Page 14 | They're not plucky Tuckers, they're turkey pluckers' sons - Archers festive chat

TallGiraffe · 19/12/2013 23:20

That was brilliant.

Pseudo - hope your baby gets well soon. We know another baby who has been in hospital with it this week. Really horrible.

TallGiraffe · 19/12/2013 23:40

So my prediction is that Rob n Hellin will end up rekindling their affair because 'he's so unhappy in his marriage'. Meanwhile the DV starts with Jess, who eventually plucks up the courage to tell someone, but chooses Hellin, who is of course disbelieving. Eventually Kirsty realises though and comes to Jess' aid, despite her loyalty to H, because she know's it's the right thing to do.

nennypops · 20/12/2013 00:38

I was annoyed with Kirsty and Hellin desperately coming up with easy-to-demolish excuses to Jennifer. Seems to me that they could perfectly easily and politely have said sorry, absolutely can't stay, byeee. Yes, I know that wouldn't have suited the SWs' purposes, but what the hell.

I was mentally toying with Jess' potential AIBU post. Anyone coming out with that account would be deluged by Mumsnetters shrieking "LTB!"

LondonMother · 20/12/2013 08:02

Party from hell
J4Rob Fri 20-Dec-13 06:00:00

Hi, I'm a long-time lurker and just wondered if anyone had any advice for me - hope it's OK that I'm not a Mum! My DH and I have been together since we were teenagers - we're in our 30s now. We've had our ups and downs, but he was so supportive recently when my DF died. He works in a very specialist area and we've always had to go where the work is, but I have a good career of my own and we've managed to make it work, although it's meant putting plans for a family on hold longer than we might have liked. Currently he's based in the Midlands and it's taken a long time for me to get a job round there, but now I finally have and the plan was that we could look for a house to buy. We're renting at the moment in a lovely village. I really want to stay in this village as I'm making so many really great friends there and it's a beautiful place with a real family atmosphere - in fact, most people who live there belong to one massive extended family, which is so cosy! DH's commute would be a doddle and mine would be fine too. Until recently Rob DH wanted to stay here too but now he's saying he wants to live further away and he's got really - well - I have to say, nasty when I've said that I want to stay in Ambridge this village. I can't understand it. Months ago he seemed like he couldn't wait for me to join him here and now he seems to hate the place. Could it be stress? He's been really busy and hardly ever managed to make it down to Hampshire for a while to see me at weekends.

Anyway, last night, we had a party. OK, it was my idea, and I maybe could have involved him a bit more in the planning, but he's been so absolutely vile about the whole idea. I've been rather upset, actually. It was his boss's wife's suggestion to have the party so you'd have thought he'd have seen what a good idea it was! She's an amazing woman, and I've been seeing her as a bit of a role model, actually, as she's been married such a long time with this fantastic family life. I haven't liked to ask about the circumstances, but it looks like she and her DH are bringing up one of their grandchildren, which is just such a wonderful thing to do! Jennifer She (let's call her J) had so many great ideas about how we should do things. One of the best was to use her niece's shop to supply some of the food. (I really like J's niece and her friend and I've been trying to get to know them better, because if we did stay in Ambridge this village I would so like to be friends with them! That's still a work in progress, though, because they're all so busy and of course it's a really busy time of year for everyone, but I won't give up on it!) Back to the party - Rob DH just refused to do anything at all to help and on the night he was so grumpy, which is - well, he gets like that, sometimes, but it's not what he's really like! He can be so kind and loving. He's been mega busy at work, of course, and maybe it was a bad idea to have this party just now when he's tired. I can't bear to go over it now, but let's just say that the party was a disaster and leave it at that! And now everyone in the village knows that things aren't great between DH and me and I just don't know what to do. Should I try to get him to talk about it? I'm a SW and it's in our DNA to talk endlessly about things but he's a typical man, of course, and he seems to hate talking about his feelings.

WWYD?

Cheesemaid Fri 20-Dec-13 06:01:00

LTB. Immediately. You don't deserve him. He should be free to follow his heart which clearly isn't with you!

Cheesemaid's friend Fri 20-Dec-13 06:02:00

Please ignore my friend, she's a bit upset at the moment. She's right though, you should LTB. I don't think this is going to end well at all. Oh, and please back off the niece and her friend! You're trying too hard and it's really getting on my their nerves, I'd imagine.

MrsCampbellBlack · 20/12/2013 08:09

Love it!

Pseudo - hope DD is better today - I well remember how frightening it is when they're so small and poorly.

GypsyFloss · 20/12/2013 08:23

Just listened, cringeing. I'm not sure it's going to go down a DV route but it most definitely is not a happy marriage. I thought we might get a hint that she is pregnant but it seems not.

Whoever suggested upthread that Helen will rekindle her affair and Kirsty will befriend Jess is on the money I reckon.

Best line of the night came from Helen " I'll bet she is a handful to live with" . Oh how I smirked.

How is your baby doing Pseudo?

ZeroSomeFestiveGameThingy · 20/12/2013 08:49

J4Rob

Sorry you're going through such a rough time. You say your Dh couldn't wait for you to join him... How long were you living apart? (Perhaps you spent some time with your DF before he died?) Do you think anything changed during the time you were away? Perhaps he has fallen out with someone there and doesn't want to talk about it? Had he mentioned wanting to leave the village before you arrived?

I do think there must be a reason why his attitude and behaviour to you has changed so suddenly.

Could you try talking to one or both of the women you mentioned. (Maybe not the boss's wife.) They obviously know the place well and might be able to offer some insight into what's going on.

Good luck.

ppeatfruit · 20/12/2013 09:05

Blimey this has kicked off!! i'm going to listen again to last night's NOW!!

PseudoSanta · 20/12/2013 09:38

I'm sorry J4Rob but YABU not to use paragraphs. I really can't read your post. :o

PseudoSanta · 20/12/2013 09:40

Thanks Gypsy, dd woke up quite poorly but then was awake for a good hour (she's basically slept since Tuesday). She asleep again now so hopefully she'll keep getting better :)

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 20/12/2013 09:49

I bloody love the Archers and 99% of the time I can see where the SW are taking the story - I guessed straight away that Leonie was pregnant and that Ed was going to shoot someone's dog (they just recycled the David v badger storyline IMO).

BUT I can't guess where they are going with the Rob / Jess storyline. Is he a wife beater? Serial adulterer? Or just a knobhead who's been caught with his pants down. Does Jess have a dark side?

Can we all at least agree that suffocating Hellin with Borchester Blue cheese fumes would be a mercy killing?

ppeatfruit · 20/12/2013 12:08

AAh UnexpectedItem Rob hasn't actually been caught yet has he? What'll happen THEN ? That's the question!!!

UnexpectedItemInShaggingArea · 20/12/2013 12:20

I know - ppeatfruit - not caught but he didn't think it through did he? So the options are:

Everyone finds out - Jess forgives - rumbling feud for the next 1000 years

No one finds out - Hellin goes quietly mental - social awkwardness for the next 100 years

Rob internally combusts at the sight of a dressed salmon and shoots everyone

Jess has an affair with Tom / Brian / Tony so everyone's quits.

GrendelsMum · 20/12/2013 12:22

Loving it! Rob is obviously going to become abusive, but where will it go from here? Which existing Ambridge character will step in to support her? Jennifer?

Shame Jess has such an irrititating voice.

ErrolTheDragon · 20/12/2013 12:25

Just caught up .... definitely LTB!
Whether he gets physically violent or not he's nasty.

Rob will make another of his trips to Ambridge Organics (ideally they'll find something that needs returning, Jess will want to take it but Rob will suddenly start being helpful); Helen will commiserate about his annoying wife ....

I feel sorry for that salmon - there was a fish that died in vain.

TheOneWithTheNicestSmile · 20/12/2013 12:29

Kirsty & Helen need to learn "No is a complete sentence"
Did you notice how he criticised Jess for taking advantage of Helen, as if he does care more about H than J?
I don't believe he would have behaved like that in front of Jennifer, however pissed off he was with Jess. (But maybe he's going to burn his boats & leave Ambridge altogether, under a cloud - I do love cliches! - & Jess will stay instead.)

So, the usual tosh. But gripping nevertheless!

TallGiraffe · 20/12/2013 14:05

As an aside, what on earth is a dressed salmon?! Why would a fish need clothes?

ErrolTheDragon · 20/12/2013 14:16

Jess said - she'd been arranging cucumber slices on it all afternoon. Something like this

OddFodd · 20/12/2013 15:53

Told you that salmon was a bad idea

TallGiraffe · 20/12/2013 16:00

Bleurgh, no wonder no one ate any of it!

It's been a fishy education this week, I'd never heard of a fish kettle either.

ErrolTheDragon · 20/12/2013 16:03

Still, at least Jess was able to borrow Jenny's and didn't have to cook the fish in the dishwasher - if she'd done that then I'd have had more sympathy with Rob.

LondonMother · 20/12/2013 16:22

Yes, I'd find it hard not to put the dishwasher tablet in with the salmon out of sheer force of habit. I doubt that would do much for the flavour.

ChristmasPartyFRocknRollNerd · 20/12/2013 17:53

That was another fab episode, but I would have liked a few more characters there as the whole village was pretty much invited (or at least those who Jenny deems worthy); this whole cast rotation thing is getting worse isn't it.

I reckon that given Helen's comment about Jess being difficult there is the possibiity for this to be a long playing story line: Jess cracks and leaves Rob fairly quickly and Rob moves back in on Helen who falls hook, line and sinker for him again. They could even work in the Jess as a SW angle on that one in that she could be looking out for Henry but Helen and Rob paint her as a vengeful woman scorned etc. This of course should play out over months and months if not years, however my faith in the Archers is so low I can imagine Jess buggering off by Christmas (probably staying at home in Hampshire - which raises the question why the feck is her accent at best 'posh Wirral' at worst 'Scouse stage-school') and Helen being slapped by New Year and Rob run out of Ambridge by mid-January....

Hope Tiny-Pseudo is doing better.

fluffiphlox · 20/12/2013 18:12

Ah well, the accents are all over the place on TA. I've commented before on how Ed and Will seem to have different accents despite being brothers who have never lived anywhere other than Ambridge, and how George must be the poshest gamekeeper's son going even though Emmur is his mother.

Does anyone remeber the Hungarian farm hand YEARS ago. The most surprising thing about his accent was that it was genuine though it sounded absurdly overdone. I've listened to this programme for years, mainly because it's on when we're either preparing or eating supper/dinner/tea, ( take your pick depending on whose Archers household you most identify with).

duchesse · 20/12/2013 18:33

Don't forget wee Ruaraigh's teflon Irish accent, even after years in Ambridge. It became so embarrassing they had to ship him off to boarding school.