I will be very, very, very cross and not believe it at all, if Pip throws in the beginning of her brilliant career for a bloke. She had her obligatory bad relationship (Jude) early, to get it out of the way, so she can become sensible early enough to focus on her career. Maybe keep Rex in the wings, on and off for years to come - ok.
It's happened to almost every woman in Ambridge hasn't it? Brenda's the only one I can think of who eventually escaped the Ambridge vortex of man-induced mediocrity.
Debbie went to university, was upset by Simon, dropped out, came back to Ambridge. Shula fluffed her A-levels - before my time, but for men rather than horses? Lizzie - degree? boy-crazy, upset by the one who climbed out of the window, hung around at home long enough to attach to lovely but not obviously aspirational (at the time) Nigel. Did Kate ever attempt university after school, or get wrapped up with the bastard Gibson then her alternative lifestyle too early? Alice got her excellent degree, with prospects and ambition - chucked career aside to support pleasant-enough Chris. Helen? An emotional cauldron on simmer, awaiting masculine aggravation.
Why can't any Ambridge woman just get some A-levels, go to university and get a job, a career - in the university town, or elsewhere? Become a teacher, an accountant, a doctor, nurse, journalist, work in IT, or for a local authority etc. Oh yes, cos they'd be out of the series. Pah.
I grew up listening to TA and always found this pattern utterly odd. It was like a glimpse into a parallel low-achieving universe. Bright enough people with no ambition, academic curiosity, or desire to leave home.
But while the men are always pursuing some rural business ambition (Kenton the exception), with relationships running more or less successfully alongside, the women's ambitions, their development of themselves as independent, growing individuals, are always, as if following a single recycled plot-line, derailed by men. Pah and double pah.