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.

I don't specifically find the HelRob storyline tedious, but I do find the current treatment of it boring. I think the problem is that they are so blatantly trying to build up to a big climax when what I would far prefer is a more realistic process of building up the case gradually, with people who have pieces of the jigsaw actually talking to each other and the lawyers.

Whilst I understand that people in Helen's position will often block things out, I would like to see her getting some psychiatric treatment and indeed realising that not talking about any of it is not an option if she wants to see her children in the long term. It was particularly ludicrous her saying yesterday that at least she was safe where she was, when she knows perfectly well that she would never be in the M&B unit for ever, and must have been told that conditions for convicted criminals are considerably worse than those for prisoners on remand.

Joe is checking out, isn't he? Even my partner who comes in and yaps over TA then wonders why I hiss "shush" at him said this.

Pity as I quite like him. Joe, that is. He's TA as it used to be.

Helen is really annoying me. With about 4 weeks to go she's still not given Anna anything to go on!

Pip and Toby deserve each other. Both arrogant and up their own arses.

Could understand Hellin being reticent, being unsure, not giving much away ... But to to be so bloody rude and unpleasant to the one person who is trying to help her - Jesus what a horror.

She really was quite awful last night - but then Helen has never been a particularly nice person.

Joe is another character that isn't nice. He's been dishonest and a theif in the past - I can't rustle up any sympathy for him. I really don't understand why Clarrie puts up with it.

Whenever family go to visit Helen they comment on how far it is to travel.
If Anna is like other legal people I know, she is a very busy lady.
So why is Anna content to waste time repeatedly hauling herself all the way to prison to have Helen say nothing and/or change the subject?
Helen is a PITA but Anna's handling of the case is woeful, especially for someone who is supposed to be an expert at these things.

The whole Anna situation is wildly improbable, and I don't understand why it's written this way when they claim to have done some research. There is no way that a busy and successful QC would have so much time to spend visiting one client who clearly isn't prepared to help herself, and it is ludicrous that Anna is doing work that should be done by the solicitors. I guess that SOC would justify it on the basis of the relationship with Helen's family and her feelings about the other case that she lost, but if she cared that much about it she would have sorted out a psychiatrist long ago and would be using some of that time pushing other witnesses to think about what was going on with Rob.

Totally.
This isn't an 'everyday tale'. It's cobblers put together for the sake of drama - except that it doesn't even cut it as drama!

Yup. I've been so at the way they're writing Ironside-Anna it has hardly seemed worth commenting on it. Exactly as Judy says. Witnesses come to you. And tbh I'm not entirely happy with her haunting Neil at home. It's just not what happens. Solicitors gather evidence - Anna is simply supposed to receive it and do her best with it. Wherever she finds a gap in the evidence she picks up the phone (at least, this is what happened in a previous century) and asks a solicitor for clarification.

I dunno. How many Annas find themselves living in the same village as almost all the people connected to the case? It's a little unusual - perhaps not the best situation to force SWs to portray.

I'm so glad others thought last night was awful too. After some good episodes, it was a big regression.

The listening figures to June showed an increase in listeners according to the Telegraph yesterday. I can't link as my phone is playing up, but SOC will take some comfort from that and is it likely a new editor will make radical changes...?

pseudo my first ever title suggestions so please go easy on me will Joe be taken up lakey hill by the 4 horse men of the apocalypse before this thread ends? is pip upduffed and does anyone care? Is Helen in an Olympic sized mess? When will Rob try to bowl another maiden over?

Taking Henry to Wales? Better tread Caerphilly Pat and Tony I know that's not where they're going, but ever tried to work Tenby into a title? Pip and Toby are planning a dirty weekend in Wales, that Pip's turning out to be a bit of a Gower 😊

Will Rob get in first and take Henry to Elevenby?

Seek - Elevenby! Brilliant.

FFS, Helen!!! I know we're not supposed to victim blame, but I am getting extremely close to doing just that… PTSD or not, no reason to be so vile to Anna. Offensive and stupid. Pity drying up.

I think as long as you don't say "I'm not surprised Rob abused Helen" or "it must have been Helen's fault" it isn't victim blaming? One can be an innocent victim and also very unpleasant in other ways...

Oh, so my brief period of listening to TA is now over, I gather from the reports of the last couple of epis? Let me know when Hellbent's been imprisoned for life, her children are being cared for by Social Services far, far, away, and Jess has come back secretly and stabbed Rob (to death, this time) and got away with it. Thanks.

listened to the omnibus this morning and was very bored by it all - worlds away from what the Archers should be
BUT - Scruff is dead - how can he just have slipped away lying on a stone (resurgent?) in the garden, - like many fellow dog-lovers I felt for Lynda (and Robert) - he will leave a scruff-shaped hole in the Archers.

why is Harrison giving Rob the time of day? You'd think he'd have come across his sort before

Christ could the parallels be any more obviously sign posted? 'Yes, a game of cricket is like a marriage, you have to show the other side who is boss. You have to psychologically undermine them over a long period of time. You have to make them wear mauve. Aheh heh heh.'

hah- in your face Rob - NO ONE wants to drink with you

'your lot'

The drinks are on Pat and Tony me.

What poison is he brewing now?

What happened? Forgot to listen.

Joe and Eddie are still trying to make money out of the elves even though they are waterlogged and badly damaged after the freak storm. Joe suggests promoting the mending process as a chance to see the National Elf Service in action. A small child runs screaming from the shed after seeing him pull an elf's head off.

Meanwhile, the Ambridge cricket team is up against Darrington. Harrison unwisely takes Rob's advice and gets his team to use sledging. I am not a cricketer but I gather this means doing exactly what Rob enjoys doing - wind them up the opposition and make them take their eyes of the ball (literally). Ambridge wins, but no one on the team accepts Rob's invitation to go to The Bull for a drink to celebrate.

Rob seeks Adam out in the changing room and makes overtures of friendship, which Adam politely rebuffs, telling him that Ian is going to be a character witness for Helen. Rob laughs in his horrible way and says 'Your lot don't understand the meaning of the word 'honest'. I should have known. There isn't an act low enough that that so called husband of yours won't overlook.'

I think this means that Adam and Ian are going to have a long overdue frank conversation. I hope they survive as a couple. Ian needs to be able to speak without constraint in the witness box. It may help to push Jennifer and Brian to Team Helen as well.