Male or female, young or old - Bad Stuff can happen to you in The Archers. Discuss the perils of Ambridge life here.

[PseudoBadger]

Not exactly upbeat at the moment is it

Well Ruth seemed quite caring ringing Carol to come round and help Jill "relax" to stop her getting the hoover out. Then there were the two old ladies cackling about how much they are needed so it seems no one can win.

Ruth? Caring? Give me strength!

I think Toby has a baby with the girl in Brighton who was/is an addict ? Anyone else ?

Marking. Am waaaaayyy behind. Pesky work getting in the way!

pickle Bonnie Langford played the stroppy audition girl in Bugsy Malone (sang There's no Business like Show Business) in case that's where you're remembering her from. She was a bit Violet Elizabeth in that scene

FidererAgree completely re. Nigel and Elizabeth. Elizabeth has mellowed somewhat but she used to be a spoilt brat. Never quite as bad as Kate, though.

I tend to feel a bit sorry for Elizabeth - she grew up in the shadow of St Shula - wanting to be like her but never feeling anyone really valued her. She was very surprised when as a teenager David told her she was his favourite sister. That may be why she made such a fuss over Brookfield, because she really felt unloved and unvalued. It is also why a feud between her and David would be very dark, because he is the one she has been closest too.
Nigel was good for her because she believed he loved and preferred her to Shula, and lower Loxley is something she is good at and shows she has "made it".

But Brookfield was never quite as dysfunctional as Home Farm. I only recently realised (rediscovered) that when Kate was having issues as a teenager Brian refused to go to Family therapy with her, even though Jennifer went. And Brian was disappointed she wasn't a boy. So a lot of her issues can be traced back to him.

Love the idea of Ben coming out of the cereal closet to watch musicals with Jill and Carol. Communication always in semaphore Bertrand because he's not allowed to speak - in fact they could throw a few silent movies in there for him.
I dislike Elizabeth as a person, but love her as a character - you can see how her personality was shaped by her upbringing (indulged, sickly youngest child allowed to get away with murder). I can't stand Justin and can't see for the life of me what Lillian sees in him and I dislike him as a character because I don't know enough about him to care about him

Excellent analysis of Elizabeth Mummytime

Oh and we do have to remember that we would all hate the Archers if everyone was nice - too tedious for words! (Even the snobby looking down on the Grundies and then the Horobins, makes it so true to life.)

I remember that scene between David and Elizabeth too, Mummytime. It was rather poignant as she sounded so surprised. Didn't it go something like:

'Can't have someone upsetting my favourite sister...'
'Oh! I thought everyone preferred Shula!'

Bonnie Langford was Violet Elizabeth, pickle

m.youtube.com/watch?v=GUczkXl_uVU

Lancelottie - it must have been an excellent scene if we still remember it so many years later!

Bonnie Langford lives near me, and at least her step children went to the same Primary as mine (a few years earlier I think).

we do have to remember that we would all hate the Archers if everyone was nice - too tedious for words!

Not just tedious, but unrealistic. There haven't been many people in life where I have loved every single aspect of them, and when I have, it's usually because my view is being filtered by new love/lust, so blind to faults. Characters should be complex and contradictory and interesting - it's usually people's faults which provide good storyline. I want flawed characters, not perfection.

Thanks for that link LowDudgeon I LOVE Just William even our grand daughter loves the books. Those child actors were good. Bonnie Langford's nieces are all over the West End as singers and dancers, I suppose it's in the genes.

It's great isn't it! There are lots of full episodes of that series on youtube.

She was really outstanding for her age on TV at that time IMO (& the boy was good too but he's done virtually nothing else).

(Mind you, I've just looked her up and when she was playing "thixth" she was actually 12-13! So maybe not quite so outstanding - I thought she was 8 or 9)

Yes, the casting people love older children who are small and could therefore play 'younger'.

dd1 used to get work like that .

Many years ago the divine Harry Hill used to have a TV show which featured an unlikely cast of characters including his son, Little Alan. Little Alan communicated solely through the medium of tap. I like to think of Ben doing something similar, perhaps brandishing a partially-eaten packet of Golden Grahams for extra dramatic emphasis.

Interesting ...

And that too ...

Complications coming ...

So, R4, is it really raining in Borsetshire today?

I think she's headed for a massive breakdown. An early miscarriage completely floored me, in consolable for weeks. There's no way she is just going to get back to normal and be ok.

Oh dear. Roy. Over eager. He's going to realise he's 'in love' with Kirsty pretty soon. Awkward.