We never thought we’d feel sorry for Will. Although of course it should have been Pip! Discuss The Archers here (Titled edited by MNHQ)

[PseudoBadger]

Welcome all! I was really touched by the potential for Ed and Will to reconcile. But wonder if Will can accept Ed’s support.

As ever, no spoilers here (there’s a thread for that) - discussion permitted as soon as the pm episode is broadcast.

Cos he's just listened to Philip bang on about Kirsty, his dad's about to have a fling with a piano teacher and he's not getting any.

How old is Philip? Is he going to be a baby daddy for Kirsty do you think? I want her to have a baby. I think she'd be a great mum.

I love the description of the inefble James. He reallly is awful.

Do we know if Philip has children already? He‘s talked of his ex-wife but l don’t recall mention of child/ren.

Does anyone else think Shula sounds on the point of constipation all the time? Not meaning to be crude but it takes away from my ever being able to like the character - is it just me?

Roy and Brenda’s mum, can’t for the life of me remember her name, Mikes first wife.

Betty, Minimammoth mentioned a few posts ago by LilianGish who commented it was shame Moike was now a silent as he might have been able to get through to Will.

Do we know if Philip has children already?

Pretty sure he mentioned his little boy at one point. When he and Kirsty were talking about the anniversary of the miscarriage, I think.

I didn't think Kate was as great as all that. Don't think things are great with Sipho, and I bet there's more to the Sofiwe story.

Popping in to say, has anyone else noticed the amount of times Philip is portrayed drinking and then driving?

Looking forward to hearing more about Silent Pete.

I think Kate is someone who the SWs have given too much drama to keep up with. They abandoned half her storyline in SA brought back Nolli briefly - then gave her a huge drama with Freddie and the drugs which also came to an abrupt end when she was shipped back to SA. I think her SA life will now go v quiet again - a few token mentions in the next couple of weeks and then nothing (so in a few months new listeners on here will be saying they didn’t realise she had family in SA). Sipho might be shipped over for a dramatic interlude at some point in the future, but will be promptly sent back like his sister. It’s as if they want to bring her back to start all over again with none of the baggage she has accumulated so she can just carry on as before. I can see why they do it, but that’s why there is something slightly unsatisfactory about her as a character because this stunt her development.

I thought Kate was trying to tell Jennifer something about the divorce but Jennifer interrupted her.

It felt like dotting the ‘i’s and crossing the ‘t’s to me. The divorce has gone through, Kate’s OK with it, Nolli settled in, peace was made with Sipho - now we can forget all about that and move on.

Back to the fallout of Nic’s death - did anyone hear Becky Wright on R4 talking about one of the implications of young, sudden death being no will. Made me wonder if Jake and Mia’s father will take them back. Or other complications that could affect William’s financial position?

Does anyone else think Shula sounds on the point of constipation all the time?
That's because she is emotionally and sexually bunged-up.

Personally I’d be astonished if Jake and Mia didn’t go and live with their father. They saw him regularly before Nic died - “Jake and Mia are at their dad’s” will become a permanent state of affairs for these already silent characters. Look at what happened to Jamie Perks - his former step-mother and step-father are running The Bull but he is never so much as mentioned. Abi is Roy’s biological daughter, but she’s been pretty much erased since moving to Birmingham.

Getbloomin
If she doesn't have a will it will all go to Will as her spouse anyway ( with some to kids if her estate is over a certain amount, which I doubt) - they are married I believe? If they're not married and she was divorced from Andrew then her 3 children will take everything. That could be complicated depending on what she owned. Not much, I'm guessing.
If Will and Andrew want to argue about who has Josh and Mia and can't agree then they have to go to court. The court will decide to do whatever is in the children's best interests, which won't necessarily be what Nic said in her hypothetical will, and won't automatically favour Andrew just because he is the biological father.
Not sure if she and Will jointly owned his house or if it was just in his name? But if jointly owned then he is likely to become sole owner anyway.

Interesting that Will's entire focus has been on Poppy. I know the others went to their dad's for a few days, but Will doesn't seem too bothered about them, only Poppy.

Ruby isn’t that the SWs laying the groundwork for how things will be from now on?

(I don’t mean Will doesn’t care about his step-children, just that they probably won’t be part of the Ambridge story going forward.)

Will lives in tied accommodation. His house is on the Green. He rents it out to Tom and Johnny iirc.

I think you're right Gruach

I think Poppy will be alright. Tragic as it is to lose her mother, she is surrounded by family who have always played a part in her upbringing and who will be around to look out for her and tell her how much Nic loved her as they help her to come to terms with what has happened. Will is a mess at the moment, but Clarrie and Eddie are there to take up the slack as well as Emma, Ed and Joe. Compare this with what happened to Henwee - presented with the perfect father, encouraged to bond with him, kept away from his grandparents, witness to what happened between Helen and Knob, separated from his mother while she was in prison and made to live with Knob and Ursula with little contact with any of his biological family only for his mother to emerge from prison with another baby and for Knob to disappear from his life for good. He appears to have suffered no ill effects whatsoever - so I'm sure Poppy will be fine.

I hope that we're not going down the tedious path of another affair for Adam, but witnessing the beginnings of a shift in the balance of power at Home Farm. Realistically if they want to rescue its reputation, Adam with his established and apparently well-known track record of caring about the soil is the person to do it.

I get increasingly impatient with Shula and her apparent belief that Alastair is some boring stick-in-the-mud, resulting in her yearning after every unattached older man who heaves into view. He's recently taken big steps to put radical changes into place in his business, and been nothing but supportive to her in relation to the Hunt Master business. If she wants an exciting new life, maybe she should look to herself rather than other people to bring about a few changes.

You don't stop being a tosser just because you're grieving- you just become an unfiltered tosser. And if it's your filter that's died.........

This, in spades. Nothing Will has said has been even slightly out of character for him - that is the problem.

GnotherGnu I completely agree re Shula - to paraphrase Samuel Foote: She is not only dull in herself, but the cause of dullness in others. If Alistair is boring then she is probably the reason why.