They don't let any old Tom, Dick or Henry live in Ambridge - The Archers chat continues

[PseudoBadger]

Hello you two :o

Is that Lewis Zero, runs the gallery at LL?

That's it - Lewis!

Thanks - I have been struggling for months to remember.

It's true though; lots of wannabe musicians but no visual or currently literary bods. (I know Jenny occasionally put pen to paper a long time ago.) Is the implication that Ambridge is too expensive for artists? They do only seem to be allowed to visit LL.

Wasn't Usha's boyfriend before she married the vicar an artist or poet?

You've forgotten hellqueen's talent in necklace crafting...

I wonder when Pat will work that one out.

Someone must paint Lynda's 'flats' - and the rest of the creative energy in the village goes into her Christmas productions!

upsala - yes, that's what I meant! I know it's only acting but I know the actor that played Jack died ages ago and I find it a bit creepy that they've been making out he's still alive.

I used to really like Pat and hate Hellin. Now Pat annoys me almost as much as H does but Hellin is a horrible human being whereas Pat isn't

Pat is just such a martyr. 'My birthday ruined' huff - oh fgs, if you didn't want him there then just say so. There's so much hype about how Pat and Rob are opposed to each other's principles - but when does she ever assert her principles? (And Rob has none, clearly). She just huffs around the place being PA all the time. Why doesn't she just say what she prefers!

I said to DH (as his eyes glazed over) that it is bad form to invite someone to your home and behave like princess tippy toes when they turn up. She was rude and ignorant.

Pat is aggressively passive-aggressive. But frankly she had a right to be, once Hellin had gone and asked if Rob could come she was damned if she did and damned if she didn't.

oddfodd i think as the actor died earlier in 2013 they probably felt they had to leave a reasonable amount of time to properly broadcast the character's death. they couldn't exactly rush it through within a few weeks of the actor's death, that would have been a bit off i think

i interpreted it as pat feeling coerced by helen into agreeing to invite rob, so she did it with bad grace (and her behaviour at the meal too). but when does she ever say no to helen?

I know Hell-in is 35 and her mum should butt out but she and Henry has been living there (rent free?) and Pat (annoying though she is) deserves some respect.
I think, if it were my birthday, I would have said no to Rob coming (as Pat should have)

She never says no because she knows just how bloody awful Helen can be , remember how shit she was to Old Tony when he questioned her decision to have a turkey baster baby.

I think she also has a fear of Helen sliding back into anorexia and her feeling responsible. She indeed , as said upthread, is reaping what she has sown with this girl-woman she has raised.

Didn't Hellin move back in with her parents when Henry was born as a temporary measure - she'd been living in a flat (possibly rented from her Gran Peggy, but I'm a bit hazy on that).

good point gyppsyfloss - we dance around my sister, treading on eggshells so she doesn't throw a wobbly - and she's 51!!!!!

But was there anything wrong with how Pat raised Helen? - Tom is basically OK, so was John - I thought it got like this after Greg's suicide and Helens anorexia.

From what I gather Helen was a cow to Hayley when John died. I think she has form for it and Pat has never stood her ground with her. Even last night she said no to having Rob and then immediately conceded to Helen. Admittedly she was as rude as she could away with being at dinner but she should have just stuck to her first decision.

would helen deny access to henry if crossed? i bet she would

*Errol" the way I understood it was that ever since her own depression after John's death Pat has felt that she has "let down" her family, Helen in particular, and thus contributed to Helen's not being able to cope with Greg's suicide.

So she's always over-compensating where Helen is concerned....

I'm sure she would deny access - although who would babysit?

Zero that is spot on.

Willie most definitely, if her treatment of Tony in the past is anything to go by.

true zero, but as gypsy says Helen was vile at the point John died so predating Pat's depression.

Thinking about it - it's actually a very shocking slow burning portrayal of life after the death of a child. Pat and Tony, but Pat more obviously, always wear an air of tragedy that just can't be shaken off. Pat definitely gives the impression of continuously wading through glue.

And I guess that may be why she can seem an unattractive character to anyone who wonders why she's always so miserable - or maybe not miserable, just rather ....what's the word I want?

Sorry X'd. But was trying to analyse Pat rather than Helen...

She's probably not just over-compensating because she felt she let them down - she's probably fearful of (in any way) losing another child.