My ears! My ears! Helen and Rob...

[PureDeadBrilliant]

this is not going to end well.

[Gigondas]

I have come to tolerate Linda. I don't mind Caroline, Clarrie, Jill, jolene or Lilian. Helen has always been loathsome as has Tom.

[Brillig]

Oh, I loathe Linda - except when she does something to redeem herself. Does anyone recall her once babysitting for David'n'Roooth (I think it was some yawnsome plotline where they'd agreed to swap jobs or something), and she was very tender with Baby Ben (as he was then), reading him a bedtime story and soothing him to sleep.....all at once you could see how desperately she'd longed to have a child of her own, and it never happened.

Luckily she always goes back to being a vile crashing snob, then I can hate her again

[lljkk]

Linda is also very good with teenagers, remember Kate Aldridge used to confide in her. I've warmed to Linda a lot.

[MrsCampbellBlack]

I like Linda, she was fab with Kathy when she was raped. But the scriptwriters like to parody her too much.

Brenda should stay in Russia

[lljkk]

Moany bitchy Brenda is one of my faves. Good entertainment.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Lynda is fabulous when someone has a real problem - she was great with Vicki too. And she stepped into the breach when Caroline was ill without going into her bossy theatre-director persona.

[minkembernard]

i agree Linda has her moments.

I think Jess will turn out to be pg and or have six kids. family abandoner. Helen will be pg. get pnd and go back to be miserable like she was before she had Henry.

the real nice guy is Neil Susan's husband who is actually genuinely lovely, good at diy and long suffering.
Susan is quite god for amusement.

btw i love Linda with her llama dramas and for having a child called Coriander
(apologies anyone with a child called Coriander and llama called Salieri)

[choccyp1g]

Coriander and Leonie are Lynda's step children.

[campion]

Are you suggesting that Helen is cheerful these days, mink?

Coriander is Lynda's stepdaughter. Lynda couldn't have children - she once confided this in a moment when the SW's forgot that she's a caricature.

[BlackeyedSusan]

my first thought was did they use contraception? there uis bound to be some worry that she is pregnant in a couple of weeks.

I like neil and christopher. linda has improved a lot.

[Gigondas]

I agree Linda only moderately annoying - doesnt make me grit my teeth like she used to.

There has to be some fallout on this sl as hinted around it for too long.

[PrincessFiorimonde]

I'm also in the don't-really-like-any-of-them-but-can't-stop-listening camp.

[NetworkGuy]

Cor... certainly a lot of characters to dislike in those posts... for varying reasons. Have to admit I still have a soft spot for Ruth, even if her "Ohhh Nooooo" has been taken into comedy sketches. Probably quite like most of them, most of the time, apart from Tom and his parents (if Pat's not being 'holier than thou' about organic, Tony is having a moan about something... hardly remember him as a happy guy, though he must have been, some time back, before he needed hospital).

"Luckily she always goes back to being a vile crashing snob, then I can hate her again..." Yes, while Lynda has a few redeeming features (such as being humble towards Jazzer when she got it wrong about the Clan leader), I find her snootiness easy to make her dislikeable most of the time.

I think the few characters I've really disliked were Carl (Amy's "boyfriend" who was married) and Jude (Pip's boyfriend, who was a bad influence, oh yes, and that nasty student lending money to Alice and others in Southampton).

While trying to remember Tony's name (I'm older than Tamsin Greig!) I found this page on Wiki which might help others wanting to see a few family trees. It's not as detailed as some other works about the characters, but it has 3 or 4 helpings that are easily digested and bring you up to date with some of the affairs and break ups, and why X is not on speaking terms with Y (eg Shula, Alan + Usha). Ignore the note on the page saying it is outdated - keen listeners have been giving it updates from 2010 to this year, so the fact Brenda is away is included...

[StickyProblem]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't understand it. I quite like Helen although I've only been listening for about 5 years and I think most of her worst bits were before then. Every time I say "quinoa", which is not very often, I want to do a Helen voice "keeeen-waaaaahhhh".

I couldn't bear Brenda and Tom together but I dipped into AE this week and loved her with the Russian guy! Is she going to get pulled into a crime ring and moan because they won't let her do enough marketing events?

[Gigondas]

I want Brenda to be happy as I like her.

Why the fuck anthea is still employed I don't know. It's just ridiculous .

Sunday episode with both Helen and sodding cathy was very .

[NetworkGuy]

Rest must be on holiday, Gigondas. Loads of people seem to be away for weeks or months at a time... Have Alice and Chris decided to go (or even gone!) to Canada ? Don't worry, not that vital to know.

I spend a fair amount of time with radio on, but nowadays it is often from San Francisco {SoMa FM - loads of music choices} or WRN rather than Radio 4 :)

[ppeatfruit]

So to return to Rob and Hellin iMO it's a brilliant idea of the SW's as someone said upthread. BOTH parents hate him, he's hardly an organic farmer's poster boy, so he's got baggage, he would have, like Hellin. Yes she's bound to get upduffed because all soap characters have missed the contraception talk at school.

[TheSilverySoothsayer]

Listened to tonight's epi, shouting in my head 'run, Rob, run! Run for the hills!'

[ppeatfruit]

Nah as we are saying on the Lonely Cow thread it's great to have a proper affair on TA again (Lil and Paul's didn't really cut it).

[lljkk]

Oh, I'm warming to Anthea. Maybe because I'm so peeved at Lill. Someone needs to put Pusscat in her place.

Why does Cathy not realise that she's about to be sacked? Why are Tony & Pat always so oblivious to the bleedin' obvious?

[ppeatfruit]

yes IIjkk Did you pick up on the fact that Anthea 'used' to work for a 'large' property company in Birmingham;was it J'lene who said to Lil watch out she'll be taking you over? now there's the seed for another complaining Lil plot eh??