Follow the subtle trail towards the Christmas storyline climaxes in Ambridge - discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

So many possibilities.... A visit from the Titcheners Snr? Baby of the wrong gender? A ruined wedding? Re-housed Grundys? RuthRex?

Delurking to say how happy I was to hear Tony standing up to Rob (though worrying about the state of his heart as Rob was so beastly about organics).

I could join in with agreeing with the extreme annoyance at the lack of consistency in Ruth's character, but you are all so much more articulate than me. All I can say is FOR GOODNESS SAKE DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT JILL MOVING IN WHEN YOU RUDDY KICKED HER OUT AT YOUR CONVENIENCE AND THEN BEGGED HER BACK TO BE YOUR 85-YEAR-OLD-KITCHEN-SLAVE!

(Bet you wish I'd stayed lurking)

DadDadDad seeing as you're such a fan of statistics, have you read the brilliant analysis in the BMJ on mortality and morbidity in the Archers? www.bmj.com/press-releases/2011/12/15/series-unfortunate-events-morbidity-and-mortality-borsetshire-village and www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7518

... or is the author actually you ?

Maybe rob being challenged by Tony at bridge farm will lead him to take the job interview more seriously - particularly if we get another instance of him not being in control

Loved his comment about them only coming in if painted gloss white!

I love Tony. He used to be such a whiny bloke but I think that bull kicked some sense into him! If Knob dares cut up those tables for firewood he might just find himself impaled on a splintered table leg...

Imposter - that paper's nothing to do with me. I know it's meant to be lighthearted but I'm not too convinced by some of the analysis in there. In particular, he's completely ignored the age profile of Ambridge residents compared with nationally.

Before I listen I catch up on here first! Right definitely going to listen to yesterday's ( sorry, but have become a wuss as far as knob is concerned and can barely stand to tune in nowadays).

I love Tony. I was actually cheering the radio. I was hoping he'd point out whose farm it actually was and put Knob well and truly in his place. Just hoping he keeps it up and isn't won over by Hellin who will doubtless now be desperately trying to change Tony's mind and win him round to Knob's point of view. What was great about the scene was that it was entirely in character for Tony who has always been stubborn. Unlike the whole Ruth debacle. I had hoped that Jill's return it would mark an end to the unconvincing dramas being foisted on Brookfield. I felt Usha was the voice of MN last night pointing out how unreasonable Ruth was being. I don't get the Pip conflict at all - she stepped into the breach in Ruth's absence, quite understandably since she's always worked on the farm. The idea is that she will one day take over so why the problem that she is taking on greater and greater responsibility? The suggestion that David is being unreasonable doesn't wash with me at all - if SOC really wanted us to believe this storyline he needed to have David refusing to countenance Ruth's moving plan and being much more unsympathetic to HP's plight. Instead he let Ruth disappear up north (with most people on here questioning how anyone could realistically do this in RL) without the smallest complaint. Her huffing and puffing and moaning and groaning is just too much - especially over Jill's return, which she invited and was weeping with relief about a couple of episodes ago.

Ruth would make more sense of she were saying I need to be busy but there's nothing for me to do. Also how come last week they were too busy to shop or wash clothes and this week there's nothing for her to do?

Hurrah for Tony. I particularly liked the way he ignored half of Rob's eyerolling "ohhh puhlease" remarks and took the I don't see why you are naking such a fuss attitude. Took the wind right out of his sails.

Usha needs to tell Ruth to pull herself together and stop being such a whiny princess.

Hurrah for Tony! Hellin is handling knob beautifully at the moment; but she's on such thin ice. Knob will turn the speeding into ammunition- Hellin not safe to look after Henry or little Knobella

As she wasn't offered a speed awareness course, are we to assume it is because she was going so far over the limit?

If so she is a bloody idiot and I would be incredibly angry with my dh in similar circumstances!

Knobella! The perfect name!

Can't help feeling a pang of dread at every hurrah for Tony. Someone will suffer for his insurrection ...

gruach.tbh I was surprised he didn't take it out on Hellin. He must be planning direct revenge on Tony. I imagine he'll start making out T is infirm.

The speeding was clearly so R can say a) o more meeting Ian and b) I better drive Henwee.

I take it she was speeding because she was late back from meeting Ian and didn't want to get into trouble.

OMG I missed last night's I'm going to LA NOW!!!!!

Rob came close to losing his cool when Tony argued with him. He really can't handle not getting his own way.

How many people know that Tom took the rap for Helen in the other driving incident? Has she 'confessed' this to Rob?

I'm so happy to have found this thread; and to find out that I'm not the only one who is finding Ruth's story-line flummoxing. I understand, to an extent, her anger about being side-lined from decision-making processes, that is just about plausible, but as GruntledOne said, one minute she is so busy on the farm that she hasn't time to cook, clean or fill the fridge and the next minute she is complaining because "she doesn't have a role". It doesn't make any sense!

Are the script writers doing this so that she can be elbowed out by Christmas?

Shoddy plotting very disappointing if so. (As was the predictability of Heather's demise.)

at Knobella

The crucial next step of table-gate is: whose side will Pat take?

Plotting is extremely weak. What was David supposed to do - presumably you have to plan farther ahead than from next day to the next and not knowing when Ruth would be back or how they would be fixed needing to care for HP it seems only reasonable that he made provision. I would have thought the people more likely to complain about Pip stepping up the the plate would be Josh and Ben who might see their noses being pushed out however the pair of them seem to have ceased to exist - they are presumably hanging out with Frilly and Jamie and all the other disappeared offspring. Badly done, SOC, badly done.

Rob arrives in Ambridge to manage the mega dairy.
Rob butts heads with Pat and Tony over the organic thing.
Incompetent Rob jumps before he's pushed from mega dairy.
Rob changes tune with Pat, saying he's always hated big farming, and small family farms is where it's at. Pat somehow buys this.
Rob sneers at organic to Tony.

Do Pat and Tony talk to each other? Will Tony report back on his spat with Knob? And if so will this ring alarm bells with Pat?

I think we need to hear a Bridge Farm dinner-table discussion - Pat, Tony, Tom and Jonny (and Jazzer?) - about Rob getting too big for his boots!

You can just imagine Ruth's reaction if David had raised the AI issue with her in August as she now says he should have done. There would have been a load of hysteria about how she already had too much on her plate and would have even more when HP came to Brookfield, how he was putting the farm ahead of her welfare and that of her sainted mother, how totally inconsiderate and beastly he was, how even asking her to discuss it or make a decision was putting too much on to her. David's not my favourite character but I do feel quite sorry for him on this issue.

gruntled couldn't agree more. I don't understand how no-one is straight talking in Ambridge - has it always been like that?

salixprea To be fair Ruth did actually say to Usha that she doesn't know herself what she's thinking from one minute to the next.
I'd say she's a candidate for a visit to Mr. Locke's surgery or a herbal remedy for minor depression. Or whatever Are we over thinking this?

Oh, there's a thought.

Though I'm not sure Ruth would be quite glamorous enough for Doc Delish.

Yes, good point, Ppeat could be legitimately be grief and related stress I suppose [she says grudgingly ]

Wonder if they are setting Ruth up for a huge relationship blow-up on Christmas Eve?

Your mind Gruach is dirtier than mine

The thing is songbird If everyone sat and discussed EVERYTHING in Amb. then we'd have nothing to moan about talk about would we?

Has anyone picked up on Knob's sneering at Jazzer? Presumably because he's another interloper at Bridge Farm.