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Life in Ambridge
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Life in Ambridge
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ReplyDeleteMrsP Ambridge - June 20, 2021 at 8:54 PM
Miriam ?
Have you ever thought about applying to be a script writer on The Archers or even just submitting a story idea.
I think you should you know, you have a fertile imagination.
Or perhaps they will pinch your story !
Archerphile - June 20, 2021 at 9:59 PM
I think we are going to need our Friday and Sunday episodes back quickly to include all these new ideas for stories!
And I agree with Miriam, I shouldn’t be surprised if Brian succumbs to a heart attack or stroke due to all the stress he creates for himself. I remember when he started having epileptic seizures after the mad cow incident. We never hear about them nowadays. Have he been cured?
I wonder how much longer Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennet want to stay in the cast?
I think we heard rumours last year about them cutting down or retiring and we rarely hear from Shula these days.
maryellen - June 21, 2021 at 8:14 AM
I think the actor who plays Pat (“it’s only soup”) must have left the cast and now it’s a question of whether she is replaced or becomes a silent character like Kathy.i
Archerphile - June 21, 2021 at 9:46 AM
Yes, I’d virtually forgotten Pat, and Tom and Natasha (though heard her in a play at the weekend, so the actor is working)
It will be interesting to see which characters emerge from lockdown, and which are quietly dropped and just occasionally mentioned in passing.
Cheshire Cheese - June 21, 2021 at 9:43 AM
Having stoped listening during the Alice storyline I have started to dip into the Archers again but am struggling to reconnect. It all seems to be conflict and misery and if there is something more light hearted and cheerful I find I'm just waiting for it to go wrong.
Hello Cheshire Cheese, I’m still hoping that Helen and Lee will settle down happily together. The signs are good
DeleteI’m trying to visit the blogspot Gary but it’s getting increasingly difficult!
ReplyDeleteMrs P.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time, but this is no more, when ideas about all R4 programmes, could be submitted to them on-line.
I actually did this about TA, on a couple of occasions, even though I know my ideas are often "wacky"..
One I suggested, was a surrogacy story for Adam + Ian. I expect that this was already a possibility or probabilty and being written. Stll I was pleased when my silly idea, actually happened.
😃
My ideas only relate to what I hear weekly. I do not have any imagination, unless I hear a trigger in TA.
Yes Miriam, your right.
DeleteI've been reading an Ambridge History, William Smethursts book, and I must say enjoying it immensely. I like his style.
I was amazed at how many writers there had been over the years and decades and how many of their names had passed me by.
I certainly did remember the main ones of course.
But also read of the many times that writers had submitted stories and gone on to write regularly for the programme.
So you did submit an idea....... good for you.
And I can imagine your pleasure at hearing your idea come to fruition even though as you expect, it might already have been an option that the team had considered.
You never know, your suggestion could have tipped the balance.
Janice.
ReplyDeleteI am so with you in that Helen + Lee are very together, along with Jack + Henry. I was surprised as to Lee and his reaction to his super-heroes. He compromised in an understanding way . It was happiness shown to others, over substance.
Will this mean, yet another Ambridge Happy Family. I hope so ..
GG Just Love the badge.
ReplyDeleteIs this designed for an up-coming TA event?
Miriam, I got this badge in Reading 2020 and here I am now!
DeleteHurrah! My huge marketing campaign worked then Alison!
DeleteSure did, Gary ;)
DeleteHappy Ambridge Families.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a new card game.
Who are these -
Roy + Pheobe
Eddie + Clarrie with offspring together.
Tom + Natasha - not a family as such.
Linda, Robert + Monty
Jazzer, Jim, Alistair + Webster.
Justin, Lilian + Ruby.
Pip, Toby + Rosie
Peggy, Kate + Hilda O.
I can't think of any others, and I scraped the bottom of barrel to have to include pets, as family members.
Question.
ReplyDeleteAdam. Can he be told, or suggested to go?
Surely this should be a discussion with all the Home Farm Board members including Ruairi, Debbie, Jennifer; Kate, Alice etc. so all aspects of this situation can be revealed and known.
Adam can state his case as can Brian, along with the situation if Adam walks, how will they replace him?
Is Adam guilty of gross misconduct as to the K5. If so instant dismall is probable.
I can’t understand how Lee has become such a great buddy of Adam’s that he feels feee to discuss the financial problems in front of Iain, (only to be silenced.)
ReplyDeleteHe sounded quite naive last night about it and presumed to advise Adam he should be telling Iain all.
The 2 men seem so totally different & I can’t see how this friendship has developed - if that’s what it is
One other thing- there I was saying we hardly hear from Shula these days and she instantly pops up for half an episode!
ReplyDeleteI thought Shula was really good with Alice. I reokon she (+ Banjo) could be the family mentor that Miriam said earlier Alice needed. Their shared history clearly means something to Alice.
DeleteSo now we know, Shula will be away pursuing her theology, will Alice be ready by then to step in to run the stables? Perhaps that'd give her some purpose. Shula has disposed of her husband, so she's single again.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Brian? He was supposed to go to prison but will a major health issue (apart from death) remove him from Ambridge? Then what about Jennifer?
All this speculation as to the suggested retirement of the actors.
'Shula has disposed of her husband.' You make it sound like we should be looking for him under the patio ; )
DeleteI too thought Shula did well with Alice, maybe her ordination training is paying dividends. I like the idea of Alice getting involved with the stables in the longer run, although I’m not sure how Alice would get the appropriate BHS qualifications, there again this is Ambridge.
ReplyDeleteAdam is not being his best self at the moment, he and Ian really need to talk.
As far as I'm concerned Brian has not sacked Adam, he told him he can go if he feels thwarted by him and his other children. So far Adam has deceived Brian by helping himself to the company money and Ian by telling him that the payment was dealt with but not how. Now he's deceiving him about his supposed dismissal. Ian will not like it when he finds out. He has a solution anyway, they can both go on the road with the artisan food, or will he depart on his own?
ReplyDeleteI was pretty satisfied with last nights episode.
ReplyDeleteLike others I was impressed with how Shula managed Alice, and indeed in Alice's climb down.
That's a nice idea Basia, Alice becoming the next in the family to be at the helm at the stables.
Would Christine approve ?
I did not find the conversation between Adam and Lee odd.
Often it's two entirely different characters to begin a friendship by confiding to a comparative stranger a worry, and to get some feedback which then gives room for development.
And Lee gave good advice as well as giving Adam a lesson in boundaries.
It also seems to me that this was not the first confidential encounter between the two of them. I cannot remember the precise details, but it was during the time of the decorating of Helen and Lees Beechwood house.
It was the three dads together MrsP, though I agree with some it was slapstick.
DeleteAs for Alice at the stables, what I had in mind was getting involved, perhaps with Freddie, but not taking over on her own. Christine, who knows.
At one time, it did seem right that, Freddie was the right person to take over The Stables. I no longer think so.
ReplyDeleteHe has matured and as the heir to LL. - I think that his duty is to the "family pile" and to keep Lily + Russ under control, so that he has something viable to inherit.
Well if Vince doesn't get in the way and influence Lizzie. I still don't trust him, well just yet.
The Stables situation has been missing for very, many months, or should that be over a year?
ReplyDeleteToo many thoughts + questions spring to mind, which are far too many to post.
All I hope is that, Shula is still getting all her livery fees and that, she has been able to provide the service + excercise, grooming + vet care, as expected.
Alice should not take over for a long while, but becoming a serious participant after her re-hab, would so help her and her life.
Great Idea, Maryellen.
Forget the last sentence....as I got confused 😣😭
DeleteSo that means Eddie is undercutting Rex and any other taxi firm in the area. Can’t see that going down well!
ReplyDeleteOr lasting long given Eddies track record.
DeleteOh Clarrie you must love him so much !
If it is a really nice car he could hire it out, and himself as driver, for weddings rather than being a taxi service.
ReplyDeleteI’ve missed out on this SL what is the back story to Eddie’s car and what make is it. Obviously his latest “plan” for giving free rides will go belly up 🤣
ReplyDeleteThe car is a limousine of some kind that Eddie has spruced up ( enough for Tracey to jump at the chance of a ride in it anyway). His intention was to transport Clarrie in style to their renewal of vows.
ReplyDeleteThese cars are hired out for 2 to 300 plus to take brides to weddings. It could be a good earner for someone, but would Eddie get the bride to church in time?
🤣 thanks for that Janice but where did he get the car from…
DeleteHe won’t get much trade in Ambridge!
DeleteI would much prefer Eddie, to take over wedding transport, with Joe's cart with Gem. This would be so much more eco friendly, than the limo with its emissions and very low mpg.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, a pony "dump" is far better than engine exhaust, for the enviroment.
Eddie's ideas always far exceed his expectations and monies spent.
This will be just the same.
I agree with some comments already made. Shula was very good in her handling of the Alice situation and made Alice realize the wise decision to make. As Alice is so loving about horses the stables could indeed be a good place for her to salvage her life after stopping drinking.
ReplyDeleteAs so many have said that Brian's heading for a health crisis I too agree that it seems on the cards. Surely they wouldn't make his crisis fatal? If the actor wants to retire that would be one way to do it but I hope they don't.
My thought is that Brian will have an angina attack. This will bring him to his senses , and so he will quietly dissapear into the background...
DeleteEnter Ruari...but no idea in way and how or why.
DeleteI am sticking to my thoughts though, that he will play a major part in the future of the Home Farm estate.
Some-one, who I am almost sure was MRS P. - made a comment a while ago, that Martha has a hearing problem.
ReplyDeleteAfter last nights episode, this could be very highly possible.
I do Not wish any problems on Martha, far from it.
My thoughts are that, TA should have expanded the Bethany downs situation, rather than moving the family away, from Ambridge.
Is this a similar situation??
I am not sure why, a hearing problem was originally suggested. I just can't recall the reasons as to this idea, but they must have been sound.
DeletePun intended.
Last night I had a faint glimmer of hope that the script writers had taken note of my frequent plea over the last thirty years or so, to reignite the spark between Shula and Neil.
ReplyDeleteTonight I was over the moon at the evidence, for me anyway, of that spark still being alive.
Then Alistair walks in and spells it all out, leaving, methinks the lady protesting rather too much.
According to my book, there never was a spark between Neil and Shula, just friendship on her part and wishful thinking on his. There was certainly a spark between Neil and Susan (and still is), also a sadly extinguished spark between Shula and Mark.
DeleteI think this year’s sillyseason has begun early in Ambridge.
What an interesting episode.
ReplyDeleteThere was nothing constructive, yet lots of situations which could be the start of so many S/Ls.
The writers are just teasing us.
The one thing that I cannot work out, is Lizzie + Vince.
Is this just a fun relationship or
does Vince think that by being close to Lizzie, his plans for LL will come to fruition.This will not happen due to the Trustee arrangement and Freddie's eventual inheritance.
Nigel certainly set this up well, to protect LL from "predators".
I am still not sure, if Vince is one of these.
I don’t think there is anything more than friendship between Shula and Neil (although I am perfectly capable of mis-reading things. I wonder if Alastair’s comments reflected his feelings, after all the divorce was very much Shula’s idea.
ReplyDeleteAwhile back I commented on Neil having word finding problems, and expressed concern that this could be indicative of some cognitive decline. More recently he has been apologetic about forgetting what he has been told by Susan, however I haven’t heard Susan telling him these things so did she tell him, or just think she did? Neil is more likely to accept the blame to keep the peace, especially when they are both so stressed, equally it could be as simple as hearing loss rectified with a suitable aid.
Oh Shula, be careful.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are just friends. But Shula is recently divorced. Neil is stressed at home and there is tension between him and Susan. They go back a long way. Shula provides a sympathetic ear. And they clearly enjoy each other's company. It's all very innocent at present, but one thing so easily leads to another. How many affairs started from similar circumstances?
I don't believe anything will come of the situation between Shula and Neil. Apart from any other consideration, Shula's faith would prohibit an affair. Neil is also too loyal to Susan to start playing away.
ReplyDeleteThe so often quoted spark between Shula and Neil, from years back, is often exaggerated I think.
ReplyDeleteFrom my probably unreliable memory, it was far more Neil fancying Shula than the other way around.
Phil had hired Neil as a trainee pigman to help with the herd and he would not have been considered a suitable boy friend for the boss’s daughter
I remember they got on well and were very friendly but any romantic thoughts would have only been on Neil’s side. Shula has always had a great interest in Neil’s welfare, his ambitions such as they were and was genuinely pleased when he married Susan
But that’s as far as it went.
Trying to partner them up now is extremely unlikely in my view, but they are good for each other’s morale and do care about each other’s welfare.
Here is the exact quote from my book mentioning above: “In 1976 he [Neil] left Martha Woodford and moved into a flat at Nightingale Farm. Shula cooked a meal and played her guitar for him one evening, and for a few brief, delirious days he wondered if he was going to marry the boss’s daughter. He bought green wellington boots and a new anorak, and drove his tractor into a gatepost because he was grinning and waving at her. When, however, Shula told him they could only be ‘good friends’ he took the news with fortitude.” He then had a succession of girlfriends before offering to help Susan Horrobin look after a pig she had won at the village fete.
DeleteMy memory wasn’t so far off the mark then! That’s a relief!
DeleteMrs P, I was thinking of the same quote, but at the same time I think both Neil and Shula would be horrified if there was gossip and devastated at the emotional fallout to all involved if they did have an affair.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was concerned about Neil's forgetfulness, first about looking after Martha and then about her visit to the Aldridges, but it wasn't clear to me it was to be that very same day.
ReplyDeleteIt's the usual Archers ploy and I just knew it, anything to do with with clothes, Roy getting his trousers wet, Alistair having a shower at Kirsty's?! The laughter was exaggerated, I won't even go there, Shula and Neil together, beyond a joke.
Also, Justin will soon be proved right about Adam going behind Brian's back.
I assumed that Neil’s forgetfulness and Susan’s irritability were signs of stress stemming from sleepless nights and the general strain of coping with Martha (who doesn’t sound the easiest of babies - why’s that?) and Chris, while keeping their regular jobs going. They cleared need help. Why haven’t more people offered, Tracy for instance. It doesn’t have to take the form of babycare, just help with the chores would be something.
ReplyDeleteIsn't this a life-style, which always happens with a young baby?
DeleteMartha is very lucky, as she is living with both her Dad, along with one set of grandparents, who are looking after + caring for her.
It is more than most new parents have...
but in Ambridge things are always different.
As to Tracy- who is a Great Aunty...
Why should she have to give up part of her life? This is her own children, her romance with Jazzer plus her cricket captaincy. She also cares for her + Susan's father...
I agree with Miriam.
ReplyDeleteTracy has done her bit -and is in fact still doing it - in looking after her father.
She also presumably brought up her children by herself.
She deserves a Break.
Anyway Susan wouldn't allow her to help.
I’m shocked to the core! Whatever happened to family values? Are you seriously telling me that picnicking and playing cricket are more important than supporting a sister. Who has done her fair share of supporting her family?
ReplyDeleteThe point of this storyline is that this is not a ‘normal’ situation. Susan and Neil are not young, repeat young, parents with a new baby Their child-rearing years are over but unnaturally prolonged by. Chris’s decision to lodge. Martha and himself with them. Martha is not a ‘normal’ baby. She is the child of an alcoholic and a big question mark hangs over her future.
,Susan and Neil stepped up to the plate and are paying for it. If Tracy’s got time to make videos for the cricket club,she’s got time to take some of Susan’s shifts at the shop. I can’t see any reason why Susan wouldn’t accept.
I stick to my guns.
ReplyDeleteSusan would not want Tracy looking after her grandchild.
The Carter's are not unique.
Many grandparents are out into a similar position.
What about Adam or Kate?
They could do more.
I must have missed something.
I didn't know that Susan wanted Tracy to take over some of her shifts.
Neil didn't seem exhausted when he was at Shula's .
LanJan - you are wrong about Susan not wanting Tracy to look after Martha - when I spoke to her yesterday, she was fine with the idea. In any case, as I was suggesting, there are other ways Tracy could lighten her sister’s workload such as taking some of her shifts.
ReplyDeleteAll the real life grandparents I know say dearly as they love their grandchildren, they find looking after them exhausting. Neil was being forgetful and irrational when he last visited Shula. If these weren’t signs of stress and tiredness, they signal something more sinister (as bloggers here have noted).
The fact that Adam and Katehaven’t offered to lighten the Carters’ workload in any way doesn’t excuse Tracy,. Besides, she’s closer to them and better able to he effect on them - except she’s always sobusy being Tracy.
Carry on sticking to your guns! I rest my case!
I think Susan and Neil are victims of their own success, they have always been capable, hard working, supportive of Emma and her children. Everyone assumes they will just sweep up Chris and Martha and carry on coping. Yes people will express sympathy, but they may not acknowledge increasing age, and all the increasing weariness that may bring.
ReplyDeleteMy last points on this discussion:-
ReplyDeleteTracy shops for, cooks for (debatable I agree), and feeds both her children Chelsea + Brad. and her + Susan's father.
She also works.
They all live together in a small house on the Green.
Why shouldn't she have another life and some fun?
Susan said to Tracy, a while back, that she would take on more care for their father. This doesn't seem to have happened.
Emma + especially Kate, seem to be the obvious candidates to give any extra help...as needed. Adam has his own young son Xander to care for.
Susan + Neil took in Martha + Chris, so it was partially their choice.
I also rest my case.
Chris is partially the problem. He still seems to love Alice and I understand his distrust of her. He doesn't seem to be able to support her at all now, which is understandable. Instead he is leaving it all to Brian + Jennifer, who as Martha's grandparents, now seem also to have, limited visits to Martha.
DeleteThis poor girl is like a pawn, in a complicated chess game.
The Archers Chess game..
ReplyDeleteSusan + Neil - King + Queen.
Chris - a Knight
Jennifer + Brian - Rooks
Emma + Kate - Bishops.
Martha - Pawn
Peggy - any piece to suit her.
Adam + Alice - no appropiate pieces for them.
This is very silly, I realise, but it helped me to put things into a sort of order -
Kate is definitely a Queen!
DeleteIf you go to the home page of the Archers website you can take Freddie Pargetter’s Lower Loxley Quiz.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not very difficult so I managed to score 10 out of 10
Go on, have a go and test your LL knowledge!
8/10 for me, I got the horse and the book wrong, still, it was fun.
Delete10/10
DeleteWasn't difficult was it ?
8/10. I got the date of the house and the folly's namesake wrong. Must do better!
DeleteJanice, the clue to the date was in the piece above and some of it I guessed.
Delete9/10 for me, I got the folly wrong. No question about the height of the roof and the length of Nigel’s scream…
DeleteIn answer to Lady R’S post on other blog
ReplyDeleteI have tried 7 times to post an answer and get the error message every single time
So, I am here but have nothing interesting to say, apart from boring, continuing health problems.
So just kept quiet today
Archerphile, get better soon.
DeleteGlad to hear from you all the same AP 🤗
DeleteMy weekly omnibus points are simple:-
ReplyDeleteWhy is Susan the one, who arranges when the Aldridges, have access to Martha + that she is the one to keep Alice in order?
I think but not sure, that I now have understood the Adam + Justin talk. Justin was basically saying - Don't Rock The Boat - and for Adam to stay at Home Farm.
That was my interprentation.
As Adam is staying until after the Harvest, when Alice will be in re-hab 🤞🤞, then hopefully things will be sorted out.
I wonder what Jennifer thinks about Adam leaving. I bet that she has no idea.
also..
DeleteWhen Shula gets her week long placement, I hope that is not in a quiet, rural parish.
Shula needs a real challange, in order to test her commitment and show her, what her life after ordination, could involve. That is, no country village life and a life without The Stables. Wouldn't she have to give up this business, after her possible ordination?
I gave no idea. I am just putting my thoughts out.
My answer to your first question Miriam......
DeleteBecause Susan has a son who is the father of the child.
She has possession of that child under her roof.
That gives her power.
I think Susan rather likes power !
If you, Miriam, understood that conversation between Justin and Adam your a better woman then me.
I couldn't make head or tale of it.
And I agree that Jennifer ( dharling ) hasn't a clue about Adams prospective departure.
( He won't go of course ! )
Susan has a history of taking in homeless members of her family, regardless of the inconvenience to Neil and her, Emma and children, Tracy and children (until Tracy moved in with her widowed Dad, her price for doing so being joint tenancy with him of No. 6, The Green), and now Chris and child. It’s her overriding sense of family duty, and maternal instinct, not a desire for control.
DeleteI don’t think she regards herself as having possession of Martha, thar’s Chris’s affair, and Martha is where he wants her to be. Relationships with the Aldridges are complicated by the Alice factor but they clearly see their granddaughter when mutually convenient. The only time we heard Susan demur when Jennifer asked to see Martha was in the early days when Susan was trying to get a fretful baby settled, which Jennifer understood.
PS. Not only did Tracy get her Dad to agree to share the tenancy of No.6 with her, she also benefited from Neil (grunt) doing it up for her. Remind me what Tracy has done for the Carters in return........
DeleteMaryellen
DeleteI apologise.
I was being rather flippant in answering Miriam's ( perhaps rhetorical) question as to why Susan was making decisions.
I wouldn't for one minute suggest that Susan is in some sort of power struggle, but she does glory in having the Aldridges as ' relatives' in the almost opposite way to Jennifer's horror at the situation some years ago.
And I agree with you, Susan has a very strong sense of both family and maternal instinct.
SC - you said you were following, have you tried Freddie's quiz?
ReplyDelete7 for me as well Esscee and I can’t even offer any type of excuse 🤣
DeleteFreddies LL Quiz.
ReplyDelete9/10.
The question I answered wrongly, was the one about the Folly.
I just can't recall the existance of this and cannot remeber it being mentioned.
..let alone who the namesakes were!
DeleteLily!!!! I’m shocked 😮
ReplyDeleteAn entertaining episode
It was and so light-hearted.
DeleteFreddie is still too young, to take total control of LL.
ReplyDeletePerhaps The Trustees could do an interimn process, with joint custody of LL equally between Lizzie + Freddie.
Lily is well provided for in Nigel's will, with the gift of a valuable painting...but then Russ might smuggle it out, when he makes his final Farewell.
Russ did love exploring the Attics....
At least he didn't keep his ex wife in them.
DeleteMind you, after tonight's episode Lily would be advised to make sure she has control of the keys ...
(Was I the only one to think at first that her 'date' was Lee?)
I thought it was Rex.
ReplyDeleteWas it?
These young men often sound the same.
It wasn't Johnnie.
I thought it sounded like Rex but I gathered it was a work colleague called Sol (Solomon) total soundalike.
ReplyDeleteI think Russ’s days are numbered, I certainly hope so.
I was completely confused! Couldn’t work out who Lily was with for the life of me.
ReplyDeleteI even wondered if it was a new actor playing Russ!
I’m not at all sure Lily is going to be pleased with Russ’s news though
Every word of your post AP I concur.
DeleteKept trying to hear a glimpse that might sound like Russ.
What a surprise that was and we haven't heard from Lily in such a long time. Russ won't be around for much longer.
ReplyDeleteSo Lily is a little slut, Vince is vain and foolish, and Freddie is inept again. Lizzie and Russ are heading for an unpleasant surprise. Why does the editor keep inviting us to laugh at his characters’ embarrassment or misfortune?
ReplyDeleteBecause Maryellen, we supposedly like 'slapstick'. It seemed to me Lily was as confused as some of us were. I can understand that she prefers people of her own age that she works with, but there was a time when she told Russ she couldn't live without him, which to me seemed excessive. *To me* Russ has always been 'overdrawn' and I don't like either him or Vince, safely ensconced at LL. It looks like things are going to come to a head just when he's received his decree.
DeleteNot for one moment suggesting one night stands are a good idea. But why is it that women who engage in them are 'sluts' and 'easy', and other derogatory words, whereas men are 'studs', 'virile', and generally strong, red-blooded males?
Delete👏👏 OWIAS
DeleteThank you OWIAS - for putting so calmly and politely the point I failed to make this morning after reading Maryellens post.
DeleteI tried several times but was unable to find words polite enough to express my feelings without being offensive.
Jazzer, much as I like him, has been 'putting it about ' for yonks without being put in a similar male category.
Lecher.or letch for short.
DeleteAs in: Jazzer was a a bit of a letch when younger?
DeleteSimilar but not the same I think M E.
DeleteOWIAS, agree wholeheartedly with your comment
DeleteAs a rarity of a being a Male on this blog I would like to add my complete agreement with OWIAS.
DeleteSurprisingly got 10/10 for Freddie's LL quiz.
ReplyDeleteNo idea where things are going with Lower Loxley and am sure would get it wrong if I tried.
Well I am old fashioned enough to be amazed that a young woman will behave in the way Lily did .I think I must be well behind the times because I have been binge watching a drama and the young main character behaves in that way on two successive nights with two different men she had only just met .She then moved in with the second man.
ReplyDeleteI might not call Lily a slut but I might think she is no better than she should be .
I certainly wouldn’t call Lily a slut. She cheated on Russ once, and sounded guilty about it but I also think it opened her eyes to what she might be missing were she with a younger, more dynamic partner.
DeleteI think she settled down with Russ at far too young an age, before she’d had a chance to taste life as a young woman, with all that might have been experienced and enjoyed.
He has stifled her and, presumably, now wants them to marry.
I hope she now finds her own way forward without being tied to him.
I agree with your post Archerphile.
DeleteAlso, now that I'm old I'm also old fashioned. I find it degrading for both men and women to be 'putting it about'. It is called being 'sexually liberated.' I find it very liberating to say no to sex. In my younger days I knew women who decided on no sex before marriage and I found it totally acceptable. There were also those who engaged in a lot of casual sex, looking for 'Mr right'. I didn't condemn but didn't agree. There is so much pressure in our society, especially on the young, to share sexual images and experiences, but fortunately there are also voices from both men and women to stop this trend.
Anyway, Russ still hasn't told Lily the 'good news.' To me he was only brought in, so that each twin had a guilty secret and when Lily decided to tell Elizabeth about Freddie's dealing he threatened to reveal all, so she didn't. In the end he went to prison and Elizabeth wasn't very perturbed by Russ.
I agree with you Basia.
DeleteI was challenged by something a friend observed a while back: for many young people, delaying sex or even - shock horror - waiting for marriage is not an option for the simple reason that no-one ever tells them it *is* an option. The default assumption these days seems to be that you *will* be sleeping with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner. (Perhaps we should be grateful that the current Lizzy-Vince scenes didn't happen months ago.) It will be interesting to see whether the behaviour changes imposed by Covid will have a long term impact on people's sexual behaviours.
Sadly, the disparity between men and women remains. Whether a woman chooses to be sexually active or abstain, she is likely to be judged more harshly than her male peers. These double standards, and the language that reflects them, are demeaning to everyone.
Interestingly, the birth rate has gone down during lockdown, I haven’t seen any suggestions as to why, so can only conjecture, whether this results from individual choice or restricted opportunity. It shouldn’t make much difference to the birth rate in Borsetshire where Covid hardly made an impact!
DeleteRuss and Freddie are getting on much better. Freddie’s animosity is now reserved for Vince. I now think F’s seeming ineptitude over the horse incident was deliberate.Not sure what light that shows him in. Not sure either about Vince and Elizabeth sleeping together. But I was pleased for Russ about finding his creative instinct again.
ReplyDeleteThe Bridal Suite with Vince's painful groin, what a joke.
DeleteI could have done without that bedroom scene
ReplyDeleteI picture Vince as an rather obese, short, balding man with a very distinct paunch!
So the thought of him and Lizzie in bed is quite repellent!
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt’s the thought of being in bed with him oneself that makes the skin crawl! No wonder Elizabeth didn’t want to prolong the experience.
DeleteBUT they were both up for The Bridal Suite: it'll be more like a holiday from her and I'm game if you are Elizabeth.
DeleteNow, if like me you have nothing better to do, please listen and tell me, is Vince saying: it is a compliment, I'm saying I've bagged a good 'un? - Ah, but have you? exit - sigh.
That short conversation about Vince letting his manager have the time off, and the attitude he displayed, brought Lizzie up short, didn't it ?
DeleteMade her draw in her horns, I thought.
'Mmmm not sure I like that attitude ' thought Lizzie.... ' best keep my mouth shut '.
And then she decided to stay where she was rather than return to the house with him.
All I can say, is that Lizzie is enjoying her interlude with Vince. She deserves some fun, for once.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that she will return to earth, when Russ tries to get more involved + even more self opinionated.
Lily needs to send Russ on his way.
But is Elizabeth enjoying her staycation with Vince? As the posts above suggest,
Deleteshe is showing signs of unease.
Russ is a Lower Loxley employee. Unless he voluntarily resigns from his job there, Elizabeth has to sack him or make him redundant, in either case he can take it to appeal, and "dumped by my daughter" is unlikely to be regarded as grounds for dismissal.
I could do without all the bedroom scenes we are being gifted with. Vince has an air of dirty old man about him when he's with Elizabeth. Yuck. As for Lily, she's realizing that she's too young for Russ.
ReplyDeleteI seem to have misunderstood TA, yet again 😂
ReplyDeleteI seem to listen and interpret the TA S/L's in a very different way, which is not a good idea nor pertinant.
I will now keep my TA thoughts to myself.
It is for the best. 😁😂
What on earth was all that about, the Casey woman had them all eating out of her hand in no time!
ReplyDeleteAs much I said that I would not give any more TA thoughts, I need to make just one more.
ReplyDeleteThis is:-
A silly week, as shown with Iris appearing. This is just the slow build up, to the Alice and Adam continuing situations, where anything could happen.
I would love to hear from Tom + Natasha again, with the Bridge Fresh enterprise.
What appalling acting from Iris, and what a ridiculously contrived and unbelievable scenario that was. I can’t take it seriously. Better the programme stays at 4 episodes per week if more episodes would mean more of this twaddle. I assume her maternal defence of Vince was meant to dispel any doubts Elizabeth (”Liz”!) might have.about him. Well, we’ll have to see if that’s so.
ReplyDeleteI feel sad because I used to respect TA but am finding it harder and harder to do that.
I'm with both Maryellen and Basia.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bizarre episode !
I believe we have new writers.
Therefore I suppose we might expect new twists to stories, but tonight's ? ? ?
I found it difficult to believe that what I was hearing was not some kind of unkind joke.
I then began to think that perhaps the writer of tonight's episode was trying to channel
Aunt Laura, but couldn't be sure of even that.
Very little of what I heard sounded like the Archers that I know and sometimes love.
Yes Maryellen it is getting harder to retain any respect, isn't it.
I think the Elizabeth/ Vince pairing is very unlikely and hope it soon comes to an end!
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Maryellen and Mrs P. Tonight’s episode was nothing but farce and totally unbelievable . I knew Susan Jameson, a very experienced and well known actress whom I have ‘followed’ for years was going to take part and was looking forward to hearing her. But I am very surprised she agree to take this ridiculous role.
ReplyDeleteThe whole episode struck me as having been written out of desperation to inject a little humour or lightness into the programme.
In my opinion it failed spectacularly, made fools of several characters and has out me off hearing from Lower Loxley again for a very long time.
I agree with you all re this twaddlefest.
DeleteThat was Susan Jameson ?
DeleteBeggars belief !
LL needs to review its security. How was a non-resident able just to waltz in and find her way up to the honeymoon suite? And, more to the point, to Elizabeth's private room - I presume this is somewhere separate from the guests; rooms.
ReplyDeleteI assume the episode is to remind us that under the hard-headed, ruthless businessman's exterior (and skimpy towel) is a good man with a heart of gold who loves his mother. Next thing we'll hear is that he wore a tulip costume in his school play.
There again, does Mr Casey know yet that Elizabeth doesn't own LL but that it is held in trust? Are we being set up for his mother to pass on that little bombshell?
All this week is about Lower Loxley and to 'liven it up' two outside characters are introduced with a remarkable failure to attract 'the crowd.'
ReplyDeleteBasia - ✔️✔️✔️
DeleteToo silly for words. I thought Joy’s twin had arrived on the scene. As for calling Elizabeth Liz - at least it was not Lilibet….
ReplyDeleteI agree regarding the security issue and as for wandering around the private living quarters practically unchallenged give me strength 😱
I agree with you ,Lady R.
ReplyDeleteThat silly woman sounded just like Joy.
How did she know where Vince was ?
What mother follows her middle aged son round to check up on him?
The whole episode was total rubbish.
I don't think that Vince is an obese little man though.
I reckon like Lady Constance she is liking her bit of rough.
If he is anything like Sean Bean I can understand the attraction.
I agree Lady R and immediately thought of Joy when I heard the new woman. All a bit OTT.
DeleteAlso agree about the security, or lack of, at LL but as it has been known for a stranger to be able to get into the Queen's bedroom at Buckingham Palace, I suppose it's not out of the question!
Lanjan, heartily agree about Sean Bean but hadn’t imagined Vince being “eye candy” ! Sorry, that’s so sexist!!😉
DeleteSurely it's about personality and manner, amongst other things, not looks !
DeleteAh, so at least it'll be only Vince's daughter who'll be getting married.
ReplyDeleteOther options remain open.
I wonder if his son-in-law law to be will turnout to be Sol!
DeleteLady R !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Delete'Though I can't see Sol being attracted to the rather gushing Miss Casey
A thoroughly unsatisfactory week, the only positive being Russ not wanting to get married.
ReplyDeleteAnd MINT TOFFEE POPCORN 🤢
Elizabeth is not going to make an honest man of Vince, that has to be a positive. Now we’ve had our so-called light relief, can we please get back to serious storylines......
DeleteHear hear ,Maryellen
DeleteSeconded too!
DeleteOh gosh, that was all a bit sickly!
ReplyDeleteI’d rather draw the curtains on Lower Loxley for a good long while - and let them indulge themselves in their sickly mint toffee popcorn!
Meanwhile, back in Ambridge.........,,.
Yet another post into the ether. Sometimes I can retrieve others not 😩
ReplyDeleteGlad neither couple intend to marry. Is Vince to be the “new” Jack Woolly 🤔
Russ doesn't want to marry. Not so sure Lily doesn't want to.
DeleteWhy is Russ so set against it? Burnt fingers from being married before, or something else? Justin was the same, 'Our love is enough, we don't need marriage.' But if you *do* love someone and are committed to staying with someone, marriage is a public and lasting expression of that commitment. Or am I just old-fashionned?
Some people say it makes a difference when it's official. There are also some lifelong partners who marry close to death to make life easier for the one who remains.
Deleteeg. as regards probate and inheritance. ;Historically marriage has always been a socioeconomic arrangement rather than an emotional one.
DeleteElizabeth told Vince his mother was 'scoping her out' to see if she was after his money for the upkeep of the stately pile and felt reassured that she grew up on a farm. I don't quite follow but hope the deathwatch beetle doesn't strike again.
ReplyDeleteLike so many others postings I do hope we can get through this sex/relationship storylines and get back to some serious storylines or even farming!
ReplyDeleteTotally sick of Vince and Elizabeth, who wouldn't have given a Good Day to Vince earlier!
Hopefully some wag will let Russ know what Lily was doing the evening out!
This week scriptwriter, Nayler Ahmed, has only been broadcast for four episodes of the Archers and she doesn't get any better! One poster said that there is no 'hidden secrets' in her writing. She just tells in like it is!
Probably I listen once every week for perhaps a couple of episodes.
Agree Spiceycushion, Nayler Ahmed's work does not improve !
DeleteRegarding Lily and Russ
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Lily has any thoughts about having children at some stage. I don’t get the impression that Russ would want to be a father - probably thinks it would damage his creativity or something.
He would also be that much older and less inclined to want jeopardise his ‘freedom’.
But suppose Lily has become accidentally pregnant after her one night stand with Sol.
That really would put the cat amongst pigeons
Whose the father all over again!
Certainly a probability Archerphile although an STI wouldn’t go amiss as a SL with all this bed hopping 😱
DeleteI wasn't remotely surprised at the response from Russ.
ReplyDeleteThat condescending laugh said it all for me.
Unfortunately I don't think Lily heard it in the way that I did.
He has extricated himself from his marriage and in time will extricate himself from Lower Loxley when it suits him to do so.
Also, how long has he been there now, two years?
DeleteSuddenly he feels creative, devoted, liberated and guilt free with the arrival of one document.
Having his cake and eating it is how he sees his future now? Sticking to friends with benefits 🥱
DeleteA very good description of Vince Casey,, LR!
DeleteIt was an interesting background comment from Iris when she said how supportive Vince had been in the days when she had to work as husband was indisposed. He also gave some good advice to Lily. I still think his liaison with Elizabeth is most unlikely though. If it really materialises David will not be very happy!
DeleteI think getting one over on David was Vince’s original motivation. As for Iris bogging her son up - spare me!!
DeleteWell, yes, she could have an ulterior motive seeing herself lording it around LL but maybe what she said is true although it seems to be Vince in younger days before the world of business soured him somewhat. These glimpses into the background of new characters are interesting though. We still have a lot to learn about Joy. She is to me very irritating but it seems there is a back story to uncover.
Delete'Iris bogging her son up' - what did she do, bury him amongst Rex's pigs? I must have missed that section. Shall have to go back and relisten ; )
DeleteTry substituting ‘bigging’.
Deletemaryellen, I assumed that's what you meant. But the possibilities of 'bogging' were more entertaining : )
DeleteA random post, as EV has the same niggle.
ReplyDeleteJOY.
I love her, but I am with Ev that there is a sad, or could that be, tragic story as to why she appeared in Beechwood.
There does not seem to have been any appearances from Rochelle, nor the grand-chlidren, throughout her time in Ambridge. There has to be a reason why, but what?
This idea made me come up with another of my "wacky" ideas.
This is that Joy, also has spent time away in some sort of "clinic", for whatever reason.
If so, could she be the one to talk to Alice, before her enforced re-hab, which is due to happen next week.
As I said, just another one of my wacky thoughts + ideas.
Alice does though, need someone to tell her the true and good benefits, of this stay away,
I still believe that the grand-children of Joy, are sadly no more.Also and sadly, that Rochelle wants nothing more to do with her mother, as a result.
DeleteOr maybe it’s just a big fall out over something. Could it be simply that Joy is too interfering? I did think she was a bit heavy in wanting to babysit for Helen and probably massaged the excitement in young Henry and Jack at the time they should have been quietening down towards bedtime. She is pretending all is well with Rochelle and family but this is obviously not the truth. We shall see! Just lately the best books I have read have hinted at a secret which has been revealed eventually but curiosity has kept me reading! Just so with this SL I think!
DeleteI just noticed an annoying little bit of grammar in the Omnibus which has irritated me for some time.
ReplyDeleteSol said to Lily “ I guess you’ve got a long- term boyfriend”
To which she replied “I do”
To my ears the response should have been “I have”, not “I do”.
This has been becoming more and more prevalent in recent years.
I don’t know if it’s infiltrating American grammar or not but it really irks me.
No problem as far I’m concerned. What Lily said was short for I do have. I’ve been using do to add emphasis for decades, as in I do hope so. No one has queried it.
DeleteI think either is acceptable. Possibly you're more likely to hear 'Yes, I do' than just 'I do'.
DeleteOr perhaps it was a Freudian slip because Lily was thinking of weddings ....
Oh well, some things annoy some people and not others.
DeleteI’m probably just old fashioned, having been taught grammar in the 1950’S and never grown out of it.!
Like Maryellen I use 'do' to emphasise and would answer 'I do ' as Lily did so.
DeleteI'm not at all sure that Russ' response was the answer Lily was hoping for. As others have said, maybe there will be repercussions from her 'night of passion' with Sol - either a pregnancy or STD. BTW I agree with Archerphile about "I have" and not "I do". They must be running out of names - Sol - or is that now fashionable?
ReplyDeleteYes Joy has a huge back story which will come out eventually. She is the type of mother to be constantly in her daughter's and grandchildren's lives and the fact that she never sees them obviously means that all is not well. There are many possibilities.
I think it has often been in the past a practice to introduce a new character and then to gradually build a backstory.
DeleteAs we have a new set writers, perhaps it will be up to them to create one for Joy.
I rather like Miriam's idea, and think it could be feasible.
Much as I enjoy listening to Joy, I am not interested in any backstory, tragic or otherwise and definitely not involving dead grandchildren who she thinks are alive, judging by how she refers to them. I’d rather spend my listening time with the principal characters in Ambridge, eg. at Brookfield and Bridge Farm. The programme is called The Archers after all - not Random Ambridge Residents!,
DeleteNo, me neither.
DeleteNot interested in Joy or Iris
Prefer to hear what’s happening with regular characters we have not heard from for a long time
(No, not Kathy!)
Well said Maryellen.
DeleteI don't like listening to Joy and I'm not looking forward to finding out more about her, but will accept it as she is now a resident of Ambridge, I also assume her story has been written recently.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't like is the past story of the old characters being told and written now, just to give some more background to suit the current storyline.
I still cannot work out the Lily + Russ relationship.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Russ is cooling off, and just doesn't want another full-on commitment. This is in case it messes up his artistic "skill", yet again.
All I would like is for Lily to realise, that she can have another life/relationship, which would be far more suited to her.
So Alice has categorically said, that she no longer wants any contact with, either her husband Chris or her daughter, Martha.
ReplyDeleteIs this entirely true, or is it just her excuse, to keep up her alcoholic usage...
I just cannot believe, that she no longer has any feelings at all, for Chris and Babe.
A thoughtful episode tonight.
ReplyDeleteAlice developing some insight, Linda being slightly less than the bitch she can be.
Shula though being the bridge over the waters that might have become troubled.
I noticed that Russ's artistic skills have been emphasised lately. Apparently his portrait of Lily was "exquisite" and really brought out her personality. Perhaps once he realises he can make a living doing this he will decide he needs to be living amongst other artists in a place like Brighton, and Lily will decide she couldn't possibly abandon Lower Locksley.
ReplyDelete