He's behind you! Rob's not the messiah - he's a very naughty boy! Watch The Archers pantomime here.

[PseudoBadger]

Oh no he isn't! Oh yes he is!

Deluding to say I'm following this thread so I don't have to listen.

Arf at the typo. It's not you; it's SOC who is the deluded one.

Talking of delusions, I'm having terribly mischievous thoughts at all these people saying "I'm not listening to the radio, I'm relying on this thread for updates". Did anyone else notice that chap in the Flood Bar last night saying he was looking for itinerant work. An American, from his accent. Skilled with cows but currently working down the chip shop. I could swear he said his name was Elvis.
And as for the UFO over Lakey Hill ...

Oh, hello BOOP. Do your joke again.

Sideshow Knob genius

Welcome lurkers. Loving all the uncloaking.

A delurker here, mainly because if the script writers do read this thread I would like to share why I have stopped listening. I was a regular listener from the early 1990s and like many on here I enjoyed the relative realism of TA compared with the over-dramatism of EE etc - particularly the ability of most characters to get married without major mishap and largely stay married.

I stopped listening at the point the road drama started, along with the Brookfield clan talking about moving to Prudhoe. Both of those storylines I found so irritating for the reasons already discussed by many on here (did anyone really think either of them was ever going to happen?), that I decided to stop listening until the nonsense stopped.

But now I am out of the habit of listening and nothing on here has convinced me to start again, although the slow burn RobHel storyline does have its good points and the flood drama sounds like it was well done.

It would be an enormous shame for TA to lose its innate character through a belief that we need it to be constantly more dramatic. I may start listening again, especially once the kids are older and I have more time, but not if it's no longer recognisable as the programme I used to love.

This thread does make me laugh though, so I shall return to lurking and thank everyone for keeping me up to date vicariously.

Whoops. Yes. Hello, unlurkers.
I sounded terribly cliquey saying hello to BOOP and not to you.

did anyone really think either of them was ever going to happen?

The SW knew it wasn't going to happen.
We knew it wasn't going to happen.
They knew we knew, and yet they continued with the farce.
That was the worst of it - not the SL but the contempt towards their listeners.

R4 yes exactly!

And YY to whoever mentioned Ambridge Synthetics on Twitter - loving their work.

I was cross to find asI listened to the podcast this morning that theBrookfield lot hadn't even thought of offering Rickyard to the Grundies. I really don't know why Ed and Eddie can't cover the milking between them. There can't be as much contracting work for Ed at this time of year?

Hello lurkers, from an occasional popper in.

Hello Boop thanks for popping in. I have a BOOP point for you - Eddie asking Knob whether he was going to get a proper job and implying that working in a shop was a bit of a come down (following on from Joe's excellent comments re the shop design) - the Grundies can see the Emperor has no clothes on.

Ambridge Synthetics is genius.

The gas lighting is going to get worse and worse.

I fear this may simmer on for years.

Just LA

Why are people always saying "we haven't got any choice have we".

Yes. You do. We haven't got any choice --due to bad research and poor scripting-'

Also thanks Gruach for pointing out that Knob is running out of money. It seems obvious now you've said it, but it didn't occur to me last night when DH (occasional listener, but quite astute) asked me what that scene was all about. Do you think he took the £50 from the till?

I post from time to time, but lurk constantly….. Shove that in yer spreadsheet, DDD!

I wondered whether Knob was being so unpleasant when he went home as a reaction to Eddie suggesting it was a come-down working in the shop. It must have been particularly galling just after that sneer about it not being Eddie's type of shop.

Mind you, when he said something like "It's all worth it just to give Helen a rest" I bet we all heard "It's worth it just to keep Helen imprisoned at home".

The Rob chequebook though, that is perfectly plausible bit of gaslighting because a) it couldn't possibly be that he moved it and was in the wrong b) he is setting her up for further financial abuse. Darling, you know how useless you are with money these days what with having a baby like no other woman in all of history. Don't you worry you silly little head you just concentrate on the baby let me worry about all the money stuff.

Will eventually become petrol money, why? Where are you going? Shoes? Henry doesn't need shoes he had a pair last year. Etc.

I nearly wept years ago reading an MN friend saying she walked home several miles in the rain because she couldn't risk spending a busfare as it would be noticed

And now he is peeling her away from her friends. The JD aspect was clumsily done granted but the follow up was bang on. My ex was startlingly good at getting information out of people and then lying about it or distorting it to meet his own ends. And at getting info out of me to use against me. Hypocrisy is, ironically, in his eyes only an accusation that applies to other people and not him.

I wondered if he'd hidden the chequebook so she couldn't get access to any money and has to run every purchase past him.

Agree with Lillian's BOOP point for the Grundys and Rob.

Doesn't sound as though the shop is doing very well.

Welcome delurkers !!! Thanks for the new thread psuedo. This thread took a LOT of reading.

Ref. Knobhells' money, they were talking about their savings.

BOOP, I just want to say I saw your poorly at Corley joke.

Because you asked so nicely DadDadDad, I have been lurking for a long time and at the moment MUCH prefer this thread to actually listening to the Archers.. In fact I am probably only still listening because you are all voicing what I'm thinking - Patbot is driving me mad, Rob goes from chilling to panto baddy and don't believe for a moment Jenny would confide in Rob, I just don't! Very over-infested and really want Helen to GO TO THE WEDDING but fear it's impossible. Anyway thank you all :)

Ebearhug glad it wasn't wasted entirely! I amused myself!

Just off to listen to lady night's before I read here and spoil it!

Hello, lurker here, although I have posted a couple of times on previous threads under another name. I've been listening my whole life but it's been far more sporadic since Nigel and then I got annoyed with all the Prudhoe idiocy.

What I loved about the Archers was the sense you got of a village (ok, a cosy, candy-coated one sometimes), but a community nonetheless. Now, I feel it's all about a faaaamily and a lot of good and interesting characters have been sidelined. I may have missed it but can anyone tell me what happened to the Tuckers? Did they move? And Hayley? Does she get a look in with Phoebe these days? Usha and Alan, Amy, Chris and Alice, Jamie, Nic...Even the silents seem to have been silenced since Freda's demise (whatever happened to Titcombe??).

As for Rob and Helen, I have come across people like Rob and it always seem to me that there are people who fall for them totally and others whose heckles rise. Pat is certainly someone with heckles. For me it would be far more believable for Tony to be Rob's champion and Pat's distrust to cause issues between them.

Ok, now I've started it seems I could rant for a long time, so I will stop :-)

Think it was enoch who pointed out Rob's impending pennilessness last night - and suddenly everything fell into place. I hadn't previously connected the rapidly depleting dowry with his determination that Helen should be entirely separated ftom her life's work but it seems pretty clear now. Not just random control but an actual concrete plan to defraud her family. Now that he can't milk Berrow Farm any more.

Petrol money you say SmallLegs? I doubt that while Rob lives Helen will ever be allowed to drive again. The ban won't just be for the duration of her pregnancy, he'll insist that she "doesn't need to" or "it will be safer if she doesn't" drive once she has two small children. (That's if he doesn't unilaterally sell her car to bolster his nonexistent income.)

Even though it has turned to pantomime his dialogue with Eddie last night was stupendously blood pressure elevating. "On account"? When the entire village knows the Grundys are struggling.

So, an occasional lurker here, delurking to say that although I have R4 on a lot, I try not to listen to the Archers at all as it immediately makes me all stressy and angry. I do hear snippets she it is on in the background or I son:t get to the radio quickly enough to switch it off.

I love this thread though! Are there any others who lurk or post here but don't actually listen if they can help it?