Knob throttlers form an orderly queue at Blossom Hill Cottage! Discuss the Archers on the Official Thread

[PseudoBadger]

Do you know that I was 3 months pregnant when the first thread started - DD was 2 yesterday

That must also mean that Poppy Grundy's 2nd birthday has passed by unremarked upon...

DD's boyfriend in Y13 tried the same. She did what she wanted to do anyway and dumped him within a week of starting uni far away from him.

My then bf was very encouraging during the application stage and thrilled that I got in. Then he came to visit and found fault with all my routines (or lack of) and general attitude to university life. It didn't end well ...

I don't actually think the 'normal.pg' remark was that bad. In ivf they test v early in clinic don't they?

I don't think sw know the outcome of half sl. I think for Jess they tossed a coin. I duspect they may have done same for H is she/ isn't she pg. And wil pip go. And phoebe.

I suspect Phoebs will fail to complete application.

I hope you're wrong, SmallLegs. I haven't got time to chain myself to The MailBox studios this week, but that is what would have to happen if Phoebe misses that deadline.

Come on Gasp0 - a mass Archers meet-up/protest would be fun.

We could get Harvey Nichols to run round with coffee and sandwiches. Ikon could produce the placards. And maybe the CBSO could provide a jolly musical accompaniment.

Surely it's worth the sacrifice of whatever you might otherwise be doing? Listening lives are at stake here.

Yes, who needs a salary anyway?

(That was meant to look like a pondering face, but I'd forgotten that the hmm emoticon does look more as if it's saying 'Are you on glue?')

I think Kate will persuade Phoebe to apply! She is the most unlikely, but there will be a mother daughter moment where Kate tells Phoebe how proud she is of her and to not ruin her life over a boy.

Hmmmm, sounding more unlikely the more I type

Agree the dramatic effect will be all the greater if the advice comes from an unlikely source.

Actually, even if Phoebe does make it to Oxford there may have to be some Mailbox chaining on behalf of Noli and Sipho. When are they coming to Ambridge? I've waited long enough.

No, I think you're right! It will be Kate - she was the one who was anti-Alex in the first place wasn't she? This will be the beginning of the thaw between Feebs and both her parents (we know she's forgiven Roy via the medium of the overheard ludicrous phonecall re the ghostwalk) and now Kate has an opportunity to step in and remind her that she shouldn't let a man ruin her future.

I had a boyfriend like that too. He only went and applied to exactly the same course as me. And that really was the end of our relationship!

I had a husband like that...... been married (quite happily) for 38 years, but I still resent him for that

I agree, it will be Kate who talks her through any Alex- induced wobble. I am disappointed they turned him into a twat though. Do we know his plans? Go straight into work like his Dad?

smallLegs Helen had IUI ( donor insemination), not IVF. Apart from the method of sperm meets egg it's exactly the same as any other pregnancy and so they don't test early. Only difference is you obviously know that you were TTC, which Helen did not (tho Knob clearly did). Even in IVF they just give you a normal stick to pee on 2 weeks after embryo transfer and are very clear that early testing is a no-no. However you might get an early scan as part of the IVF treatment that you would not get in the NHS.

This morning I lay in bed for at least ten minutes mulling over some decades old unreasonable behaviour by another university boyfriend. Wondered why it had come into my head - and realised it was because of this thread (and the prog).

I think I'm becoming some sort of hybrid; half human, half Archers embodiment. This will possibly require post-grad level research ...

IIRC Kate wasn't too enthusiastic about Oxford, too mainstream and UMC for her.

She'd prefer the Glastonbury College of Druidism

Oooh am I the only one who flinched at Rob's "Well I'll make sure of that" regarding her folic acid regimen? Clearly he thinks her body is very very much his business

Can you imagine having Rob as a birth partner?

Perhaps you should tidy your hair darling. Don't want to look untidy when we welcome my son into the world ...

Baby daughter appears.

Not well done Helen. Not well done at all. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU

That's so horrible and so utterly plausible.

I know this is cheating, but I have given up listening. Any kind soul want to tell me what happened with Phoebe?

Her boyfriend tried to persuade her not to apply to Oxford on the grounds that:

1. It would be a lot of work and for what?
2. She would feel out of place at Oxford - I don't he said explicitly 'they're all snobs at Oxford' but he was clearly hinting that.
3. The chance of getting a place isn't that great and he hates the thought of her being knocked back if she doesn't get in.
4. She could just go to Felpersham, what's wrong with that?
5. 'What About Us?'

florentina - Phoebs was chilling out (apparently on a Sunday morning) with her squirt of a boyfriend, Alex. She said she had to go home and finish her personal statement for her UCAS application. [The deadline for Oxbridge and medical school applications is 15th Oct] He tried to persuade her to hang around with his family instead, and then broadened it out to saying he didn't really want her going to Oxford. Basically he was a total emotional blackmailer, talking about her their relationship was "so special" and that going to Oxford might change her, and she should go to Felpersham instead.

Her school have said she has Oxbridge potential.

All her family are very proud.

Application deadline this week.

Boyfriend Alex has turned into the original snake, lovingly whispering in her ear that she wouldn't want to be amongst a group of stuck up snobs; what they have is already so perfect, why would she want to change anything; etc, etc. Makes Rob look like an amateur.

Glad someone else agreed up thread re Phoebe not sounding too much like Oxbridge material to date. I was feeling like a right bitch for thinking it (and am possibly just bitter as I didn't get in ) but in my experience the kids who went to Oxford were either very obviously seriously bright or at least ordinarily pretty bright with lots of sports/extra stuff and a super strong work ethic. They were much more composed and grown up than me. Phoebe just has never been painted as anything other than a sensible and pleasant teenager.

They had better not set it up as an Oxford vs Felpersham thing either - if you don't get into Oxford but you're good enough to apply with a hope of getting in you go to a RG/other highly reputable institution, not your local college surely.

Also - off on a tangent - I'd really like for Feebs to be wrong and for Kate's yoga venture to be a roaring success. I know she's written as a comedically selfish woman-child most of the time, and yes she has been awful with Phoebe, but I have a bit of a soft spot for Kate for some reason. Perhaps partly because I get a bit fed up of the hippy-lampooning on TA, via Kate and which ever of Robert's daughters had the naming ceremony and was doing attachment parenting or whatever it was.

actually had forgotten her college had suggested it - perhaps that's all we need to know.

Hope as jessie suggested, this is the springboard for a Kate-Feebs reconciliation and Kate will be the one to make sure her applications in. Although can't see Phoebe confiding enough for her to be able to intervene.

Sorry, poor thread-checking - should have credited tooold for the Kate suggestion!