There's a slow hand clap for Knob. Will there be one for Toby? Discuss The Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

Sorry for the poor title - the end of the last thread has arrived sooner than I thought and I haven't had the benefit of hearing all of the last 2 nights....

Just caught up with thurs and tonights episodes so I now understand why in the glimpses of 'threads l'm on' there were strange comments about 'cheese blocked'. There was I thinking it was a description of rob having ventured into the dairy and been knocked unconscious with a large piece of Sterling Gold.

Organic baby food wasn't exactly uncommon 17 years ago. But I thought it was all about BLW and finger foods instead of slop purees nowadays?

Pondering 'ostracization' versus 'ostracism' with the aid of google suggests that while the latter is the correct term for the temporary Athenian banishment, the former can also be used for a modern-day shunning. wikidiff.com/ostracize/ostracism

Tiny portions of salt-free ready meals for BLW? Actually, that would be a really popular product. You could have a grown-up meal with salt and a wine-based sauce, and a baby meal to go with it. They would be served at yummy mummy cafes, and bought by frazzled BLW parents for days when they couldn't be stars cooking but wanted a 'home cooked' meal.

Just caught Wednesday to Friday. Apart from awful Alice very good episodes. Kate was actually quite pleasant. They are so lining up Roy and Kate.

Oh god, don't tell us he's going to get Kate pregnant and we can have the whole Phoebe saga all over again.

Gypsyfloss - but wasn't Tony very judgemental about Helen having IVF at all? At the outset I mean? I remember him moaning about her not having a real father for the baby.

Nigel's demise was a waste of a lovely character and it really didnt SATTC (did I remember that right?) for very long in the big scheme of things.

Oh well. Life in Ambridge goes on.... just how badly wrong is Susan's birthday likely to go, what with all that unsupervised juice?

Well, any scenario where Kate sounds like the voice of reason can only go one way.

Two excellent posts there Francis. Helen's dogged independence comprises of having Henry (not an unrealistic plot turn in my opinion apart from the speed with which it happened) and moving out of Bridge Farm to live over the village shop briefly. Usually when people say she is independent they mean entitled, stubborn and determined to get her own way - both of which are true. That's what led her into her relationship with Knob in the first place and it is what made her his ideal victim both in the sense that it made her unlikely to listen to all the naysayers at the beginning of their relationship and it also meant close family were inclined to let her get on with it because they knew what reaction they'd get if they tried to intervene. Hopefully now it will be those same qualities that will ensure Knob gets his just desserts. The evidence of the bank account emptied once she was released from prison must be another piece of concrete evidence of coercive control.

Francis and Lillian have summed it up very neatly for Helen and certainly my view of her. He was wasn't judgemental, I think he was trying to be the voice of reason, something which Helen does not take kindly too. And Henry was conceived by sperm donor, not IVF, hence the mild speculation that Ian who took over the a strong fatherly role in the banished absence of Tony, was perhaps the donor.

I agree with Frances, Lillian and Gypsy about Helen and Tony. If it's judgemental to try to point out to your daughter that life as a single parent is not going to be all hearts and flowers, clear me a space on the judgemental bench.

Re Ian as donor - I know why everybody enjoys fantasising about this, but if she'd been going to use Ian as a donor, why bother with a clinic? And why has neither of them ever mentioned it? And why would Ian, who has been so insistent on the importance of truth and openness in a marriage, never said a word to Adam about this? Sorry, all, I don't believe Ian was Henry's father.

This doesn't, of course, mean that the production team won't in the fullness of time rewrite history and decide that he was.

I didn't think Roy could get anyone pregnant because his "cheese" is blocked.

Or am I getting confused?

Eww yuck, 3D do not want to think of anyone's cheese.

at "It's like Groundhog Day, only with cheese."

I am unusually pleased. Flying home today so can listen to the film tomorrow in real time on my dad's old real radio. Like a proper person.

If Ian had been the sperm donor, that whole storyline with Maddy would have made no sense. He would have wanted to co-parent, rather than just be a donor.

How old is Ian, anyway? Does he have time to find a nice man and settle down and maybe start a family? He would be a good dad, although his working hours are v long.

I remember Ian's real disappointment at not becoming a father, thanks for reminding me of Maddys name, and then there was this sort of 'pregnant pause' of a few weeks where we were all hoping Helen would ask him herself. If Ian been Henrys Dad A) He'd definitely have been a doting hands on father and B) we'd have heard more about turkey basters than visits to the clinic

I didn't think Roy could get anyone pregnant because his "cheese" wink is blocked.
He got Kate pregnant, and Hayley had a tube blockage, which was magically cleared out while having an investigative op.

Years of tight polyester trousers must have taken their toll though....

Does Johnny know how awful the Bridge Farm lot were initially about his mother?

And can someone confirm that Sharon coming to the farm just after John's death and being sent packing by Pat was broadcast? Or was it just reported by Sharon when the Johnny storyline developed? I'm sure I did hear it but can't be sure.

I can't help thinking that Pip is sleepwalking into a rotten marriage just like Helen did and that advice against it will impel her to dig her heels in and do it anyway while her parents pussy-foot around her.
Yawn.

Nah, I quite like Pip (ducks flames) she'll see through him soon.

She won't. It will go the same way as Jude. He will leg it and then she will seek solace in a dull Spencer/Matthew Rex.