All we hear is Radio Carter - come and gossip about The Archers here

[PseudoBadger]

Hides in laundry rooms

Is Eddie supposed to be a lovable rogue, because he's not lovable and never has been. I remember listening to it years ago when Jolene first appeared and Clarrie was in knots believing that Eddie and Jolene were having an affair.
Poor Clarrie - if she decides to stab Eddie and spill custard all over the Sterlings' immaculate parquet I hope she gets off too.

I have always loathed Eddie. He is abusive just in a less dramatic way than Rob.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks Oliver owes the grundys anything

I don't, but Oliver is a nice chap and helping to relocate the Grundys is in his own interest.

Just a thought - does Oliver know what's in Caroline's will? He mentioned the other night that they always assumed he would go first, so what if Caroline has given everything to Ed?
That would be a ridiculous SL not least because C would not have been so stupid to not anticipate the possibility of predeceasing O. On the other hand, it's the sort of SL SOC might have come up with, hopefully we can expect better from Canoe.

Hopefully Caroline will have left her mother's jug to Emma. And Eddie will present her with the superglued remains of it. That would make me happy. Because I'm mean, and I don't like her .

All this realism ...

It's a story. Grundys at Grange Farm are completely necessary to the poetry of the thing. Ancient. Mythical. Whatever. The pull of their souls' land. Some sort of deep bloodline running beneath Ambridge.

Drag them out again and the Hellmouth would open up and swallow the village.

Gruach

Drag them out again and the Hellmouth would open up and swallow the village.

Wait... What ... you mean the sinkhole will finally open.

True though innit. Wasn't there a story about a ten thousand year old skeleton found in Cheddar Gorge. They did a DNA analysis to see if it had relatives alive today. They tested Mr Aristocratic Landowner-ForGenerations but he was a negative. But his Lowly Manservant tested positive. Proving the ancient mythical whateveryness of the horny handed sons of the soil.

Mention of custard prompts me to say that I crossed over to the dark side and saw Helen in Coronation St last night. Relieved to see that her obsessive control freakery appears to have been transplanted wholesale into her new character.

Come back and tell us more Cedilla!

Who is her character? Is she mother to a totally indulged child? Has she taken over the corner shop and turned it into a cheese emporium? Does she have her Helen voice or has she become Northern?

OK, I'll de-materialise for a while longer

I haven't fully got the gist because I only see it when I visit family. But she appears to be the manageress of the local health centre and is a grade-A gorgon complete with tinkly laugh and passive-aggressive comments (when telling a new staff member to go and smoke out the back by the bins, not at the front where patients might see her, she commented that said staff member would have to be careful or she might get carted away with the rubbish ).

She doesn't appear to be attempting a Northern accent. No sign of cheese either.

But give it time, I say.

Thanks

Wonder who she will have a romance with. Is Ken Barlow still around?

I really enjoyed Oliver tearing a strip off the Grundys. I also have never understood this 'right' to Grange Farm. I can understand their longing to live there, and even Joe's need to be linked to his ancestors via the land they farmed. I'm sure he feels pretty guilty deep down for not being able to maintain the farm for his descendants. And I think his grief over not being able to help Ed is real. But Joe and Eddie are all about the quick chance and the fecklessness, and always have been. They don't have the mentality to care for something for a lifetime in order to pass it on. I hope Oliver chucks them out and they will deserve it.

A couple of observations. I was struck by Clarrie's loyalty to Eddie when Oliver revealed that he had never said B+B was okay. Either she had guessed and was going along with it anyway (seems unlikely as she was always reluctant) or she was really standing by her man. Not necessarily something I'd advocate when married to Eddie but admirable on some level I think.

Also I wonder what impact this will have on Clarrie's friendship with Susan, if the whole Grundy clan are out on their ears. Susan was pretty snotty with Fallon earlier in the week when it was suggested that F+H could afford more house than EdnEm. Heaven help Clarrie's now that she's contributed to their homelessness (again). 6 weeks of school holidays at Pig Arc View could be fun!

Susan was pretty snotty with Fallon earlier in the week when it was suggested that F+H could afford more house than EdnEm.

Yes I thought that was weird. I had vaguely assumed F&Em were taking the same out of the cafe. Em also has the chicken factory. I would assume H brings home more than Ed (agricultural worker, erratic income). EdnEm also have DC to consider.

Overall I'd assume F&H have more disposable income and qualify for a higher mortgage even without H's deposit.

I had vaguely assumed F&Em were taking the same out of the cafe.

I hadn't. It was Fallon's brainchild, she got it up and running. Em only tagged along. Besides we have to maintain the hierarchy: the country MC own the means of production and the country WC are grateful for any work they can get.
Isn't that the way it works?

Ultimately it is Harrison's salary that will drive what they can afford. Self employed income isn't great for getting a mortgage in such a young business. And ed is variable

And Harrison has savings for a deposit.

Why is Fallon behaving like a brat and asking her mother for money? Most unlike her.

the country MC own the means of production and the country WC are grateful for any work they can get.

Yes but would you describe F as MC? Jolene was a barmaid, Wayne was an occasionally working baker. Neither owned any property until Jolene inherited part of the pub from Sid. I also thought Em's contribution had been more than helping in the cafe - did they not jointly run the catering business before the cafe?

There is also the family class system - established families at the centre, peripheral characters come and go at the drop of a hat. In that sense Fallon would be on the boundary as related to family by marriage but not actual family as it were.

I am bravely delurking (been listening to TA for probably my entire life - passively during childhood and more actively during adult decades) to derail slightly. I was binge listening to old TA omnibus editions from 2014 earlier this week and heard one of Justin's earliest appearances. And the actor was NOT Simon Williams (unless he's had vocal chord surgery - it was so different), and he sounds much more like a cold, calculating mogul type than this incarnation, and would probably have been chillingly credible with those recent 'threats'. This has probably been discussed previously, so please forgive overdue observation.

As you were, returning to my lurking default

Some excellent analysis here. You're all braw, as Jazzer would say. Not heard him for ages tough.

Abra, l thought that was odd too, quite out of character for Fallon. I assumed it was careless writing where the SWs think everyone has access to the parental bank.

I thought Ken Barlow 's actor was one of the ones wh has died lately. But Wiki tells me William Patrick Roache was 85 in April. Oh l do like the name Patrick. l've not seen Coronation Street since the 1970s when my granny watched, btw, so not exactly an authority.

I agree re Fallon and Emma. Emma definitely works FOR Fallon.

( R4 - I saw King John in that cathedral last year - the play that is)

he sounds much more like a cold, calculating mogul type than this incarnation I completely agree TinyTumble and thanks for taking the time to go back and listen again to confirm this. I have been banging this particular drum for ages - Justin started out as a hard-hearted businessman, Knob's champion in fact. It's why I've never been able to understand Lillian's being attracted to him or find their relationship convincing. He then somehow morphed into an amiable country gent - in fact I thought he was being groomed to step into Oliver's shoes when Oliver was sidelined to Italy. I'd sort of resigned myself to this as part of the shake up after Knob departed to try and get things back on track. I'm finding his swing back to ruthless tycoon somewhat irritating. He is one of my least favourite characters because of the inconsistency in the way he is written - I quite simply don't believe in him. I'm not at all sure why it was necessary to the plot for Lillian to get together with him - was it just to create some sort of love triangle for when Matt returned? It's not really working for me at all. After everything that happened (on Ambridge Extra and therefore effectively off stage) when Matt and Lillian broke up it is stretching credulity to believe they might get back together again. It is irritating because I haven't found any of Lillian's love-life storylines since then at all compelling and would have found it much more dramatically interesting to have kept them together with Matt as the old rogue he always was before all that nonsense. The trouble is Matt would have seen straight through Knob which is why he had to go. I appreciate your post TinyTumble because it reassures me that I'm not just imaging all this.

Some people here seem to have fallen for SOCs talk of the Archers being planned even decades into the future.
It really isn't. They may plan a storyline, but even then it often develops over time. Remember there are several script writers with their own favourite characters and pet hates. Overtime as new ones join and others leave this can lead to changes in characters.
And of course changes in Editor can have huge changes in direction. Just as we argue about how "loveable" Eddie is, or if Harrison is creepy etc. just imagine what it is like for the production team.
Justin was ruthless, I remember Charlie was after all just doing his dirty work for him. He did also get rid of Brian from the BL board, only to bring him back later - which makes Brian feel a bit beholden to Justin (and possibly out of the loop on some past decisions).
I don't think Justin being totally affable would have ever been believable. It's just part of his act and charisma. Lilian is beginning to see through it and I'm not sure how happy she will be.