Out, damned SOC! Out I say! When will Ambridge be free? Discuss The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

A once-great soap is going down the Beverley drain.

When they were younger Pat and Tony and kids just went to a caravan in Wales.
But very much like my SIL, since the kids have grown up (and not needing to holiday in school holidays) they hav now tended to go further away. I think they've been to the Canaries before, and to Greece?

Yes, I remember ppeat - particularly when they had Betty working for them. But it's inconceivable that Brian and Jenny - given their age, income and busy lives - would not be employing a cleaner. I'm actually surprised they don't have a housekeeper, even part time.

I guess this is another example of editors/writers not stretching their imaginations to draw fully rounded portraits of lives they don't lead themselves. Baby-boarding ...

At the moment we're supposed to believe that Jenny (because who else?) drags the loo roll and washing powder from the supermarket or restocks the larder and the bathroom cupboards after the Ocado delivery. In a house that lately held at least six people and hosts a million others. I know they might not always want to make a story of it - but a little verisimilitude would be nice.

And that's another thing, regarding the brand new information on Pip and Emma's close friendship. They can only ever have spoken when Emma was cleaning Brookfield. Tsk!

All this lemon chicken and salmon and lasagne bounty descending on Bridge farm ... I thought Pat was a vegetarian?

Big BOOP point for Lynda's magnificent flounce though.

Big BOOP point for Lynda's magnificent flounce though.

I guess this is another example of editors/writers not stretching their imaginations to draw fully rounded portraits of lives they don't lead themselves

The Archers is basically an everyday story of the South West Birmingham middle classes. The closest any of them get to farming is buying overpriced samosas at the Moseley Farmers' Market.

Pat isn't a vegetarian. They do eat a lot of vegetarian food but they eat meat as well.

Gruach I agree with you about everything except Pip not being friends with Emma. We 're still in contact with our ex cleaner who is a friend (also still a friend of our dcs)

Oh Gruach "verisimilitude" is one of my favourite words. I purred when I read your post

Speaking of SW verisimilitude ( for Grauch) is the idea of fuck buddies 'friends with benefits' a bit outdated for the 20 somethings of today? Neither of my DCs (mid 20s) say they would consider the arrangement. They and their friends seem to have fallen back a generation and go for committed, long term relationships. Is this normal or something I haven't done ?

To me FWBs is very much a middle-aged phenomenon (of which I have no direct experience btw ..). Either a slightly resigned second best because one or both parties don't think they can compete in the OLD world or a conscious decision where priorities are elsewhere (job, children, etc ). I don't see how it could be relevant at all to people in the first flush of youth and vigour, eagerly grasping at their futures. (And, whenever it comes up in "Relationships" here it always transpires, if the OP claims to be young, that she is undervaluing herself and being exploited. Which we couldn't really say of Pip.)

Perhaps the scriptwriters ...

Interesting that Pip is one character where not much has changed personality-wise with the new actor. if anything, NewPip is just more vile and obnoxious than YoungSqueakyPip, but YSP was hideous in her own way.

I admit I was only half-engaged tonight - was Brine talking to Justin? and was Justin being distracted by old Fagash?

Thanks Gruach. This latest development just seems weird somehow. I would really like a long rest from Pip and TRex.

Good for Brian trying to help Tom, though. Presumably a Nuffield scholarship will mean an absence from Ambridge.

I was wondering if Toby was going to end up getting his heart broken by Pip rather than vice versa. There were faint hints of him not being quite as detached about it as the arrangement is meant to be.

was Brine talking to Justin? and was Justin being distracted by old Fagash?
Yup. Here's more bleach...

Good for Brian trying to help Tom, though. Presumably a Nuffield scholarship will mean an absence from Ambridge.

Yes - I am liking Brian at the moment. However, while I think it would do Tom good, I can't imagine him agreeing to take time away from the farm currently - it was hard enough for him to agree to a single day out.

Why has Justin undergone some kind of personality transplant. Where is the hard nosed capitalist, the giggly daft bloke act just doesn't fit, even under Lils influence.
Is Pip now some kind of sex predator? Will she eat Toby?

I mean literally not euphemistically.

Listened for the first time in weeks tonight. The Toby/Pip thing is simply grubby. My current apathy towards The archers makes me a bit sad. I used to make time to listen again, now I just find it a bit of a chore.

Even though I parked up near where I stay at 6.50pm I didn't listen tonight. I was going to, but as I walked from where I parked the car I saw a motorcyle and thought "ooh, is that a CZ? No! Fuck me, it's a Jawa! Is it a 250 or a 350? Wow, a proper 70s throwback. Hang on, a 14 plate? They don't still make them, surely?"

I talked to the owner, we discussed two stroke bikes we loved, then another chap turned up on a Yamaha RX-S100. I had one of those. God, it was like being 19 again. Much preferable to The Archers atm. The Jawa was a 350 btw, just so I don't leave you mithering.

Thanks gaspode!

Oh ... DoctorTwo - I used to be like that with non-motored bikes. The slowing down, the glancing around hopefully for an owner with whom to exchange anecdotes about the roads of northern France and the joys of leather sadddles ... But I've lost all the advanced cycle building language now - so I just sigh and move along.

Yes, Justin has gone haywire. And they cheated us of the inevitable end to that scene; with Brian recognising Lil's laugh over the phone.

I'm soooooooooo bored of Pip and Trex.

I don't remember TA ever being particularly moralistic, Pip's a player . People are more flexible nowadays.

With that light on in the kitchen as Toby makes his exit, I take it that All Is About To Be Revealed. But I have to say I simply don't care.

I just DON'T want to picture Pip and Toby naked! Is that really so hard to comprehend??

Gumpendorf I am about the same age as Pip and I would say the FWB phenomenon is pretty widespread in my age group or younger. Even further than that, I know a lot of people currently at university as undergraduates who are actively on Tinder or who have that sort of relationship there. So it isn't unrealistic for her age. Not that that makes it pleasant to listen to.