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Life in Ambridge

Comments

  1. *** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***


    Lanjan - June 11, 2020 at 10:29 AM
    PtbY I take your point ,11:26pm yesterday (gosh you were up late!) about the BBC making an effort but in my opinion it was a very feeble effort and may well have back fired.
    If we had been denied anything to do with The Archers for several months and knew we were going to return to where we left off ,I think most people though disappointed would have accepted it and looked forward to it re starting.

    Stasia I am obviously even older than 105 because I started to blog in my 70s!
    Though I says it myself as shouldn't I really don't look175 years old!




    carolyn - June 11, 2020 at 10:33 AM
    I'm rather with PtbY (11.26 last night). There was a desperate attempt to make Helen more likeable - will do the broadcast, actually refering to mum as a human being with needs, rather than a childminder on tap - but I have a confession : I just don't WANT to like her ! 😗she's been wet, self absorbed, parasitical, patronising, precious, & evasive for too long for her, suddenly, to have a lightbulb moment & reform, imo ( also disappointed that Lee, who was originally a fairly interesting newcomer, has turned into a nonentity since becoming commited to Helen)

    Couldn't but chortle at Stasia's characterisation of Natasha, but, another admission, I do warm to her.....a refreshing change from those stodgy, parochial types.

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  2. Found part of an old episode from 1984 on YouTube...

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  3. I imagine Jill was an ash blonde like you, Archerphile, so that’s another thing you have in common with her!

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    1. 👩‍🦳, I wish! Now it’s more 👵🏼 !

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  4. Gary is that you top left of picture?

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  5. Replies
    1. It was Joe Seasider, but it was long ago, when he was a much younger man.
      And in 1984 was still a relative newcomer in the cast.
      He was around in Ambridge but his role became far more prominent once Clarrie had married Eddy.
      Jethro was Clarries dad. A lovely man and always one of my favourites.

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    2. Mine too Mrs P, along with Ned Larkin.

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  6. Thanks Mrs P. I don’t remember Susan or Clarrie’s weddings - listened a bit in 1983 then regularly from 1985, but I remember Jethro and how Bert took his place at Brookfield.

    I have to say I thought this week’s episodes were alright. They seemed to me to flow better, not feeling stretched to fit the time, not so contrived, the characters were in character, admittedly not all likeable characters but consistent, there were references to other characters as well as previous stories plus insights into those speaking which I found interesting. I also liked the emphasis on the farm and their businesses and how they are affected at the moment.

    Perhaps I am easily pleased.

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  7. I laughed tonight in TA.
    It was Helen and her white coat - A cross between a Pharmacist + Mrs Overall.
    She described me to a T.
    That was my style exactly.

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  8. I was confused at first until I realised there were two different recordings.
    The first was Jethro Larkin ,Clarrie's dad with Neil and the lamb .
    I thought he sounded like Bert Fry.
    Jethro's dad was called Ned
    (A cricketer who played for Northamptonshire in the 80s and 90s whose name is Wayne Larkins was known as Ned.)
    The second was Joe with Clarrie.
    There was enough in that episode to show that Joe the leopard unlike many of the other characters of late, didn't change his spots.characters

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  9. I am probably well alone here, but I would love to hear Joy, with some of her thoughts.
    Why?.....I still think she has a story to tell, about her past + the non -visiting children, despite the bedrooms , with the names on the doors, still ready + waiting.



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  10. You don't hear of many Jethros around now-if any.
    I believe a lot of midlanders were given biblical names
    My maternal forebears came from the midlands.
    My great grandfather was called Ebenezer (he called himself John as you would)
    His brother was Ezra and their father was Ambrose

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    1. I don’t know about biblical but my Midlands mum had a cousin called Winston Churchill, honestly! Seem to remember from listening then that Jethro was quite a character and he did sound like Bert Fry! Joe was so patronising with Clarrie but she just laughed it off. She was very good to him through the years.

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  11. Tonight’s musings..... Helen still 🤮
    Tony ok.
    Can’t beat a bit of Jethro.....Jethro Tull 🎶🎵

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  12. I found it a bit unlikely that Tony would be quite so exercised about his hair cut - worrying about what Pat thought of it and annoyed that other family members laughed.
    I shouldnt have thought he would have cared a jot what he looked like or what anyone thought. That part of tonight’s programme just didnt ring true to me.

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    1. Tony should have stuck to his guns and not agreed to put on a baseball cap - yuck. Shaven heads are so fashionable and commonplace these days, who cares.
      Tonight's effort was much better all round I thought.

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  13. I called my cat Jethro when I was about 8 years old, in the early 70s, my Mum couldn’t work out where I got the name from, I think I probably heard it on the Archers, Radio 4 was always on in the background. My brother had a friend called Geoffrey so that may have fed into it as well.

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  14. Hang onto your hats!

    Next week it’s:- Lilian / Justin / Kate / Jakob
    (😱 or 🤣 depending on ones view)

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  15. Oh Lady R!
    That a Spoiler!

    But now that you’ve told us who it’s going to be, I think I might give next weeks episodes a miss, so you might have done me a favour.

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    1. Ooh apologies AP 🙄 however we are a mixed bunch and some are choosing to opt in and out that is why I sneaked a preview. Promise I’ll behave from now on 🤣 🙃

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  16. It took Helen 11minutes to yawn, I was yawning 🥱 9 minutes before that and continued for 3 minutes after her. The dum de drums were interesting.

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  17. LadyR. I shall look forward to Lilian and Kate. Don’t know about the other two.

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  18. Ooh. Think I might be looking forward to next weeks episodes now.
    Well anything is better than dopey Helen.
    Just hope Lillian and Justin aren’t back to filling time with lockdown sex!!!

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  19. I have no idea what happened yesterday when listening to the old episode above. but I missed much of Clarrie's and Joe's conversation. A dreadful old man he was even back in 1984, which was why I wasn't ever exercised about his death and funeral, although, of course, I admired the actor and his talent. He certainly wasn't a lovable old rogue!
    I do remember the episode where Susan told Neil that she was pregnant. I am sure they hadn't been going out that long but perhaps I'm wrong?
    I'm certainly glad Helen's stint of monologues is over! Tom has also confirmed what a nasty little one track mind he has! But John was always on about making a fortune too with his pigs I think too.
    However it was lovely to hear a true farming story and reminded me of how Jill often ended up with a new born lamb in the warming drawer of the Aga! (My grandmother often had freshly hatched chicks in hers!) Thanks Gary for finding that!

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  20. We've already heard Lilian's internal monologue about *herself* when she talked over Lynda's bed.

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  21. Does that episode represent the ‘Golden Age” of The Archers”?

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    1. maryellen. Thought you might to know that Mirander Sawyer wrote an article in the Guardian 30th May about the faults in production of the Archers. Pointing out some of the issues you mentioned previously. She is calling these monologues “snoresville”. I agree.

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    2. Thanks, Stasia, I missed that. I agree with LanJan about the feeble attempt that’s been made, which I.’m matching with a feeble attempt at listening, so feeble it barely exists! I don’t know whar’s to become of the programme but without a change of editor, I’m afraid it will flounder, and possibly founder.

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  22. Does anyone know how much longer these monologue editions are going on?
    I thought it was to be for just 4 weeks, in which case next week would be the last.
    But maybe I dreamt that?

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    1. I guess until we are permitted to meet more than one person at a time!
      BBC website has a one-liner teaser for episodes up to week ending 26th June. The cast list for that week features six people.

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  23. I remain wishy washy about the (I hope) temporary format of TA.

    I know that several of you have mentioned following "Doctors" on lunch time BBC TV.
    Yesterday there was a special episode made in lockdown with the actors working from home via a video telephone app and given 15 minutes extra air time. It made no effort to continue the ongoing story lines but was rather an entirely self contained piece about the effects of lockdown on the practice and the different characters. I thought it extremely entertaining and well done - just shows what could be done with a little thought.

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    1. Pierre, re: "Doctors", there were favourable comments like yours from Miriam and Archerphile on the the other blog.

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  24. I enjoyed the 1984 episode! Thank you, Gary! It fits in perfectly with the lovely experience I was able to share with my 19-month-old grandson on Thursday as I was taking him back to mummy and daddy. We saw the transhumance! It feels as if one has stepped into another century! Just on the edge of town, munching away at the lush, long, clover-filled grass outside my local swimming pool there were I'd say about a hundred sheep, some biggish lambs, a few goats and two or three mules, all kept expertly and briskly in order by three very mixed-breed dogs commanded by a mutter by the two young shepherds. My grandson was awestruck! With small children everything is fresh and new, although I must say that although I have seen the transhumance before, I still find it fascinating! I have no idea how far they walk but the Alps must be at least eighty km from here. The smallest lambs are put into pockets slung over the mules' backs until they are strong enough to walk.

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  25. The following morning I saw them again. They had moved a few hundred yards along the main road and were busy chomping away in a new field.

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    1. How wonderful Hilary! There are regular reports on the French news at the moment from Pyrénées, Alpes, Massif Central..

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    2. Back in the early 90s I helped take a party of Scouts to Kandersteg, Switzerland from 25th August to Sep 4th. On the day before we left we were called to run up to the main road and we saw many groups of cows and goats being herded down to lower pastures accompanied by men and women in National Costume. The large cows had miking stools decorated with flowers attached to their foreheads! All the animals had bells round their necks, some of which were huge!
      We left the next morning just as the first snow of the winter started!

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    3. What a sight! We don't live close enough to the Massif Central to have seen it, not been in the right place at the right time on hols either, would love to!

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    4. Sounds incredible! I'm jealous. But in a good way!

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    5. The only sound as we watched was the gentle clanging of the bells. Magical! The dogs certainly made no sound as they shot to where a young lamb, a small brown goat and one of the ewes had got too close to the road. The dog jumped towards the ewe's flank and pushed her away from the road with his nose.

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  26. Hilary,did you see Heidi and Peter?

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  27. Hilary, I've never heard of this before, I shall have to look it up. But it sounds magical. Like Gary I am envious.
    However we do have the cows out now on the Commons Rodborough Minchinhampton and this year Selsley, again. ( there has been a couple of years where the farmers have not put out their cattle on Selsley but I'm so pleased they are back again this year)
    Last year I saw a similar incident to that you describe.
    A mother was at the edge of the road with her calf. Many of the herd were already on the other side. A car was approaching and the calf stepped out, mum swung her head sharply towards the calf and whacked it in the chest. It fell slightly back and the car passed. When she saw the road was clear she stepped out and crossed. And of course the calf with her.
    It was clear to me that she was teaching her calf about crossing the road, and I felt privileged to have seen it.

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  28. Hilary we see the sheep when they come down from the mountain at the end of September. They can cause quite a bit of havoc with traffic and stomping over vegetable fields. A few years ago i was out walking with a couple of friends in the countryside just outside the village when we came across them grazing .we walked on and as we did we could hear a bell clanking behind us. An angry old Billy goat (the 4 legged kind), horns an all had started coming after us. It must have chased us for about 50 metres before it turned back to the flock. We laughed later on but what a bloody fright.
    We have a festival in our village when the cows (le signore. .the ladies ) return from their summer residence in the mountains . We still have about 4 families in the village who keep cows.
    Anyway there is tyrolean music and the cows are beautifully decked out with flower garlands an bells.
    I live in a part of Italy called the South Tyrol. It was actually part of Austria until after the first world war so there are still a lot of Austrian traditions.

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  29. I could really picture what you described, Hilary (3.24pm yesterday), how vividly you put it across. Reckon I'd have been as transfixed as your grandson ! Never seen anything like that. The way dogs, livestock, humans, work together sounds organic, a journey from high to low land & back that has gone on forever, every year. (Remember reading the Heidi books vaguely, but haven't retained any of that)

    You can see how this stirred up some adjacent memories in others, too ! Reading all the posts is a great deal more riveting than anything coming from TA these days....

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  30. We should wish a very happy birthday to June Spencer who is 101 today!
    Can’t help wondering if we will ever hear from Peggy again though.
    It might be difficult for her to cope with recording at home and who knows how long that is going to continue?
    There cannot be many programmes with regular participants aged 101, so many congratulations to her. 💐

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  31. I am so glad to have told you about the transhumance and love the way one account leads to others creating a great conversation.
    I didn't catch sight of Heidi or Peter or Grandpa so can only assume they had gone on ahead to open up the chalet!
    Autumnleaves, I'd have been terrified of that angry goat! I lived in the South Tyrol in the early 70s. I made a Scottish friend there and I remember we used to call it "blue-apron land" because the fruit farmers all wore identical blue aprons.
    Mrs P, I loved your description of mummy cow teaching her calf the green cross code!

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    1. And they still do Hilary (wear blue aprons). I think it's a prerequisite of becoming a contadino and don't forget the plains flannel shirt and alpine hat😁😁😁

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  32. I witnessed a herd of passing cows with bells in a village in Piemont, marvellous.
    In France someone released a video of joyful transhumance at the end of lockdown.

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  33. I watched The Transhumance, several different You tubes.
    It looks wonderful and loved too the way people followed on behind, clearly making a day out of it.
    It also brought back again, because I often do think about it, the winter breaks we had for several years in Snowdonia. While my husband spent time with the children I would sit and watch through the large caravan windows the sheep being swept in white waves down the mountain sides by the dogs. I suppose they were being moved from one pasture to another. I found it magical.

    Thank you Hilary for bringing this subject to our conversation, it's been delightful.

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  34. I have put a photo (thanks, Archerfile, for instructions!) of the transhumance. I expect it becomes more joyful as they get into the foothills but here they are still on the plain, on the edge of an industrial town and the stark contrast between the timeless tradition and the twenty-first century makes it even more special.

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    1. On a clear day the Alps would be visible to the right of the swimming pool and sports hall behind the chemical plant.

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  35. I remember being told about transhumance in our geography lessons.
    I found it fascinating.
    When we used to go to South Africa for our holidays we always went via Zurich (as cheap to go Business Class that way as ordinary class with British Airways)
    We used the train to go between terminals and as it travelled they played the sound of mooing cows.
    Think I have to re read Heidi now.
    That was my favourite children's book.




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  36. I made a decision today.
    I will no longer listen to the nightly episodes, just the Sunday Omnibus only.
    Why? Easy answer. The episodes flow on continuously and the thoughts from all, just link in so well together.
    I understand why there are now, only 4/5 characters each week.
    This is the way to get the most out of TA, as it is, for me, on a personal level only.

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  37. This afternoon I listened to a play on Radio 4, called The Mikvah. It was part of the Lockdown Theatre Production series.
    The producer explained at the beginning that many plays were due to be put on in London, or halfway through their runs, just as Lockdown started. Plays that may not be given the chance to be staged again because many theatres may never open again.
    So he and his team had decided to ‘save’ these works by “getting the actors to record their parts at home and then we would stick the recordings together” so that they could be aired on radio.
    That way the writers and actors work would not have been entirely In vain.

    I listened to The Mikvah (a play about two Jewish lads and their observance of religious laws and the traditional practice of ritual bathing in the consecrated synagogue bath - probably of no interest to anyone here, but I enjoyed it)

    And I honestly could not tell the actors had recorded their conversations separately. It sounded exactly like a play performed and broadcast in the normal way.
    Perhaps our esteemed editor might have a word or two with the producer and sound editors of the Lockdown Theatre project to find out how it is done!!

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  38. Lovely posts on here today. I have so enjoyed reading them just now. The transhumance sounds wonderful. I love seeing the animals roaming around the New Forest and I have mentioned before staying at a retreat house in the midlands. Last summer I got up at dawn to drive back home as it was extremely hot, and before I could leave I had to wait for the sheep to make their way down the hill where they graze every day. There seemed to be one sheep marshalling the others. It was fascinating to watch.

    I read Heidi several times when I was a child and I still have my copy.

    Archerphile, I like the sound of your play. I might just look it up, although I have quite a backlog queuing up just now...

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    1. I wish I had my copy of Heidi. It was a green hard backed copy, and had wonderful illustrations on both the cover, and on the inside pages. I have no idea what happened to it. I suspect it went to a jumble sale, in a house move in the '70's.

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    2. Seasider - I had to go out shortly before the end of the play, so I shall be listening again on Sounds catch up.
      But the main point of my post was to note the fact that it was recorded *as a proper play* not as a series of monologues. Which just goes to show it is possible to record different voices and marry them together in a convincing sounding conversation.

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    3. I think we’ve seen more than enough lockdown broadcasts of various kinds to realise that what the TA editor was really saying was: (Every one else can but) we can’t do dialogue. What an admission!

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  39. I am disappointed that nobody commented on my post early today about June’s Spencer’s 101st birthday.
    That is a pretty big milestone for anyone, let alone for an actress who is still (until lockdown) regularly appearing in a radio series.
    I thought it was worth noting.

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    1. I had done that thing of replying in my head & genuinely thought I had replied in "real life" too AP! You are entirely correct, so Happy Belated Birthday June Spencer!!!

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  40. I noticed it Archerphile and actually mentioned it in a conversation with my daughter this afternoon, as her husbands grandmother is also 102, and living alone and independently ( with some care) in Cornwall.
    I didn't comment on it as I didn't have anything to add to your own words.
    But it is I agree remarkable that JS is still a working actress, though I also fear, like yourself, that depending on how our society mends itself post lockdown, we may not hear from her again.

    A really heavy shower going on here at the moment, and the sun still shining so there must be a rainbow somewhere too.

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  41. I01 years. Well Done June Spencer. I hope she will be heard in TA again, and doesn't retire and become a silent character.
    I am missing birthdays in my own family, let alone others.

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    1. It only seems like yesterday, when we were saying Happy 100th.

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    2. How true Miriam. And what a different world it was just a year ago!

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    3. Happy Birthday to June Spencer and I agree that I would hope we will continue to hear from her.

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  42. I bet you Emma's been in a Primark queue since 3 this morning...

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    1. If Emma were to be in the Primark queue and she had a call from Helen or Fallon on her mobile she would tell her that she couldn't chat because she was in the check out queue at a Waitrose.


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  43. Archerphile, like Gary I also stored Happy Birthday to June Spencer inside my head!
    She's called June because of the month she was born in, I suppose.
    As for The Lockdown Theatre I gave it a brief chance on Saturday and on Sunday half an hour, but I agree that the production didn't sound disjointed.

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    1. I had a friend at school named after the month she was born, but the combination of her first and surname was a bit unfortunate......April Knight!

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    2. My mum's friend's maiden name was Blanche White

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  44. We went for a walk in nearby fields yesterday and stumbled across this little clump of Pyramidal Orchids, all on their own, no more to be found anywhere in the area. Mr A was ecstatic, he does love orchids, it made his day.

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    1. Oh whoops, that should be on t’other blog!

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    2. Never mind. Just lovely to read, as I another orchid lover.

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  45. History repeating itself: we all know what happened when Lilian made Matt discover his family!

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  46. Oh gosh! I wasn’t going to listen this week but succumbed by force of habit.
    I wish I hadn’t.
    What a tedious 12 minutes. And that dreadful laugh, far too often.
    Thank you Mr Howe, that was more than enough of goings on at The Dower House.
    I might possibly join you again next week.......

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  47. I wrote “oh dear” 🥱
    At about 8pm where did that go 😡

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  48. I listened with only half an ear and that was too much !

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  49. Same here, Mrs P ! A relief to read all 3 comments above ( not just me being negative then....)
    At least you picked up on something that was being said, Basia !
    All I got from it was that the actors were trying too hard with a dreadful script.

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    1. It felt to me as if the Editor had decided Justin & Lilian should appear somewhere during the monologue season.....but hadn’t a clue about writing a story for them.

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    2. ......and the only thing I picked up was that Peggy is still alive.

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  50. I have decided that anyone listening to this rubbish must have tendencies towards needing tedious and painful experiences. Myself included. Why, oh why are we putting up with this tripe when anyone with a discerning brain wouldn’t even bother to switch on and tune in.
    These S/Ws have become sadistic and we their masochistic listeners.
    To paraphrase T Leary, I turned on, tuned in and now am dropping out.

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  51. I was looking forward to listening to Lilian this afternoon! Judging from the reaction on here it sounds like painful listening...

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    1. Dépends how much you enjoy Lilian and her irritating cackle, Gary.
      Oh, and how much you would enjoy Justin talking whilst cleaning his teeth and spitting in the basin! 🥴

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  52. I had enjoyed most of these monologues but last night I have to agree was dreadful! Apart from anything else I only caught every other word! What was the point?
    Posters on fb also disliked it but had come to the conclusion it was supposed to be humorous! I feel like telling this week's S/W not to give up the day job but I suppose this is her day job!

    Archerphile - I think the 'worst' sound effect I heard was the zip being pulled up when Jennifer walked into Lilian's room at Home Farm when Justin was visiting! 😨🤢🤮

    As others have said the TV daytime soap Doctors last episode of this series on Friday was fantastically done, all by Zoom or just individual mobile phone calls. It probably helped because imho I think there are far better actors in Doctors than in TA. I will now get my hat and go!

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    1. No need Spicy! That was a beautifully produced episode of Doctors, recorded in the actor’s own homes, and put the Archers efforts to shame. I think one of the problems last night, apart from an appaling script, was the over-acting of both actors.
      Perhaps they thought it was required when recording in their hidey-holes but it just sounded very amateurish to me.

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    2. What I found with Doctors, was the cameraderie, the problems with the surgery, some fantastic humour, but it also highlighted the seriousness of Covid19. This might be able to be watched, as a one-off, without knowing the characters.
      Any humour in TA is non-existant and I don't understand why an actual 'phone call between characters, does not happen.
      The S/Ls are getting so monotinous.
      I am only listening to the Sunday Omnibus, so I can't comment on last night. At least my meal was on time + not overcooked.

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  53. So dreadful that I found myself listening, keenly, to the sound of the mower, when I re listened today.
    I did so in order to convince myself of my attitude when writing my post last night.

    I didn't however succeed in my quest.
    Was it a push along grass cutter which I thought I heard at one point, or was it what I would expect to hear from ' spend a pound a minute ' Lillian and ' I am an important man with acres of lawn' Justin, a full blown ride along motor mower ?

    And well done Basia.
    Yes, Lillian should have learned that lesson, but clearly, she didn't.
    Will history repeat itself ?

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  54. I agree with all the above criticism of last evening's cacklefest. Just about as amusing as switching of a friends life support system! Dank in the extreme!

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  55. I have hardly ever seen Doctors but as I was about to switch the
    tv off on that day post lunchtime news it started and I was transfixed - very well done indeed!

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  56. Lost the plot if there was one. Kate sounds softer when she's not talking at people in her preaching way.

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  57. That's another thing I have never done.
    I have never watched Doctors ,Casualty ,Holby City or Call the midwife.

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  58. From what you are all saying it doesn't seem that I am missing much by not listening to "The Archers."
    Signed
    "One with a discerning brain"
    (According to Stasia)

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    1. I’d like to be your co- signatory, LanJan!

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  59. Thanks for the update, Basia - saves me from listening.... May exert myself, or not, to read the synopsis after Wed. + Thurs. Enough already !

    Not a spoiler, but Radio Times indicates a few things that just possibly could be of some interest to us next week. Please don't blame me if that turns out to be fake news.

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  60. Had to switch archers off mid way tonight before I 🤮

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  61. The last two evenings, after some hard work in the garden, I fell asleep while listening to The Archers. Were these episodes really as inane as I blearily perceived? Is it worth catching up?

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    1. I'm perversely looking forward to them now Ex - I'm wondering how bad they can actually be!!

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  62. Ive just listened. Most of it was an online yoga lesson with Kate and Jacob.
    But the last piece from Kate has scared me stiff.
    If she is...... you heard it from me first.
    I don't want to think it, but Kate sounds as though she might be pregnant AGAIN.

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  63. I thought it might be The Menpoause. Hope so. For all their sakes.

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  64. I appreciate the catch up here, everyone - now I know there's actually no need to listen !

    Be it pregnancy or menopause, we know Kate will extract maximum drama & attention from the situation ! 😎

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  65. I don’t think that is true of Kate’s behaviour when she mistakenly thought she was pregnant (or her behaviour in general). I was genuinely moved and sorry for her and Jakob. I hope she is pregnant this time - but will rely on comments here to tell me!

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  66. An online yoga session? Yawn, yawn.
    Kate pregnant or menopause? Yawn, yawn.
    Glad I didn’t bother to listen.

    But to be fair, it’s probably because I have no time for Kate even in normal times and find Jakob incredibly boring, so hearing them in this format was going to be a no-no for me anyway

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    1. Downward facing dog pose, upward Facing dog pose🐶🐕. Dog pose against A 🪑 chair.
      Reminds of trying to read the Kama Sutra the early Indian Sanskrit manual for sex poses. Just as in yoga.

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  67. Stasia, they were both turned on by the yoga, just as well Hilda intervened with a mouse or it might have been sex online!

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  68. I've tried to remain positive about the monologues but it is becoming increasingly difficult. For me the Lilian/Justin was the worst one so far.

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  69. Jennifer has four children and she had Alice late but Kate would be all over the place.

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    1. Kate is excellent with Xander.

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    2. She doesn't have to wake up in the night for him !

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    3. So we can assume she would be okay with that too, since we’ve no information to the contrary.......

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  70. Sorry for jumping to one possible solution and not two.
    Yes, I hope it's the menopause and not a pregnancy.

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  71. Basia sounds absolutely awful although it wouldn’t surprise me if Kate and Jacob did entertain themselves. Bouncy castles come to mind.
    Kate pregnant? Surely even in lockdown she would have been able to get hold of a test kit.
    We are now into 3months of lockdown so any conception would have happened before then. If she is ‘with child’ she might not realise especially if she she is still experiencing vaginal bleeding. This is quite common in the first trimester.
    Kate lives in never, never land and perhaps a baby 👶 is like a cuddly toy 🧸 given as a birthday/chrismas present and then abandoned when the thrill wears off.
    If it is the menopause I:suspect many people will be relieved, Pheobe comes to mind.

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    Replies
    1. She certainly seems like that, Stasia - one of those who are all soppy about babies, but swiftly balk at the day to day demands of motherhood, which is not accompanied by the bouquets & celebrations attached to giving birth. She's got form - three children she has not nurtured through their childhood. I've no empathy with her whatsover, though I think most of us would have with a woman who, to her surprised delight, thought she was pregnant, only to find it wasn't so. With her, could only be pleased she reconciled with Jakob again, but not before doing a drama queen number beforehand. I will never get over the fact that she shafted her long suffering parents ( Albeit aided & abetted by Ruth's argument), forcing them out of their home, for the sake of her silly & pretentious Spiritual Homes.

      I rather like Jakob ! Not an 'Ambridge Average', zilch social skills but honest with clients; he made Shula see sense about over feeding & under exercising one of her horses & it was satisfying to hear her swallow instructions & follow them !

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    3. I think we should get a few facts straight: Kate did not force her parents out of their house (as if she could!). She suggested an alternative to selling land as a more effective way of raising the amount needed to pay the price of Aldridge’s criminal negligence. Her family were not bright enough to work this out for themselves. Spititual Homes was and is a viable business and Kate has put her back into it, to make it so. It has a stream of satisfied clients. To call them silly and pretentious is a personal value judgment, which not everyone would subscribe too.






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    4. Different memories.
      Stream of clients ? Mmn.....
      Criminal negligence ? Unproven. Negligence, yes, & that's what he's paying for.
      Kate never expressed any interest in saving the land, that was Ruth's point which Adam believed had merit & the others reluctantly acknowledged. Kate was prepared to sue her parents if they sold land near her yurts, because the ensuing noise would spoil her 'vibe'. Pretty shabby behaviour.

      One thing annoyed me more than anything else about this SL is that the family never, in our hearing or by report, investigated the validity of the legal case they were threatened with They only had the daughter's word on what a lawyer had advised.

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    5. *To me* the whole point of this exercise was for the Aldriges to downsize - Kate expected them to put her up because she let out her home to keep her business going.

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    6. It was criminal negligence. Aldridge was facing the possibility of prison. Sadly it didn’t happen.

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  72. Carolyn - I normally hate spoilers and make strenuous efforts not to peek at the R Times or Archers website to see what’s coming up.
    But your comment at 9.08 last night has been niggling at me all day and I finally caved in just now!

    And I see what you mean! I’m not listening for the rest of this week but certainly will next week 😉






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    1. Likewise 😉 for next week.
      (I attempted a hint to tantalise, but not actually say anything...)

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    2. If the present perfomance is to continue, no need for spoilers. The scripts will spoil things beyond our wildest imaginations Carolyn.

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  73. When did Kate and Jakob discuss having a family?
    These overdone outpourings of love all of a sudden.
    How about a last chance baby when all hope abandoned?

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  74. Brian lost his home as a result of poisoned fish in the Am by the chemicals which resurfaced after the years. Kate's establishment stands on the Home Farm land which she partially owns.
    Emma and Ed lost their future home and he his job as a result of chemicals introduced by a newcomer who mysteriously disappeared taking the noxious evidence with him.

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    Replies
    1. Basia. You have suddenly become a melon? Are you good enough to eat?
      Agree Pierre, No, No and No again.
      Don’t think God has anything to do with creating children, I do believe it called sex, coitus, or in Helen’s case Intrauterine Insemination.

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    2. I should have added rape and the Titchner method of procreating.

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    3. Plan A is possibly to listen on Monday and if that proves interesting I may listen on Thursday.
      There is only one storyline I am interested in at the moment

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  75. Stasia, it's a water-melon, I prefer to think of it as a cucumber red inside, from the same family, I believe in Italian it's called cocomero and they are getting better as the summer progresses.
    Children are delivered by storks!
    In Helen's case I prefer to call it artificial insemination that is: AI !!

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    1. And usually left under gooseberry bushes. I came to the conclusion storks must like gooseberries.😉

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    2. Maybe Jacob could buy Kate one those ghastly Cabbage Patch baby dolls.
      They could play Mummy and Daddy and never have to hear it screaming at night.
      I do believe the cabbage patch children can wet the bed. Carolyn they might be able to cry 😢 for the real effect.
      When Kate gets bored she can always sell the Cabbage baby on eBay.

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    3. .....which is not so different from what she's done 3 times before, but even better than eBay - no cost ! Roy & Hayley picked up the tab for Pheobe & her ex did the same for the other 2 in SA !

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    4. Oh dear, Maryellen will have something to say about those two posts I’m sure.
      But next week will be a different subject, won’t it, Carolyn? ☺️


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    5. I think I’ll wait, Archerphile, until the Kate-bashes have something new to say!

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  76. Ladies ,please don't get your hopes up.
    Red herrings ,methinks.

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    1. Trust us, Lanjan, trust us. Nothing major, I imagine, but a step in the right direction. It doesn't have to be much, does it, to improve on this week ?

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    2. Lanjan, I think it will be more of the same. Archerphile and carolyn are teasing us and being naughty.

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    3. As if, Stasia ! 😉
      Can only hope Lanjan picks up on our sincerity...

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  77. I’ve stopped listening. I really have tried to be positive about these monologues but the vomit inducing Kate and Jakob were the final straw.

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    1. Not to forget the sexy duo of Lilian and Justine.

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