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.

Ah. But. If they'd stayed in the garden or gone to the presumably empty cricket ground Rob wouldn't have been able to demonstrate to the entire village how much better a parent he was than anyone else.

snurk @AntiBoop.

But it backfired, Gruach, because it was gossiped about as being sad and lonely.

Did he not also demonstrate a remarkable recovery from his court appearance?

I doubt they play cricket at Henry's primary school so maybe the boarding school will be to nurture his growing talent (ignoring the fact that I've only known schools that start cricket in year 4 - with a soft ball!!!). Given the sw loose grasp of the real world they will probably have Henry enrolled at a specialist boarding cricket academy in Australia before the year is out

Thanks Ebear . I can't quite see Pip approving of Toby allowing the chickens to remain outside, so they could indulge in "no strings' sex. She'd 've kicked him out.

Toby did say at one point "it wasn't my fault" so presumably will allow everyone to blame Pip? Can't say I feel sorry for her if everyone starts calling her a total bitch.

So only black people are allowed to like black actors now? Okaaay.

I was thinking that Dorothy Dandridge's heyday was well before anyone the age that Dorothy's mother must be would have been old enough to appreciate her. But that is that is not really so odd- I was very into late 60s music when I was about 15 even though that was in the 1980s, and I also love old musicals that were made decades before I was born.

My Mum was called Dorothy. She WAS named after Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; my Gran was a fanatic.

I think it was more a comment on how the sw mind works as it is a little random given her age. Or perhaps it was done to suggest she has old parents so they can be killed off quickly so we don't need to worry about her and Dan moving to be close to them

Maybe one of the SW is a DD fan and is sneakily trying to start a revival?

Slight derail but 'Carmen Jones' is famous in film history for a long tracking shot in which the gorgeous DD (she was seriously gorgeous) sashays sexily down a street in front of a row of shop windows.....with the camera on tracks and the entire film crew (not quite so gorgeous) reflected in the glass

Rob would be aiming to garner admiration for his parenting by coaching Henry so publicly while, in his view, showing up the lack of supervision of the village children. He's also setting out his stall as an authority on all things cricket.

But the wheels are falling off his wagon slightly if people are starting to notice how tightly controlled Henry seemed.

Eddie reminiscing about William Smethurst on World at One now!

Susan. Why am I not surprised by her spitefulness?

I'm not surprised at Susan - but I did like how she said to Neil, "If you decide to do it," rather than outright telling him not to. Also, I think she's wrong - I mean she's just wrong anyway, but I mean she's wrong in what she thinks the village is thinking. I think there are a lot of people questioning how heroic Rob really is, and I think it won't be an issue keeping the cricket club etc etc on-side by speaking up for Helen.

I do hope Neil sticks to his word, but I fear that him saying outright, "No, when I've decided to do something, I'll do it," could be a sign he's going to cave in to Susan.

It didn't make sense to me. I don't see why Susan is bothered about unemployed Rob. I would have thought that her allegiance would be to her employer and, even more so, to her much-prized connection with her posh in-laws (aunt & uncle to the subject of the reference). Imagine the implied you-owe-me-one that she could drop into every conversation.

I thought that it was shockingly cheeky that Susan continues to take the Bridge farm dollar while condemning Helen, who is innocent until proven guilty, so vocally. I hope Tom, Pat and Tony find out and fire her. Not that they can legally of course, and they also need her too much. But she'd bloody deserve it.

Good writing though.

Good point about her taking a position against her posh in laws too. Does seem inconsistent. In a way it would be more predictable for her to have been the first to jump to the conclusion that Rob was a bad 'un and declare that she knew it all along.

Susan is an absolute cow and always has been - a really nasty character. I have no idea why Neil or the rest of her family put up with it.

Susan's vile but she's always had a bit of a thing about Rob hasn't she? Or was that Charlie? She likes posh blokes basically. I would love for something really horrible to happen to her.

She will probably witness rob doing something to Henry, he will lay on the 'it's just so hard' and she will be conflicted

Cos they like repeating things and they've done similar to Shula

Rob wasn't that nice to her at the fireworks when Henry burnt his hand, but that could probably be excused as worry, particularly if you haven't witnessed any other Rob incidents, and no one ever talks about those. You could be sure Susan's gossip radar would have picked up on it if so.

On the other hand though, I think Susan being in high dudgeon after being spoken to like that at the fireworks would have been very much in character, and I was surprised they didn't do that...

Can't recall anything kind or decent that Susan has done. Am I too harsh?

Remember her pushing Neil into the sales job and buying him a tie for his birthday when he hated all that and wanted to be a pigman. And the crowing to Clarrie when Helen idiotically made Tracy manager in the dairy.

Susan hasnt got an empathetic bone in her body. The only time she comes across well is when she has a scene with Neil where they come across as a genuinely in love couple

Yes, she certainly isn't using her own time in the clink to empathise with Helen in jail is she? No doubt her view is that she did what she did to protect her family, whereas H is a nasty unstable woman whose actions destroyed her family.

It didn't make sense to me.
Nor me R4

Rob's as village hero, and speaking up for Helen offending everyone in a village chock full of Helen's relatives? Really, Susan? Your position as village postmistress? Is Susan is jealous because Helen chose Neil and not her?