In honour of how The Archers threads began: Why are the SWs allowing this to happen?

[PseudoBadger]

The very first thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/a1740045-Why-is-Lillian-allowing-this-to-happen

40k posts later....

bastard alex

What happened?

Jennifer doing a good job here.

I'm raging. Why doesn't Jennifer tell Phoebe that if Alex loved her he would be supporting her choices?

FFS.

A week ago, when she had the relief of the offer letter, Phoebe was saying that she realised how much she really really wanted to go to Oxford. Now she's saying that Alex might talk her out of it.

Please, SOC, can we have some consistency.

And never mind JD, Kate, Roy and Hayley speaking to Phoebe - will somebody have a word with Alex.

Perhaps this is the counter story to Helen where we will see that a family that hasn't undergone a lobotomy will sense the issue and help phoebe get out of it

Hasn't she got any friends to tell her to stop being so wet?

I assume the Phoebe story is intended as a counter to the Helen story, yes, BYOS. I also think that lots of 17yos do change their minds about what they think from one week to the next. I certainly did.

Totally agree with you Imbroglio. That must be the obvious thing to point out to her. Also, even if I dust off the cobwebs of my memory and hark back to my day, there is no way on earth any stupid boyfriend would have persuaded me to turn down my Oxford offer. I was over the bloody moon. If she ends up turning it down for some lame bloke it will be another v. alarming sign that the SWs and/or SOC are deeply sexist.

Hope you read that, lurking SWs…..!

Do we think Helen told Kirsty stuff off air after the phone call?

Thanks for the salmon / Kathy updates!

I think Phoebe will go off Alex not Oxford.

Also when Helen met Rob she was just off the back of that rs with the bloke she was keen on who kind of ghosted her if I remember so desperate vulnerable.

I cannot remember how they met but they were both keen.
Rob has been a dick from the off pretty much. The Jess /party incident was really controlling and abusive.

TSWAMA

This is going to end up a 'girl power' sl though isn't. Bleurgh if it's cliched!!

I note the lack of comment on the fairbrother sl. I wonder if they will get written out before the lease is up

What IS happening in Brighton?

I have probably missed something as I tend to tune out when Rex/Toby start talking, but can anyone tell what's going on with Brighton and needing wads of cash, please?

Also, agree with Not dead, no way would a boyfriend have made me or anyone I knew turn down an Oxbridge offer. At my school, if anyone had got wind of what Phoebe was thinking and why, Alex would have been dealt with swiftly by an appropriate teacher.

Does anyone care?

Is the Brighton thing a new mystery?

Is Alex at phoebe's school?

I thought he was at college with her, but maybe I made that up!

BYOS I agree - is there any plot less interesting than the Fairbrethren? With Matthew the milker now installed they serve even less purpose than before. Is there any greater soap cliche than the roguish brothers? So many more interesting strands to follow without the need to manaufacture melodrama with two characters no one is the least bit interested in. So many great, established characters who have fallen off the radar to make space for this tedious nonsense.
In reply to the earlier quiet about Kathy - I believe she is now the manager of GG (Kirsty runs the health club).

Well, I'm keen to find out what's been happening in Brighton. I rather like the Farebrethren, actually.

Heavy hints have been dropped about Brighton in the past - with no explanation. I think they need to make us CARE and keep us interested in the FB lads which is why they've reignited this mystery drama. Paying off some drug dealer? Has a love-child hidden away somewhere?

What is there to like about them though? I just don't really see any point to them

In answer to SmallLegs's question (how Rob and Helen met) - some pastings from Lowfields:

13 June 2013
It's a brave thing to invite a chef to dinner but that's what Rob has done, invited Adam and Ian; now he has to go shopping before he loses his nerve. Happily his first port of call is Ambridge Organics, where Helen is a ready source of ideas - particularly one that she knows Ian really likes. The recipe is for six, so would Helen like to join them?

The dinner party goes well, though without Ian who had to work. There is some sparring about the pros and cons of big dairies versus organic. Helen concedes to Adam that she finds Rob attractive; why are they always gay or married?

20 June 2013
Helen takes Henry up Lakey Hill to fly his kite. They meet Rob, who lends a hand, and Helen is able to be her flirtatious self, inviting Rob to come with her to a food festival.

next day
Rob accompanies Helen and Henry to the Food Fair, and wins Helen's heart by taking Henry off to play while Helen goes to a cookery demonstration. Helen's flirtatious technique is again exercised as she asks Rob what he was like as a child.