The Archers - It's not about the money, money, money, think about Jill's honey, honey, honey, Justin wants to farm by satnav, forget about the prize tag.

[PseudoBadger]

Will The Dopeys have buggered off by the end of this thread?
Will Tom finally reach home, after weeks of trekking through the tundra?

I think they can afford to buy the new farm and pay off the sibs but the reason why David is so taken aback is that his sisters are now keen to see the back of him so they can get on with their marvellous projects. They have hung on on like limpets to Brookfield because they have an emotional connection to it but not, it seems, to their brother.

Suddenly they're not upset about Jill going either so long as they get their cash.

Goneril and Regan.....?
Perhaps they'll plan to have Jill spend half the year with each one of them while they cut down her independence bit by bit.

D&R will back out from the sale and end up with very annoyed siblings or perhaps Jill will bang some heads together while she still has some influence.

If Lizzie & Shula do end up getting the money then I hope Alistair goes on a massive gambling spree and loses the lot and I hope Hayley sues the stuffing out of Lizzie.

Anyone notice Shula's comments about Alastair having to make some difficult decisions about the practice, and her having tobe the main breadwinner-what's that all about I wonder- he's a well regarded country vet, why on earth would his income be about to plummet, hmm? Whatever it is, it sounds like Shula knows all about it though so not in keeping with previous indications he had something secret going on.I wonder if there is any plot in this or if it was just chucked in to justify her needing the cash when married to a high earner.

Thankyou for info Phaedra. I'm not wholly convinced the writers will have thought it through in too much legal detailwhen devising the ownership of the farm, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

I'm all for the siblings taking their share and enjoying/ spending/ gambling/ paying compensation with it as they wish. I think the Dopeys were very greedy in their belief that they could sell it and take all the capital to fund their whim. I do suspect though that Kenton will be the dissenting voice, as usually he'd be first at the cash and I agree with Biscuit that perhaps he would feel his trade will suffer most of all from the ill-will it'll cause in the village.

Now that the siblings have asked for their dosh out of Brookfield, you just KNOW that the sale is going to fall through.

That and Rooth saying "There's no going back'

It's just irritating having Deaavid sounding so taken aback at the prospect of the siblings taking their share, when one of the main reasons he gave for accepting Justin's offer was that it would mean they could pay out the siblings and still have a decent whack left over. Sometimes it seems as if the SWs are so uninterested in consistency that they can't be bothered to read the previous scripts.

Re Shula and Alistair - they've laid the ground more obviously than they did with the LL story but it looks as if after the big upheaval Shula, like Elizabeth, will remain in exactly the position she was in before.

Must say I'm not overly happy with an editorial plan that shakes up each Archer establishment in turn but then returns them (mostly) intact to their previous state. With everything that's been happening I think we're entitled to some actual change for the first family.

Is Shula wanting to rake in dollars so she can buy Alistair out when they inevitably divorce?

I think the siblings are totally right to get their cash out! It's one thing having a share in your family history but some random farm is just weird.

If Jill has a go at them I would be seriously pissed off if I were one of the siblings as it shows such favouritism!

I'm not sure I like that Pat/Helen/Tom are keeping info about Tony from Peggy. I'd be furious.

It's yet more bollaux from the SW. If Peggy is capable of a trip to the hairdressers then she is capable of a trip to the hospital to see her critically ill son. After that she can keep in telephone contact with the care team.

What was said on air 14? 15? years ago when Phil and Jill drew up their retirement plan was that there would be A and B shares in Brookfield Ltd or whatever it's called. The A shares would go to David and Ruth and would entitle them to all the profits of the farm (or losses, of course). The B shares went to Shula, Kenton and Elizabeth and would entitle them to absolutely nothing unless the farm was sold. In that event, the B shareholders would be entitled to a share of the surplus assets on winding up the company, ie the sale proceeds less any debts.

Keri Davies said recently on one of the BBC blogs that the proportion to go to the B shareholders had never been specified but it was definitely not the case that each sibling would get 25% - he implied it would be a much smaller share than that, but of course even 10% of £7.5m would be a very tidy sum.

It was structured that way to ensure the future of Brookfield but if sold I don't think Phil was so concerned - as he probably thought it wouldn't be sold!

At the time I thought it was the only fair way to do it as it wouldn't be fair on the siblings if Dave an Ruth sold up and spent the cash on a retirement spot in a luxury cruise liner.

I find it odd that Jill hasn't made much comment on what Phil would have thought cos I'm sure I can hear him spinning in his grave

She hasn't really said much at all though. Just "that's nice dear", "I do hope the bees will be alright", and of course "oh!!"

D'you know, for the past few weeks I've been assuming I must have missed some crucial meeting where siblings and listeners were given exact figures for percentages, shares, etc, etc. Like Mimsy I remember Phil's original division. No figures were revealed. And as far as I'm aware none of the production team have given an exact percentage.

Someone recently mentioned £750,000 here for each sib. I didn't like to ask where that figure came from. Have we been told they get a straight 10%?

Have I or have I not missed something?

What was the price of the Northumberland farm?

You know last night when NotTom said "these are my pigs" or similar? They're not are they? This is a new batch, bought after he left aren't they? Fancy not noticing Tom!

Not sure but I think they needed the full £5m to buy it and do the necessary work

Yes I thought that! Surely his pigs were sausaged a long time ago

Surely by now Tom has bumped into Neil wearing his Manager's hat. (Unless Rob did for Neil as soon as he began his takeover.)

No, I pulled 10% out of the air, Zero! All we know is that S, K and E get less than 25% - the implication from Keri Davies was, a lot less than 25%. But even if you went as low as 5%, that's still a lot of money.

Yes, but the impression is given that the sibs know exactly how much they'll get. If they know, why don't we?

Stewedcoot I'm inclined to agree with you; tbf TA has never been perfect You just have to put up with inconsistencies etc.

Families often 'grow horns' where money\wills etc. are concerned it makes a lot of sense to me.

I THOUGHT that Phil split 50% of the value of Brookfield between the other 3 siblings. No wonder they have pound signs in their eyes like the cartoon characters

Where did your thought come from ppeat?

I heard it on TA (I reckon).

Here's Keri's blog item. This is the key quote:

Brookfield would be formed into a limited company. Shula, Kenton and Elizabeth would hold a special category of shares that would entitle them to some of the proceeds if Brookfield were ever to be sold. (Note that the amount of these shares was never specified, and it is very unlikely to have been a quarter each, as some listeners have speculated). But David and Ruth were to be the inheritors of Brookfield.

Kenton has already had a lot of money from Phil and Jill as they paid off his debts, twice at least. Shula inherited Glebe Cottage from Doris and then sold it to Phil and Jill (or possibly Brookfield) when she bought The Stables. Elizabeth married money. All these thoughts were certainly in Phil's mind (and Jill's) when they came to their decision.