The Archers: The Crook, the Vet, His Wife & Her Lodger - discussion #80

[DadDadDad]

In full acknowledgement of PseudoBadger's great achievement in providing the previous 79 threads over the past 4 years (and credit to R4 for this thread's title)...

Discuss TA (The Archers). New posters encouraged - it's not (too) cliquey here and plenty of regulars are happy to answer questions.

One rule: no spoilers (ie no mentioning future plot teasers from Radio Times listings etc) - there's a separate thread for that.

So, is Phoebe pregnant? will Anisha dob in (dobbin - geddit?) Alistair?

PS I don't presume to take on PB's role permanently - hopefully the job of starting new threads will rotate among regulars until she returns

That was truly dreadful. Like her or loathe her, Jennifer has never been that kind of insensitive, bigoted, patronising snob. If they wanted a character to give Lexie a reason to be insulted they should have dragged Hazel back.

What's become of Hazel by the way?

Go, Johnnie!

Does Roy ever see Abby?

Do we reckon that Lil's Dec. 22nd wedding won't occur for some reason or another?

I'm going for Tiger reappearing shortly beforehand and Lill deciding she can't go through with it.

Why birds? There many children who need adopting , much better than using a surrogate mum with all the uncertainties that process involves.

Actually I'm sort of with birds re terrible idea for them to adopt.
Their partnership isn't stable, Adam has been unfaithful, and Adam doesn't seem all that keen to be a Dad. This would not be a good situation to bring any child into, let alone a troubled child.

(But still would like to see it as a successful storyline).

Also agree with pp re scripting of Jenny.

Funny, I thought that Jen was being less saccharine sweet than usual bit it's quite true to type; Lexi's job description has been changed, so although JD was helping her she was still watching her like a hawk.

I liked Rory deliberately intervening!

If every child had to be adopted by completely'secure' parents. It wouldn't happen very much, because IME there are problems in most relationships!

Ian would make a caring loving parent, Adam would try! They rub along don't they?

I would love it to work.

However the SWs really want a child to be placed in as secure a relationship as possible. After at least 2 losses (birth family then foster carer) they want to minimise the chances of a third loss for the child by one of the parents leaving. Additionally children coming from care tend to have higher needs due to their background which puts even more stress onto a relationship than other children.

At least I would expect a social worker to insist they have some kind of 'couples counselling' to ensure they really have moved on from Adam's infidelities/indiscretions. (If they try to lie about them it should come out in the references.)

I honestly can't see them being approved for adopting. Hell, I wouldn't approve them for adopting!

But surely they will present a good front to any social worker? I am sure it will come out at some point, but we know a lot more about the relationship than they'd let on to a social worker, I would think.

I predict they will have a newborn baby adopted within 6 months. Cos that happens all the time in real life.

The Adoption Fairy.........

Trying to reconcile JD's knowledge of Budapest with her perception that everyone in Eastern Europe lives in one room hovels and gets around with a horse and cart. But I guess we were supposed to make that specific comparison given the way Budapest was shoe-horned into the conversation.

But her daughter's been living and working in Hungary ever since he TV career took off for years, so you'd think she wouldn't be quite so unaware.

Is Phoebe 100% definitely not pregnant (no implantation bleed that she's taken as her period). Is she about to go travelling , get a sickness bug and the ta daa she's pregnant but wants to give the baby up... perhaps an in family arrangement with her uncle and his husband looking after the baby?

Is Ian a UK citizen?

He's from Northern Ireland, isn't he?

My ole man works in Eastern Europe, he has travelled all over the place recently and he says that in a lot of places they do indeed use horse and carts and live in little houses /hovels. JD wasn't being completely disingenuous.

If the adoption societies are happy to let single people adopt why shouldn't they allow a normalish gay couple adopt? They aren't abusers or anything fgs.

I expect they will be allowed to adopt, which will scupper Adam's plan of them being all up for it, but being turned down by the adoption agency, so making it not his fault.

Poor Adam. He had forgotten all about Ian's baby longing, and has had about 2 days to get his head round this. Ian needs to give him time or Adam's doubts will show up in the interview.

I'm predicting that Ian will be disappointed.

Of course they'll be allowed to adopt, think of all those story lines

ppeat If the adoption societies are happy to let single people adopt why shouldn't they allow a normalish gay couple adopt? They aren't abusers or anything fgs.

I'm an adopter. The concerns from me regarding their adopting is nothing to do with them being gay. It is that they appear to have unresolved issues regarding Adam's past indiscretions, plus Adam isn't appearing all that keen to be a Dad. I would be equally concerned if they were a heterosexual couple in the same situation.

Interestingly (for general information) there can for some children be absolute positive benefits to being adopted by a single person or a gay couple.
Some children, due to their background, can be very adept at playing one parent off against the other, or can be very jealous of a couple's relationship. In those situations a single adopter may be positively looked for by the SW.
Other children may be still very attached to a birth parent, or may have had a very bad experience with adults of one sex. In which cases placing with parent/parents of the opposite sex may be positively beneficial to the child.

So I hope:

• they continue with an adoption storyline
• the SW makes them have some kind of counselling where they resolve issues and Adam becomes committed to being a proper Dad
• they are placed with a slightly older child e.g. 4-6
• it all takes 2 years or so, so a slow burn storyline

Adam doesn't sound keen at all and Ian being so eager to let everyone know before they've even been to a preliminary meeting is not going to help the issue. I'm wondering if this is what is going to finally break them up.

I'm wondering if this is what is going to finally break them up me too. Ian was being very premature.