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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.
And hello the Cayman Islands! I'm not even joking...
ReplyDeleteYikes GG!
ReplyDeleteHaven’t place the cottage yet 🤔
Placed of course 🙄
DeleteLove the little cottage, is it Blossom Hill, or Glebe I wonder?
ReplyDeleteI think it's Glebe
ReplyDeleteIt was Blossom Hill when Ruthy used it.
ReplyDeleteBlimey, can't be doing with all these house names ! Just about grasped The Bull, Brookfield, Home & Bridge farms, what goes on in those places, but find Grange farm mystifying - does any actual farming go on there ? Apart from Ed's Peppa, now sold ?
ReplyDeleteMaybe Glebe is where Carol Tregorran hangs out.
My local ignorance laid bare.
Hang on - is Blossom Hill where Helen stabbed Titchener but failed to finish him off ?
DeleteYes, Carolyn Blossom Hill is where the stabbing took place and also where Usha used to live before she married Alan. Glebe Cottage is where Jill and Phil retired to when David & RUTH took over Brookfield. Phil died there of course. Now she lets Glebe out to Carol. The Lodge is Peggy’s. Then there are the semi-detached Keepers and April Cottages where the Grundys and Kathy lived before the dastardly Hazel evicted them. Can’t remember who lives there now, but think Dr Locke was going to rent one of them.
DeleteThanks, AP !
DeleteMy apologies then. It's not Glebe. I was wrong.m
DeleteI'm like carolyn with all the house names but thanks for the details Archerphile.
DeleteThank you all for so many interesting comments on the previous blog, flowing from Ambridge.
ReplyDeleteIf Rex’s involvement in the rewilding project is to facilitate breeding his pigs 🐷 and letting them run wild then forget that one.
ReplyDeleteThe farm where I live has pigs and all they do is create a lot of mud and dust. They leave the habitat a brown canvas with nothing growing. In the past farmers used pigs to clear land of nasty 🤢 brambles and other noxious plants so it could then be used for growing.
maryellen is right not all wild plants are necessarily good. I am an allotment grower and hate bindweed it strangles everything. Belladonna or deadly nightshade is another dangerous plant, especially to humans. Limes disease is also a danger as many wild areas harbour ticks which carry the disease.
All wildlife areas need some form of management, usually a combination of humans and animals working together.
The Malvern Hills, a few miles from where I live is such a place.
Getting a first, second or third from Oxford in PPE doesn’t necessarily provide a high level of plant and animal biology.
Insert knowledge.
DeleteIs that what Phoebe was studying? Then it’s even more inconceivable that she should have entered the competition - unless it was a ploy to get involved with Rex.
DeleteStasia is so right. I think some people’s vision of rewilding is coloured on the immaculate pastoral landscapes of the 18th century Romantic imagination, whereas at close quarters the countryside can be pretty uncomfortable place. I grew up with arms and legs stung, scratched, stained and bitten, not to mention all the unpleasant things concealed in the undergrowth or out in the open, and accidentally trodden on or in. Oh, the relief of mown grass!
DeleteThat was in summer, of course, in winter there was mainly mud and sharp stalks of dead vegetation to contend with.
Farmyards can look awful too (on badly run farms). Full of discarded tat, broken machinery, rotting bags of stuff - sort of agricultural slums.
DeleteAnd I very well remember falling down a bank, headlong into a big patch of nettles! A never to be forgotten experience. 😵
I remember farmyards covered in manure in Sussex and running down a hill into a bog which almost took our shoes off.
DeleteI once walked my dog through a farmyard on a public footpath, so legit, near to Glastonbury. Ten minutes later my dog was clearly in agony her feet itching and blistering. We realised that it must have been something noxious that we had walked through and found a stream where we were able to wash her feet.
DeleteShe did recover, but it was not a pleasant experience.
This would have been in the late eighties I think.
I thought Pheobe was studying politics or similar (?) at Oxford, so how is she now an agricultural expert?
ReplyDeleteTo my basic knowledge, she has never lived on a farm, nor been involved with the running or understanding of one. She has knowledge, but this, surely, is 2nd hand, and not hands on.
Perhaps, I am being a bit too cynical, and not for the first time. 🤣
🌍🌎🌏
ReplyDeleteA warm welcome to our readers in the Benelux countries and in Turkey...
I love the picture of Blossom Hill Cottage. Well done GG.
ReplyDeleteWho lives there now? - certainly silent characters like The Gills. I assume Usha still owns this cottage.
I had great hopes that The Gills, would have become new major and prominent, characters in Ambridge..a major pair to compare with:- Justin + Lillian, Lynda + Robert, Brian + Jennifer (in their reduced circumstances), Pat + Tony, and even Peggy!
Sadly, this was not to be. I feel it's a miss from the SWs, esp. as there was the mention of two teenage sons, just right for Ben + Ruairi, or even George, the Buttons or Traceys offspring (no idea who they are, nor how old).
This is off topic, as to the current SL's (which I am finding tedious at the moment) but still on topic, as to Ambridge Life.
I am just wishful thinking - perhaps the sun has scrambled my little brain cells!
To ask - is Tracey + Susans father, still in residence on The Green with Tracey? It would be lovely to hear him, in The Bull, playing cribbage with Bert (we know Joe now cannot play).
DeleteBrian and Jennifer both like to share too much information and his explanation to Neil certainly contained double meaning.
ReplyDeleteHannah said that Justin gave favour to Emma, then accepted she had no way of knowing, she is spiteful.
Loved the scene between Brian & Neil - 'premature' indeed ! Snigger, snigger...
ReplyDeleteHannah is way, way out of order. Ghastly woman.
How come Jennifer is all 'darling' again with Kate.? I suppose because she's enjoying being an agony aunt & her daughter is such good material to practice on. At least Adam put her in her place about farming, about which she is ignorant, alongside being clueless about almost anything else ( aside from freeloading, of course)
Same here Carolyn. Premature!!! Another nice comedy touch in gloomy ambridge. 🤭
DeleteI understood Hannah, in a way tonight, She applied for an affordable Beechwood House, but was turned down. She has a good, responsible job at Berrow Farm, with a regular + steady income.
ReplyDeleteI can understand her a anger, as she was passed by in her application, yet Emma + Ed were approved.
Yes, Hannah is not a local and also a single female, so that was two down marks against her from tbe start.
She never has had a good friendly relationship with Neil, so why should it be different now?
As a single female, I had to really fight to get a mortgage. I had the deposit, the salary to cover the mortgage, but I was still refused. The reason was, what will happen if you get pregnant, how will you pay the mortgage then? Today this is sexual discrimination, but not then. I fought this, (with parental help + advice) and won - so I bought my first tiny, brand new, starter home at just 25yrs of age. I was lucky.
DeletePerhaps that is why I understood Hannah's bitterness tonight.
Has the prophesy that Hannah would take over Neil’s job expired? Because she clearly hasn’t ‘t done so.
ReplyDelete.....yet!
DeleteSo she is back and even more spiteful and nasty than before. Can’t see her lasting long at Berrow if Neil has anything to do with it.
ReplyDelete✔️ & 🤞 you are right AP Hannah was really nasty tonight. Not the correct way to make her point. By the way where is she living now?
DeleteYou mean instead of Hannah getting rid of Neil, he’s going to get rid of her - putting him in her shoes?
DeleteI agree with Miriam, I can see exactly where Hannah is coming from and so could Emma. Only Neil had to go into blustering old-style patriarchal mode. All praise to Emma for rejecting his ‘little girl’ cuddle and facing the future with typical resilience and determination.
DeleteI thought this episode shows what a lovely dad Neil is. He cares deeply for his daughter and is so supportive.
ReplyDelete✔️ Emma is such a Jekyll & Hyde character - at times not dissimilar to Hannah in her rudeness then at others like tonight admitting the the error of her ways, and of course she has shown such kindness to Joe and Will’s step daughter 🤔
DeleteJekyll & Hyde ? Don't see her that way, Lady R, more as a rounded character, of which there aren't too many in Ambridge. She's now deeply ashamed of the way she's been carrying on, demanding money, moaning about others having it easier, so that's why she didn't snap back at Hannah.
ReplyDeleteWith Hannah, she's been far more stridently bitter over the unfairness, as she chooses to see it, of being passed over as a single woman in favour of a family. As for her attack on Emma, how utterly despicable to kick a person when they're down. As for the sharp, pert way she spoke to Neil at work, I wanted to frogmarch her off to the chicken factory, see how she fancied that messy job, alongside many women desperate to earn a crust...
How about marching Neil off to the chicken factory for the totally unprofessional way in which he spoke to Hannah at work? Hannah was right to remind him what professional means.
DeleteAnd btw, if Rex’s involvement in the rewilding bid would affect Hollowtree, has Neil been consulted? Or is he in for an almighty surprise if it wins?
Hollowtree belongs to David and Ruth, besides, when asked about land for rewilding Pip and Phoebe said they didn't have any, there's only been speculation on this site.
DeleteJ & H was obviously not a good choice of words by me as I agree with all you say Carolyn.
DeleteSo Hannah's back with all her spite because she realised too late that she cared for Tom and was not accepted for a low priced house, bitter and taking it out on Emma. She's back with a vengeance, Jazzer was interested, perhaps she can take his mind off interfering in Jim's life.
ReplyDeleteOh, Basia, don't wish the harridan on Jazzer ! She'd run rings round him; besides he's not upmarket enough for her( as she perceives herself)
DeleteI reckon J. has got over his angst about Jim mostly, thanks to Shula largely.
Carolyn ✔️✔️✔️
DeletePlease give two verifiable examples oh Hannah considering herself to be upmarket, without trotting out wanting to live at Beechwood (which would apply to Kirsty too).
DeleteNo objection to her applying, though her failure to succeed shouldn't have been a huge surprise or cause for aggression.
DeleteAfter playing with Tom for a bit, she actually wanted him. Don't tell me it was 'lurv', it was rather that he has prospects & some sort of standing, as the son of a fairly prosperous family.( Oh, & jealousy of N. that's her natural mean spiritedness)
Sucking up to JE, cheeky to Neil, as it irks her that he is senior to her.
With you both 100% Carolyn and Basia.
ReplyDeleteSurely priority for a three bedroomed house should be given to a family who were born In the village,who work in the village and whose children attend the village school rather than a Jinny come lately with no real ties to the village?
I think -( but maybe I am wrong - I sometimes am) that there used to be some sort of point system when renting Council houses.
I realise that when buying homes this is different but if demand outstrips supply then there should be some sort of pecking order .
The obvious one I suppose would be first come first served .
Did Hannah not get her skates on quick enough?
Incidentally, where is she now living?
Yes, & I would imagine that the established locals would take priority.
DeleteHaving just spent today moving son out into his affordable house which he is buying and renting at the same time (half and half) with the option to 'staircase later' to completely own it.
DeleteThere is no way Hannah would have qualified for one of the affordable homes. Firstly there has to be a local connection. This is done all over the place to stop houses being bought as second homes in the country and left empty the majority of the year.
Secondly it is to encourage and enable young people to continue living in the village. This often helps when the older generation start to need help but instead of Social Services they have family nearby.
Finally you have to prove you would not be able to raise a mortgage to cover the cost of the house on your income My son's house is valued at £300k , a small detached 2 bedroom new build. No way could they afford anything else on their earnings.
Three times my son had to photocopy bank statements, bills and wage slips for five years to prove he was entitled to be considered.
It has nothing to do with building societies providing mortgages for single people but allocation of resources to the most in need.
Hannah has no connection with Ambridge, no family and presumably a fairly well paid job. She could rent a flat in Borchester and travel to work.
There was a house at Berrow Farm originally I believe when Rob first came to Ambridge. Who lives in that I wonder?
I still feel, despite Maryellen’s backing of Hannah, that she was out of order attacking Emma in such a vicious, nasty way when she obviously knew the misfortune that had fallen Emma and Ed.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t have expected Hannah to show any sympathy but that diatribe was totally unnecessary.
To rub Emma’s nose it it because she didn’t get a house either was vindictive and it was actually slanderous to accuse Neil of pulling strings with Justin to get Emma a house.
But the most stupid thing of all was attacking Emma in front of Neil who is her superior at work. Did she do it deliberately to cause acrimony at work? Did she really think Neil would ignore such an attack on his daughter and say nothing? I should have been ashamed of him if he had not stood up for Emma. Emma has been boastful, spendthrift, stupid and misguided in her actions recently but she did not deserve that tongue lashing from Hannah
Regarding the lack of professionalism re Hannah and Neil.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Hannah was correct in what she said to Neil in that within the workplace she had not said anything about his daughter.
However.......
In an apparently enclosed environment such as a village where work and home are so closely aligned and family members of work colleagues must be encountered and interacted with on an almost daily basis, a minefield of professional difficulties must surely exist.
In which case, manners, empathy, and a degree of lassitude towards professional behaviour should surely be tolerated, if only, but not exclusively, for the sake of general harmony.
Hannah said that she was getting snacks from the shop before work and that it was much easier when she lived across the Green, and that she might have been settling into her new Beechwood home if certain people who applied for affordable housing could not actually afford it. So she holds Emma, Neil and presumed, by her, nepotism for her loss. I could have *almost* understood if she got a house and was crowing in front of Emma, who behaved with dignity, but not spitting venom. We don't know where she lives, but she's there to run Emma down when she worries about George's relationship with Will.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought at the end of that episode was how manipulative it was: did the scriptwriters’ manipulation succeed - see above?
ReplyDeleteAren't all stories manipulative ? Certainly didn't feel unfairly manipulated last night, as Hannah's been presented in an unappealing light since her arrival(have no memory of the first time she descended on Ambridge), shrewish, sharp tongued, &, yes, manipulative in her dealings. Pleasant & efficient when it serves her turn, controlling & sharp tongued at other times ( mind you, it isn't too difficult to 'control' Tom!)
DeleteI just can't stand people (male or female, young or old!) who constantly whinge and blame others for what is lacking in their lives. Tiresome dullards who receive ALL they deserve...
ReplyDeleteI have just listened again.
ReplyDeleteWithout any shadow if doubt,Hannah was totally out of order.
More to the point ,had she been next on the waiting list she would have been able to have the house .
She obviously wasn’t.
Why then I was she so nasty to Emma?
Because that’s her nature Lanjan. Say what you think, however hurtful it is to another person. Some call it straight speaking, I call it uncontrolled behaviour and lack of empathy for others.
Delete✔️ 👏🏻 ✔️ 👏🏻
DeleteWhy does Hannah continue to stay in Ambridge? Is she just going to flat-share for ever? How depressing. And why continue to work with someone you obviously loathe and think is corrupt? If you live in a small village you really can't wander around "telling it like it is" to everyone you meet. Maybe she likes being unhappy. Some people genuinely seem to. What a grim little life she appears to lead.
ReplyDeleteHow true, Gary; how bereft some would be without the permanent chip on the shoulder !
Delete✔️✔️
Delete✔️✔️Gary
DeleteI, seem to be in a massive minoritory as to Hannah.
ReplyDeleteShe has re-appeared for a reason, but what - only the SW's know the answer!
To me, it will be to do with Berrow Farm, and Neil.
As Maryellen has said, this was hinted at a long time ago, but nothing has happened.
Will this the next major S/L after Joe's sad demise, and the ensuing future lives of the Grundy clan?
I say this, as there seems to have been many "fill in" episodes - the quiz team, Jenny as an Agony Aunt, the dinner with Brian + Neil, Shula's constant chats about ordinationan....
I am appalled as to the lack of continuation + conclusion with Tim, Ed + the pesticides.
Another story disappearing into the "Ambridge Ether".
My thoughts only.
DeleteI appreciate + accept, that these are very different to very, many others thoughts + ideas.
This, I understandably accept.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI think so, as these are just my normal "wacky" thoughts + ideas. These are often so very wrong, and entirely stupid. 😭😭
DeleteI wish I could switch my imagination - off!!
Tracy & Susan?!?
ReplyDeleteAnd the hysterical Ruth?!?
Ye Gods!!!
ReplyDeleteSo Kathy and Roy don’t go in for staff briefings?
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any other comments about tonight's episode, but I laughed out loud. 🤣🤣
ReplyDeleteSilly ... funny ... a bit of light relief.
But l wonder hiw long Tracy will last at Grey Gables ...
How long ...
DeleteYes I laughed too, I didn’t expect too - Pip back to stop start delivery 🙄
DeleteOh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Apart from the mother/daughter wrangling at Brookfield, that was a truly dire episode.
ReplyDeleteWere the SWs trying to give us an amusing episode for Bank Holiday?
If so, they failed miserable with me!
Bearing in mind that I am not at all keen on either Susan or Tracey, I thought the whole nonsense at Grey Gables was just that. Stupid, unconvincing, unbelievable nonsense.
And Roy, as Tracey’s supervisor, was just pathetic.
I really enjoyed the genuinely funny episodes with Brian recently but tonight’s effort was just awful.
Roll on tomorrow and a return to normal Archers fare please
Perhaps not in the running for a radio comedy award, AP, but I'm with Zoetrope on this, & was amused, the unquiet spirit gurgling away in the ancient pipes of GG,
Delete& it did give Susan a break from her family worries ! Also, perhaps we can look forward to Tracey sortin' out Hannah good 'n proper ?
As for Pip, can anyone be so dim ? Why did David have to spell out the cause of offence, honestly...
I thought it all very silly, but didn't much mind.
ReplyDeleteIt did occur to me that perhaps the production team had decided to give some light relief, but then remembered that it was the second within a few days.
( The Aldridge / Carter dinner )
I didn't mind either. It felt that Charlotte Martin and Susie Riddell were having a lot of fun playing the outrageous Horrobin sisters. (I've just looked up Susie Riddell and she's a very experienced voice actress who on her CV lists 21 different accents she can do!)
ReplyDeleteI know Pip is extremely annoying and stupid not to have mentioned that she was backing two different bids. However, I think Ruth's reaction is over the top. The two schemes are perfectly compatible and she was backed into a corner. Competition and conflict seem to have become much more important than conserving the environment, but that was probably the script writers' intention all along...
I thought the paranormal skit sounded like something the Ambridge Amateur Dramatic Society might have put on in the village hall so fine if it had been that, but as a s.i e of reality, even the reality that is Ambridge, not in the least convincing.
ReplyDeleteIf this gets any sillier I shall have to stop listening. Mind you, on Sunday morning when Brian sobered up and thought "Oh God, did I really say that?" then went to explain to Neil there was, in the dialogue, wonderful innuendo. "We've put the whole thing to bed" and "I may have been a little premature" - and Neil appeared to take it literally in the context of what had Brian confided in him.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sir Ron, I found the whole Brian/Neil conversations far funnier and more inventive than last night’s stupid goings-on at Grey Gables.
DeletePerhaps because it was clever use of words, puns and as you say innuendo to create the humour. Creative scriptwriting rather than hysterical slapstick
I thought the double entendres were very laboured and not my favourite form of humour, though I like puns in general. Tracy and Susan were funnier if you abandoned reality and treated it as a skit. August is traditionally the silly season of course!
DeleteI am with those who didn’t mind last night’s episode.
ReplyDeleteI have been very fickle where my favourite character is concerned
Pat—Hayley—Kirsty— Johnnie and now Tracy .
With Tracy ,what you see is what you get.
I have a feeling that somewhere along the line she is going to help Lynda out in some way and a new friendship will be formed..
I seem to be in a small minority of listeners who intensely disliked the Grey Gables incident!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I was much more interested in the altercations between Pip and Ruth.
How could Pip put the blame on her parents for ‘making her choose’ between the two projects? She put herself in that position by agreeing to participate in the two schemes and should have told them what she was doing straight away, rather than waiting until the last moment.
I am totally with Ruth in her cold attitude to Pip, but not at all surprised that David was the first to buckle and start making excuses for his precious daughter.
He really is blinkered to her shortcomings and it needs Ruth to stand firm with Pip and make it plain that such disloyalty cannot be easily excused away.
I do agree with you ,Archerphile about Pip and Ruth
ReplyDeleteWhy did the stupid girl not realise that if she was going to go ahead with her ridiculous venture with two people who hadn’t worked things out beforehand, she should have at least spoken to her parents about it before embarking on it.
I can’t understand why they wanted her to join them .
She never seemed particularly enthusiastic about it.
The actress playing Ruth was very good last night.
You could hear how angry she was.
All the actress playing Pip could do was to speak in the ridiculous way she does -a clipped ,unrealistic ,stop -start way of speaking.
She was one I could see standing there reading her lines.
There'll be something in the judges' decision to further the conflict, that's how it's been highlighted so far. Brian and Neil, Susan and Tracy: twaddle, twaddle. I may have to stop listening because I said Susan out loud this morning, it is not my name, I know no Susans.
DeleteMaybe you were subconsciously thinking of Joe Grundy’s wife??
DeleteAll the Susan’s of Mrs Carter’s age whom I know are called Sue..
DeleteI may have mentioned before that we get three Christmas cards each year from “Sue.”
If we only get two,I won’t know which one has stopped sending us one for whatever reason.
Which puts Susan Carter in a position of being distinguishable.
DeleteIndeed it does.
DeleteShe really isn’t a “Sue” is she?
Ex Londoner ,thank you for mentioning that Tracy is played by Susie Riddell.
ReplyDeleteI said when the BBC stopped our blog that I wouldn’t look at their site again so I was able to google her name without having to look at the BBC site and see that she looks exactly like I thought she would look.
Yesterday morning I had a bit of a panic when for whatever reason I couldn’t get onto this blog site.
Well I found it but it wouldn’t let me post a comment.
Eventually by going through Chrome and sorting out a password I managed it.
I know that I found it very difficult to contribute to our blog initially and wondered whether other people who were on the BBC site found the same.
I miss contributors like Annhill who gave us wonderful quizzes and Misty who taught me how to cut and paste.
I did wonder whether they were using this site but with different pseudonyms but decided that there would be no point in that .
Some bloggers like Hamburg Gardener I think preferred the more formal BBC site.
Interesting that folk read our comments from so many other Countries.
Thanks for keeping us informed about that,Gary.
I have just seen Natasha! And know why she’s not been in TA recently. 😇
ReplyDeleteOver on my FB Ambridge site someone has posted a clip from ‘Pobol y Cwm’ the Welsh soap. There she is, bold as brass and twice as noisy, accepting a birthday gift from her brother in the story. The actress is obviously very busy. (I didn’t understand the Welsh conversation, but there were subtitles, thank goodness!)
I have just heard most of last night's episode on the way back from shopping. Thank goodness for a little light relief. It can't all be arguing and double crossing and sinister motives behind every character and scene. We have the ongoing non-speaking between Ruth and Pip and the extreme nastiness of Hannah, We will have squabbling over the 'prize fund' , what a ridiculous storyline that is! In October we'll have the 'behbeh' storyline back again. Will that be dramatic, with complications? Or will it be comic with the two new Dada getting into 'hilarious' scrapes trying to cope with it.
ReplyDeleteHannah reminds me of the character 'Sonya' on EE. (Only gathered this from the horrendous trailers we keep getting early evenings. She, (I think it was her, )got away with murdering her new husband but then was convicted of a female murder which turned out to be accidental death. She just serves a purpose to 'stir' things up, bitchiness, jealousy and general nastiness are her raison d'etre in the programme. Very like Hannah.
I am still very sceptical about Peggy's Prize and I still expect an unexpected result.
ReplyDeleteI still think that no single idea, will clinch the trust money. I have read another post, which has given me another thought.
This is simply - that if some ideas are amalgamated then this would create the ideal sheme, as Peggy envisaged originally. This will set-up a new S/L - who will join up with who??
Just another wacky idea of mine, and not for the 1st time.
She was Hannah untruthful? She has always been straightforward in her dealings at work and home. As Neil’s deputy she took over when he couldn’t do the job. That’s what deputies are for. And she did a couple of things that Neil was funking.
DeleteTo me - and I know I am on my own here.
ReplyDeleteI think Hannah is quite like Kate - scheming, manipulative and not always truthful (remember Hannah with Justin when Neil was indisposed, Kate telling Jakob she was Peggy's sole carer).
There is not enough room in Ambridge for them both, so who will go + who will stay?
✔️
DeleteI have had to do catchup and a lot of reading for that’s two days.
ReplyDeleteNow we have lots of Ambridge women who are jealous, unpleasant and aggressive both passively and verbally.
What a relief 😅 to have Tracy, Susan and Mr Spread Sheet in volved in a comedy hunt the ghost.
But who is really in the rafters?
Is it the return of the dreaded Titchner?
Or maybe Mat Crawford with the contents of the 🧳 suitcase
Tracy will solve the mystery.
As Tracy might exclaim, what does he know, I sorted out the air conditioning. 🧟♀️👤
The last!!
Delete😊 I like that, Stasia !
DeleteRoy explained it was the plumbers in the rafters.
DeleteI am liking the mention of Matt + Rob, by others I, for one, would like both of them reappearing, in some future time.
DeleteProbable, yes - Possible no...
Why on earth would anyone want to see/hear the return of a mentally ill bully who used physical violence on a woman and a scheming, lying double crossing crook.
DeleteWords fail me!!!
Me too Spicy!
DeleteI would very much like to see the return of Rob Titchener played by the original actor - and not just to raise the standard of acting on the programme above its average humdrum level. The character offered a great deal more to explore about the nature of his illness. It would be interesting too, to hear how his young son is shaping up - nature v. nurture and all that....
DeleteCharming, Emma might want to contact an agony aunt instead of following her coffee table.
ReplyDeleteWell there's nothing quite like being subtle Em! 🙄
ReplyDelete... and it was all going so well ...
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any other comments yet
DeleteI thought Emma was a bit harsh with Will.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly his behaviour was out of order, but I can see how he might have misread Emma’s “this isn’t what I imagined when we got married”
Hopefully Emma’s rebuttal means we are not going to see the resurrection of that romantic triangle.
On another topic did anyone else think the abattoir chap Vince sounded thoroughly dodgy.
He certainly did.! A smarmy scoundrel, I thought. Brian was taken in because he got a good deal for the lambs, but I wondered about the abattoir's condition. Are these places inspected ?
DeleteYes I thought he sounded dodgy ... shades of Matt Crawford perhaps?
DeleteOr is it that the Brummie accent made us think that way... but it did sound as though he was trying to cash in on the misfortune of a rival.
I also thought Emma was rather harsh with Will. OK, he misread the situation and made a stupid move but Emma could have been less cruel.
DeleteRe Brian and the abattoir - all I can think about is the little lambs and their ghastly fates specially those transported to France.
Little lambs? I think you are listening to the wrong programme. This is farming.
DeleteCorrect me if I'm wrong but aren't lambs little just by being lambs?
DeleteCertainly. I was quoting your words (see above).
Delete🌏🌎🌍
ReplyDeleteAnd a huge HELLO to those of you joining us from Vietnam & Montenegro...!
Good grief..!
DeleteIt will be Antarctica next!
DeleteI will try again !! Two more blogs have vanished so perhaps no-one will be reading this.
ReplyDeleteAs far as last night’s episode is concerned, I am not surprised that Will got the wrong
idea. The way Emma was talking, it was obvious to me what was going to happen. She
was very cruel the way she screeched at him and told him nobody wanted to spend time
with him, even if there’s a grain of truth in it!!
Rest assured, Peggy Kay, this arrived !
DeleteI agree, as you & others say or imply, Emma was very cutting, but wouldn't normally speak to Will like that as she"s been exceptionally kind to him & his children since Nic's death
Her life is in tatters, & her guard was down, so she was shocked enough to shout the truth at him. She's even come to see Will as a friend, trusting him, so being hit on by him came across as a betrayal.
Will is a needy mess - she's been so good to him the last year, he got sentimental about the past & did what he so often does - act without thinking.
I thought Will was still too deep in mourning for his Nic - so much so that it was affecting his behaviour towards Poppy - to making up to another woman. Or did he carry a torch for Emma throughout his second marriage? Or couldn’t resist the chance to get one up on his brother?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think it was a deliberate act to ‘get one up’ on Ed at all.
DeleteI think he was overcome by Emma being so kind and understanding, her willingness to share the meal and evening with him, the coincidence of the date and the reminiscence of their marriage that all combined to re-kindle a feeling of affection.
What a pity she couldn’t have realised that and rejected him gently rather than screeching at him and throwing George’s attitude in his face.
I think that piece of news is going to devastate him far more than Emma’s rejection and he will rapidly descend into a suicidal mood. I really do fear for him now.
A bit more than rekindling a feeling of affection - he actually made a pass at her!
DeleteI agree with you Archerphile, that is how I viewed the incident, however I don't dismiss Maryellens comment either, he did make a pass. But surely Maryellen a pass is often the consequence of feeling a re - kindling of affection, between two people who were not only once married, but each currently feeling deeply despondent about their current situation.
DeleteWill is ham fisted at the best of times, misunderstanding Emma's kind ministrations as well as falling into a domestic togetherness, making the salad and taking the pizza out, could well be construed by him as a message from her to take that action.
Spicycushion and Archerphile I am with you about not ever wanting either Rob or Matt to return to Ambridge.
ReplyDeleteI am don’t want to explore the nature of Rob’s illness and | am not interested in learning whether nature or nurture is the important factor in the way Henry behaves.
In fact the absence of Henry has been one of the plusses recently.
LamJan - that’s a very good example of how TA listeners differ in what they value. Neither view has supremacy, of course.
DeleteI am usually in Emma’s corner but not this time.
ReplyDeleteWhy did she go round to see Will?
She could easily have asked Clarrie to go .
She led Will on.
When he asked her whether she ever regretted marrying him and she gave a definite “no” in reply she should have added then -not later- that without Will she wouldn’t have had George.
When Will said that she looked lovely on her wedding day to him she said that he didn’t look so bad himself.
What was the bloke to think?
Let’s not beat about the bush here.
He is missing the sex and it looked to him as though Emma was too.
On this occasion I was with Will and she has damaged him even more by blurting out the truth about George.
I wish she hadn’t done that.
✔✔✔
DeleteExactly what I was trying to say, in perhaps a less direct to fashion, in my reply to Maryellen at 8.31. Glad someone agrees with me for once.
DeleteSee also my reply above.
Delete100% agree Lanjan 👏🏻
DeleteI also agree Lanjan.
DeleteMaryellen if I wanted to know whether nature is more important than nurture I wouldn’t want to get the information from a soap opera.
ReplyDeleteI am given to understand that after very ,very many studies done on the subject nobody really has a clue. as to which factor carries more weight.
I
Fine,LanJan, but it doesn’t change my point that different listeners value TA for different things, and neither is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ . The scriptwriters are insured to thfact they can’t please all the listeners all the time - but neither do they displease all the listeners all the time.
DeleteIn the context of nature and nurture , it is in my opinion impossible to split the two or even to assert that one is more important than the other. Depending on their own particular biases many professionals working in this ‘discipline’ promote an ideological message to their understanding of behaviour. They have had much influence in instructing mothers how to interact with babies/children making claims that don’t always stand up to scrutiny.
DeleteOur nature DNA 🧬 creates certain biological/genetic based behaviours and traits, and nature is how we interact with the world, at a macro level, and we with it at a micro level.
Characters in TA are written to provide entertainment so we don’t see how they function in a three dimensional context. For example, how will little Rosie interact when she is evidentiary passed from pillar to post for child minding.
George is the product of split parents but being raised by a step father who is also his uncle. In this context as it all is contained within the same family, how much DNA is paternal and how much is his environment?
As someone who was adopted at 6 months old I have no way of knowing whether my birth parents or my adoptive ones have had more influence on the way I have turned out. But I’d like to think it was the ones who took me in, looked after me and loved me. Brought me up knowing right from wrong, to value others and what I have achieved in life. Made me a good wife, mother and grandmother. All those things must be down to those that showed me by example, rather than to some inherited genes?
DeleteIt’s interesting that siblings brought up in the same household are often so different from each other which suggests we are born with certain traits. Nurture must play a part in the finished product of course but it is noticeable that some babies are miserable from the word go and grow into miserable adults while for others the original sunny nature is always there!
DeleteThey are both consenting adults with some shared history behind them. It was clumsy, as these situations often are, both feeling abandoned, Will playing music he shared with Nic, Emma knew what date it was, perhaps he just took her hand, at least there'll be no more, but William will take it badly. As for Vince I think he is another Tim in the making, talk to agony aunt Brian.
ReplyDeleteI think Emma would know the difference between a pat on the hand and a pass!
DeleteTo be honest, Maryellen we don’t know exactly what happened last night, not being at Greenwood to witness proceedings. It could have been a reaching out of the hand or a full-on lunge for a kiss. I doubt it could have been much more. But Emma’s reaction was extreme. She could simply have withdrawn, pushed Will away, said ‘no’ quietly and left. To scream at him about George was unforgivable and I think she might regret having done so later.
DeleteA full-on lunge? Oh I say, steady on... :-))
DeleteI think he just tried to kiss her but a lunge might have been involved!! Oh dear! Poor old Will! I hope this isn’t the precursor for him to follow in the footsteps of that other gamekeeper, amour of Helen and then Emma feels forever guilty about her outburst re George! No one has made allowances for Will’s grief. He isn’t the most likeable of characters at times but still.....George isn’t very likeable either! Now all Will has is Poppy. I can’t understand why he doesn’t want Bev to see her though unless he fears Bev will be instrumental in taking her away. We shall see!
DeleteWhether a touch of the hand, a move towards a kiss, or a full on lunge, isn't really important. Regardless of what it was, Emma didn't like or want it.
DeleteI think her reaction, however horrible cruel or unnecessary was in my opinion as understandable as Wills action towards her.
These things can happen between two people with a deep personal and complicated history.
It’s perfectly clear to me that whatever action it was that set Emma off (Archerphile says a pat, I say a pass), it was Will who initiated it. Agreed, we can only speculate what his motive was (LanJan says sex, I say revenge,others say nostalgia). Emma”s motive in visiting him was simply compassion. When it rebounded, she reacted - rather more strongly than necessary but that’s the scriptwriters’ way.
DeleteBut you know the most irritating thing about Emma? That she doesn't recognise there is a "T" in the alphabet. "What's the ma' 'er with you?". I bet she has a bu' 'erfly ta' 'ooed on her bu' 'ocks.
ReplyDeleteFallon does the same, but that's how the scriptwriters want us to hear them.
DeleteOne of my pet hates too Sir Ron. Can’t understand it as it is easier to pronounce the words with the T!
DeleteIt's their local accent. Most other places, it just sounds sloppy.
DeleteIt's not an accent; it's an affectation. Estuary English and the famous glottal stop. As Ev says, it's easier to pronounce the words with the "T" firmly in place. At some point Emma said "A ' all". So much easier to say "At all".
DeleteYou are right,Maryellen.
ReplyDeleteDifferent viewers value different aspects of The Archers.
For example Archerphile and I agree on many things but whereas I found the Brian/Neil episode rather pathetic, Archerphile found it amusing but didn’t enjoy the Susan/Tracy episode at Grey Gables which I did.
There are several million listeners to the programme of whom we are a very small proportion and may or may not be a representative sample.
I am trying to think back to the last time when virtually all of us were moved by or really enjoyed an episode.
One that comes to mind-vaguely- was one involving Emma.
She of course is played by an excellent actress
Was it with Peggy?
Also wasn’t there a touching meeting between Peggy and Helen when she was in prison?
What I do think is that it makes such a difference when the character is played by a good actor regardless of the storyline
A cosy night in with pizza and 🍻 beer. Emma could have said no politely and gone home to finish the ironing. Instead, on the anniversary of her and Will’s wedding, she decided to indulge herself, and him reminiscing about the past. I suspect she was feeling sorry for herself and jumped at his invitation to stay.
ReplyDeleteShe knows he is a difficult person, and was certainly aware of his over protective behaviour and misuse of Mia as a surrogate Nic. Both would appear to have misunderstood each other’s intentions. However she didn’t need to be so nasty in rejecting his, for a bit of nooky.
She wants to be acknowledged and accepted and he is becoming more insular and emotionally lonely.
What brought them together was the upcycled coffee table!! But I thought Will was only keeping it so that eventually Emma could have it back. Didn’t Ed give Will the money, so why is in his room being used?
Poor Paarpy, Will will now shrink back into a more obsessive mood and she will not be looking forward to going back to school or he to work on Thursday.
Emma could have indeed been polite & just said 'no', but, as I said earlier, her life's in tatters & though she's not a wimp or prissy, he shocked her & she over reacted. OTT, but understandable, as she's had to bite her tongue many times with Will over the last year, has shown compassion & forebearance, but last night she was just looking for friendship & a few relaxed hours.
DeleteI think Will said that he was using the table because he didn’t have anywhere to store it,Stasia.
ReplyDeleteLanjan. I should be more awake when I listen and then I can write factually. Like this morning N/N what a load of half asleep gobbledygook.
DeleteNow I’m confused 🤷♂️ Emma thought Will bought the table for himself. She isn’t aware of Ed’s involvement so why would Will say he had nowhere to store it?
Good point ,Stasia .
DeletePerhaps I got it wrong.
On the other hand perhaps Will implied originally that he had bought her stuff with the intention of returning it when she and Ed did eventually have their own home and maybe other bits and pieces have been stored somewhere.
As you say we know that Ed in fact bought it
It is a pity that Emma doesn’t know that.
I think we are entitled to feel confused by this plot device.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear to me that it is intentional.
Perhaps they have not yet decided the trajectory of E&E relationship and are therefore hedging their bets.
I have been trying to post a comment all afternoon but it just wouldn’t ‘publish’, so this is an experiment to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteWell, blow me down, it worked!
DeleteWhat I was trying to say was that Ed gave Will £100 to buy any items left over at the end of the garage sale. He did that because he didn’t think Emma would want him there or accept any money from him. He asked Will to keep this secret and to store any items he managed to buy, so that Emma could have them back when she found somewhere to live. The coffee table was one of those items, but must have been too large for Will to hide away.
Your experiment has been a success!
DeleteI have been trying to investigate the possible reasons why you (and Peggy Kay!) are having these continued problems Archerphile - at the moment I don't have an answer, but will keep looking....
OK - I just listened again re coffee table: Will - I'll keep it for you at Greenwood and whenever you need it it's yours. Emma just seemed surprised that he was using it instead of storing. She told him last night that she only came because she felt sorry for him (and herself?), beware of pity, always a double edged sword. Whoever did what, they are both in it together an there'll be repercussions. The good outcome is that there will be no speculations about their future together.
ReplyDeleteAh, but there will. Will Will will her the coffee table after his suicidal demise (as some here predict)? Sorry, that makes no sense. Just trying to play with words here. I'll get my coat...
ReplyDeleteThat's why I often call him William, just like Clarrie, someone said that mothers like to call children by their full names.
DeleteIn my case you are quite right,Basia
DeleteA daughter in law and friends may shorten a man’s name but usually a mother calls her son by the name he was Christened with.
Does it work for daughters too or would a daughter tell her mum what she would like to be called?
My daughter is Michelle but her husband and all her friends call her Mitch. Her father and I could never to that, she will always be Michelle to us (and her brother).
DeleteKaty was named after my favourite childhood book, “What Katy Did”. However, I gave her the full Katherine name so she could choose. We always called her Katy though! The shortening I hate is Kat but thankfully she never went down that route!
DeleteForget Will, Emma + Ed.
ReplyDeleteI am more concerned about Poppy, Kiera + George and where they are living and who is caring for them.
Children, and their care, should surely be a priority?
So the dating app has worked!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that when Neil and Mike Tucker built the Carters' home it was a four bedroomed house.
ReplyDeleteKiera and George are living with their mother Emma at the Carters'.
Poppy is with Will at whatever he now calls his tied cottage.
William is not yet returned to work and so is looking after Poppy and it seems that Susan and Neil (with some help from Tracy) are taking the brunt of the caring of Kiera and George.
Just caught up on the last few episodes. And you know what? I enjoyed every second of 'em!
ReplyDeleteTracy acting like an unprofessional bumpkin? Loved it. Ruth hating on Pip? Loved it. Jakob computing human emotions? Loved it. Brian letting it be known that 50% of meat sales from at least 6 farms in the area are to France? Loved it. (Although, I can't QUITE work out how that small nugget of info has any bearing on anything at all in the farming community in the UK at the moment. It's almost as if... No, Gary. Don't be silly....)
I thought it all made a pleasant diversion from the miserable hell that is going to rain down on Ambridge any day now.
Almost forgot! Emma & Will's hysterically ill-advised idea to have a few cosy drinks together on the anniversary of their spectacularly failed marriage whilst she has just been dumped by his brother and he is still mourning his dead wife was a touch of comedy genius too!
DeleteIt's the best attitude Gary, isn't life a farce anyway?
DeleteKate is about to be 43yrs at the end of Sept 😡 for pity’s sake she is not one of Ambridges youngsters in less than a decade she will be 50 but acting like a 15 / 16 yr old all girly and giving points 🙄I loved Jacobs (?) reply to her revelation though and at least she is not ruining anyone else’s life!
ReplyDeleteMy mother and one sister were Grandmothers by her age and by no means were they stuffed shirted fussy duddies but at least they had a more mature attitude.
So we must gird our loins ready for next week baby-gate is about to begin 😱 in earnest. Will all go well...🤔
Oh dear Shula!
I'm trying To ‘gird my loins’ for the return of Lexi next week, Lady R. But not looking forward to it one bit. (Wonder if she will be played by the same actress?)
DeleteJennifer will go into full gush mode.
Adam will sound more laconic than ever and Ian all bouncy and excited.
And poor Roy....what will Roy feel when he sees Lexi again?
Will the birth be straightforward, probably not, given Ambridge’s baby history.
Will Lexi hi-tail it back home after the ‘hand-over’
Oh, and how come she is allowed to fly here so close to the end of her pregnancy?
I’m beginning to wish my forthcoming 2 week, Wi-fi-less holiday was going to start next week, instead of November, so I can avoid this particular story for a while
The middle-class characters do tend to have the attitude that the lower orders should know their place. However, yesterday I found Shula's disdain and rudeness towards Tracy particularly objectionable. Indeed, what sort of vicar will she make?
ReplyDeleteOh I wish I hadn’t known about Lexi returning.
ReplyDeleteI am probably the only one who prefers not to know who will be in next week’s cast but could there perhaps be a cast spoiler alert if we are going to have a returning character?
Thanks .
It was actually spoken about in last nights episode Lanjan, otherwise I shouldn’t have commented.
Delete“Once a malevolent entity enters the world, it takes over”. 🧟♂️ 🧟♀️Couldn’t find a 👻 with blond bouffant hairstyle..
ReplyDeleteExactly Tracy and you unwittingly brought Shula down from her holy high horse. 💕 I love Tracy.
Kate and Jakob slobbering as dum de dum kicked in was extremely unpleasant to to my early morning 👂 ears.
My loins are also girded as Ian and Adam become fuss pots.
Roy will become a love 💗 sick pest. It will be time to pass the bucket.
I think the Tracey character is being groomed as a replacement for Joe Grundy in the comic/cunning peasant role. He is a great one for ghosts.
ReplyDelete