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Life In Ambridge
Life In Ambridge
Hello Archers family!
I hope you're all staying indoors, staying well, and enjoying The Archers!
It's at times of stress and anxiety that I always ask myself, 'What
would Tracy Horrobin do?' I have a feeling she'd be dealing with this
all pretty well. Hopefully we'll find out soon enough! As for me, I'm at
home with my husband and two small children doing
a lot of junk modelling, charades and watching of Peppa Pig (not my
programme of choice but hey, it beats the news!)
I think of The Archers production team and listeners as one big 'Team
Archers' and at this time more than ever, it feels like a wonderful team
to be part of. Thank you for continuing to listen, to shout at your
radios, to cheer and cry with the residents of
Ambridge. We're with you in this and we'll be with you when it's all
over. Tracy and I raise a glass to you all (and she's just downed it - I
can't keep up!)
Very best wishes,
Susie Riddell
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteArcherphile March 28, 2020 at 6:28 AM
I have been listening to the Paul Temple series this week, as accompaniment to my afternoon jigsaw sessions. But these newly made series have one big drawback - no Coronation Scott introductory music! It’s that tune that sets the scene for me and raises the hair on the back of my neck!
MrsP Ambridge March 28, 2020 at 11:05 AM
Like you Archerphile that piece of music means Paul Temple to me.
It takes me back to childhood, hearing that through the wall as I went to sleep told me that all was right with the world.
There were also rows, but if I heard that music, I knew that my parents were comfortable with each other that evening.
The Village Shop : who has been running it, and the Post Office part, while Susan has been away for such a long time?
ReplyDeleteShe is sure going to have lots to gossip about once she gets back in harness again!
Who's that little lady outside the village shop?
ReplyDeleteShe has a walking stick, so no idea.
DeletePeggy
DeleteAren’t the shoes wonderful. They colour match the cardigan. Wonder what she is looking for in the handbag?
DeleteI know! Carole T.
DeleteShe hasn't been heard from for years, so how is she doing, now?
She needs her bus pass for when the bus arrives.
ReplyDeleteThat's what she is getting from her bag.
It's in the inner pocket.
Can some-one remind me when the next TA episode is - Sunday or Monday?
ReplyDeleteSunday, Miriam, which means we get two doses of TA tomorrow - an omnibus AND an episode.
DeleteWhich is daft, having both on the same day; should’ve have used Mon -Fri, as everybody keeps saying.
She’ll be lucky MrsP. A bus in the sticks, maybe she’s confused. The last one was twenty years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think it's Jill checking to see if she got all her ingredients for her lemon drizzle cake.
ReplyDeleteDon't think so, Jill's much taller than this lady.
ReplyDeleteMartha Woodford - having just closed she's checking she's got everything before crossing the road?
ReplyDeleteI don't see a bus-stop.
Having been in self-isolation for a couple of weeks now just popping in. Do hope you're all keeping well and stay that way. At least TA has perked up in the last few weeks, I'm actually listening quite regularly again. Too much imposed time on hand!
All the very best to you all - Hamburg Gardener (in case you've forgotten who HG is!)
Hello again, we're doing our own Desert Island Discs on the other blog, if you'd like to take part, just let Gary know, he's been looking after us in Ruthy's absence.
DeleteIt's Kathy. She's aged a lot during the years no-one has seen her.
ReplyDeleteI like that Mistral. I did 😆 laugh.
Delete🤣🤣
DeleteWelcome back HG. I must look up Martha Woodford have no Issa who she is. We are doing Desert Island Discs. Add your name on the other site.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you have been well.
Heavens to Murgatroid! Why won’t this iPad do what I want.
DeleteHello Hamburg Gardener. How lovely to hear from you again. I do hope you are keeping well or as well as can be expected. It's lovely to hear from so many old friends. We are having a great time choosing our Desert Island discs on the 'off topic' blog!
ReplyDeleteI agree it could be Martha Woodford. Perhaps it could be Peggy many years ago, popping over from The Bull but perhaps that doesn't fit with the timeline? Can't remember when she retired from the Bull and moved to Blossom Hill Cottage.That was when Kate, Roy and co were very young teenagers.
I always imagined more picturesque cottages and houses in Ambridge but so many of the BBC pictures are of rather unattractive 60s type buildings.
BTW I recently found a picture of Brookfield in a book but can't find it now! Very annoying but it was a quite substantial, very old attractive building. I'll see if I can find it tomorrow.
It's Rosie,
ReplyDeletePip promises to take her on a bus journey for her 5th birthday. She's still waiting for the bus to arrive : )
Yes, her mother thought that if she left her there long enough by herself she would re-wild.
Delete🤣🤣 hilarious both of you.
DeleteDid Martha Woodford run the village shop? Remember the name but not much about her! Yes, welcome back, Hamburg Gardener!🌷🌻🐝🍅🥒🌶🥬
ReplyDeleteWillkommen zurueck HG! (can't find the umlaut..)
ReplyDeleteHG, nice to see you, to see you nice...!
ReplyDeleteLovely to see you again HG even if your only ' popping in ', but very pleased that you are.
ReplyDeleteMartha Woodford turned the telephone box in Ambridge into a message box ( gosh ! I've forgotten now ) or something. She used to put flowers in there.
Spiceycushion ?
Welcome HG.
ReplyDeleteHello HG, welcome back! 🙋♀️
ReplyDeleteYes, Martha Woodford was married to Joby and real village gossip. She used to keep the old red phone box neat & tidy and full of flowers.
I can’t remember what happened to her in the end though. 💐
Wasn't Joby played by Ted Moult?
ReplyDeleteTed Moult was in TA but played the part of Bill Insley, a local farmer. The character was written out, I think, when Ted Moult died and the part wasn’t recast.
DeleteA least he had a true ‘country’ accent, there was no mistaking him for anyone else!
Great minds! I was thinking of Martha and her phone box yesterday. Didn’t Joe Grundy have his sights set on her in later years, long after she was widowed? I only remember Joby as her late husband but I believe Ted Moult was in the Archers for a while. (Phew, I think I am back in to the blog 🤞🏻)
ReplyDeleteMartha Woodford died in January 1996. Bert Fry found her lying dead in her garden when he called to take to a meeting.
ReplyDeleteWhen the public telephone was disconnected Martha led the campaign to keep the red telephone box outside the shop and it was changed into a 'Message Centre.' Certain villagers take it in turns to sweep it out and keep it clean.
Joby died in 1983. He was played by an actor George Woolley. (You can tell I've got a new TA book can't you?. The Archers Encyclopaedia pub BBC 2001)
Ted Moult auditioned for the part of Dan Archer (when either Monty Crick or Edgar Harrison died) but wasn't successful. Because he was such a popular personality at the time the part of Bill Insley was created; a retired farmer who came to Ambridge after selling his farm to the National Coal Board!
He courted Martha after Joby's death during the three years he lived in the village , but the main connection between them was Neil Carter. Neil had lodged with the Woodfords when he came to the village to work for Phil Archer. Later Bill Insley let him rent some land at Willow Farm for a chicken/egg business and lent Neil money to repair the barn he was to use. It was Bill who encouraged Neil to change to pig rearing and when Bill died of a heart attack he had left a substantial parcel of land at Willow Farm where Neil and Susan live, now they have built their own house there.
Can’t be Martha Woodford because they wouldn’t have had zig zag lines on the road in her day or modern looking rubbish bins.
ReplyDeleteShe lives alone because she only has one small bag.
She is a bit short of cash because she is counting her money before she goes into the shop to see if she has enough.
She is not fashion conscious because the trainers she picked up at the Charity Shop on a day out in Felphersham fit her just fine and she can just about get away with wearing pop socks .
It is a nice spring day so she has decided that although she still needs her wool tweed skirt she will not require a coat.
Since there is nobody who fits her description ,she is a silent character or even one who has never ever been mentioned.
Goodness Lanjan your imagination is in overdrive. I like this explanation being isolated is working wonders for the make it up as we go along. At least she is self isolating and keeping her distance. Is she the only mature person left in the village?
DeleteIt’s Jill coming off duty and checking she hasn’t left anything vital behind. She was medium height when younger (judging by the photos in my book) but may have become shrunken and/or stooped with age.
DeleteYes, it was Bill Insley.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's definitely a woman ; )
DeleteCould it be Freda Fry?
Lan Jan 10.54 a.m.
ReplyDeleteForensic analysis. Did you ever work for the Met?
It’s the ghost of Martha checking out those strange road markings!!😉
ReplyDelete4 times a week from May and a different format. Actors will record from individual home studios and there'll be more of the personal reflections.
ReplyDeleteWell, that will sort out the true devotees from the rest!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYes Basia and coronavirus will be involved from then too. Not sure how it will all work, if actors can't be together will characters be phoning each other?? How will Susan pick up all the gossip/news??? They'll be 2 months behind us with virus situation!!
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily, Phoenix, if they make it clear there's a time gap between the last recording in April, & the new format in May. Could be a Lynda monologue, with the odd inserted grunt from Robert, saying how glad she was to be at home now, still bandaged up etc, & not using up NHS time & space when it is so desperately needed elsewhere...
DeleteThey said less (obviously) interaction but still usual bickering. I look forward to their ingenious ways to keep the show on.
DeleteI'm quite happy to accept whatever 'they' give us in order to keep TA alive.
ReplyDeleteI won't be complaining.
Me neither, MrsP. I'm sure they can make it work, and it'll be quite a challenge for both cast and scriptwriters. But they may even enjoy it once they (and we) get used to it. Well done them for rising to the challenge.
Delete👍
DeleteIf one could choose which character’s personal reflections one heard, that would be fine by me, but 15 minutes of Bert Fry on his slug problem, Jim Lloyd on the Peloponnesian Wars, or Jill Archer on almost.anything, and I’m off! Nor doI like the sound of the”usual bickering”. I’m no fan of disputational ‘drama’.
DeleteI agree Mrs. P, some normality feels vital at this point in time plus a Covid-19 free zone would be like a breath of fresh air!
DeleteSomething is still bothering me about the fire. When Roy was doing the head count he said that Nat and Freddie came in that day to help out but were not on the roster. He said that Nat had left and Tracy informed him that she saw Freddie leave when she and Emma were in the car park. Then Freddie was inside, perhaps he rushed in to rescue Lynda and there's no more to it than that.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Freddie go to change back into his trainers?
DeleteNot sure..
I listened to the omnibus this morning. I hadn't realised how two faced Philip is.
ReplyDeleteI hope Kirsty finds something out, soon, for her sake.
PS I am glad Justin will probably not be using Philip + his gang, at Berrow.
DeleteThis also means Neil will be in charge of Hannah for a while longer.
Yes I hope so too, before its too late, but she is going to seriously question her judgement of character when she does!
ReplyDeletePoor Lynda, as if things aren't bad enough... Peggy visits. She sets my teeth on edge....
Unders , I thought the announcement yesterday said that eventually Ambridge would be locked down like the rest of the country, but that this could not be inserted until the present recordings had been aired.
ReplyDeleteI understood this to mean that coved 19 would be reaching the village in due course.
I imagine this will be spoken of as though it had been happening for weeks and stories will be tweaked to reflect this.
As someone else said, a challenge to writers and cast.
It seems very odd to be expecting a Friday cliff hanger this evening.
But then life is all upside down at the moment so perhaps it will not feel so strange after all.
It was me that mentioned the challenge, MrsP. I think it might be something that both cast and writers might enjoy. Certainly not in the normal run of things and a chance to show just how versatile they can be.
DeleteGillian Reynolds thé radio critic and Archerphile, like me, wrote a longish piece about the programme today in the Sunday Times. She seemed to be quite critical of the current Editor for ignoring the corona virus crisis and not making the efforts to insert references to it, thus making Ambridge an unbelievable virus- free zone. She said the previous editors, Sean O’Connor and Vanessa Whitburn would definitely have done so, even though it would have meant quite a bit of re-jigging.
ReplyDeleteBut from what has been written above, it seems that the village will be able to acknowledge what is happening in the rest of the country. Perhaps the enforced (and hopefully temporary) format will be a good thing.
I am enjoying my nightly escapism to a corona free enviroment.
DeleteFor me, it is just nice to hear about normal life, for a change, which I no longer live in.
It would have taken a heck of a lot of re-jigging, just when they're not allowed to get the cast together to re-record.
DeleteAs it is, it is going to be a challenge to set up the new format and to bring Ambridge in line with the rest of the country.
If this blog is anything to go by, Ms Reynolds is in the minority. I think most of us are just grateful we still have Ambridge to escape to, and we're quite happy to accept the current shift into a parallel universe that enables Borsetshire to function normally while the rest of the world is going into lockdown.
I still don't understand, why Linda hasn't been transferred to a specialist burns unit.
ReplyDeleteShe had full depth burns.
But do we know she hasn't been ?
DeleteNo we dont, but if she had, wouldn't it have been mentioned.
DeletePerhaps I missed it.
Where's the burns unit? Birmingham, perhaps. Lynda's better off in her Covid-free bubble.
DeleteBesides, most of the characters never seem to venture past Felpersham. If Lynda got transferred she would have fewer visitors. 'Though, judging by tonight's episode she might think that's a good thing.
I'd say that Lynda was back to her old self tonight, from being dopey she certainly became very animated railing at her fate, Freddie certainly was unprepared. She must be sick of people telling her how brave she is and how well she's doing. Yes, the initial horror is involuntary, reflected in one's gaze.
ReplyDeleteArcherphile, I agree with Gillian Reynolds to an extent, but on the other hand it couldn't have been just one insert, it'd have to be mentioned on a daily basis as it is everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gillian Reynolds. It could have been done but this editor wasn’t up for it. The result was that The Archers became a bit of a joke. How did the tv soaps handle the crisis?
DeleteI don't know, I don't watch them. But they're probably finding it even harder at present - it's rather harder to record a scene from home when you need vision as well as sound.
DeletePerhaps when the soaps have to come off air the viewers will migrate to the radio.
Quite, Basia, some reality at last ! Poor Lynda, how could she feel any differently. When she can stand it, when the pain is less, she may well be helped by some counselling, secular or religious. Hard for inexperienced Freddie to listen to her raw despair, but no bad thing for him to have been exposed to.it, also the truth about the medal.
ReplyDeleteThat was to Basia 7.
Delete22 - doesn't make sense if applied to 7.28 comment !
I've not liked the woman from the start, it was like Peggy yapping on about her mother to Lynda.
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed by Freddie’s reaction to Lynda’s distress. He sounded very mature trying to deal with her very raw outburst. I think many a young man would have become very embarrassed and left the room quickly. But he stood his ground and tried his best to reassure Lynda.
ReplyDeleteFreddie has certainly grown up a lot recently.
Archerphile ✔️✔️✔️
ReplyDeleteI thought Lynda (the actress who played her) acted tonight's episode brilliantly. It was heartbreaking to hear Lynda so despairing but I'm sure that reaction would be one of the stages that a patient would go through when coping with such devastating injuries. Freddie coped well with all that realism, grief and pain.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts too Annveggie! I even (just for a moment!) took to Freddie. Just for a moment though....
DeleteI hoped she was going to step up and prove to be an excellent trainee midwife.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm sure Josh was happier to have Brian as his assistant instead.
I have just read the whole of the notification from the BBC Press Office about how they are going to take The Archers through the crisis over the next few months.
ReplyDeleteIt makes eminent sense and it is comforting to know the ‘ powers that be’ are determined to bring us our favourite programme, even if for only four nights a week, eventually.
They are having to rethink/rewrite the scripts and also having to install the technology to make it possible for the actors to contribute from home. In fact, going above and beyond - after all, they could have just taken TA off the air for the duration
It’s a pity that Gillian Reynolds did not read the press release before writing her piece for the Sunday Times.
I think Gillian Reynolds’ comment is entirely valid. She was making the point about the editor and production team not doing what it took to introduce the issue of coronavirus earlier, when it would have been possible. What they do about the producing the programme during the subsequent clampdown is a separate issue, and whether the solution they have come up with is completely, partially or not at all satisfactory, remains to be seen (or rather, heard!)
DeleteGillian's article is behind a paywall so I can't comment on it.
DeleteConsidering how much the virus has caught world government on the hop, and how quickly the situation is changing, it would have been quite some challenge to keep the Archers up-to-date. Even episodes re-recorded a week in advance would face being superseded by the time they aired.
Besides, Ambridge has it's own big drama in the explosion and Philip's exposure. This is going to impact on the story for sometime to come. At present Ambridge is in its Covid-free bubble and there is time to begin to work through the repercussions of Philip's villany.
I wonder how many of us are realising all the preparations we should have made 3 weeks ago in anticipation of the current events? (Buying shares in Andrex for a start!)
Sorry Gillian, and Maryellen, covid-19 is coming to Ambridge later than the rest of the UK but in the meantime we still get the Archers, and the team is working hard to ensure this continues. I for one am happy to accept that : )
Many years ago there was a spoof on the tv show "Dragnet" by , I think, Stan Frieberg. The phrase I remember was " The story you are about to hear is true. Only the facts have been changed to protect the innocent."
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion this is the mantra for many a " journalist"
As you can see from the top of the page, we have received another lovely message of support - this time from Tracy Horrobin herself (the wonderful Susie Riddell)!
ReplyDeleteHow lucky are we...???
I agree with Gillian Reynolds and Maryellen 9:55 am..
DeleteAll the editor needed to do was to cut out the rubbish we have been hearing recently like the conversation between Jo and whichever Archer brother it was and put in a conversation between any two of the cast speaking from home .
They could perhaps have half a dozen of the cast involved to say a few words (two at a time if they liked) about the Corona virus and then about 3/4 of the programme could remain as it was.
Joy not Jo.
ReplyDeleteSUSIE RIDDELL many many thanks for your kind message very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteLove to you, your family and of course Tracey 🤣 not forgetting everyone on TA team.❤️
Well 😆😊, good to hear from you, Tracy, & your alter ego !
ReplyDeleteWhat a cheerful, friendly message. Be assured, I think I speak for the vast majority, we don't shout at the radio when Tracy breezes in.....
Lovely to have another message from a cast member
ReplyDeleteThank you Susie Riddell.
As said previously, I have no complaints regarding the Archers as it continues or as it might have been.
Wasted energy to complain under the present situation.
Personally I am grateful that I am not a member of the refugee community in Syria, never mind a change in my listening habits of TA.
Mrs P, I'm sure no one here is so out of touch with reality that they don't see that others in the world are having a much more difficult time in the crisis than we are. However, this blog is to do with The Archers so it is perfectly in order to talk, agree/ disagree, about anything to do with the programme, from apparent Ambridge virus immunity, the weekly schedule changes, down to plans for the future when the cast can't assemble in one studio.
DeleteHave one on me Tracy🍷🍷💕💕
ReplyDeleteThank you Susie Riddell. Cheers!!
ReplyDeleteI am also thankful for whatever way they choose to continue The Archers.
Lovely to hear from another member of the cast, cheers Susie!
ReplyDeleteIt has been good recently to hear Tracey's character developing. She has always been around, of course, to remind Susan she's really a Horrobin, to tell everyone that Roy's *really* boring, and to provide a bit of comic relief. But recently she's been allowed to become a more rounded character and we're learnining of her strengths - all credit to Oliver for recognising her talents.
(Although I do have to take exception to her dissing the Carpenters when Roy played their music in the car ...)
What we are experiencing now certainly helps one sort out one’s priorities. Were such a choice possible, I would happily lose The Archers for ever if I could meet up with friends and family for coffee or a meal or at the theatre again.
ReplyDeleteWholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, Maryellen.
DeleteAm also grateful to the TA.team for working towards a way of continuing after the end of April, & don't have a view as to how it should be done. It's a case of 'wait & see' !
Thanks for that, Susie /Tracy, cheers! 🍷🍷
DeleteTo me it's not a choice between life and fiction. It's about how the programme will carry on and I'm open to all options available, I had no problem doing without in the past.
DeleteThanks for the lovely message Susie/Tracy. I’ve really enjoyed your character coming to the forefront more. Gives a bit of humour when some has been much needed.
ReplyDeleteI don’t mind how the archers develop over these next months. I’m just grateful that they are trying to keep it going.
I’ll raise a glass to you all once the sun is over the yardarm. Or as I say... it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. 🍸
Lovely message from my favourite character Tracy. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your message, Susie. Like everyone else l am enjoying the development of Tracy and her interactions with everybody. I do like when you and Lynda parry. (l hope Lynda picks up and you both will work together again). Gary what contacts do you have to get all these celebrities? (l suppose you couldn't put me in touch with someone who knows about toilet rolls?)
ReplyDeleteHa!
DeleteHow lovely to read these messages from the Archers band of actors. It makes me feel really appreciated as a listener and I’m sure they realise how much we appreciate their work.
ReplyDeleteI have just come in, having taken my daily exercise to find the wonderful Tracy (Susie Riddell) has sent us a message. Tracy is a woman of 💡 ideas and I’m sure she will suggest GG be opened up as an emergency field hospital to care for the likes of Peggy, who might just pop her clogs. Wishful thinking on my part.
ReplyDeleteI found the interaction between Freddie and Lynda very moving, distressing and brilliantly acted.
Lynda’s reaction to her physical injuries would be perfectly normal and her emotional suffering has been contained. It is interesting that she expressed these pent up emotions with Freddie her rescuer. He was clearly bewildered with her comment that he should have left her to die having initially shown pleasure at his visit. She is emotionally in hell.
Robert is too emotionally upset to perceive her agony.
Spot on stasia ✔️ 👏🏻 ⭐️
Delete✓✓✓ Likewise. She can't let rip to Robert, she knows he couldn't take it. Freddie, young as he is, isn't involved, personally, even as a son substitute, & it makes such sense that in her physical & emotional agony, she would rail against life, & who more suitable to hear her despair than the one who dragged her out of harm's way ?
DeleteThe whole encounter was distasteful and it was written by Keri Davies. Chloe must have been that doctor at the beginning because there's no one else listed. She gave doctors a bad name, firstly having Lynda to spell it out to her, secondly saying it was due to the medication, anybody knows that if you don't move nothing else does.
ReplyDeleteI do hope Tracey gets granted an audience with Lynda. Her particular blend of blunt common sense might be just the tonic Lynda needs.
ReplyDelete'Yes, Lynda, you look a fright - I thought for a minute you'd borrowed my Chelsea's halloween masks. But think of the fortune you'll be saving in lipstick. Anyway, you've got to get better quick - Grey Gables'll be reopening soon and I haven't finished my apprenticeship yet. Don't let me down Mrs Snell, we're all behind you, so you just get well OK?
'Oh yeah, and if you get 'clogged up' as it were, don't let them give you any of that Fibergel stuff.Made of sawdust. I know, I had it when I was pregnant. Prune juice, every time. Mixed with a large swig of wine to help it down!'
Yep, I reckon Lynda would cope fine with the Tracy approach, OWias ! You've nailed her - I can hear her voice.
DeletePerfectly expressed, Pierre....
ReplyDeleteThank you your lovely message Susie. I just have to hear Tracy's voice to start smiling and wondering what she is going to come out with next.
ReplyDeleteTim Bentick did say in his message to us last week they were trying to build a studio in his house and he was trying to help. The only problem I can foresee is the quality of the sound. It's bad enough with all the reporters phoning in . Not sure how how the production team can overcome that?
ReplyDeleteOWIAS - I have really missed your imaginative additions/alternatives to the scripts for many months. Thank you. I can certainly 'hear' Tracey there in your post!
Yes ,so can I, Spicycushion.
ReplyDeleteI hope Tracy will not be quite a# blunt as Old Woman reckons but it will be Tracy who helps Lynda the most.
Lovely to hear from Susie! I think Tracy might be that blunt but she will go to see Linda whether Linda wants her or not and we shall see! It’s hard to know what to say in these circumstances but Tracy has never been lost for words!😉
ReplyDeleteI sympathise with Lynda’s problem and the doctor was quite right. . Opioid painkilling drugs like morphine and codeine play havoc with your intestines and constipation is a very well known side effect- as I know only too well! I’m only surprised Lynda hadn’t already been prescribed something to help things along!
ReplyDeleteAgree with Archerphile.
ReplyDeleteMy two recent surgical stays in hospital were both accompanied by heavy doses of opioids and I was warned of the problem and asked regularly if I needed help with my bowel movements.
Fortunately for me I didn't have the problem, but many do, and I don't think the doctor was at fault for saying so to Linda.
I do however agree that much of tonight's episode was tacky, and I repeat what I said last week. TA seems to be playing out these tacky scenes in an aim to appeal to a younger audience.
I’m not so confident about Tracey’s ability to ‘talk Lynda out of it, judging by her lack of success when Oliver was beating himself up about his personal failings. She only murmured a few subdued platitudes. Maybe she will fare better if she’s given a different scriptwriter.
ReplyDeleteOn another Archers site I saw a tweet from Keri Davis saying he would never tire of writing scripts for Tracy. So we may have more good ones to come.
DeleteI agree with Mrs P that tonight's episode was tacky. Very juvenile behaviour, sniggering etc.
ReplyDeleteLynda sounded irritable and thoroughly fed-up tonight, understandably.
Lovely to get a message from Susie who is playing the character who has increased in popularity recently .
DeletePierre... 😂😂😂
ReplyDeleteOWIaS. Spot on, Tracy is the pick me up tonic Lynda needs.👍
ReplyDeleteI listened in disbelief at the Doctor’s response to Lynda, no sense of compassion. In real life the nurse would have offered laxatives when administering the opioids. It’s standard procedure.
Another dose of misogynistic writing ✍️ I cannot believe that the F1 wouldn’t have realised Ben’s age! Even when 🥴 drunk. She should have recognised the HUGE intellectual gap. I suspect nothing sexual happened because they were both inebriated. But he thinks it did.
I wonder if Lynda is planning something, hence the forgiveness???
Oh, dear, I wondered that too...SO, enter Tracy pronto, to remind Lynda that life still holds laughter, absurdities, friendship !
DeleteI thought the same thing last night but couldn't bring myself to write it down.
DeleteLynda needs professional psychological help and somebody needs to pick up on this. At the moment the s/w are pushing insensitivity to the limit (Peggy, the stupid doctor, even poor old Robert who is locked in his misery). Lynda knows she will never be the same person again - somebody needs to get through to her and make her believe that life will be worth living again and that she will find new purpose in it.
Of course if the actress wants to leave (for understandable reasons) the s/w can continue down this route and put us through more agony. I do hope there is a middle way - perhaps Lynda living with disability but taking a lesser role in the community.
I agree for me Tracey and Lynda make the female equivalent of Jazzer & Jim, odd couples maybe but both work and make for interesting listening. Being so different each one brings something different to the party.
DeleteI have discovered this on you tube. “Lucy’s week in Ambridge”. Week 16th. Very funny. Amazing what one can discover when self isolating.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Stasia. It's very good. I've already passed it on to a friend and I plan to watch another couple of episodes later today.
DeleteThank you stasia. I've watched one episode so far. Very funny, although, so much has happened since the week that I watched, that I'd almost forgotten the plot! Have save the site so that I can laugh my way through some more.
DeleteBack to the archers last night (or this morning in my case).I found it really strange that a couple of self proclaimed cool dudes (Josh and ben),😞😞 would take it upon themselves to go and visit an elderly woman who isn't a relative in hospital.
ReplyDeleteObviously a vehicle for ben to bump into Phoebe soundalike Dr. Chloe
Yes, but also Ben and Ruairi have been exercising Monty, so there was a link.
DeleteYes, I also got the feeling that Lynda was trying to put her house in order thinking that she may not survive but it wasn't clear to me. The way she is it doesn't help being told that she is needed, yes, you may need me, but what about *me*, I'm not here to please *you*.
ReplyDeleteAgree Basia, that is Lynda's position at the moment, and I believe she is entitled to feel that way.
ReplyDeleteShe knows that Robert would fall apart without her. She is clearly the love of his life.
The Ambridge community ' needs' her as much as Robert does, but must she suffer within a broken body in order to please the world around her.
Selflessness can only go so far.
Of course it is in the gift of the SWs how the rest of Lynda's future is developed.
Should she exist for the sake of others, or leave us, with memories of her.
She is angry and appalled at her present state of health and being. This state of mind may continue and consolidate, perhaps turn to bitterness, or she may come to an acceptance of life lived differently but with a strong spirit enabling her to endure the life changing challenges wrought by this accident.
I love whovever posted that, Linda + Tracy are the female equivalent female "odd couple" reflecting Jim + Jazzer.
ReplyDeleteTracy needs to visit Linda, to motivate her.
Tracy can move her onwards + upwards, in both the short- and long - term.
How come even when Pip is not being particularly obnoxious, I still find find her totally annoying ? It must be me !
ReplyDeleteNo it isn’t just you,Carolyn.
ReplyDeleteI do too.
And me!
DeleteShe is just one of the reasons I long for there to be some characters in Ambridge who are actually likeable!
ReplyDeletePhew ! Relieved the feeling is shared...
DeleteShared by many!
DeleteJustin really is a wily old fox isn’t he?
ReplyDeleteFirst getting stupidly naive Phoebe onside about buying old buildings to convert into offices - of which he will pocket a good percentage of the rent.
Hardly conducive to the rewilding scheme but he talked her into it and it looks like she’s talked the other two into agreeing as well.
Then twisting the knife really hard when agreeing to let Moss and Son continue with laying the new road at Berrow.
But somehow I don’t think they are going to be around long enough to complete the work.
Roy is going to visit the young workman in hospital soon and that (I hope) will start the end of the very nasty business Moss et fils are conducting.
Yes, AP, Roy could well be the one to bring this story to an explosive climax !
DeleteI don't remember Kirsty & Shula having chats before, but it's happened a few times recently, so I reckon when Kirsty's world collapses, it'll be Shula who'll be giving female support ( Roy will give masculine friendship), &, at the same time, demonstrating to the Archbishop or whoever, that she's got the character & ability to enter the ministry !
ReplyDeleteTwo birds, narrative wise, killed with one stone.
All of it more convincing than Kirsty turning to the useless, self absorbed Helen for succour. Who was it who wrote a sharply funny & plausible snatch of dialogue between K. & H. the other day ?
'Twas I!
Delete