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50 ways to leave your lover. Get on the bus Gus, give a knife to your wife, Rob. How not to write helpful storylines masterclass from The Archers.

970 replies

PseudoBadger · 03/04/2016 20:04

Poor poor Henry Sad

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8
HildaFlorence · 04/04/2016 09:03

I really hate this storyline , yes I know how prevalent DV is etc but it's all so melodramatic , the old Archers would have let this relationship simmer away for years letting the audience gradually come to their own conclusions , like Peggy's first husband who was an alcoholic and how long did we have to wait before Jenny found out about Siobhan.

The thing I always liked about TA was the slowness , the ability to build a character over years and also the consistency .Some of the characters have undergone complete personality changes and many have just disappeared completely .

I think I am out know., this story will run and run and then we will have to have another melodramatic storyline to replace it because many of the people who have begun listening because of this storyline will not go back to " an everyday take of country folk"

Looobieloo · 04/04/2016 09:04

Delurking again
Incandescent that the SW have potentially turned this into a trial of Helen to boost SOC's career-- How can that be supportive to other women suffering same?

The change of tone between last week's publicity and today's triumph is sickening.

Vango · 04/04/2016 09:06

bakeoffcake I hope that in the next few episodes the message "why the heck did Helen put herself in so much danger, she had much better alternatives" is shouted from the rooftops

Does that not sound a bit 'victim blaming'? Maybe leave out the first part of that sentence!

NotnowNigel · 04/04/2016 09:08

Gigot are you joking? Kate Chisolm spoke well on Today?

She didn't once mention the betrayal of the public service aspect of the story line to show women who are experiencing abuse the best way to leave! She missed the whole point. As. Did Tim Tim not nice and very dim, the writer of the episode.

NotdeadyetBOING · 04/04/2016 09:08

Wonder if all the criticism SOC is receiving might mean that the incoming editor makes sure s/he goes back to character-led drama…. Probably hoping in vain given what has happened with ratings

redshoeblueshoe · 04/04/2016 09:09

spiker - yes it was on the Today programme, discussing it (I think she was from the Spectator)
Then they had the audacity to give out the helpline number. It was just wrong.
Am I imagining it or have they said it will be discussed on WH ?

SuffolkNWhat · 04/04/2016 09:10

Who the hell am I thinking of then?! This is why I need my own archivist

Looobieloo · 04/04/2016 09:11

Hilda
I feel the same. I had to give up listening when it got very painful but I wanted to listen.

Now I feel meh about listening tonight or ever again.

Vango · 04/04/2016 09:11

I agree with Nigel. KC sounded like a rabbit in the headlights. Not able to articulate any of the important points. Why use such a coveted and important slot to make absolutely no point whatsoever. Where were the 'experts' who had helped with the storyline research? Backing off sharpish I'd say!

R4 · 04/04/2016 09:15

the betrayal of the public service aspect of the story line to show women who are experiencing abuse the best way to leave!

They could have had it both ways. Start off with Helen's plan, it goes horribly wrong, Kirsty bursts through the door and saves the day. So the melodrama of the wrong way to do it, with the 'happy ending' of the proper way to do it.

Did anyone else feel that last night's episode was longer than usual? It seemed to go on forever.

AugustaFinkNottle · 04/04/2016 09:16

Why on earth would Helen leave a suitcase in open view for Knob to see, rather than have it packed and out of the house earlier in the day? Even if she had the hospital bag excuse ready, it wouldn't have taken him long to discover that she was packing an awful lot more than she was likely to need for hospital.

GigotdAgneau · 04/04/2016 09:20

Nigel, I am afraid that Kate Chisolm spoke as the hugely increased audience to this storyline feels. Twitter is full of praise for the story and particularly for last night's episode. Incuding the guy who has done so much for raising awareness/money by his campaign to raise money for Refuge on Helen Titchener's behalf - apparently, the fund raised an extra £3,000 since last night's episode. Not everyone has access to MNetters' collective experience of domestic abuse to inform their listening. And I feel that her point about SOC reacting to social media in the manipulation of the plot and characters, in contrast to SW's knowing where they were going from the start, was well made.

Vango · 04/04/2016 09:20

I said this last night but I'm saying it again because I'm still so CROSS

Vango Sun 03-Apr-16 22:48:18
The sad thing is that, as it's a soap, it doesn't have to be realistic and usually isn't. But they've only gone and deliberately made it realistic, and made a very VERY big deal of that fact. They've gone down the 'awareness raising' route. We've all accepted it and acknowledged it. And now we'll be spun a line that it's only fiction, the characters aren't real you know!

Eastpoint · 04/04/2016 09:23

I haven't listened for ages but after last night's threads I thought I'd try listening to yesterday's film & then the episode. Peggy put me off so much I couldn't bear it. Is it worth trying last night's or shall I just wait another 3 months or so until whatever happened is resolved?

Gruach · 04/04/2016 09:25

It lasted just over 14 vainglorious minutes R4. I guess we're so finely attuned that an extra minute does sound different.

SmallLegsOrSmallEggs · 04/04/2016 09:25

I have been madly liking all the tweets to TA that point out that it is a disservice to the victims of abuse to exploit their suffering for such an unhelpful conclusion. Ratings grabbing in the guise of awareness raising. It's sickening.

Imaginethis · 04/04/2016 09:26

Long time lurker dropping in to join the general outrage and disappointment at last night's episode.

But could it be that we are being massively strung along and the next we hear is Rob from his hospital bed explaining that Helen really didn't mean to attack him, that her hormones are all over the place, she hasn't been taking her medication etc. He knows what is best for her and as soon as he can he'll take her home and look after her.

Now off to find something absorbing to do until 7 o'clock this evening.

Gruach · 04/04/2016 09:30

Imagine that's entirely possible (and more in keeping with the "7 attempts to leave" statistic) but then it will be worse. Helen would be living at peak nightmare and my blood pressure would reach critical levels.

bakeoffcake · 04/04/2016 09:30

Vango it's not me who's victim blaming, it's the script writers! They put Helen in the situation and many in here have questioned why she behaved this way rather than listening to Kirsty.

Vango · 04/04/2016 09:33

The problem that SWs seem to have is that once they've raised awareness of any issue, they don't seem to have any idea of how to take a storyline forward. How many times has this happened in the very recent past?

Homelessness following a break-up - oh he's just disappeared never to be mentioned again
A baby is born with Downs Syndrome - family move to Birmingham
Elderly infirm parent/only child - whole family up sticks, no mention of school, exams etc, followed by convenient death of elderly parent
Big road cutting through countryside - now you see it, now you don't.

But really, this is just the worst abdication of responsibility. I really think they should be ashamed.

Vango · 04/04/2016 09:34

I didn't mean that it was you bakeoffcake, just that I hope they don't trot out that line now!

shoesSHOES · 04/04/2016 09:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Looobieloo · 04/04/2016 09:36

I'm guessing he's not dead Suffolk too. There is too much equivocation in the media reports, and the Refuge statement was v tight lipped. I think last night was a nod to the 'most dangerous time is when she tries to leave' statistic. But it was still done in a ham fisted, unsubtle way.

I can well imagine Helen wanting to show Rob she knew what he was doing. I can also understand independent, headstrong Helen thinking she didn't need WA or any advice on her plan. Helen was still underestimating Rob's craziness.
It doesn't make sense that she left the bag or that Kirsty didn't linger outside or pick up her phone immediately Helen called.
I also thought Tim Watson wasn't as convincing last night as he cycled between Rob's moods and emotions.

A final maybe thought, Louiza was praising SOC last week. Is she heading for EE?

BYOSnowman · 04/04/2016 09:36

I hope he does survive and traps her about longer and then we get a proper escape

This ending does open the door for victim blaming and questioning who the real victim is (well he slapped her about a bit but SHE killed him)

What irritates me most about the BBC is the fact they can't take criticism and it is always someone else's fault waah. I read an interview with alan yentob and it was depressing as he sums up the attitude at the Beeb - can't see beyond their self congratulatory little bubble