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

I don't think that Bertrand is making that point, rather that the script is going in a very predictable way, as signalled earlier when she wanted to go out having good time and was given the 'should you really?" by Helen.

Kirsty's astounding rudeness to all and sundry is stupidly overblown and a coarse depiction of grieving.

Especially if Kirsty just wants to get back to normal; presumably she isn't normally moody and rude.

Sorry, having had the misfortune of having had to be induced and go into labour at 22 weeks, to give birth to a much wanted child at about the same age as Kirsty, I'm not buying your reading of Kirsty's behaviour. It is understandable in her circumstances, you are being too harsh on the SW''s.

Sorry- not prepared to share my experience. Also not prepared to carry on this conversation if it's going to get personal and I'm going to be attacked for my view of how something is being dealt with in a work of fiction. Not fair at all

But you're saying it's unrealistic, then calling it a work of fiction? Not following you there, Bertrand. I'm getting personal, as you call it, by sharing my own experience and saying that in that experience, I feel Kirsty's behaviour is not unexpected or contradictory. Is all. Sorry if I am misunderstanding your pov and really not getting your "it's not fair" comment. Bizarre.

At no point has Bertrand described the Kirsty plotline as unrealistic. I have taken her reading of it as being the galumphing, very dramatic script so often favoured by TA writers.

Also the "not fair" I assume is your citing your personal experience and asking if she'd had the same. It is unfair, because not everyone chooses to share their experiences. For all you know, Bertrand could have experienced exactly what you mentioned, behaved just as Kirsty does, but it does not affect her view of the script. Or she might not. She's posting about the script quality, that's all.

It's unfair to ask someone if they have had a miscarriage on a thread about a radio soap.

Thanks, echt, I sit corrected. I had misunderstood. Though before this exchange, I'd been going to remark that I feel that TA scrptwriters are spot on with their dealings with miscarriages - Shula's in round about 1984, I think, is the first I remember hearing. It was well done, I thought.

Something I think is realistic about Kirsty's miscarriage is that it just sort of happened, without there being any dramatic plot-line around it.

So often in fiction miscarriages only occur as a result of falling off a horse, or in the midst of violent activity or car crashes etc.

Odds on "harriet vane" being Lynda? But why the reference? Robert's hardly PDBW...

I clearly don't know the extent of Robert's polymathism!

Who would have thought ambridge would be such a popular holiday destination

I think Kirsty's SL is one of those whose handling can't satisfy everyone. I can absolutely see where Bertrand is coming from but I don't like the implication that struggling to recover from something as momentous as such a late miscarriage would mean you are NOT a strong, independent person.

I can't help thinking that the reason Kirsty is reacting as she is is because she IS a strong, independent woman who has been hit by something she can't control and that goes far deeper than being left at the altar.

Thanks, glowfrog, you expressed it much better than I did

Agree completely with glowfrog

"I don't like the implication that struggling to recover from something as momentous as such a late miscarriage would mean you are NOT a strong, independent person"

If that is directed at me, I implied nothing of the sort. What I don't like is the implication that there is a right and a wrong way to grieve, and Kirsty "chose" the wrong way and is going to suffer for it.

It was directed at the view, not you, Bertrand.

And I don't think Kirsty is going to be "punished" for choosing the wrong way to grieve. I think what she's doing at the moment is part of the grieving - the denial phase. It is not an uncommon reaction at all.

The way I see it, Kirsty is choosing to go back to work, go out, go back to "normal life." Either it will work out for her, or it won't. If it doesn't, it's not because she chose the wrong way to grieve. It's just the way processing her grief worked out for her and she had go through something else first.

And to clarify further, I didn't mean to say YOU were implying anything but rather that such a view/opinion carried that implication.

It would be interesting if Miranda was told (by Cathy?) that Kirsty had just had a very late miscarriage, and was sympathetic. We might see a more rounded Miranda.

I'm Team Miranda. We know (because Miranda said) that Justin has had a previous fling. I wonder if Miranda is now regretting not ending the marriage then. Miranda's three-day eventing is long behind her, they don't have children and she is married to a man who is being unfaithful. She knows that the village is gossiping. She is in an unenviable situation.

Also, there is no suggestion she even wants to move to ambridge and her dh has decided to set himself up a life somewhere without including her or even discussing it.

Initially, Justin said that Miranda wanted to live somewhere where she could keep / ride her horse (s), didn't he? We're not hearing her "horsey" side at all now.

I'm not a ceoliac but that party food was very pastry heavy like Miranda said. I'm not team Miranda though. I'm neutral, Lilian is a silly woman too.

Justin deserves them both Though anyone watching the young Simon Williams in Upstairs Downstairs at the moment? OMG he was tasty then !