Is that a ferret in your (Gr)undies or are you just pleased to see me? Discuss The Archers vermin (so many possibilities!) here.

[PseudoBadger]

I'm not sure that ferrets cannot through a thumb sized hole - rats can, and mice can fit through a pen sized hole. But I know the SWs will have researched such a statement carefully

ppeat - I think there are also a lot of men who pretend to be completely helpless in the kitchen. In some cases they may become so. To take the other recent example, I suspect Rob was actually perfectly capable of creating an edible meal but (consciously or not) didn't want to.

Yes, they did go off as a couple. Janet was the female vicar who caused Peggy to move to another church for a bit. She was clearly nuts about Tim from early on but too honourable to do anything about it, as was he. How very unlike Siobhan, Tim's wife, and Brian, who could hardly keep their hands off each other from their first meeting. Janet was very chummy with Usha. Tim punched Brian on the nose at one point, I think - extremely satisfying listening!

ppeat, I'm sure there are men who are useless in the kitchen. However, I find it vaguely irritating that the SWs choose to depict Brine that way as it's really quite lazy. And even if he was that helpless, he could have overcome JDs pressure tactics by constantly going out to eat, getting takeaways delivered, and/or importing some nubile young cook to do all the cooking for him.

You're not allowed more than one takeaway per week in Ambridge though.

Unless you're Roy. It signals the breakdown of civilized behaviour or something.

Just caught up. Yes who was that impersonating Lillian? I am getting more confused with voices, I ne er recognise Pip. Pip, Emma, and any other youngish femail all sound the same now, as does Tom Charlie. Perhaps they only have a few actors now doing 3 or4 characters each.
Plots are now very unformed and rambly. The Grundys are obviously going to be thrown out by Hazel.

minimammoth I had exactly the same thought last night listening to Lillian. There is a significant difference between producing radio and TV soaps, the actors in radio are not visible....

Just LA and when David pointed out that Pip,had her whole life ahead of her I suddenly had an utterly heart-sinking feeling that as Pip is an Archer and will more than likely be the inheritor of Brookfield we could potentially be stuck with that wandering accent until I SOTMC. I actually wonder if New Pip is even more irritating than Old Pip. Will have to go and lie down now and ponder that dreadful prospect.

Oh dear - we knew there was going to be trouble with Hazel.

But at least Ed's got the Brookfield shearing, and Em's not made him send his tractor back - I do hope things are going to continue reasonably well for them now (bound to be some ups and downs over the years but let them have a sweet period).

Actually - I felt the urge to touch wood when David said Pip had her whole life ahead of her. The only thing worse than 70 years of wandering accent would be 70 years of mourning her.

This thread completely disappeared off my TIO. For no good reason.
I just had to go right over to Topics to find it again!

Classic piece of manipulation there by Ed: tell Emma that she can send his new toy back if she really wants to, look all hang-dog and humble, so she hasn't got the heart to say yes, send it back. So now she's stuck with it as something she agreed to, even though she didn't.

But emma did get him to agree that he would phone her before doing anything else like that - and knowing Ed (take note SWs) he would. It would come back to him when his Dad or someone was pressurising him.

Would it be legally allowed to throw the Grundys out of their house? Though it certainly seems that HW wants to do that.

Ed snr. is a bit gullible if he thinks that the builder , Elias , would be doing a 'high spec.' job just for them.

Oh I forgot to mention a big BOOP point for the reintroduction of Ian and his wry reaction to Adam's take on Charlie. I love Ian!

ici - while what Ed said is exactly what a manipulator might, I think he was being genuine. He's no Rob!

What Ed said was what a manipulator might say. However it's also what an easily influenced idiot would do/say. Can't decide which he is!

Much more the latter than the former. He only bought the big tractor because Eddie talked him into it!

Gosh, no reaction to tonight's yet! Rob beginning to show his colours, I'd say.

I have a reaction! (Have just rendered my posting unnecessarily complicated atm so somewhat inhibited.)

Rob sounded well on the way to deranged. Could almost see Helen doing this face before deciding to smooth things over.

I have a new Ambridge worry. Kenton and Jolene's position appears somewhat precarious. I cannot help the word bankruptcy coming to my mind. (Followed by Hazel taking over the Bull though that would be irrational.) But the more fighty Kenton's fighting talk becomes the more I see quicksand.

Haven't listened...what happened??

Helen's birthday. Rob shows what a superstar he is by boiling her an egg and taking her breakfast in bed. He casually mentions that he has forbidden Henry to come in to hand over his present until he's got dressed. I found that very odd. Not how birthdays were handled in our family when the children were tiny, that's for sure.

Later, Rob and Helen go to The Bull for a quiet drink. Helen tells Rob that Tom has had the amazing idea that we all had months ago - why not move Ambridge Organics to the farm permanently? Rob is not at all keen. Helen attempts to disagree with him. Rob raises his voice and says - I was going to say petulantly, but it was worse than that - with real irritation, verging on venom - 'What is the matter with you? Why can't you see how stupid you're being? I'm trying to save you from yourself but you just can't help yourself, can you?' (That isn't verbatim but it was the sense I had from it. It was really quite chilling.) He then makes a perfunctory apology.

Helen pauses and then starts making excuses for him. She thinks he is very stressed about the DNA test still, he's sleeping badly so of course he's a bit tetchy. So once again she seems on the way to damaging the family business because of Rob's antediluvian ideas about a woman's place being in the home.

Why did David book the kiwi shearers when he knows Ed has set up a shearing business? That seems v odd.

And totally agree re Lilian and botox. Of course she would have had some treatments before - she's always off to spas and things. And JD's reaction was very unlikely too - if Lil's face had been frozen, she would have known exactly what she'd had done rather than being amazed.

Once again, plot, rather than character, driven. :(