Also Tom does not seem to know about the state of her finances and now seems too scared to ask questions. She seems to me to be one of those people who can have good ideas but lack the necessary staying power and create havoc with their persuasive powers, leaving other people to sort out the mess! All too familiar!
DeleteI agree with you Carolyn.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Pip and Alice behaved despicably.
It is a pity that they were not caught in the act of rifling through Natasha’s wardrobe and drawers but as Carolyn says it was a way of letting us know that she spends a fortune on herself.
Does that mean she has cheek bones almost as high up as her eyes without a winkle in sight?
Some of our most attractive actresses have obviously had Botox treatment and look awful now.
Isn’t Natasha a bit young to have such treatment?
What Pip and Alice found (and I was as disgusted as you by the way they went about it) may well have been samples from Natasha’s contacts with the cosmetics industry, such as she uses in her highly successful makeovers for family and friends.
DeletePat is quite right of course, but I don’t envy her broaching the subject with Tom and Natasha.
ReplyDeleteAnd where were Helen and Johnny tonight - in fact where have they been for weeks now?
I’m sure they must both have an opinion about Peggy's scheme. I should like to hear what they have to say.
Agree with you Carolyn and Lanjan. How rude to go rifling through a host's things. Very bad form and if they'd been discovered they'd have felt guilty. No surprise that Natasha has expensive tastes and also uses Botox.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced that Natasha uses botox, creams, yes, we know she has expensive tastes.
ReplyDeleteAs for unfair discrimination by Pat, after Natasha's swift departure and Rob's behaviour she's understandably anxious about her children's future. I'm not convinced that Natasha is after the farm or she wouldn't have left. Pat called it a post-nup, it'd be much better if they made a will and divided their assets, as we know either way it will cause friction.
Quite, Basia - the snooping pair simply found a leaflet about Botox, that doesn’t necessarily mean Natasha has had the treatment. She could have been investigating whether she could use it during the facials she gives, after training of course.
DeleteThey just jumped to the conclusion that she had had the treatment herself!
‘It’s only my thought’ (Miriam 2018) but maybe Natasha did have Botox and ran back to Wales because she didn’t want to upset the residents of Ambridge. They may have suspected her of doing several rounds with Tyson Fury, or even worse, Tom being seen as the culprit.
ReplyDeleteIt is wrong to rifle through a persons belongings without their permission, however the S/Ws are evidently setting the scene for a big argument about money. Alice was aghast at he cost of some face cream\perfume that even she couldn’t afford.
The big Question now is, how much did the party cost and how will she and Tom react to Pat’s contract?
Can’t wait.
I used to quite like Jazzer, but now he is really starting to annoy me. When did he start misreading situations constantly and acting like an 11 year old who hasn't learned any social skills? As for Adam giving him the job - absolutely farcical. It has been shown to us, repeatedly, that Adam is a consummate professional who takes his business extremely seriously. Jazzer is exactly the sort of person that Adam WOULDN'T employ.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jazzer's relationship with that bloody spider is starting to remind me of "Kes"...
Agree. I think the spider S/L is stupid. Dumb, dumber and downright silly. Jazzer is not the dumbest Ambridge resident? I can think of many others who might fit the bill and some were mentioned at the party.
DeleteFYI - dermal fillers are NOT the same as Botox. They are both injected, but that is where any similarities end.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear from Oliver about what he decides to do with Grange Farm It is known that Emma + Ed are moving out in August, leaving Clarrie, Eddie + Joe not being able to afford the rent.
ReplyDeleteJoe wanted to end his life in Grange Farm. As we know Joe is no more, but not in TA, he still is there.
I would the S/Ws to write Joe out, as to his wish, where he wanted Grange Farm.. So re-enter Oliver, to let this happen in some way.
I wonder what the future of Grange Farm will be, after The Grundys. Will Oliver move back in, perhaps he will sell it to another silent family eg The Gills at Home Farm, or perhaps will rent it out again, or sell it, to Tom + Natasha, or Brian + Jennifer.
DeleteWill has said that Clarrie, Eddie (and Joe, who is still alive in the story) can move into No1 The Green. He has already given Hannah and Johnny notice.
DeleteI wonder if William has written off the shortfall in rent now that Tom has moved out. Presumably Hannah and Johnny have a contract so can't be expected to pay more.
DeleteThanks Gary, just looked up: botox freezes features, dermal fillers fill up.
ReplyDeleteDitch the spider S/L. It's beyond daft. I couldn't be in the same room and understand Ian's attitude.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes think the scriptwriters get stuck with certain characters, for whatever reason, and desperately have to think of storylines for them, like Jazzer’s pointless spider story and the ludicrous offer of the auaponics job. (This is the downside of having characters dictate plot rather than the other way round.)
DeleteOn second thoughts,I guess it is rather sad the man who used to boast he could have any lassie in Borsetshire now has only a spider to call sweetheart, so maybe it is telling us something.
Stasia, AnneVeggie and anyone else who has mentioned the silly spider plot ,I agree 100% with you.
ReplyDeleteIt is a ridiculous storyline.
I think the idea of a spider as a pet for a grown man is ludicrous.
I thought Ian sounded pathetic when he encountered the spider.
I wonder who comes up with these daft ideas?
Does the editor tell the script writers what they are to write about and are they too scared of losing their jobs to tell him what a a potty idea he has come up with?
I imagine that must be the case.
It was ludicrous to have Ian naked on top of a chair behaving like a screaming Queen.
DeleteThen he gets off the chair and captures the humongous hairy creature with a basin.
My partner is an arachnophobe and will now only deal with small spiders, and that is after a course of CBT. Anything larger will unfortunately be killed instantly, unless I get to it first and save its life. Phobias are very real fears and some can be very debilitating, so treating the condition like one of those awful Brain Rix slapstick comedies didn’t do justice to what is for some individuals very stressful. I remember watching those unfunny B Rix things as child and they were just as silly, perhaps a bit plagiarism involved in this S/L?
I agree it’s very unempathic. I don’t like them making fun of Lynda’s hay fever either.
DeleteI suppose some of us were wishing for some light relief to all the crises and maybe they can’t think of anything better. Laughing at other people’s misfortune is not funny imo.
I must be very slow on the uptake, but it was only after listening to the Omnibus this morning, that I realised why Webster was an appropriate name for a spider! I couldn’t understand why Jazzer had given the female creature a man’s name! 🙄
ReplyDeleteAnd talking of which: one of the Facebook Archers sites I belong to has recently had a member plead for no more mentions of the spider either in the programme or on the FB Page. She says she is switching off until someone reassures her Webster is dead! She cannot even bear to hear it spoken about, much less see pictures of a spider or, heaven forfend, see a real one.
Needless to say this promoted endless discussion of arachnophobia, people’s methods of dealing with spiders and pictures of them. This has resulted in talk of spiders being declared a banned topic along with Brexit and Hunting! 🕷
Personally, having lived in the country all my life, I have no problem at all with spiders......but if they introduce crocodiles or alligators to Ambridge, I’m off! 😵
I disliked spiders to such an extent than when someone left a large toy one in my desk drawer many years ago I pushed back my chair and promptly fainted! However when I moved to Western Australia for a short time, although I still felt sick when dealing with them, at least I could spray the Red Backs before they got into my babies' pram!
DeleteIncidentally the fb page I watch occasionally had a discussion about the spider being called 'Webster.' Someone pointed out that originally (Old English) the suffix 'ster' was used to denote a female following a certain occupation. It seems that there is really only one word which has survived and that is 'spinster.' So Webster seems quite an appropriate name. I wonder if the responsible scriptwriter realised that?
I hate the word "spinster". This is probablably as this is what I am - the "spinster" aunt/grand aunty, who lives alone with her cat!! I just hate that label. 😣
DeleteIs there such a spinster in Ambridge - I can't think of anyone.
Delete“Maltster” seems to disprove the “ster” theory, ie. not a specifically female occupation, and still in use. But congratulations to the TA team/Jazzer for coming up with Webster - it’s the only bit of the tarantula storyline that’s made me smile.
DeleteA spinster was an industrious lady who spins wool. I think it's rather nice.
DeleteI understand Pat's concerns about Tom + Natasha. Surely the opposite is also feasible IF Natasha, is putting on an act of loving Ambridge, Tom and their little flat. Surely Tom could claim a portion of Natasha's orchard + juice business, if things don't last.
ReplyDeleteI do think that a legal document of sorts, should be put into place, so that they both protect their business interests, before they got married. Any enterprises after the wedding, such as the Bridge Fresh App - is a joint one, so is different.
I am still bemused as to why Peggy's Plan, is called The Ambridge Charitable Trust, when it is only open to 3 farms and not Ambridge Vilage as an entirity. I know that I am repeating myself, but I just think that others could be included eg the 'bloke who owns Mike's milk bottling plant, Ed, the Parish Council and, even Eddie + Hollowtree (🤣🤣🤣)!.. Doubtful, yes, but perhaps they should be allowed to pitch.
Talking about the green enviroment of Ambridge - who cares for + maintains the green burial site + the millenium wood, since Mike left many years ago now.
DeleteI don't know about you but I was laughing, though it wasn't amusing.
ReplyDeleteI bet Tom will say that Pat's trying to alienate Natasha now that she's back, but that's because she went away in the first place.
Miriam, in contrast to you I love spinster.
ReplyDeleteOften refer to myself as crone of this parish as having been married it would be wrong to describe myself as spinster of this parish.
But I wish I could.
As a child I was taught to regard spinsters as upright ladies to be admired, respected and indeed emulated. Many of them were of course also teachers, as a woman was required to leave the teaching profession when she married.
In the past an industrious lady who spun wool, so yes someone to be respected.
DeleteHazel has been mentioned twice recently. Firstly by Peggy last week, and now by Tom tonight.
ReplyDeleteIs this a TA hint of a re-appearance to stir things up, or just another TA red-herring.
Perhaps Hazel or Lilian, will sort a home for Alistair, Jazzer plus Webster. Perhsps Hannah could become another house-mate.
Hazel doesn't sort anything for anyone other than herself.
DeleteAlso totally unrealistic and unbelievable that Peggy would be in contact with Hazel! I can't think of any way Hazel would be 'chatting' tp Peggy!
DeleteI think Peggy is Hazel’s stepmother so they have an ‘offcial’ relationship, though not a very congenial one, as I recall.
DeleteHas Pat forgotten when she herself left Tony without warning or explanation, raking their children with her and returning 3 weeks later again without warning or explanation? It might help her understand Natasha’s need to get away for a bit, and that it isn’t necessarily a predictor of future marriage breakup? (It hasn’t been in the couple of similar incidents I’ve witnessed in real life either.). I wonder if Tony has forgotten as well as forgiven this episode from their early married life.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, Clarrie also mysteriously disappeared - so it’s not just confined to Welsh wives! 🙂
What on earth is the matter with Jim?
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I sound like Mrs Dale, who was always ‘worried about Jim’ !
But he came back from his little ‘holiday’ in what seemed like a fairly good mood, agreed to the cake and sherry that Jazzer had thoughtfully bought - then exploded into a tirade when a perfectly reasonable question was put to him. There is something very wrong, but will we ever get to hear what it’s all about?
Meanwhile, where are Alistair, Jazzer and Webster going to live?
Shula could put them up for the time being.
Delete......along with fretful Freddie, possibly depressed Dan, maybe homeless Hannah. An informal beginning to her 'ministry'...
DeleteAs detected earlier, Jim is losing it. Maybe he has a brain tumour.....
DeleteThe only thing I remember about Mrs Dale’s diary ,Archerphile is that as you say Mrs Dale was always worried about Jim and that her sister Selly hed a het Shop (sic)
DeleteOh and Mrs Dale was played by Ellis Peters.
Yes, Selly ! Divorced, adding a little spice to the bland dish of unflavoured chicken & overcooked veg. Didn't Mrs D. also have a monstrous mother, of low, mumbling, toothless voice, Mount, or Montford, whose cat, Captain, featured ? A precursor to Peggy.
DeleteRefreshed my memory by googling MDD. Her mother was Mrs Freeman and Captain the cat featured very often. I seem to recall Jack Woolley had a dog called Captain. The BBC sacked Ellis Powell partly because she had a drink problem and partly that they wanted to update the program. She died three months later, how sad! I remember her gravelly voice and was never comfortable with Jessie Matthews’ dulcet tone! Apparently as TA was meant to inform on farming matters MDD was to inform about medical matters.
DeleteAnd Selly always had her mother’s disapproval - but then Mrs Freeman disapproved of most things! Was there also a gardener called Maggs or something similar, who used to be allowed in the kitchen for a cup of tea? I think there was also a ‘daily woman’ who came in to clean, but can’t remember her name.
DeleteFirst smile of the day,Carolyn.
ReplyDeleteYes,I suppose the next storyline will be finding a home for Hannah .
Jovial Johnnie can return to Bridge Farm.
Or
Since the flat above the shop has obviously turned into a tardis, Natasha and Tom can make a few bob by letting Alastair,Jazzer,Hannah and Johnnie join them.
😂 We know that Ambridge houses have magic expanding rooms, disappearing downstairs loos, so why not a flat above a shop that’s the size of a mansion. The store room at the back is pretty big, as Susan has been known to disappear into it, so the flat above could also go back a long way.
DeleteJim sounded shaky last night. Something is on his mind. He thought he could move on from the party incident but when he found out Alastair and Jazzer still want answers he exploded.
Jim is deranged by the blast from the past, but the truth will out, I'm sure, about Alistair's parentage ( & maybe Jim's role in the history of the wheelchair party guest...)
ReplyDeleteTom had plans to put Pat with Tony in 'a granny' bungalow, so she and Helen are concerned.
ReplyDeleteNow that Webster has served her purpose she can go.
Tom made it clear that any suggestion thar Pat and Tony might transfer to a bungalow was looking well into the future - when it would, of course, make sense to reduce the inconvenience of stairs and housekeeping workload for Pat. Helen should be aiming for her own property by now.
DeleteWheelchair man had an affair with Jim’s wife.
ReplyDeleteJim only found out years later when Mrs Lloyd made a death bed confession.
Wheelchair man was her lover and she only stopped seeing WM when she became pregnant with Alastair.and Jim only found out years later *and although he put two and two together he wasn’t sure whether he was Alastair’s father so was never close to him.
* Years later Wheelchair man and Mrs Lloyd met up by chance and after a short time Mrs L decided to end the Affair as by then she had two children.
On the evening she was going to tell him ,they had an accident in the car he was driving and she was killed and he broke his spine.
She had told WM that Jim never knew about their affair but when he saw the m an who had killed his wife he obviously went ballistic.
You heard it here first.
Oh jolly good Lanjan - you have started writing your wonderful fantasy scripts again!
DeleteI remember how they often livened up the old BBC blogs and made everyone ‘smile’ online.
Keep it up! You could give the official SWs a run for their money. 😄
Lanjan. Are you a secret S/W, or is your imagination in overdrive? 📝📖🗯 You could be spot on in your reasoning.
DeleteI think Jazzer was a bit premature in his eagerness to facilitate Jim’s return home after his disappearance.
Jim has followed up on something/someone at the party and I don’t think he knows how to tackle whatever problem/issue he is now facing. His anger towards the other two men is his defensive need to push the problem away. Hence evicting his lodgers.
I know absolutely nothing about Mrs Dales 📔 Diary. Will look 👀 it up on line.
And I suppose perhaps Wheelchair Man came to the party because he wanted a chance to see Alastair his son.
DeleteLJ (imo) yours is a spot on synopsis regarding the Jim Lloyd SL ⭐️⭐️⭐️
DeletePure EasrEnders, LJ!
DeleteYes I reckon Mrs Jim had an affair with wheelchair man. It has brought it all back to Jim. We’ll see but don’t think we are far off!
DeleteReturning to Mrs D’s D for just a mo - I think she had a son David, who lived up in ‘Berrick’ as I thought it was at the time. I remember holidays were always taken in ’Berrick’ which involved a long drive. It was only when I was much older that I realised they were talking about Berwick- upon- Tweed on the English/Scots border!
ReplyDeleteIt's not a competition !
ReplyDeleteBut I came up with something similar on the day of the party, regarding Jims relationship with wheelchair man.
Can't remember precisely but something about Jim having an affair that produced a disabled child, now grown into WC man.
I am impressed with so many memories of MDD.
I can remember the voices, MrsD, and Sally in particular and have their faces still in my mind, as well as ' my ' picture of the district they lived in, but events have disappeared from my memory.
I think many if not most of us had very similar ideas to those I mentioned about Jim’s reaction at his party ..
ReplyDeleteThe only reason I posted a comment about it this morning is that I don’t want it to be true.
Let me explain.
If any of the script writers follow our posts and see what we have posted is exactly what has been planned then he or she will not like it.
Then the editor may feel that the storyline has to be changed.
So thinking along these lines.
Regarding the post nup that Pat has suggested .....
I think Pat will mention it to Tom who will throw a wobbler.
When she reports back to Tony who is very annoyed because he still thinks the sun shines out of his daughter in law,he says he will go and try to sort things out.
In his usual way he makes a mess of things and Tom tells him straight that he and
Natasha from now on will be independent of Bridge Farm and will be putting in a bid in for Peggy’s half a million pounds on their own behalf and not on Bridge Farm’s.
Again I think this is pretty obvious so I want to see if the Script writers will come up with another idea.
eg
Tom says it is something he and Natasha have discussed and they both wish they ‘d have had a pre nup because of course Natasha would have a lot to lose if they did split up since she owned her own successful business.
He would tell Pat that it is something they are definitely going to do and also that Tony is quite right regarding not putting in a bid for Peggy’s half a million pounds.
They won’t be doing so either.
He will continue doing what he has always done and be part of Bridge Farm enterprises and Natasha will carry on doing what she does so well with her juices and beauty products
.
Lanjan. I haven’t heard anything yet that convinces me Natasha is running a successful enterprise/business.
DeleteTom’s claim that “WE” scrubbed hard to get rid of the carpet stain has got to be a fib. Natasha would never allow her well painted finger nails and manicured 🤚 hands to be using a scrubbing brush/nasty chemicals.
Maybe she was wearing marigolds.🧼🧽🌼
✔️ 😂😂😂
DeleteThree smiley faces and a tick! Sorry, still struggling with technology!
DeleteTo me Jim has a guilt complex, it is nothing to do with Alistairs parentage - but something different. Perhaps he is responsible for why that person is in a wheel-chair, and now cannot accept what happened.
ReplyDeleteExactly,Stasia which is why I don’t think the second scenario is likely but Tom is so dozy that he wants to believe that Natasha is running a great Business.
ReplyDeleteShe was probably so drunk she didn’t notice the stain on the carpet or care about it if she did notice it so Tom would have tried to deal with it..
Of course the easiest thing to do would be to buy a new carpet by using one of her many credit cards if she hasn’t used up all her credit.
Are they not insured against accidents?
Mind you they will have to pay the first £X and then their premium will go up next year.
Oh what a worry for them.
Get a bottle of Astonish, Tom or move the furniture round and hide the stain.
A well known s/market beginning with an S. (my nearest) does a wonderful, own-brand, cheap, carpet cleaning spray. Spray it on, leave for about 5 mins and blot off - it works really well.
DeleteGood thinking Miriam.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking that this was an accident, not a directly involved incident. This could be similar to Mark Hebden and Caroline, who felt so responsible, for his tragic demise.
DeleteMiriam my post to you was in response to your comment about Jim not carpet cleaner.
DeleteThe Village Fete could be Natasha’s next organisational triumph after Open Farm Sunday and the ‘new home’ party!
ReplyDeleteTo be fair to Jim, I hope to God that when I'm retired I won't have 2 middle aged men sponging off me. Are there any actual reasons why neither Jazzer nor Alistair have their own house? Other than laziness?
ReplyDeleteAnd house obsessed E💰m💰m💰a - do the mortgage lenders in Borsetshire accept child's beds as part of the deposit? I thought she was all about save, save, save? If only she could find a casino that would cash that enormous chip on her shoulder, she would be quids in...
✔️✔️👍🏼👍🏼🍟
DeleteI am going to remember your final comment and use it sometime,Gary.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good one.
Never heard it before.
Two ticks and three stars to GG for the Emma quip.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Shula is the right person to talk to Jim. She and Jim had that heart to heart chat after Shula's non-sermon so maybe she's the one to get him to spill the beans about what's going on. They all deserve an explanation if not an apology from Jim IMHO.
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ReplyDeleteWhat the hells all that about above?
ReplyDeleteHave removed that rather bizarre post from above...
ReplyDeleteInteresting......didn’t know we had an Alexa on this blog! Good job you know how to deal with these things Gary, well done.
DeleteP.S. has anyone heard from Ruthy recently?
Archerphile, I have been in contact with Ruthy - all is good, but awfully busy by all accounts!
DeleteThanks, 😃
DeleteWell done Gary.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Thank you Gary. Can only assume that the removed comment was offensive and rude. I remember Ruthy removed some comments in the past.
ReplyDeleteShula will be putting her big Banana 🍌 feet into Jim’s murky past.
I think it's safe to assume that Shula will do exactly just that stasia! And he will tell her EXACTLY what he thinks of her, right after she says something like "you know Jim, in many ways Jesus didn't want to go to HIS surprise party"...
ReplyDelete🤣😂
DeleteWonderful! 😆
Delete🤣🤣🤣
DeleteThanks for looking after us Gary, and sorry to see that we are being ' hacked '.
Delete? ? Is that the correct word.
Good to know that Ruthy is OK too.
Thank you.
This is TA related, but perhaps not directly -
ReplyDeleteIs the bio-digester at Berrow still running, or was it shut down?
I ask this in relation to Peggy's Plan. My idea - the farms join forces to provide an eco-friendly source of energy, (no idea what-
Deletebut not wind turbines), to serve the farms and the village in its entirity.
Solar panels then!🌞
DeleteStrange, but perhaps not, given SW & editor amnesia, Jim used to be good friends with Christine, yet we never hear of him visiting her at The Laurels. Was thinking she could be the one he might come clean with. Shula will, inevitably, make a hash of it. Given the mood he's in, he will probably say what Jill did ( with uncharacteristic perception) that she's only seeking him out to assuage the guilt she feels for dumping Alistair in the unceremonious way she did.
ReplyDeleteCan't go along with general feeling about Emma, spending money so gleefully. Yes, she's blinding herself to the Tim, danger, but it's not like Natasha's recklessness, she simply wants to establish her family. Her heart's in the right place - she certainly took heed of Clarrie's sensible words about Poppy.
I think this is a disagree or agree reply, sorry.
DeleteI think Shula is the right person to talk to Jim. It was her idea about the tribute night for Jim, and so was partially responsible as to whom was invited. She needs to know what happened + why, for her own thoughts and decisions.
Also Emma, does she actually know exactly what Tim + Ed's extra work is? I thought that she still is still in "the dark", about what Ed has been doing.
Bet I am wrong - yet again 😯 and not for the 1st. time.
Miriam, I seem to recall Emma convincing Ed to do the work for Tim regardless of his misgivings. He said to her that he didn't feel right about it as it sounded a bit dodgy but she, obsessed with her house plans, basically told him to shut up and put the balaclava on!
ReplyDeleteAs said, bet I have recalled incorrectly.
DeleteWill knows what Ed is doing with the pesticides - so will Will step in to help him? This is debatable.
I still think Emma knows nothing about what the dodgy deliveries are involved with.
Maybe Emma is one of those people that claim "plausible deniability" when the proverbial hits the fan - just like Brian did when he allowed chemicals to be dumped on his land. "Do what you want but just don't tell me the details." I look forward to her faux outrage in due course...
DeleteGary, Ed told Emma it was dodging the VAT or something and she said that everybody does it.
DeleteMiriam, you were right, Shula was the right person and it was thought she'd make a hash of things which she nearly did but persevered.
I think she did make a hash of things.
DeleteAlastair asked her not to do anything and she should have listened.
Perhaps he could have asked his sister to come and speak to her father.
How dare Shula interfere?
I am told that when somebody needs help they will find the right person to speak to .
I know from personal experience that this is the case and the person in question -not me! - went for help from somebody the family did not know well.
That person’s choice and it worked.
Maybe in time Jim might have gone to Shula -I doubt it - but I expect it will all work out.
However
I expect St Shula will be seen to have done the right thing in the end
Lanjan - I understand what you're saying, Jim didn't want a party but was given one and then wanted to be left alone. Alistair only told Shula she'd be wasting her time but she said she'd take the 'risk'. She knew there was something wrong and thought she was helping. Jim's got a dark secret and we're going to find out about it. We knew it was about the man in a wheelchair and Jim confirmed it.
DeleteYou were right about the first part but then we got to Harold touching the keyboard...I'd throw it out too.
ReplyDeleteNow what about the precocious Keira then?
Why can’t Shula keep her big nose out of things?
ReplyDeleteAlso.
Why does Emma’s daughter Keira not have a local accent ?
If they can’t find local children then don’t have them speaking at all.
Apart from the little girl in Outnumbered ( even I am too young to remember Shirley Temple) and the young lad in Whistle down the wind ,I can’t remember any good child actors.
At least she's a lot more convincing than baby Henry ! I'm assuming she's the same age, 8, or maybe still 7 ? Rather sweet that she's thinking of Clarrie's feelings.
Deletebut she was hardly a little girl from a midlands County with parents and grandparents who have pseudo West Country accents.
DeleteI do hope we are not going to hear any more from her ,nice as she may well be.
Emma could have reported what she said to Ed
Some years ago we heard a rather posh George and then he vanished .
As most of us have said before, the producers don't really ever get it right when it comes to the kids do they? (Mia Grundy excepted!) They either all sound like Princess Margaret or Noel Coward or, on the odd occasion when they bus in an oik from the city, some sort of working class comedy Victoria Wood character . Do you remember when they had that group of girls staying in Kate's yurts and they had one of them speaking almost like a Jamaican yardie for some peculiar reason?
DeleteI fear the reason for this is every single person writing for, producing, casting and directing the Archers are all from the same social class and never really meet other people. I don't actually really mind...
I think you have been unlucky with child actors, LanJan. There are some astonishingly talented youngsters on the stage today. Matilda the Musical is an example, and the forthcoming musical adaptation of The Boy in the Dress will probably be an equally good demonstration of childtens’s acting ability.
DeleteI really do dislike child actors and always have done but one of my favourite films is 'Bugsy Malone' with, among others, Jodie Foster. I have no idea how old they were when the children made it but it's just fun all the way through.
DeleteHowever the drama teacher at a school where I taught also liked it and produced it in conjunction with the next door boys' school. Horrible! but our pupils were of limited ability I will admit.
A very good friend who is a very successful free-lance journalist reviews productions of amateur and professional companies and she often invites me to accompany her if the performances are in Kent. Can't say I am enamoured of the child actors I have seen, be they amateur or professional!
So right about Jim's reaction to Shula, but at least she persisted, & we found out more.This is evidently dark & terrible for him - Jim is a broken man.
ReplyDeleteHa.....told you it was due to the man in the wheel chair. Just call me miss marple. 😊
ReplyDeleteI really felt for Jim tonight. He seemed almost close to telling Shula what it was all about. I hope this is the breaktnrough to help Jim, and not a step to an even darker place for him.
ReplyDeleteI think Shula did well to persevere and listen. Jim didn't have to ask if she invited the man in the wheelchair, he could have continued to tell her to go away. Perhaps he needed to begin to let out his deep long held pain.
DeleteI agree with Zoetrope.
DeleteOh poor Jim. I felt so moved by his distress - so upset that he smashed his beloved keyboard because of M.i.W. Playing it. There is something very dark at the root of this story and I do hope somebody can help Jim exorcise this particular ghost.
ReplyDeleteI was annoyed at first with Shula , refusing to go away and leave Jim alone as he asked. But I now think she did the right thing in staying with him and helping the dam to burst - hopefully she can help him to mend the breach and restore his friendship with those (esp Alistair & Jazzer) who care about him.
I think Shula did exactly the right thing in persisting with Jim. He needs to get it all off his chest. He's not quite ready yet but he almost talked. Shula came over as caring and worried about him. I'm looking forward to hearing Jim's story.
ReplyDelete✔️✔️
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ReplyDeletePart of me thinks Jim is losing it, and therefore to be treated with sympathy as Shula did so well. The other part of me thinks he is a moral coward, and I don’t care too much what”s he’s afraid of. I have always considered him to be one of Ambridge’s stock characters (crusty old professor) rather than a believable person, and I am beginning to feel over-exposed to him, and Jazzer too. So I hope their storyline ends promptly.
ReplyDeleteThanks, partly to the brilliant acting we heard last night. I am deeply affected by Jim’s plight and feel great sympathy for him.
DeleteHe sounded very frightened as well as angry and I’m beginning to wonder if there was some type of bullying or abuse in his background.
Hopefully Shula, who many of us denigrated for ’interfering’, will be able to help him come to terms with whatever trauma caused this reaction and eventually get Jim and Alastair back together.
Now we have come so far with this story I definitely want to know the whole background ....and the outcome.
I think I am alone in thinking that Shula should have kept out ofJim’s problems after Alastair suggested in a kindly way that she should not interfere.
ReplyDeleteI still think that he should have asked his kindly sister to come and see her father.
also think that I will be proved wrong and that Jim will now crack and admit all and then St Shula will be praised for what she did.
Had I been Jim I would have behaved in a similar way but hopefully I would not have been quite as rude.
I wonder if she is worried that he might do something stupid and she kept on trying to try to stop him?
She’d drive me round the bend.
Alastair is not Jim’s son-at least that is what Jim thinks.
ReplyDeleteI hope I am not right as that would be too obvious.
DeleteI said that was the case the day after the non-existant party. Or it was clever acting. I noticed the coldness between Jim and Alistair in the morning as opposed to his friendly appreciation of Jazzer's gift and then later his constant dismissal of Alistair but his total delight and affection towards Fiona. Probably a red herring. If so, credit to the TA team!
DeleteWhich begs the question if he dislikes Alistair so much why did he choose to live with A and S at Glebe Cottage and not with Fiona when he broke his leg. And why did he move to Ambridge instead of living nearer to Fiona?
🤔 food for thought!
DeleteYes, brilliant acting on the part of Jim. It must be something deeply hurtful to cause this reaction against Harold. Maybe Jim met the love of his life before marrying and Harold stole her away. Either that or Alistair is not his son which would explain a lot. Agree too it could be deepfelt anguish over bullying. He needs to share it with someone.
ReplyDeleteNow thinking that physical abuse is likely behind this SL as it is an issue often at the forefront of the news, especially from years ago.....
DeleteI am not looking forward to Jim's dark revelation. He's been an eccentric professor sharing a house with an off the page milkman/pigman and taking his son in, but they've invented a blast from the past and it's all collapsed.
ReplyDeleteHow about Adam's father turns up to see the baby, or has he died?
He did return to Ambridge some years ago. I remember quite a touching scene with a conversation between Jennifer and Paddy. I don't know exactly but I believe that Adam indicated he wasn't interested in 'connecting' with his biological father. After all he had his adopted father (whathisname Travers-Macy) and Brian, his mother's latest husband who paid for all Adam's advantages as a child, teenager and possibly later as well! But I cannot remember a face to face with Paddy and Adam or whether the message was passed via Jennifer.
DeleteThank you Spicycushion, if that's Adam's choice, so it won't happen.
DeleteIt was Roger TM who adopted Adam and then Brian adopted his daughter Debbie.
Roger returned, had an affair with Jennifer and Debbie said it'd be best if he left.
Roger (actor) in real life was married to Ursula (actress) now deceased.
Oh what a tangled family - and cast list!
DeleteI no longer have any strong feelings regarding Jims past.
ReplyDeleteWhatever it was, the acting so far has been very good and I have felt moved by Jims plight.
As far as a back story having been invented by the SW team, I have no objections.
Jim arrived with an established career behind him and not much else, leaving a void that could be filled in the future.
Wasn't this always the case with certain characters in TA ?
My thoughts turn to John Tregorran and the Irish barmaid whose name escapes me at the moment.
I shall be interested to see how this SL develops and hope that Jim can resolve whatever painful experiences from the past he is suffering from. And unlike some others, I do hope that it is Shula that is able to help him.
Was the barmaid Nora Salt, or am I way off beam?
DeleteI was very moved by last night's episode and Jim's distress. Jim, amongst other work related stuff, was on my mind last night while I was trying to get to sleep.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant writing and acting.
I liked the Shula + Jim scene.
ReplyDeleteWhen Jim arrived in Ambridge, he was a very aloof person, who stayed at The Stables (with a broken leg?) but was quite deragotory towards Shula.
I personally like, that she is now someone, who is trying to help it.
I hope that whatever is revealed, is not a massive major one, so that others understand and accept his response.
It may be something relatively trivial - Jim has a history of getting disproportionately worked up about minor things, his intense rivalry with Robert Snell for example, leading to his unprofessional behaviour as Parish Clerk. Please let it not be some poorly written and acted EastEnders style scenario involving illegitimate children and straying wives. I think we can safely rule out murder.
DeleteI agree with those who think the man in the wheelchair will turn out to be Alastair ‘s father. Last night we learned that he probably invited himself to the party although we don’t know who tipped him off, perhaps to have a look at Alastair. Jim’s distress is because he doesn’t know whether to come clean to Alastair. He realises how upsetting it would be to learn that you have spent your adult life not knowing.
ReplyDeleteI hope it isn’t darker than this - do we know the circumstances of Jim’s wife’s death? Shades of ‘Rebecca’???
I stand by my thought, which will not change, though expect that I will be proven wrong, in time.
ReplyDeleteJim was some-how involved, but not responsible, in the incident which resulted in Harold being in a wheelchair. He still feels guilty + and just couldn't meet + talk to him again
This is the last time I post this theory, which is probably just as well.
I will be surely be eating "humble pie" later, but I will make sure it has lots of custard.
DeleteJim is clearly beating himself up about the MIW whom he possibly thinks turned up to the party to taunt him about the past. Shula’s perseverance in chasing the reason for his leaving the party may, in the long term backfire, when Jim realises he lost control of his emotions in front of a woman he has little respect for, and he has indicated that on a number of occasions. Shula is also lucky that he directed his destructive anger at the keyboard and not her for prodding and “poking” into his life. He is ruminating about past events and now his crusty uptight academic, ‘I’m too clever for my 👔 shirt’ has been exposed. He has lived life as an emotional fraud.
ReplyDeleteTom told Pat he wasn't expecting any pigs today, not like the last time, beats me.
ReplyDeleteJim was taking 'junk' to the tip, Alistair told Shula he was going to the recycling centre, had he repeated Jim's words she'd have known what was in the bag. Jim seems to be regretting yesterday's outburst.
Natasha's has her own assets to protect but she didn't mention that.
DeleteCan absolutely see why Alistair has given up with Jim & is looking to his own future. His supposed father has been hateful, but he didn't witness what Shula did last night & she's promised not to spell it out. I think she's learnt something from what happened to her sister - she didn't read the runes then, but is now more alert to signs of mental & emotional imbalance.
ReplyDeleteSo Natasha is, apparently, cool, but Tom loses his - predictable. Note she spoke of a 'proper business arrangement'; I reckon she has a few ideas about how that may pan out, not to her disadvantage.
ReplyDeletePut yourself in Jim’s shoes.
Your wife had an affair with a man and 9months later she had a baby.
At the time Jim didn’t know about the Affair and it was only later when she was killed in a car accident(script writers of the programme like them) in a car driven by WM who suffered a back injury resulting in his having to use a wheelchair,that he put two and two together
He also found his wife’s diaries but nothing incriminating in them
From then on ,being Jim,although he did not mention anything to anyone he wondered whether in fact there was any connection between the fact that when he was on Course in Newcastle some 8 months before Alastair was born there were several times when he ‘phoned and she was out.
She said she had been to see her sister who wasn’t well but there was nothing in the diaries about that- just trivial things like
“Gardened
Went to the library and got a Margaret Drabble book out .”
Alastair was a tiny baby.
Could he have been born prematurely?
The fact that Jim was around 9months before the birth but then was away for most of the following month meant that possibly .......
Since when she found out that she was pregnant she decided to finish the Affair Jim had no reason to suspect anything.
However after the accident he began to question it .
No D andA then.
Message to Shula.
ReplyDeleteYou have done your best.
Now leave it to Alastair.
You have never been his favourite person so leave it to someone else to help him.
I think Jazzer will be the answer.