this post is closed
Life in Ambridge
Life in Ambridge
Life outside Ambridge
Popular posts from this blog
Life in Ambridge
THIS POST IS CLOSED "longer off topic comments' - Episode 8 Life Outside Ambridge Beach Chairs
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteArcherphile - July 29, 2020 at 11:04 PM
You are perfectly entitled to like Joy, Miriam, everyone to their own choices.
Personally, I found tonight’s episode excruciating - Joy rabbiting on and on and on, followed by Fallon getting all mumsie with little Daisy.
12 minutes of nothing.
Oh , when will this end - not next week I think, there are only 4 episodes again, so probably more monologues. 🥴
Basia - July 30, 2020 at 8:55 AM
Agree Archerphile, after fly tipping stupid Johnny doing the same in search of stupid card. At first he blamed Freddie for the idea and then Joy for reading his horoscope!
maryellen - July 30, 2020 at 9:21 AM
Is it still better than nothing, Archerphile?
I really am beginning to wonder Maryellen! After last nights effort I think I’ll give the rest of the week a miss
DeleteOh, that’s only tonight isn’t it? 🙃
I was very much for supporting the team’s efforts in the beginning but from the Lilian/ Justin week I dropped out but I am looking forward very much to the return of the cast episodes 🤞🏼 sooner rather than later!
DeleteHello GG. Where did you find my portrait?🚂
ReplyDeleteHello Gromit. Love the Ardman Productions.
DeleteBrilliant choice of film-ette Gary. Who doesn’t love Gromit & pals.
DeleteGood old Gromit et al. Thanks Gary!
DeleteSeveral years ago we went to the Aardman exhibition at Lands End. At the time it was mainly Shaun the sheep, but Wallace and Gromit were there as well. Great heading, it brought back memories.
ReplyDeleteGreat clip GG!
ReplyDeleteDidn’t bother to listen tonight as apparently it was Harrison again! She should have married Jazzer. At least life wouldn’t be dull!!
ReplyDeleteBut Tim got arrested thanks to Joy! 😲
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they've got Tim Oatey. Good for Joy, although not sure it was the wisest thing to do.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that! Maybe Harrison will nail Phillip next!!
ReplyDeleteNice one, Joy! Will Tim shop Ed?
ReplyDeleteIf Tim shops Ed he will be shopping himself.
ReplyDeleteOnly if he isn’t already incriminated.
DeleteI don’t think Tim will realise that Ed rang Crime Stoppers, but he may target Joy, Harrison did say he heard intimidating behaviour.
ReplyDeleteIf Ed came forward to shop Tim I would hope he wouldn’t be prosecuted, he was pretty far down in that food chain and has already paid heavily.
The fact that kitchen units were in one of the loads makes me wonder if there is a connection with Mr Moss, after all I don’t imagine Philip is not going to be overly concerned with where his waste ends up.
Or the Aldridges.
DeleteOh yes I am sure the 'Aldridges' will fly tip their rubbish on Brookfield land and beggar up their own combine harvester. What a ridiculous idea!
DeleteThe Aldridges are the only people in A,bridge we have heard with a connection to kitchen units. We have not heard that Philip and Gavin do interior refitting, only structural work. The Aldridges put excess stuff from.the Home Farm House into storage in the Home Farm buildings. It is plausible that their old kitchen units were stored there too, until the space was needed and they, or possibly one of them, took up Tim’s offer to temove it, without worrying too much about what he would do with it. (You will remember the track record for not worrying about dumped waste. So my theory is perfectly valid - no need to rubbish it (haha!)
DeleteOh bother!
ReplyDeleteMy boredom with Wednesdays episode stopped me listening last night!
And I missed Harrison’s finest hour, arresting Tim Oatey.
And apparently, that annoying Joy had something to do with it.
I shall have to listen on catch up now! 🤭 😉
I had the wireless on but wasn't really listening at all.
ReplyDeleteSo now that I know I shall be sure to be listening at 1.45 today.
AP & MrsP - to me it was still Harrison talking to himself...
ReplyDelete......or even 2pm Mrs P!
DeleteWho the heck is Daisy?
ReplyDeleteHarrison's niece. Off-spring of his brother who needed to be with wife while she had second child. I often wonder how we, (of a certain age) managed to give birth without husbands/partners there!
DeleteI was one of many spearheading the campaign to allow husbands to be present at birth way back in the early sixties.
ReplyDeleteThen when I couldn't ( give birth) and was taken into theatre for C Section, my husband ran away, not found for over twenty four hours.
I was lucky enough to be with my fantastic wife during her labours for each of my daughters. She was amazing.
DeleteWhat a wonderful husband you were. ,Pierre.
DeleteYour wife was a very fortunate lady to have married you and it is obvious that you feel that you were equally fortunate.
Never mind the arrest, where did Daisy pick up Freddie's(?) scratch card, on the Green when he rummaged through his wheelie bin? Will it be finders/keepers or will they fight it out in court?
ReplyDeleteThe mind boggles!
I missed last night - as I was too busy nattering with neighbours. I will listen to it on Sunday, after downloading the Omnibus (as I am out on Sunday). I can't wait to listen to what transpired , with Joy, Harrison + Tim. I will wait patiently, and hope that I am not disappointed.
ReplyDeleteWill Tony invite Joy into his work barn to play with his train?
ReplyDeleteShe would certainly jump at the opportunity and they do have Midgets in common to keep the entertained.
Now there’s a thought. (Raises eyebrows, shudders)
Delete'all I can say, it isn't the right kind of hobby at all for a
Deletewoman that can't say No even to midgets' ; )
I hope Debbie returns to help Brian.
ReplyDeleteWow! We actually got a bit of dialogue tonight : )
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure how Adam managed to run over his own foot. Something about not engaging the handbrake, presumably he parked on a slope. I had visions at first of the car, and Adam, plunging down a ravine.
Where was little Xander - at hope with Ian, I hope.
Well, that was a bit better. Something actually happened!
ReplyDeletePoor Adam with a broken foot, ankle and cruciate ligament. Ian about to return to work, so who’s going to look after Xander.
And trouble at the tea room. Sounds as if Emma might be looking for a new job if things don’t pick up. Thank goodness we didn’t have to hear Natasha regaling Fallon with her business advice - I should think that’s the last thing Fallon wanted!
Yes it was a bit more eventful.
DeletePoor Adam indeed. Must have been agony. Maybe they'll get a nanny for Xander.
Tearoom troubles didn't hold my interest as well as the accident.
Are we looking at Alice coming to Brian's rescue? It wouldn't surprise me as well educated young women are rarely allowed to leave the village.
ReplyDeleteWill Brian allow her to drive a tractor after she crashed the big expensive new one a year or two ago?
DeletePerhaps she’ll be restricted to driving the computer in the office!
😉
Ex-Londoner, yes Alice, inasmuch as I'd like it to be Debbie. I think Brian said he would drive the combine but was looking for someone to take charge of the office.
ReplyDeleteAdam was exhausted after a sleepless night, the accident was a ruse to put someone in his place who'll do what Brian says.
Unlike Annveggie I was more interested in the tearoom; Natasha overruled Helen.
What I want to know is will the scratch card make it back to Johnny?
Will Harrison advertise in the shop? Remember how many people tired to claim a winning lottery ticket? When I found a €5 note in front of the letter boxes I put up a notice and a neighbour who I thought might have dropped it reclaimed it. I did the same with a gold ring with diamonds and no one did.
Hello Basia,
DeleteI think the ring might be mine. May I claim it back, please? ; )
Too late, it was used up for its spare parts but I think Johnny might be in luck.
DeleteDefinitely a job for Alice in the offing, IMO
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thought about Debbie returning.
ReplyDeleteShe felt away from home and worrying about Roger, when we last heard her wonderful thoughts. I have checked, and a person arriving from Hungary, does not need to quarantine.
Alice vs Debbie - there is only one sensible solution, in my opinion.
I think that this is far too much to wish for, sadly.
I hope the Tea Room can survive. My favourite in Chester, is now closed indefinitely,. It is in an historical building, which cannot be adapted to the required standards re social distancing - which is so very sad.
DeleteI am sure the Ambridge Tea Room can, and will survive, somehow and without Natasha interfering.
Debbie wasn't happy in Hungary last time we heard from her. She was quite shaken by the xenophobic reception she got in her local shop.
DeleteThen there's B****t.
So the stage could well be set for a homecoming.
As for Adam, his leg sounded pretty comprehensively mangled. Is this an end to active farming for him? I suppose, though, the hydroponics don't need you to be as sturdy on your pins as driving a tractor does.
The alternative is for him to be a full-time house-husband and care for Xander. Handy once Ian returns to work. But could the poor mite cope spending all day with such a gloomy parent?
It seems to have been decided then, Alice, who might have been considered to be a potential alcoholic has now been elevated to lying and scheming about her drinking and hiding her bottle in an unused shed.
ReplyDeleteNot a potential alchy then, but well on the way to being full blown.
And Chris, we now know, has been trying to persuade her to modify her behaviour after all.
Not succeeding though, is he !
Brian needs help, Chris brings home the money, while Alice sits drinking in the shed.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Debbie's still in with a chance.
What about Rory?
DeleteAdam could be the opportunity, lost when Nigel was thrown off the roof, to be the disabled character that many feel Nigel could have been.
ReplyDeleteI don't wish to discard Adam as a no longer useful character, but he could usefully continue as a disabled parent if no longer available for farm work.
We’ve already had a big alcoholism story with Alistair, why another? Is is to show it can happen to young women too? Or are they working up to a foetal alcohol syndrome story?
ReplyDeleteThat could well be the case.
DeleteAlice, under the influence of alcohol forgets to take contraceptive pill
Gets pregnant. Chris delighted, she’s not.
Continues to drink through pregnancy
Baby born with foetal alcohol syndrome, just like Maryellen suggests
Alice rejects baby
Jennifer and Susan fight over who will bring child up
I could go on, but it’s getting a bit fanciful now,
I read somewhere that foetal alcohol syndrome is probably four times as common as autism. But rather more preventable.
DeleteI don't think I'd wish it on any baby, not even a fictional one.
I thought Alistair’s problem was gambling. I just wish the Alice alcoholism would move on. It is a pity they have done this to Alice as she was originally a more likeable character. Still it does show how this problem can creep up from social drinking to the extremes of alcohol abuse. She drinks alone and tries to conceal it not to mention sinking a whole bottle.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right about Alistair, Ev - my mistake. Alice’s grandfather was a drunkard so maybe she has inherited the gene which her siblings have escaped!
DeleteAlice jumped out of a tree, crashed a combine and then upset William when under the influence. Debbie raised her concerns with Chris who was dismissive but he may take it more to heart now that Alice thinks he's boring, ie not sharing in her favourite pastime.
ReplyDeleteI used to really like Alice when she was younger but I suppose it is a realistic portrayal of a downward spiral into drink, over a number of years. I hope she does go to the farm and her problem is spotted because the Aldridges will surely offer to pay for her rehab. Soon.
ReplyDeleteAgree would love Debbie to come over and run the farm. Adam has surprised himself with how much he wanted to become a father so maybe it would suit him well to be a stay at home Dad, or he could take on some of the office work when he recovers. However I remember a lot of tension between Debbie and Adam when working together so a division of labour like Hannah and Neil would be needed.
I am wondering if the actress that plays Jenny has retired. I know the Covid issue has prevented normal recording but we haven’t heard from her pretty much since the court case.
Dear Natasha!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reaching out and touching base and offering leverage for best practice in shifting the paradigm for the Tea Tom team.
The core competency of the TR is tea! Cakes and light lunches.
I would like to buy into and embrace your business plan but I think your suggestion of wild blue yonder ideas would require the implementation of a S.W.A.T analysis before moving forward.
This could EMPOWER us all to open the kimono and develop the moving parts of corporate values.
We have at the TR a scalable enterprise that makes tea whilst the sun shines and even when it doesn’t.
I am capable of thinking outside the box, I married Harrison, so don’t boil the ocean because I’m abound to punt the ball back.
On second thought Mind Your Own Apple Business.
Fallon
PS. If it is a Cash Cow you want then have a word with Justin Elliot. He might have a dynamic and proactive solution to help clear your credit card debts.
DeleteA splendid memo Stasia. You have reminded me of why I was eventually pleased to retire from the career I loved.
DeleteShould it come to real animosity Natasha should be told, "Put matters into the hands of your solicitor or, indeed, any other part of his/her anatomy which your ingenuity might suggest and his/her complacency will allow."
If they used the cash cow's yield for cheese, how would it taste?
DeleteSecond thoughts, extracting coins from a cow's udders probably constitutes animal cruelty.
Such interesting possible scenarios being posted above. All of them possibilities and surely Alice's drink problem will soon be discovered by all, maybe in a disaster. She's become so unpleasant a character to listen to and poor Chris faces an uphill battle with her. Brian will possibly come to her rescue as he recognizes so many of Alice's traits in himself.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the original TA Barwick Green signature tune, which I heard last night.
ReplyDeleteLittle things, mean a lot 🎶
Although I am still enjoying TA, with its many ups + downs, I am just wondering, why many of other Ambridge characters, have still not be heard from.
Many of these are so Love or Hate. My list includes;-
Hannah, Lily, Russ, Ruth, Toby, Rex, Pip, Will, naming just a few.
I would so love to hear Jazzer again....
At least Joy reappeared!
Apart from the possibility of some actors not wanting to do home recording, there may have been a limit on the number of home recording kits available.
DeleteEmma Grundy in
ReplyDelete'Back to the Factory'
'You built a time-machine out of a static caravan?!'
I think I'm with Fallon on the Flower and Produce Show. A live tour of the village hall is hardly riveting.
ReplyDeleteBut why do the garden tours need to be live? Film them a day or so in advance then get Ben to edit them into something watchable.
And have cake, jam and craft categories too - I'm sure people would love to see a close-up of the judges face as they bit into a less than delicious morsel. (Perhaps keep the edibles anonymous in the video!)
Oh yes, hide a gnome in each garden - prize for everyone who spots them all.
Or have a scarecrow making competition as our village does, each one displayed in the makers front garden - and some made to resemble a local personality!
DeleteIf Alice does take the job in the family firm her drinking problem is likely to be spotted, however an alcoholic needs to recognise and acknowledge for themselves the fact that he or she is an addict. Help from others in recognition is useless.
ReplyDeleteSupport from the family once the victim is active in their own recovery is far better.
Yes, Mrs P, the recognition by the individual is a huge problem but must be arrived at first. Alice just sees it as being fun and that Chris is dull for walking away from it. Could be a long hard road ahead!
DeleteAre we going to actually hear Natasha again, or is she just going to be spoken about?
ReplyDeleteThe people I am most missing are Lynda and Oliver.
I want to hear, first hand, how Lynda is recovering from her burns.
And what is Oliver going to do about Grey Gables?
Have Roy and Kathy been furloughed, will the hotel be able to open again.
Has the rebuilding been progressing, or is it still a mess?
There is so much we have not been told about.
Be patient Archerphile, but if you can't have a look 'forward' on the website.
DeleteNatasha (BFhead honcho)) has “drilled down” to the “core values “ of Tea and Buns and forced Fallon to do some “joined up thinking” by “ kicking Emma into the long grass”. Back to the chicken factory for Emma?
ReplyDeleteWill Fallon “drink the Kool Aid” or tell Natasha to sling her hook?
Take a “pulse check” Fallon and slither round Natasha to inform Helen that the TR won’t function without its star baker and the team is Now becoming too “top heavy “. Natasha should stick to Apple trees.
But I suspect Fallon now perceives Gnat as the power behind the throne and isn’t likely to rock the boat.
Around these parts farm shops and now tea rooms, are doing quite well.
Do the SWs actually know this?
Peggy commented once that Lilian takes after her drinking father Jack, but it's not seen as a problem. It's quite possible that Alice's drinking will be tied up with a pregnancy but hopefully as a warning sign.
ReplyDeleteEmma is to stay on at the tearoom - my sun hat is made of paper but I don't want to eat it.
ReplyDeleteHave become so lazy & indifferent to these monologues, that I'm very grateful for all the above catch up comments - thanks !
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear Alice's alcoholism is coming to the forefront because the problem has escalated over the last couple of years - definitely time for action ! Let's hope she can begin to face it with some family encouragement. It obviously won't be an easy road.
I reckon it started with that job. All was fine initially, she was very enthusiastic, felt empowered & useful, but all that was eroded after a while & she found the corporate thing too stressful. She signalled that on a number of occasions, both to Brian & Chris, but, until now, it seems, neither made the link between work stress & excessive drinking.
You may be correct in your assessment that the overpowering aspects of the corporate world was the problem Carolyn, however I think that the drinking has now become a problem in itself, since she now seems to need to ' obsess ' over every aspect of life that presents as a problem, large or small, and consequently turns to the bottle to block out that problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally - a typical addictive pattern. Started with work problems but then she lost control & the drink took over.
DeleteI suspect she's known for a while at some level of consciousness - could explain her reluctance to start a family, instinctively fearing she wouldn't be able to cope.
I am pondering as to why Natasha, is now interfering in the Tea Shop...and that she thinks she can do so.
ReplyDeleteI would love for the more knowledgable posters - to enlighten me.
There are so many stories in Ambridge, to be resolved and reach a conclusion.
ReplyDeleteTo me, this is just not the right time for this to happen.
I want to wait until Ambridge Life is back to total normality, before these SL's are concluded. Then the likes of Oliver, Jim, Roy, Linda etc. will be heard again.
I just want All - rather than Nothing.
I am warming to the Alice story, with her liking for an alcholic drink. This has been bubbling up, for a while now, at least for 12 months. Work and Life, does play a part, but there is also an inheritant genetic factor, which is often overlooked. Does Alice have this, and if so, where has it come from? Pat + Tony, are her parents, but is there something, or an unknown history, in either of their families? It might be possible..
ReplyDeleteThe young alcoholic in my family, the hubbie of a neice, who has been dry now for 4/5 years now and still in his 30's, has the alcoholic gene. This has been proven by testing, and it came from his Mother's family.
DeletePerhaps Alice has a similar gene.
I have spotted my obvious mistake - it is Brian and Jennfer..
DeleteI always muddle them up.
Miriam, Alice’s maternal grandfather Jack Archer, was a drunkard.
DeleteI think Natasha has started interfering in the tea room because she and Helen may have been discussing the way forward for Bridge Farm Enterprises, Fallon is worried she will no longer have the rent reduction that she has been given during lockdown, and may have yo sack Emma.
ReplyDeleteI strongly suspect that Natasha has her eyes in the tea room, perhaps wanting to turn it into a juice bar or something! Helen has told her to liaise with Fallon to make the place more profitable and Natasha is only too delighted to spread her ‘business knowledge’ even further.
Watch out Fallon, you could be facing a Natasha led take over!
Brian has a sister Liz and they fell out over a restaurant booking!
ReplyDeleteAlice stayed behind to carry on drinking.
Ah, the sweet peas...
Whenever someone plans a surprise meal in Ambridge we know it won't happen.
ReplyDeleteJill for family, Tim for Siobhan, Justin for Lilian, Roy for Hayley, Alistair for Shula...
Couldn't they by now surprise us with it actually happening?
🤣🤣🤣
DeleteWell Brian may have his drinking under control but his daughter sees him turning automatically to pouring a glass at the end of a working day and consequently thinks that she will too.
ReplyDeleteAnd now this evening we hear again the lies to cover her reluctance to do what she knows she needs to do. This time staying at the office ( or perhaps planning a jolly ) in order to avoid an evening with hubby.
It occurs to me that when it all falls apart for Chris and Alice, Susan will change her spots regarding being related to the Aldridges.
But Jennifer would be so glad to shake off Horrobins!
DeleteHave we ever heard of Brian's sister before tonight ?
ReplyDeleteI haven't...and why is she suddenly being introduced?
DeleteI would prefer to interact again, with the normal Ambridge residents, who are still silent, than to get embroiled with a "newbie".
Not that I recall, is she going to turn up? The parents died, so Brian was left a large inheritance if I'm correct.
DeleteOh, poor deluded Chris!
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit sad listening to poor Chris with his planning and then offering to go and help his wife. Alice needs help and now!
ReplyDeleteI wonder too about Brian's sister and why she's being mentioned now.
In amongst all the wittering, pointless babbling and slurping Alice had a lightbulb moment about her competence at PB. Turning up at work unkempt and hungover. This was then swallowed back with a glass of something. Vodka?
ReplyDeleteThe only aspect of last night moanathong I liked was the the lovely tweeting of what sounded like a blackbird.
Yes, the birdsong was delightful. Reminded me of the early days of TA when we used to hear many more bird, animal and general countryside sounds.
DeleteKeen eared listeners would even complain if they recognised a bird singing out of season!
I'm only sad about the sweet peas, they don't last very long.
ReplyDeleteThere was a scene in Mrs Dalloway (the film) where her friend cuts off the heads and they float in a bowl - she was delighted.
There'll be Ambridge on Feedback.
ReplyDeleteThanks Basia - I’ll tune in. Seems to becoming a regular Feedback subject.
DeleteI don't listen to this... but can I ask, are both the negative and positive view points, given with an equal air time??
DeleteAlice w#ines, Emma complains, Harrison bores, Chris is in LaLa land, thankfully Adam is in hospital. Thank gawd Kathy is silent and the rest moan and whinge about everyone/everything in Ambridge. At least we haven’t, as yet, had to tolerate Pip (Wonder Woman)banging on about how hard she works.
ReplyDeleteIsn’t it timely now for a resident to contract coronavirus Issue and then we can all be educated in the basics of simple hygiene.
I don’t wish ill on anyone but some of these moanalongers are terrible and need to be made to disappear.
But not Brian.
Feedback - I found Alison Hindell's explanation convincing as to the amount of time it takes to edit 4 episodes a week rather than a single drama. She mentioned the one 'resident' who is 101 years old and couldn't be included under the current restrictions. I also found it informative as to the other dramas she commissioned for the autumn.
ReplyDeleteIt is Friday night, my meal is cooking but there is just something missing.
ReplyDeleteI know - TA -
How I would love 5 episodes a week, rather than just the 4, which is all being broadcast, at this moment in time.
I am sure, that the TA production and more episodes, can be accelerated, as well as bringing other characters back.
Is this too much to ask?
You were kinder to Alison Hindle than I was ,Basia.
ReplyDeleteI didn't find her explanation at all convincing.
She mentioned one actress who was101 years old.
Well obviously one wouldn't expect to hear Peggy.
I am not sure that she said why they can now have conversations between two people when they couldn't before.
I don't like the programme so I turned off after she first spoke about The Archers
She was going to return but I suspect it was about drama in general.
I agree Lanjan. I thought she sounded very complacent about the way TA had been presented during the lockdown, as though it was not a programme important enough to have more attention paid to it. At one point she said something like ‘it’s not real life’.
DeleteWell. Ms Hindle, to an awful lot of listeners, especially elderly, long term listeners living on their own, it jolly well is as near real life as some of them get!
I thought she sounded dismissive of listeners concerns and think she considers plays (proper drama) more important than our ‘soap opera’. She left me feeling cross and frustrated. 😠
I think it was the same lady who, on being asked why she'd changed the central character in a drama from a man to a woman, said that if she hadn't done that it would have left a cast of men. I wanted to say - well what's wrong with that. She was so complacent about it in her reply. Maybe hints at the BBC's attitude over a lot of topics lately.
DeleteYes, when asked what Albert Camus would have thought about the protagonist of The Plague being a woman, Alison Hindell replied that we move with the times and that his estate gave the go ahead, as usual, avoiding the issue. There will be dramatisations of Katherine Mansfield's work starting today and throughout next week, so I look forward to that.
DeleteAbsolutely Anneveggie .
DeleteI was furious when Sky "released " the excellent commentators David Gower and Ian Botham and brought in a woman who had nothing like the experience that they had had
It should be the best person for a particular job who gets the position whether it be a man or woman.
I wonder if the many radio presenters, those who write in the newspapers, who are now giving a lot of critcisms and so very many comments, about TA, actually listen to TA, on a regular basis?
ReplyDeleteOr, are their comments based on what is posted on social media sites eg Twitter, Facebook etc which might be biased?
Not everyone (like me) contributes to these sites, so my views are not known.
Not that mine actually matter.
Have just dipped into “For the Love of the Archers” reading about the scene with Sid and Jolene in the shower. As it says, no shenanigins but we were shocked! Mainly the thought of a nude scene in the good old staid Archers! Naughty! It suggests we all knew where we were then but can’t recall that, only the shock, horror! I seem to remember a steamy scene too between Jennifer and her ex husband, the same one recently struck down with Covid. Well, why not? We can’t have blandness all the time and both these scenarios mean they are not just restricted to the younger element!
ReplyDeleteListened to some of the omnibus this morning and once again struck by the lack of T’s! Emma was on about the Commi’ee! Grr!!
Yes Ev, you commented how both Fallon and Emma drop their Ts, I think they are encouraged to sound 'common'. I've actually come to anticipate it and it's a credit to their skill. I used to count the number of characters in an episode which is now redundant, so perhaps I'll switch to counting the missing Ts.
DeleteYes, it is a credit to their skills but irritating in them and in the speech of others on TV and radio. Have even heard it from some of the presenters! It just seems easier to say with the T’s!🤔🥴
DeleteI have just spent a truly blissful hour (well, nearly an hour), having my first warm, bubbly bath listening to the Archers Omnibus, since January 19th! 😊
ReplyDeleteDear Mr A’s suggestion that we visit a disabled living shop to find a bath aid for my birthday stirred me into action to jolly well manage by myself! No bath lifts, inflatable cushions or cumbersome bath chairs as advertised in the back of Radio Times.
So I have been practicing kneeling on carpet for a few seconds, building up each day until I could manage kneeling on a hard surface for long enough to get in and out of the very hard surfaced bath properly. Getting out again was a bit tricky ( and very slippery) and more painful, but here I am - a very clean and very happy Archerphile!
With "a little help from my friends" the Archers!
DeleteGood for you Archerphile!
DeleteArcherphile - I am delighted to hear your very good news.
ReplyDeleteStrange though, because last night I had to push myself to get up and out of my bath and In doing so I used your name in vane to encourage me.
I have to say, I think of you every night as I get out of my bath and wish and hope for you to be able to do the same, and now you have.
The trouble is though that if you only do it once a week it will continue to be difficult.
Can you practice in a dry bath a couple of times a week to help it to get easier ?
I'm sure you are very happy indeed.
And I am very very pleased for you.
I think we are on the wrong thread with this subject.
ReplyDeleteShould be on ' life outside Ambridge '
Never mind !
And apologies to purists.
I put it on this blog because it was about listening to the Omnibus Mrs P ......but I was so excited that I forgot to say anything about it!
DeleteBut thank you for your lovely comments and being an inspiration in the early days ...if Mrs P can do it, so can I! And I’m very touched to hear you used my name last night.
(Don’t worry, it won’t be once a week - I shall be in and out of the tub several times a week, I never have liked showers very much)
And as for the Omnibus, it’s true, as Miriam says, that the nightly episodes make more sense when listened to as a whole.
One thing I did not understand was why Helen (with her co-conspirator , Natasha) is threatening to put the rent up on the tea room.
If she drives Fallon out with an unaffordable rent, what is she going to do with the place? Extend the shop? Use it as a storeroom? Give Natasha full reign to turn it into something else?
At least it does bring in rent, and potential customers to the shop as well, after they’ve had their tea and buns. And I fear that N’s interfering is going to cost Emma her much loved job and cast the Grundy’s into doom and gloom again.
As it’s traditionally the silly season, I’ve added some verses to my poem about Brian Aldridge:
ReplyDeletePart 1 (2019)
Brian Aldridge is a drip
Hearing him gives me the pip
No wonder Kirsty gives him lip
Laid-back Adam has let rip
And Jenny’s done a mega-flip.
So toxic waste is just a blip
And sanctioning the ancient tip
A teensy-weensy little slip?
Think it’s time he took a trip
On the nearest prison ship.
Part 2. 2020
Since his wings have had a clip
Brian A has lost his grip
Same goes for his zing and zip
Been dumped on the BL skip
(Martin G now cracks the whip).
Living standards seen a dip
Finances have felt as snip
Less of les vins fins to sip
Goodnight to the little nip
Bedtime simply means a kip.
Gone is his occasional quip
Fate has torn him off a strip
Leaving me to shout Hip Hip
Hooray!
(Dedicated to LanJan, the Bard of the Blogs)
Brilliant Maryellen! Who would have thought there’d be so many words that rhyme with ‘drip’. 😂
Delete🤣 I quite like Brian even if he is impossible sometimes, but your poem has made my day.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much,Maryellen.
ReplyDeleteI am very flattered but there is no way I could match what you have written.
Well done you.
I haven't done " barding" for ages
It's too humid for barding down here
But maybe I will
Sometime get out my quill
Perhaps later on in the year.
I 've stopped listening now to the programme
But I'm pleased that a lot of you do.
I can soon get the gist
Of what I have missed
So bloggers I'd like to thank you.
LanJan - your last verse says it for me too!
DeleteIt’s the silly season! "😉😁😂🤣
ReplyDeleteMy "silly season" is Christmas...but this is a great Summer Season.
DeleteI need to listen to the TA Omnibus, downloaded from this morning, so I can pick up on the little things, I will have missed on the first time, of listening.
I'm hardly listening to the episodes let alone the omnibus.
ReplyDeleteI finally listened to Sunday's Omnibus - and I have to say, I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteIt is still monologue style, but the quality is so much improved, with background noises, the ongoing S/L's, the acting, more characters being introduced (be it just by mention at the moment), but could still be interfering and irritating, even when still silent.
I am referring to Natasha, who must be very involved in her own businesses, so why is she now looking into ways to improve the Tea Room, at the request from Helen?
Fallon runs the Tea Room, and the only link to Helen, is that this is whom, she pays the rent to. I appreciate Helen is trying to help out, But why involve Natasha?
I have just read that - Lynda is back in TA tonight!
ReplyDeleteI will be listening, be it good, bad or indifferent. Carole Boyd is just wonderful.
Chris agonises over half a can of beer and Alice carries on drinking in the shed/office?
ReplyDeleteI was hoping Adam would catch her out.
It wll happen, but what has to occur, before reality is recognised.
DeleteThis has to be Alice, admitting that she has a problem, but will she?
Chris will lose out, somehow, but not sure quite how yet. Need to have a ponder..😒
How lovely to hear Lynda again. 😍🤗
ReplyDeleteI said last week I wanted to hear Lynda and how she was progressing. And here she is, but sounding a little different from her old self.
ReplyDeleteAdam obviously doesn’t think Alice is up to the job of organising the Farm big does he realise she is becoming increasingly alcoholic?
And poor, poor Chris - beating himself up over imbibing half a can of lager whilst his dear wife is secretly knocking back bottles of vodka and goodness knows what else.
I agree with Miriam that it was lovely to hear Lynda again. She sounded so positive and brimming with enthusiasm for getting back into life.
DeleteThere will have to be a crisis with Alice's drinking but who knows what form that will take. Chris is going to have to face the truth about his wife.
To continue about Chris + Alice, after a ponder...she is very clever at hiding things, the wine rack is still full, after all. It will be Chris who will suffer in the long term. Over the past few weeks, there have been question marks about his compentcy and the standard of work. Is this a hint of what might happen, in the future - two lives suffering??
ReplyDeleteI think, that this might be a long running story.
This is my interpretation, as I am hearing it, at this moment in time.
I'm glad Robert came back early, he thought he shouldn't go too far at the start.
ReplyDeleteLynda's deceiving him and Alice is lying to Chris, doesn't bode well.
I seem to be feeling sorry for everyone this week (except Alice)
ReplyDeleteFirst Chris, so caring and trusting and yet so blind to his wife’s behaviour.
Poor Robert, feeling guilty for leaving Lynda to go birdwatching again with his pal Jim - only to find Jim’s got a new friend who Robert doesn’t like. Reminds me of the ‘shes not my friend anymore’ heartaches experienced by small girls at school so often.
Then poor Lynda.
Trying so hard to get back to normal whilst still having severe pain that she datent tell Robert about, in case he fussed and worries
So far not many uplifting or amusing stories yet this week. I’m feeling quite depressed after tonight’s episode. 😒
Lindy hopping and in agony bopped her way back to the house. It’s clear she is feeling energetic but her posture, after the blast has not allowed her to be fully connected with the backbone, which in turn took a while to connect with the knee bone, thigh bone etc.
ReplyDeleteLindy is tough but needs to learn to stretch and relax to ease the tension in her muscles.
She needs a physiotherapist.
Helen knows one.
Lee will certainly get Her Lindyhopping soon. 💃🤸♀️
Just read a very interesting post on The Archers Facebook page.
ReplyDeleteIt follows a great many posts criticising and complaining about the current format,
It’s from Ian Pepperell, the actor who takes the part of Roy. I reproduce it in full here:
“We record in a non-ventilated environment, many of the cast have underlying conditions, hotels were not open and travel was restricted. Other soaps have open air sets but not us. Be kind please”
This is interesting and explains some of the early restrictions, but I don’t remember hearing Roy at all in any of the monologues! (Perhaps because he lives, and runs a pub in the New Forest, so presumably would need a hotel if recording in Birmingham - but does not explain why he could not have recorded from home, as others have done)
No-body would want an actor with an underlying condition to risk travelling to a studio during the lockdown.
And it still doesn’t explain why it’s taken so long to manage dome sort of duologue.
There followed dozen of sympathetic replies but the consensus on FB seems very divided between the monologue haters, and those who enjoy the current output. Just like here really!
Taking advantage of the silly season again, another Brian Aldridge verse, cut short by lack of rhymes.
ReplyDeleteBrian Aldridge is no hero,
Less charm than a bag of ,Bero
On a scale of ten to zero,
Rating similar to Nero.
Banish him to distant D Row!
After last night I felt that the programme is moving forward and things are happening, it suits me.
ReplyDelete