Orange Is The New Black in Ambridge. Just ask Helen. But will anyone in The Archers ever ask her WHY?

[PseudoBadger]

I reckon this thread will see us through the Euros, both footy and referendum. Await the clunky topical inserts here.

I thought Caroline sounded a good mixture of amazed, disturbed, and biting her tongue!

Caroline sounded different - once again I think it's as a result of writing an unconvincing storyline. The total trashing of the house is so OTT - how would Caroline react? Difficult to say, because it just wouldn't have happened like that. SHe talks about Oliver having a soft spot for the Grundies, but so does she - she is Godmother to one (or both of the boys). Sounds like she and Oliver are being written out - Justin is the new Oliver, I've thought so along ever since he underwent a sudden character transformation from being terrifying rarely-seen boss of Damara to benign and bumbling country gent. I think the widening crack is significant - some sort of subsidence caused by flood which will make it unsellable so Joe will be able to see out his days there.
Re schooling, I'd remembered Pip being a brilliant pianist encouraged by Phil and getting some sort of scholarship to the Cathedral School or am I mixing her up with someone else. Her musical talents (surely another strong link with her namesake) are never mentioned these days.

That "you have a soft spot for the Grundys" remark was odd wasn't it? Almost as if the SW had no idea that Caroline is Will's godmother.

It was a rather heartless episode. I didn't really enjoy hearing Clarrie cowed and humiliated after she'd spent months trying to keep the place pristine. And I could hear darling Ed's heart thumping with anxiety - all the way from my sofa.

Yes LilG, SOC is getting rid of yet more regulars to make room for Bearfrotters and their ilk

Fairbrother senior might buy it I guess

Yawn

What irritates me is that I feel as though the SW's are missing out on the storylines right under their nose. Repeating myself here, but the genuine problem of rural poverty with local people being unable to afford to live in the villages where they have lived all their lives. We should have the Grundies squashed together in Will's cottage (Clarrie and Eddie on sofa bed if necessary) contrasting with Susan and Neil in the house they built for themselves, but with Emma and Ed and the kids there as well as they have nowhere else to go, contrasted with Christopher (is he even still alive or has he been kicked to death by a horse??) who has no worries about accommodation because he has married into one of the landed families who have cottages and bungalows coming out of their ears. Last night's episode just felt so pat - Cathy and Roy (now silent characters) have got Grey Gables under control "And Ian" - an after-thought even in the script and in one short scene (or even sentence) GG is moved to the sidelines in the way LL has been. So instead we have the unutterably tedious Fairbrethren and new-model Pip. No wonder noone's talking about Knob - there's hardly anyone left in the regular cast who even remembers him.

"The party's over" indeed

exactly lillian.

Agreed on all points.

Re Pip and her musical talents - not quite. Phil taught her to play the piano. When she was coming up to secondary age, David and Ruth took it for granted that she would go to Borchester Green. Phil said what about the Cathedral School, given how musical she was. Cue mad rush to get Pip extra tuition in Maths and English (well after the start of year 6) so she would get through the entrance exam (early in the spring term) and also lots of extra piano lessons and practice so she would pass the audition to get a music scholarship and bursary. Before very long even the Dopeys grasped that all of this was utterly unrealistic because (a) Pip is not super-bright and was struggling to cope with all the extra work and pressure and (b) she is not actually very musical at all. We were unfortunate enough to hear her playing on air a few times and that was very evident. So Ruth put her foot down, David crumpled immediately and she went to Borchester Green after all.

Thanks Gaspode am in awe of your powers of recall (or of knowing how to trace that info) - as usual I had remembered slightly wrong. You should be on the SW's books in the absence of an archivist.

Why does Oliver sound different?

I didn't understand where the stains on the carpet and the felt tip on the walls suddenly came from. Surely Clarrie would have ensured that the wall marks were painted over, and it's usually possible to get vomit stains out. They've obviously decided almost literally overnight to turn the Grundys into tenants from hell, and in Clarrie's case at least that really is the reverse of the truth.

Nah Augusta They always have been tenants from hell, it's not new sadly. As I said upthread,Joe thinks it's his place and only Clarrie cares.

Remember how disrespectful they were in Grey Gables? They've got history

I don't think I could cope with another Fairbrother, I guess it would have to be Nigel Havers, I think he's related to Simon Williams.

I couldn't bear an EE style recycling of an old baddie - though judging by SOC's previous form that would probably be his idea of a fabulous plot development. Why doesn't he SODOFF???? I'm dreading tomorrow - fully expecting Knob to hot foot it after Tony and Pat to the prison with Henry in tow to ambush them when Hellin hands over Jack/Gideon - classic EE style plotline set up with sledgehammer subtlety by Tony telling Knob exactly what they had planned only stopping short of programming the coordinates into his SatNav.

Urrrrgh ...

Emma cares too though doesn't she? She likes people to think well of her and her kids. I can't see she'd be happy to let the felt tip marks stay.

Anyone else think Rob is planning to say that Pat and Tony have abandoned Henry on the Fathers' Day that he's asked for then follow it up with an accusation of abduction when they collect him from school and have him overnight as Rob suggested. Pat and Tony need to get the agreement in writing.

Clarrie and Emma wouldn't have let the house get in that state. The whole trashing of grey gables and grange farm is out of character. Yes more likely at the hotel but definitely not at the house

The house trashing was just over-egging the pudding. Installing the pigs, hosting the cider club in the shed and the mysterious crack in the wall would have been believable and would have made the point. The flooded bath, furniture in the garden, vomit in the carpet and felt tip on the walls was a step too far. It didn't even lead to a hilarious/dramatic denouement - just yesterday's lack-lustre and unbelievable episode which felt like a box ticking exercise to silence Caroline and Oliver and further isolate Grey Gables (and with it Cathy, Roy and Ian) from the plot.

mrbear it would be entirely in character for Knob to rewrite the change in a arrangements that he has instigated as "You were happy for me to have Henry on Father's Day - you didn't want to see him you were more interested in spending it with Gideon".

So you are desperate to sell your house so you can buy your dream home in Italy. You live in an area that probably is a bit pot luck in terms of selling (I was surprised how quickly Mike managed to sell - another annoying sl).
Makes total sense to let a family who have form for trashing the place stay living there through all the viewings.

Are we going to have 'comedy' Grundy trying to put off buyers sl?

Can someone (Gasp0de, probably) tell me whether the Grundys actually owned Grange Farm previously or rented it? All this "it's our place" seems a bit far fetched if they were tenants (albeit long term).

Tenant farmers, but for several generations. Joe was born in 1921, so we can assume at least 100 years. One of the farms next to where I grew up, part of their land they'd rented since at least the early 19th century, all the same family. It's not like renting a house in town on a 6 month assured shorthold tenancy.

They may be tenant farmers, but if you work the land, and know every field and hedge and fence and where the best places are to get blackberries or hazels, where you see the first celandines in Spring, and where a particular bird always nests, and so on - it is your land in a way title deeds alone don't make it your land.