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.

[PseudoBadger]

Poor poor Henry

NotDeadYet Rob, is that you?!?

Delurking to say that this cop out SL has made me argue with complete strangers (idiots) on twitter!

I'll come back you up.

[Disclaimer: Used to post on MN, stopped after all the hacking/terrible IT security stuff. Have come back specially for this because I feel rather strongly about it.]

I was a longterm listener - TA had been part of my life since I can remember, my mum and grandma were both dedicated listeners - but I quit during the Roy/Elizabeth affair because it just felt as though the whole programme was spiralling into sensationalist, narrative-driven bollocks - a far cry from the character-led, gentle listen that I loved. I've kept an eye out since, waiting to see if it'd be worth returning - but the direction of travel has been entirely the opposite. The flood being a great example. These big dramatic events; just no - that's not what I want to listen to. I want to hear the characters interacting in a tale of everyday folk.

I've always been sceptical about this storyline - I thought it was great that it was attracting so much attention and doing so much for a very deserving cause, raising awareness of the true nature of abuse and also raising a lot of ££ for good causes thanks to that nice Twitter man whose name I can't remember. But it was still too 'gripping' for me to want to listen to it - just not right for what I had wanted the programme to be. Well, that's ok, it's not up to me to choose how it should be and if the editors think they can get a better audience by not pandering to my tastes then that's their prerogative, of course.

But the way in which they've casually taken all that hard work (even if it wasn't to my taste) and tossed it out of the window in pursuit of a single-day salacious frisson - well, it just goes to confirm everything I'd suspected about the current Archers operation. Sad to say it but I think there's no coming back from this - there are too many relationships and long-standing meta-arcs that have been pissed all over by this cheap-shot short-term chancer, SOC.

I used to joke that the only way I'd return to TA is if the entire village had been suffering a Dallas-style 3-year collective bad dream. Now I think that's actually the most realistic story option that'd get me back onto it again.

There are two of them red???

At least he identified the behaviour as not very nice!!! And then attempted to use it as a compare and contrast of how lucky I am to have him. Starting to think the ranting at him was totally justified now

Still worrying about that pie. It must be pretty burnt by now.

Dh came into the kitchen while I was listening and asked if I was putting the kettle on. I said "NOT NOW SHE'S GOT A KNIFE!". He thinks I might have issues

But domestic abuse charities, who have worked closely with the corporation on the storyline, said that the scenes showed what could happen to women who were left facing controlling partners without support.

But Helen's only just realised that the relationship she's in is abusive. She's only just starting to come to terms with that fact. Even last week she was reminding Kirsty that "HE'S MY HUSBAND"! She took the phone number. She's spoken to WA. She's spoken to Jess who's confirmed she's not ill/out of her mind. She's taken the secret phone. She knows that she's not facing a controlling partner without support. Massive cop out.

The trouble is - even if he survives and is prosecute etc etc - it doesn't change the fact that she stabbed him

Is this another night that will last a weeks worth of episodes?

That's the bit that annoyed me too vango.

She was getting support - but apparently only ongoing support from WA counts so she wasn't really getting support from Kirsty at all

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/03/outcry-over-archers-stabbing/?ns_campaign=bbc_the_archers&ns_linkname=radio_and_music&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter

And I was hoping to have a little bit of fun around marking the 50000th post on these threads, but it all feels a bit futile now. SOC has even managed to ruin statistics for me. .

I've got to go, but for anyone who cares, the 208th post on this thread is that golden post....

JennyHolzersGhost - I think you must be me. I've lurked on every one of these threads from the start, never posting even when invited over the course of the years to de-lurk! I too have listened for donkeys. And I've survived the Nigel/Elizabeth/Roy ridiculousness and still stayed tuned. I've hated the Rob storyline but have been prepared to concede that if it helps someone it is not my place to argue against it (in public at least). I'm not convinced the new crop of listeners will be in it for the long term. I'm sad that a show that is part of the timetable of my day, that I can share with my children, has been taken away from me. And to think we used to think that Vanessa Whitburn was rubbish!

"Is this another night that will last a weeks worth of episodes?"

I was angry before, but now I'm fuming at the possibility of a repeat of the tedium and melodrama during the veeeeeeery long night of the flood.

Coming back to what happened earlier in the episode, I thought it was really creepy how Rob put on the song that had been playing when he raped her. That was the point at which I thought that this really isn't going to end well.

Agghh! I feel such a fool for predicting on Friday that there was no way they were going to end it like this - it would be too cheap and sensationalist. Ha! Cheap and sensationalist all the way. Feels like an abnegation of their responsibilities, having hyped it up so much as awareness-raising. And the worst of it is that the melodrama is only just beginning. Now we've got the trial. (But not the disposing of Rob's body via the pigs. Please no. Surely they can't go that low. They are going to call the ambulance like actual people rather than try to hide it like ridiculous soap-opera characters.)

"Is this another night that will last a weeks worth of episodes?"

I was angry before, but now I'm fuming at the possibility of a repeat of the tedium and melodrama during the veeeeeeery long night of the flood.

Coming back to what happened earlier in the episode, I thought it was really creepy how Rob put on the song that had been playing when he raped her. That was the point at which I thought that this really isn't going to end well.

BYOS mine didn't do compare and contrast - but he did go to the shop for

SmallLegs Might take you up on that!

Mine would have gone for liquor but we were waiting for the team to come and sort out power cut. Which is ongoing. Meaning my wifi isn't working and my phone is about to die. Grrrr

Are we doomed to one week a year of melodrama?

I've hated the Archers for 30 years.

Never more than this evening.

What's WA in this context, please?

Womens aid

Gigotdgneau Womens Aid.

Noo, D^3! Don't let the bastard win. I've been watching the big number coming up as I've been lurking. You should go for it anyway.

So ... what I've been mostly thinking about tonight with respect to the Archers is how exciting it is that the 50,000 post is coming up so soon. Not sure anything else much has been going on? Not as exciting as that, anyway.

'Cheap and sensationalist' pretty much sums up the last three years of TA. If I wanted that, I'd watch EastEnders. (miaow)

Vango - you can't be me because clearly you're far more patient than I am
'Timetable of my life' sums it up beautifully. It just marked a moment in the day. I did actually sometimes consider searching to see if there was a web archive somewhere with all the episodes from a long time ago, so I could just start listening from as far back as possible and take it from there ... sad eh !!

My dh has just told me to go and read mumsnet as I obviously need to rant and, as someone who doesn't listen to the Archers, he's a bit at a loss as to what to say to me. I can't believe there are people who are pleased at this outcome.