Elves have needs too - will there be a pheasants' revolt? Discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

I've just browsed Lowfield for the first time - they really don't like Pat do they!

She did say the Peggy equivalent of it didn't she? "I told him he was called Jack and he mentioned something about him being called Gideon. I don't know where he's got that idea from!" or similar.

How many victims of domestic abuse are there in Ambridge?

Gumpendorf I wonder if she's in denial about paul? Although given the paul situation I'd expect her banging a drum for Helen.

Sorry by "she" I mean Lilian of course

Good point, Iris, she seems to be dwelling on the anniversary.

There is something odd about the way Lillian can't talk about Helen's situation, while at the same time recognising Rob's malevolent side.

Delurking to say that - oddly - I was a bit disappointed by Rob's outburst. Tbh, given what has happened to him - if you didn't know what we know about him, wouldn't you think it's understandable that he gets so angry about what she's done? The baby doesn't even get his surname! So Peggy, since she thinks enough of him to go see them with pictures etc, could still explain his behaviour away, or have someone else do it.

Again I feel that only happened to enable Rob to start doing more dastardly things to the audience interested until the trial. Because it was stupid of Peggy to go see them and honestly think they would be fine with any of it, including the Archer last name.

She was very downtrodden by Paul, much like Helen from what I remember

I'm not sure that Lillian was aware of Paul's controlling tendencies, was she? I seem to remember him lying about his daughter's wedding or something, and Lill never got the chance to find out - hence what felt like several years' worth of episodes of Lill crying snottily over over Jolene. It was all really strange, they seemed to be building up to an interesting storyline and then took the axe to it.

Every single time Rob says Gideon I have a little chuckle to myself.

(Apologies to real life Gideons, mothers-of-Gideons and friends of Gideons everywhere.)

I keep thinking about the Gideons Bibles in hotel drawers

I think Peggy is labouring under the misapprehension that she and Arsula have a bond - as grandmothers. As family matriarch I think she was enjoying the idea that even if Pat and Tony were persona non grata she could keep up a civilised relationship - hence the framing of the photo and filling them in on the birth - she thought she could have a foot in both camps (notwithstanding the fact that her loyalty is absolutely with her granddaughter should she be forced to choose). I think she totally misread the situation because as usual she was making it all about her (as others have already said). Now she is worried she will have queered her pitch with Hellin. This I can accept, but only if she now begins to see what Hellin was up against, talks to other people - starting with Lillian who has already expressed reservations - so everyone can start offering their own examples of his unpleasant behaviour. Rather than the nonsense of the single wicket with chief apologist Kenton (didn't Knob once do something unspeakable to Kenton at a stag night?) trying to persuade us that most people think Knob is a great bloke. Who exactly are these people - no one with a speaking role that's for sure?

I think Paul being dead makes it a lot harder for Lillian to admit to herself that he was a wrong 'un.

I wonder if we have the HellRob storyline because the SWs chickened out of exploring the DV issue with Lillian and Paul by killing him off. (Apologies if someone's said this upthread - I'm doing my usual thing of trying to keep up, failing, but still wanting to share my thoughts.)

There can be very few people in Ambridge who haven't been snarled at by Rob or witnessed him snarling - Jim, Kirsty, Ian, Christine when she was dithering about getting in the boat, Susan, Shula, Charlie who isn't there anymore, Linda, David & Harrison.
Now Peggy of course.

Toomichtea, that is what I thought. The Paul sl wasjust building up then gone. Then it became the Rob sl instead. Have mused about it a few times since. I think Paul may have been a VW sl axed by SOC.

That makes sense, Small. It was building, and building (much more slow build even than the Hellrob one) and then whoomph. It was gone. The cynical part of me wonders if they decided to go for a younger victim to appeal (well, not appeal - strike chords with, perhaps) a younger audience.

Lost post:-/
Charitably - he thought Helen character more complex plus it had the possibility of children.

Uncharitably - "what's this sl? Scrap it, it's nonsense. I have a much better idea. Let's do a dv sl. Amn't I brilliantisimo?"

Could be right about Lilian and Paul. If it was always SOC's story idea for Knob and Hellin, it would have rather taken the wind out of its sails to have a similar storyline reach conclusion just before it began.

Finally caught up thanks to killing time in airports today.
The biggest problem overall at the moment is that characters are purely acting as plot devices and to feed SOCs delusion of writing great drama and tension. The Archers has always been character driven in a way that few other soaps are. That's been stuffed in the culvert of oblivion since SOC took control. No characters are motivated by their past or personality any actions are pretty much entirely dramatic devices and this is why it's failing and driving so many people away. The characters don't ring true and that just makes it so clunkingly obvious it has lost its way and moved too far from what it always was.

Ha ha "culvert of oblivion", love it R and R nerd.

I don't think a Lil/Paul coercive control storyline would have worked unless they were in an above board co ha biting relationship. I also seem to recall SOC saying that they didn't bring Rob in to be an out and out Bad'un, just a bit caddish a la Brine. However when they saw the way that Tim W and Louiza P acted together they realised the potential to ramp up the storyline.

Really? Not the Grundy brothers again. Not sure I can bear it.

Massive KLAXON - not a Bridge Farm/BHC character in sight, sound, or mention. The others have all reverted to forgetting they exist.

That's about right isn't it? We get a taster of a breakthrough then it's back to cows again for a week. I think it's called "ramping up the tension"

Pip was even more annoying than usual if that's possible

I do tend to find the repetitive Eddie-being-incompetent storylines terribly dull. It feels more than ever like a filler at the moment.