I am not enjoying The Archers right now!

[MinkyBorage]

I feel like everything is tense and artificial and building up to something terrible happening. What is going to happen? I don't listen to The Archers for the drama, I listen to it for the feelgopod factor, although I know there are always frictions and crises to cope with, but notheing too shocking.......... well there was the time when Ed was a crack head but that all got sorted out in the end and it was ptrobably for the best that he ran away to the big city and lost his way for a while etc etc....

I hope Helen's baby doesn't die. I don't actually care about Helen, but it would be just too awful.

I think there is going to be some sort of accident at Lower Loxley. I know what you mean. I don't like listening either. Will be a relief to get it over with.

I don't think Helen will lose the baby. This is for two reasons - firstly the death of a baby wouold be a tragedy for her family but not shake the villlage as we've been promised and secondly and more importantly from the producers pov - Eastenders is already doing that.

Yes they are - apparently Roxy's baby will die and be swapped by Roxy with Kat's baby. I won't be watching (never do)

Isn't Emma's baby due soon, or is Helen further along?

Sorry yes Ronnie (can you tell I don't watch it!) It's a death shortly after birth.

I think there is some justification for a public information storyline on how common stillbirth is tbh - 17 babies a day and nobody talks about it. It's happening all the time and nobody says a word. It happened to our friends this year and I still can't believe it. No justification at all for daft baby swapping storyline - or indeed for SIDS type death which is far, far rarer than stillbirth and is a well known risk in any case.

Helen's baby is due in March I think - and Emma's after that? Maybe May?

It does feel as if the baby is coming soon, despite not being due until Feb. She now has her 'nest' complete and that long walk yesterday felt like a pre-birth surge of energy.

I agree Northern... when Nigel and Kenton went up on the roof you could almost feel the 'nation' going, which one is going to fall?

They are playing with us.

I also think that the Archers have lost the magic in their attempt to become 'edgy' and now and relevant.

If we wanted that sort of junk we would watch Cockney Crap, Manchester Mess or Yorkshire Bollox.

Archer fans really do deserve better.

but Vanessa Whitburn, although claiming to be where the buck stops, will never ever accept any criticism

\link{http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/dec/19/archers-plot-storyline-ambridge-60?INTCMP=SRCH\Guardian interview}

'it is Whitburn who will carry the can. "The buck stops with me when it comes to storylines," she said this weekend. "If there is an impasse, then I decide."
Should the episode go down badly, five million fans will be calling Whitburn to account'

Yeah, right. Whenever they have her on Feedback she just blusters her way through & justifies everything she's done. Cow.

Absolutely - VW utterly ignores the audience relying on 60 years of loyalty. A lot of the edgier storylines - Adam and Ian's marriage, Emmurs love triangle have worked out fine. But if she goes for total madness it will bite her on her smug arse.

It was feelgood enough tonight though, with Little Oscar enjoying the panto and Harry calming Linda down about the 'rival' doing the review.

I know what you mean, Pixie - was a red herring though...probably...maybe...who knows

Maybe that brooch will figure in the plot (or at least a subplot)

I completely agree about the roof thing. It was totally out of character for Nigel, and didn't ring true at all, then all that stuff with 'Mummy's brooch' was super odd.
That's what I mean, it just isn't a pleasure right now. Tonights episode was nice but I just kept wondering about whether Harry and Fallon were going to have something awful happen to them, and whether Harry might be a murderer or something.

I don't think that the roof thing was out of character - don't Nigel'n'Kenton have form for behaving like overgrown schoolboys?

I agree that it is getting annoying with all this suspense and false leads. I really wish that they hadn't told us in advance about SATTC and had just let it happen as a surprise.

I gave up listening after the episode some years ago when Joe killed all the ferrets at the kitchen table.

hated Nigel and Kenton on the roof, I can just imgine a windy new years day and someone getting blown off the roof, whilst trying to retrieve the banner. I really hope it is a false lead. I wish I didn't know either. Still haven't recovered from Phil's death but surprisingly Sid just disappearing whilst in NZ did not have the same impact for me.

I only listen to it intermittently when I am cleaning.

The bloke who plays Nigel is the worst actor I have ever heard on the radio and many of the characters (Pip, Helen and the matriarch Peggy) are extremely irritating.

In fact, thinking about this, I wonder why I bother ...

I know what you mean - sounded tonight like Pip being set-up to crash into Helen on new year's eve and something very bad to happen at lower loxley.