Oh. Hello. I didn't know we'd invited another The Archers thread round darling. How nice to see you. Discuss Ambridge here.

[PseudoBadger]

As tribute to the best SL at the moment...

Was the Knob shouting at Jim on one farm Sunday really sans audience? Though it does fit Rob's usual behaviour that it would be.

I must say I like the fact that Jim and Shula seem to rub along now. Some of the dialogue when Jim first arrived 0Albeit it with a broken leg, so that can make anyone a grumpy git) was cringe-making and sore on the ears. I hope they will use both of their run-ins with Knob in a very revealing chat between them. I suspect some of the uncertainty amongst us listeners about what Shula said or didn't say to PC Plot relates to her annoying voice, but I like that we all are unsure how it went.

I laughed too at the long-term effects of Susan and Neil's chilli.

YY, what DOES the usually chatty Freda have to say about Bert and Carol?

You might have thought that Joe might say to Bert that he was being "disrespectful to your Freda."

Maybe Freda will post on Relationships.

And Bert should be careful as, if Freda gets too distressed, she'll be back on the Pontefract cakes.

Ongoing references to chilli are making me feel queasy…..

Is Ed's move into beef carefully timed to bring on a cheese crisis for Helen?

BOOP point for Pat and Tom leaping in to childcare mode to make it easier for Helen to go to the shop.

I somehow missed that Helen had lied to Rob. I'm wondering how all this will turn out... Rob in the dock, and paying the CSA, probably lose his job as he's likely to get things badly wrong with the Charlie/Adam thing and I don't think Charlie's impressed by him anyway; Helen will go back to the shop and he will somehow end up dazed and confused as a househusband picking Henry up from nursery but with Helen still adoring him but not quite the dynamic he was working towards. Too much to hope for?

I liked tonight's episode, especially the delelopment of the Rob and Helen story line. Helen just loves being in the shop, feeling in control and doing something she's really good at. It was telling that despite Tina leaving her in the lurch she was fizzing with happiness.

Her fear when she realised she was late was palpable. I do hope that Pat picked up on it, though I'm not sure she did.

I thought it was significant that Helen lied to Rob about the reason she was late. She was obviously worried that he'd cause a scene. I wonder if she'll manage to broach it with him before he finds out for himself. He will not be happy either that she's kept it from him or that she's thinking about returning to work.

I believe that the nauseating "I adore you" at the end was because Helen is so used to Rob being, grumpy, controlling and sometimes plain scary, that she is pathetically grateful for any sign of affection from him. Classic emotional abuse.

Adam seemed to have an inkling that things weren't quite right, questioning why they weren't dancing and why, although in a new relationship, they aren't half as loved up as Fallon and PC Plot.

I wonder if at some point Pat, Adam, Shula, Jim etc might have a conversation where they begin to pool their knowledge and realise what is going on?

The valentine's dance could be held on the 13th though in order for couples to do their own thing on the 14th?

Horrible hearing how scared Helen was, don't think Pat noticed though. The story is definitely moving up a gear now that Helen is lying to him. What will he do when he finds out she's been working at the shop behind his back?

D'you know I don't even think it was because she feared a scene. I think since poor, lovely Rob had had such a miserable week with the nasty man attacking him she genuinely thought it best not to make him feel all upset again by admitting she'd done something he wouldn't want her to do.

She's still under his spell. Fearing a scene would suggest she'd discerned a chink of distance between the two of them. But she hasn't yet.

If anyone really wants to know, I was the one that said this:

I'm really unhappy that the character of Matt has been booted off the Archers. He was a fully three dimensional and engaging character.

After a dismal autumn and winter of Sean O'Connor culling loved characters left and right, this is the last straw

My email was about three times the length of that but they cut it.

Bert was dancing with Carol because Freda was working.

Thanks Cutted!

I'm wondering how all this will turn out... Rob in the dock, and paying the CSA, probably lose his job as he's likely to get things badly wrong with the Charlie/Adam thing and I don't think Charlie's impressed by him anyway

The one thing I hope they avoid is a Scooby Doo-type ending where all the strands suddenly come together, the mask is whipped off, and the entire cast go "Gasp!". It would be more convincing if the strands were to wend their merry ways with Control Knob having a series of set-backs, his true character becoming clearer, and Helen under increasing pressure, before it finally unravels messily.

Control Knob and The Robot Marauders - An Everyday Story Of Alien Folk

Thanks for letting us know what you said cutted I missed Feedback but soooo agree with you about Matt. I miss him.

Love that title, Zero! I hope PC Plot twists the Knob all the way up to 11.

This is great

'And the accents. Don’t get me started on the cast changes. Maybe that’s why they’re obsessed with endless plots, so we won’t notice the acting?'
'Now, if you miss three minutes, someone runs away or comes back or has sex, and when did you last hear the word scones'

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/14/archers-fans-angry-modern-tribes-catherine-bennett

Great link. "In the old days the characters didn't need to do anything did they?" I was thinking about that just this week when listening to Joe Grundy talk about flattening molehills. It's true if the characters are strong enough they don't need to do anything - just listening to Joe being Joe or Lynda being Lynda Susan being Susan or Brian being Brian or even Kate being Kate is enough. There are some characters for whom that does not work - Pip springs immediately to mind.

That Guardian article linked onto another interesting, if brief, one - www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/05/archers-robotic-parlour-storyline-reflects-woes-modern-farming

Quote:

One of the most depressing experiences I had recently was to be shown round a robotic milking parlour on the dairy farm where we were staying in north Cornwall. The farmer had mortgaged himself to the hilt; the new system had cost him hundreds of thousands. The impact on milk yields: negligible.

And then this one, below that - farmland prices trebled to £6k per acre in the decade to 2012, & forecast to rise by another 36% in the 5 years after that (up to 2017)

Did we get a per-acre price for Brookfield?

www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/aug/26/english-farmland-prices-treble

'Carol Tregorran' was on afternoon drama on R4 and I had to switch off. EB's part in TA has spoilt things for me. EB has a lovely voice really.

Me too, Topaz. I always used to be delighted to hear her in something (& was initially delighted when she turned up in TA )

I've enjoyed this week but I did think last night was a bit of a damp squib. I think the big party scenes often are, they lack atmosphere for me. BOOP for Helen lying to Rob though, and Adam questioning whether they were still loved up.

They are very topical with the Rob and sab story, a hunt master was badly beaten up by masked sabs with iron bars recently.

And dare I ask what has happened to Jennydarling's odd obsession with John Tregorran's death or do I risk the SWs bringing it up again...?