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!

Definitely.

Or she will get a lung cancer diagnosis and it will be even more tragic as he dumps her for his wife

No idea who Fred Elliot is! However, Simon Williams will always be the young dashing Captain Bellamy* from Upstairs, Downstairs as far as I'm concerned. Still haven't recovered from the fact that SOC thought it would be OK to cast SW's real life wife as Miranda. Has he not been taught anything about nepotism and equal opps?

*Bellamy - and there in a nutshell we have the reason for SW's casting, surely? Lilian Bellamy - new lover used to be called Bellamy in his other big hit - job done.

Equal ops doesn't count in showbiz does it?

Fred Elliott was the butcher in corrie many many years ago when my flat mate used to watch it. He used to say 'I say I say' a lot.

No idea why I think of him!! I never watched upstairs downstairs so I have no Simon Willian's reference point

Hmm .....the other big hit where he got a maid upduffed and didn't do the decent thing (his parents did), fancied his cousin, married Hazel who died, ill advised Rose the lady's maid and lost her her fortune and when he went bankrupt in the Wall Street crash blew his brains out. Very handsome though - recall him being someone wet in something with Judy Dench and Jeffrey Palmer.

Fred Elliot was the butcher I Corrie, erstwhile swain of Audrey and uncle of Ashley. There were few zero similarities between young Bellamy and old Fred. About as similar as Joe Grundy and Oliver or Lord Nether orne

It's sad I remember all that.

was meant to be . Past wine o'clock here x

Delurking again...

Did I imagine it, or did Justin not suggest that Miranda and he led separate lives and that she was in Geneva with another man?

Agree with all your remarks about poor characterisation, clunky string-pulling and egomaniac SOCs.

Oh dear, is Lil about to become some sort of Geisha? It's a bit seedy, posh prostitution, don't do it Lil.

Perhaps Justin broached it that way so from.the v start he could say- I am not going to leave my wife. If you are up for an affair, so am I but that is all it will ever be.

That's the sort of conversation you have in bed - once there's some guilt and justification to work through. Unnecessary and excruciating before that point.

I expect Rob will have made a bonfire of all Helen's possessions ...

that's the sort of conversation you have in bed. Is it really Gruach . I'll ask the cat

Completely agree Gruach. I can't imagine any circumstances in which a conversation like that would take place at a family party. Surely you'd wait to be sure there was something to be kept separate - Justin's approach made it sound like another business proposal. Can't imagine a bigger turn off.

Wanting to be generous to the SW (...) I've had another think. As far as I can see the only possible reason for broadcasting the Justin/Lil conversation is that there's still a decision to be made. And Lilian might not just roll over. That could be interesting.

Did I imagine it or did Lilian think or hope her and Justin would have an affair? This was weeks ago, around the time of the hideous yellow chair. Maybe, like soc (a small minded man, so always lower case), I dreamt it...

He's her boss. She's his landlady. From Miranda's remarks about a previous secretary, it doesn't sound like they have an open marriage.

What could possibly go wrong?

It's a ridiculous storyline, anyway. A rl Justin would be looking for someone at least 15 years younger.

Don't you mean 40 years younger!

The fact that he isn't may explain why the conversation didn't take place in bed.

Well that's another character change. Justin as originally written would probably barely notice who he was with, as long as she bore the correct signifiers of high-value-female.

Nu-Justin is so doddery and uncertain he sounds as if he'd be grateful for a kind look from anyone.

(He wasn't personally flirting with Fallon. Justin as Damara Capital was flirting with the possibility of another successful association. The same Justin who was so globally busy that he had no second to spare for the mega dairy ...)

I was thinking exactly the same Gruach - old Justin was far too busy to appear and Charlie and Knob were quite scared of him whenever he was mentioned. He was all set to pay millions for Brookfield and move in for world domination. Now he's turned into an amiable Oliver-type figure, bumbling around the county attending social events and living
in rented accommodation.

Weird huh?

I'm a bit worried, btw, about the shepherd's hut. Lynda mentioned insurance in relation to it recently didn't she?

Also, exactly how much support is Kathy offering her best friend at this difficult time? Is there no one left on the SW team who is old enough to remember the decades she spent at the Bridge Farm kitchen table bemoaning her lot?

It definitely seemed like decades during Jamie's exams.

I finally LA to Friday - and the porblem is that someone has forgotten how intelligent Archer's listeners are or thinks we're all senile. So they "HAVE TO SPELL EVERYTHING OUT CLEARLY" or we won't understand. Hence their weird speeches (sounded like something from GCSE Drama - setting the scene), and the totally fake conversation between Justin and Lillian.
We don't need things spelt out. And if some people miss a subtle nuance, then it doesn't matter (in the old day it was quite possible not to realise Shula had lost her virginity in the hay field).

Bloody hell I'd forgotten all about Kathy! Is she even still in the village?

Managing Grey Gables ...

(When she's not stolidly standing by Pat, making soup, fielding phone calls, googling obscure cases, praying, shouting, cursing the name of Rob, not resting for a second because her friend needs all her love, help and support ...)

Gruach

Oh Lil - did you have to?