Robbieeeee! It's meee, it's Jessieeee! I've come home. I'm so cold! Let me in-a-your window. The Archers pay homage to Wuthering Heights?

[PseudoBadger]

A new thread in time for the film this morning.

Eleanor Bron is a wonderful actress but having someone of that stature in the cast is a terrible mistake.

They've got her so they have to use her but there is nothing that Carol actually does that one of the other characters couldn't do.
She demonstrated sloe gin and autumnal foraging last night. Has no one in Ambridge ever made sloe gin? Pull the other one.
She cheers up Peggy. Ian used to do that.
They want some poetry read. Jill or Linda can do that.
They want a woman for a bridge-playing scene. Lillian could do that.
They want Jennifer to be silly. The kitchen story has already done that so why can't they show Jenny being the capable woman that we know she is?
And so on.

EB has a beautiful voice but, as Carol's voice, it's irritating. Everything she says is imbued with portent and drama so they've dreamed up a matching story line.

PS. Why can't they show any woman in Ambridge being truly capable and rising in her profession instead of falling apart at the slightest difficulty? The editor seems to think that a woman with a strong personality is a bully, manipulator or nag.
Or a witch! When will the ducking stool appear if we've regressed that far?

I feel so guilty. Eleanor Bron was reading from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats not too far from where I was on Sunday. I'd planned to go just so I could boast about it here. Sheer laziness kept me away.

Hayley would be a good place to start. She has a share in the Egg Empire, doesn't she?
She could ditch Roy, get work at the local nursery, build up the egg business and maybe study for a degree. In other words be an independent, fulfilled, educated woman and a terrific role model for her daughters.

i HATE the word foraging. it's just picking stuff. carol isn't a trendy chef, she's a woman who has lived in the countryside for years - she would call it picking sloes

I used the word because it was what she said but it isn't a word I would use in real life. We pick stuff - but the SWs would never give EB a common or garden phrase with harsh consonants and short vowels.

yy i realised why you used it. it grated when carol used it - fallon might do though for example

Absolutely agree re EB unbalancing.

Her character is also unnecessary and irritates me. If the SW thought it wd appeal to more mature women listeners, it doesn't.

It occurred to me that lovely voiced Carol may have been introduced as one of the long standing matriarchs may be leaving some point soon... Thinking Peggy, as they are making such a fuss about her birthday, maybe she is the character to restore balance to 'the force' as, with the non appearance of Lil they need the quota of women of a certain age. Cathy hadn't been around for quite some time., Jolene has been quiet since Loxfest, Vicky has gone vair quiet too... I am deeply concerned about all these absences as these characters gave the programme roots and depth... But realise it probably is cost cutting/savings etc..will Jess be the next new female regular ?

I'm not sure it is cost saving though. It's 13 minutes for which actors have to be hired to speak lines and that doesn't change. As far as I know they are paid per episode and there are roughly the same number of characters in each episode. It's more to do with which characters the editor likes, I think.

But some of the contrivances they use to avoid dragging someone into the studio are ridiculous. When the marquee for the famous naming ceremony got flooded, Lynda was yelling out frantically to Robert for help and there was not one solitary shout by way of a response, even though he was presumably very close by and, I would hope, rushed out to help. Witness also the fact that we never once heard Lily's views on her mother's shenanigans with Roy even though they were presumably at least as valid as Freddie's.

Re Piggoi potentially SOTMC, I wondered whether that is what the recent flood of reminiscences is all about. We're maybe working up to a major retrospective about how she's almost the last of the old guard etc etc.

Pumpkin at pic

Is it not that the actors are unavailable?

The HB better be good because its all getting a bit repetitive and not in a too many spoons of ginger in the scones way. i loved the ginger scone debacle. And the llama dramas.

This should be Henry's favourite festival! No costume required surely. Demonic laugh or what!

Horrid old rob. What a nasty man

Ghastly, vile bully.

So mikes house sale has fallen through, the spring has dried up (it's either Henry or Charlie's fault), there's a Halloween party on Friday, Eddie can't do a very good Mexican impression, Helen cuts her hair according to robs liking, Charlie has a bootiful girlfriend (beard?), Emma is turning into her mum (ie a gossip), George may be a natural games keeper, Emma had something nice to say about will, Henry hates rob really, rob is a terrible snob

What else have we learnt today?

We have relearnt that Rob is a bastard.

We knew that!! Talk about controlling. And how convenient they should target the dj!

Do you think this episode suggests things will look up or down for the grundys?

Good omen for the Grundys. Eddie mentioned that the estate wouldn't let him bottle the water from the spring back in the 70s so it belongs to the estate and now it has dried up, forcing Ed to spend money and time tapping into the main to water his cows.
There is compensation coming, methinks.

We also know that if Helen ever does LTB she should cut up his hunting jacket into little ribbons.

And she has a new dress which he's not going to like.

What is killing the pheasants though?

Oh, is Charlie straight after all?

Things have to look up for the Grundys. No other way.

Nice round-up BYOS thankyou. What did Rob do this time?

I agree with everything unitarian said upthread about Carol replacing people who could do it better.

And realistically, how long is Eleanor Bron going to stay a member of the cast? It's not as if she is doing it on the side with a RL job like many of the others. And surely she must cost more?

Therefore she can't be in for the long haul - unless she is looking forward to miming in the wings for years to come.

i thought there are just so many pheasants there is a lot of roadkill

I bet henry loved the carnage

rob was at his nasty best - he didn't want the halloween party at his house because of the mess potential - ended with him 'winning' as helen won't be inviting back from now on

Rob is a nasty man. What did I miss that makes BYOS think Henry hates Rob really? Do we think Rob specially bought a cupcake and put into his DJ pocket?

i was joking a bit that it was henry who put the stuff in robs pockets and not the grundy kids (I'm sure it was all 3!)

i reckon rob is responsible for the dead birds - he finds it cathartic to do a bit of hit and run in his lunch hour

Ah - we've solved it. The saved salaries of the half dozen odd missing cast members are paying for Ms Bron.