In honour of how The Archers threads began: Why are the SWs allowing this to happen?

[PseudoBadger]

The very first thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/a1740045-Why-is-Lillian-allowing-this-to-happen

40k posts later....

[PseudoBadger]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/a1740045-Why-is-Lillian-allowing-this-to-happen

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

I'm not a regular enough listener anymore to keep up with the threads but I am finding it very difficult to listen to any of the Rob and Helen story. It feels like I'm stood there doing nothing and I want to do something :(

[CuttedUpPear]

I do understand her lack of confidence in herself and how Rob manufactured it.
But much less believable is her family's blinkered view.

[Gruach]

Because he's not just a bit on the side and now that he has PR it's going to be impossible to bin him completely. Unless he dies ...



🍾

[DadDadDad]

Thanks for the new thread, Pseudo.

songbird - I think TASWAMA was literally just introduced by Bertrand just a few hours ago: I'm just going to keep popping in to say that the Archers scriptwriters are misogynist arseholes in the hope that they read the threads

The Archers ScriptWriters Are Misogynist Arseholes

[EBearhug]

Yes - you'd expect people to at least notice he's having a bad day from time to time, even if they don't realise he's and out and out baddie.

[GruntledOne]

On the misogyny front, I don't think you can really count Alice not going into the army as an example. Arguably going into aeronautical engineering is at least as high-flying, if not more so. Except she does blow it by taking so much time off.

Soap opera writers do have a track record of making characters drop out of university, or decide not to go, if they think it's more useful to keep them local.

I'm hoping Lily will keep up the female level of academic achievement, provided of course that she is able to do any interviews through the medium of mime.

[BoreOfWhabylon]

Thanks Pseudo

[Eastpoint]

Thank you for the new thread Pseudo.

She might get the grades for PPE, one of my daughter's friend's Oxford offer is her lowest offer (same subject). I assume she got all high As in her AS exams or college wouldn't have said try Oxford.

[bigbuttons]

New thread already?
Thanks!

[GypsyFl0ss]

Woohoo thanks Pseudo for the new thread and indeed for them all. you're a .

[BYOSnowman]

Happy new thread everyone!

[SmallLegsOrSmallEggs]

Thank you for the new thread.
I thought I was quite a newcomer to the TA threads but just checked the thread where it all began and I am on first page (nc).

[vixsatis]

De-lurking before I go to work where I do most of my messing around on Mumsnet. Work computer system has developed a most frustrating fault which I can't really report to Helpline: it will let me read; it will let me write posts; but it won't let me post them. Most frustrating.

Anyway, thanks for new thread; Hurrah for Phoebe; am bored with Brookfield; and someone has to rescue Helen soon, or at least notice that she is not eating. Scene with Shula and the horse was terrible.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thanks for the new thread, Pseudo, and many additional thanks for setting up this terrific series of threads!

Re Oxford offer - Mrs Overinfested here has looked up Oxford's standard offer terms for PPE - AAA. Lower than many other Russell Group standard offers for demanding subjects!

Re the misogyny - yes, the TA production team has indeed made many dreadful and unrealistic decisions about young Ambridge women, but it could be argued they haven't done any better by the young men. There's the whole argument about which should they do - reflect reality or show the world as they think it should be. Both can provide food for thought and make people re-assess things if that's what the programme makers want to do. It could be argued that by having an emotional abuse storyline in the programme they are helping people to see why this kind of behaviour is abuse, not just unpleasantness.

Going back to the education and careers of women, 30 years ago they were probably reasonably in line with reality. Shula is a bit older than me, Elizabeth a bit younger. It wasn't at all unrealistic that they didn't go to university, as only about 10% of the population went in the 70s and 80s. It was less credible that Debbie dropped out, having gone to Cheltenham Ladies' College and made it to university, but one university dropout may be regarded as a misfortune. Two plus starts to look like carelessness, and that's what has happened over the last 20 years (mostly down to Vanessa Whitburn, not SOC, let's be fair).

I mentioned Lucy Perks on the last thread so will say no more here for the sake of my blood pressure.

Brenda got all As at A level but didn't go to university - took up a BBC trainee position instead in local radio - Me: OK, that's an excellent opportunity, hard to come by, could be interesting - didn't capitalise on this by moving to London or Brum as she surely would have done - went to Bournemouth to do a degree in Radio Production - Hurrah, another chance for her to kickstart her career! - oh no, silly me, she can't be allowed to do that - she dropped out when Betty died and ended up at Felpersham doing Marketing (OK, not a proper dropout, but still a wasted opportunity). Then didn't use her degree properly for years and years.

Then there are all the other lost opportunities.

Fallon did a course in music production and then came back to Ambridge and worked in Jaxx and The Bull. So far as we know she never even tried to get a job in the music business. OK, she was trying to make a go of things with her band, but she needed a job to pay the bills and could have done better than minimum wage bar work.

Susan could have been a prime candidate for getting back into education in adult life. She did some sort of course years ago to improve her computer skills and she could have taken that further. I'd have liked to see her studying with the Open University or doing a professional qualification. She'd probably also have been pushing Emma to get more qualifications - she did some sort of catering course but it was pretty low level. She is capable of more.

Hayley - qualified nursery nurse, bright and sparky, why didn't they ever have her working with Roy, Business Studies graduate, to set up a day nursery? I've harped on about this before but this was such an obvious thing to do and would have made an interesting storyline for the village.

They still have time to turn things round with Alice and Amy. Kirsty is at least in a supervisory/managerial job at last after years of casual work in bars and shops.

[BYOSnowman]

The mysogyny is more deep rooted though - look at how all the women simper around rob and are too thick to think independently. The sl for the women invariably involve their relationship with a man (do we really need Alex in this sl for example)

[MuddhaOfSuburbia]

[Helenluvsrob]

Allowing what to happen? I just think we'll Ian has been the most unforgiving person ever, aren't I allowed one teeny mistake ? I shall miss him terribly but what can I do?

Just as well rob adores the very bones of me and looks after my interests so well as I can't. I just need to make sure I keep him happy and don't do anything stupid, mind you it terribly tricky trying to make sure I dint upset him at times.

I'm clearly a dreadful dreadful klutz and keep saying and doing all the wrong things to the people who are important to me. Mind you, now I'm not driving I haven't even seen Kirsty for a while so I don't think I've upset her with my stupidity yet..

[trevortrevorslatterfry]

Hello and thanks for all the threads Pseudo and everyone else!

[Lilymaid]

Historic note on Shula. Back in the 1970s when she was at school she was going to be a vet. SWs seemed blissfully unaware that her A Level choices would never get her on to a VetSci course. Eventually, they changed the course of her life to the correct Archer woman trajectory ... working locally at Rodway & Watson as a glorified secretary (I think she was going to train as a land agent but always seemed to be in the office typing away for her boss).

[R4]

SOC marked the 65th anniversary of TA with a 'back to the future' episode, celebrating how Brookfield will turn full circle and go back to it Dan & Doris origins.
I love how pseudo has marked the 40,000 posting on the TA board with a 'back to the future' thread , commemorating how the origins lay in us moaning about the surrender of well-known person's character in order to progress a storyline.

La plus ça change ..., as Lynda would over-enunciate.

[Minimammoth]

Congrats to all posters, looking forward to the 50,000. I note that I was the 39,999th. I was always one to slightly miss the boat.

[redshoeblueshoe]

Helenluvs darling you will be fine Knob Rob will look after you.
shameless place marking
Thanks for the new thread Psuedo

[BertrandRussell]

TASWAMA.

[LillianGish]

Really hope Phoebe goes to Oxford, but might have accept that it will be a way of writing her out (with a possible option to come back much later as an entirely different person). I think The Archers works by portraying a lifestyle which is becoming more and more out moded where people live very close to where they grew up - that's how you get a dynamic of everyone knowing everyone else. If everyone moved away and then there were lots of incomers it just wouldn't work. That being the case I'm prepared to accept that some of it may be at contrived. I don't really object to Shula setting up her riding school and doing what she loves rather than sticking with estate agency, I can also understand Brenda being thrown off course by the death of her mother, not really sure about Alice suddenly getting married (though it's something that looks like happening to my brilliant DN who after a stellar school career looks like taking a year out since getting involved with a man six years older than her). Would have loved to see Hayley set up the nursery, but she lacked the solid Niall backing of the landed gentry. Most unrealistic to me is Kate - not that she went to SA in the first place, but that since she came back her DCs have ceased to exist.