As another voice actor does a bunk in the night, is he watching them all with the eyeeeeeee .... of the TIGER? Bring back Matt unadulterated to The Archers NOW.

[PseudoBadger]

This is too much for me now. I need to meditate.

Rob really didn't want Helen to go out, did he? All that nonsense suggesting that the tail end of a cold might turn into galloping bronchitis if she ventured out really belongs back in the 1930s. And having been defeated on that, he was desperate to make sure she had a bad evening,which was why he was being unpleasant about the shop, getting her worried he'd spill the beans about Charlie and Adam, and trying to engineer an argument about the DNA test.

I will say that the way this storyline is both written and acted is definitely one of the best things about TA at the moment. It makes it all the more frustrating when they put so little effort into other storylines and cast such poor actors as NewPip.

One rider to what I said above -

I enjoy a good plot but not at the expense of character. Some of the ideas might be good but perhaps could be better used for a whole other set of people in a different series.There's a feeling that square pegs are being rammed into round holes.
I am addicted though.

You're right, icimoi, Rob trying to prevent Helen from going out on health grounds was ridiculous - I bet he'd be quite happy to bully her into going hunting whether or not she had the tail-end of a cold.

The character Rob is utterly loathsome but the actor is giving a brilliant performance, as is the actress playing Helen.
More than that I should not attempt to type after Burns Night Supper.

I listened again a few times & have stopped again. There's just too much drama now for me, I don't want TA to make me feel tense when I'm listening to it, most of life isn't exciting & that's fine with me.

pseudo only just seen your comment about H now I think about it, you're right- she was drifting off thinking about what she might have for tea.

Thanks for the article Araminta - pretty depressing to read.
V. annoyed at Matt SL - as if we needed any more drama!

Hmmm. I'm considering my options. At the moment I'd miss the thread at least as much as the programme. I can't now imagine listening without the fun of the thread. So everyone else has to keep listening too ...

BOOP - The way Helen and Rob are being written is extraordinary. Or perhaps it's not? Here's Helen who set up and has successfully run an organic shop over years. But suddenly she's deferring to Rob about its management? Where is "shopkeeper" on his CV? This is one time where I wouldn't mind some speeding up to a suitable denouement.

I think Rob's beginning to lose his self control and Helen is getting closer to a tipping point. The more he thinks she doubts him the more he'll lose his cool and the whole thing will accelerate.

Matt has been a silent character for ages - they could have just let him slip away without a ridiculous storyline (the AmEx Russia story was also incredible, in the unbelievable sense, rather than amazing.) He could either then stay silent (cf Usha since ages) or they could quietly introduce a new actor, which at least is easier on radio than TV - we notice, but it's not as weird as a whole new face as on TV shows. One thing I've always liked about TA is that when there are funerals, past characters are sometimes mentioned as being there, even if we don't hear them speak; this is much better than your average TV soap funeral, where even close family members are often not even mentioned, if they are not a current character - yet funerals are usually all about, "do you remember...? Is so-and-so here? I'd love to catch up," and so on.

I agree with the comment upthread that plot should not override character, because it just loses credibility. Of course, IRL, some people do act out of character, so it can be done once in a while, but not frequently.

Another thing I like about TA is that it's not full of murderers - the death count on most TV soaps is ridiculous, and while I know a handful of people with criminal records, it's not every household in the street; I'd say the incidence of criminal activity in TA is probably about right and mostly credible - it's not constant plotting and revenge and murder. And screaming arguments. I know some relationships do revolve round shouting at each other on a frequent basis, but it 's actually not the default way of dealing with disagreements IME, but a rare blow-up - in TV soaps, they are always shouting at one another, and it's very tiresome. I don't want the incidence of affairs to creep up, either - EE is almost at the point where any new relationship, whether legit or adulterous, is likely to be risking some level of incest, as they've all slept around with each other so much. I really don't want TA to get like that - and it would be out of character for most characters.

I might expect some shouting when Ian finds out, and it's going to happen with Rob and Helen at some point, and she knows it deep down, hence the appeasement around the DNA test.

Needed to get that off my chest...

Feel better?

Helen's famous 'dogged independence' hasn't been mentioned on air for some time, has it? I know Pat's had other things to worry about, and Tom has just got back and is a totally different person but in the past they'd have been going on and on endlessly about H having to do things her way, she's so organised, so independent! etc etc (not actually true but it's always been the way they want us to see the character iyswim).

So surely there'd be more unease from family/friends (if she has any - it appears not) about her transformation into a Stepford wife? The shop business is just utterly ludicrous and the fact that everyone simply wrings their hands and then says nothing can be done stretches all credulity. It's a central part of the farm enterprise so why are they all being so passive about it?

I think that the thing that has most upset me about Matt going is that the actor left in July but, due to the current system, it has taken until January for the information to filter through. In the good old days of the everyday tale, all the villagers were featured all the time; it would have been inconceivable for someone to go silent for six months.
Kim Durham deserved a better send-off than that.

The rest of Helen's family being passive about the shop has a lot to do with their historic pussy-footing around her because, a) they'll never change her mind once she's made it up, b) they're afraid of upsetting her. In fact she's bullied them for years.

The problem with the whole Matt thing is, like Brookfield, its inherent improbability. He and Lill have stood by each other during the prison sentence and the Paul affair, and so far as I remember the last we saw of him he was quietly enjoying the shenanigans about Lil's knitting. You would expect to see some tension build-up if he were going to leave. I'm sort of assuming Hereford that he hasn't left because he's gone off her, and the fact that he put Valentine's Day into his calendar supports that.

So that means he must be leaving for other reasons, probably financial, but again surely any scriptwriter worth his or her salt would build up to that?

I'm wondering whether there was some sort of falling out last July which is why he's disappeared and why they can't put together a convincing storyline. But even then they could surely draft in a new actor.

All in all, I'm mystified.

I haven't seen Dadx3 lately-has he run off to CR with Tiger?
Jolene makes me cringe-when she saw Harrison's BOOP point, she was almost flirty/smutty about it.
I hope Feebs hasn't got some sort of illness storyline developing, seems tired all the time for one so young.
And Brookfield Archers- ODFODs seems about right.

Happy Burn's night all.

Here we decided not to carry the Burns Night hangover to Monday so celebrated last night. Enjoy yours.

liking the Burns Night icon...
Hoping to hear from the lovely Jazzer tonight another one who has been silent for too long...as I've said before I've never lived anywhere where people disappear so frequently ...

Lang may yer lum reek enochroot

Oh! I just found you all here!

Even BOOP is struggling to come up with a BOOP point today

So sad about Matt. Really liked him and his dynamic with Lillian (and Brian etc)

I thought Susan giving Neil a pep talk was good though. And I wanted to shake Helen at the pub...so I guess I am still engaged there

I'm a bit aghast at the Ed finances storyline. It's like a carbon copy of what heppened to Eddie. Couldn't they have some up with somethinga bit different?

In answer to told's very specific question: no, I haven't run off with Matt. I'm still here reading with interest, noting how quickly each thread passes.

I think the Ed storyline is as much about public information as anything, with the insistence on the steps required, contacting the tenant farmers' association and so on.