Brian is over a barrel, Alice has drained the barrel and Shula has given it to Alistair with both barrels - The Archers is not exactly a barrel of laughs at the moment.

[PseudoBadger]

Thanks to @LillianGish for the thread title.

How come she is so worried about Shula being alone but not Lizzie, who has been a lonely-widow single-mother for the last seven years?

Shula also knows what it's like to be alone, having been widowed herself.

I think she worries about both her daughters - at the moment she's wondering why Shula would make a choice to be alone. I think that is very much a generational thing. Jill has four children who all live nearby, Elizabeth has the twins who still live at home - Shula's son has left Ambridge to join the army (it won't have even crossed Jill's mind that Shula might be thinking of getting away from Ambridge herself). Jill is genuinely bemused as to why Shula's marriage is over - this a bolt from the blue as far as she is concerned. Frankly I think it would be far more irritating, unrealistic and out of character if she said: "Of course darling, you must do whatever you think is best - there's no need to explain anything."

I felt just a tiny bit sorry for Freddie this evening. Not very much, though. Stupid boy.

I felt a whole lot more sorry for Emma. Clarrie is understandably concerned about Will but would it have killed her to put her arms round Emma and give her a hug and say something like 'I know this is hard, but we'll get through it, you're doing a great job and we're all so grateful'.

As I was reading Gasp's comment, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe there is a teeny corner of Clarrie that is deriving some satisfaction from Emma's discomfiture. After all,she did break Will's heart. Maybe she thinks it is doing Emma no harm at all to suck it up for a bit and can't, actually, be much bothered with stroking Emma's ruffled feathers? Am I completely misjudging Clarrie here?

I wonder how all this women's work by Emma will blow up; she seems to be carrying the load for Clarrie's decision to bring Will back home. Her not being bale to pick up shifts at the chicken factory will surely affect their ability to save for the new house.

I feel very sorry for Emma. It's a hard shift being her just now. She's still dealing with the guilt of Nic dying while they were on bad terms too. Clarrie is being a (deliberately?) blind to the difficulties.

Plus, glitter is a beast to get out of your knickers.

Am I completely misjudging Clarrie here?

I think that Clarrie is so over-infested with looking after her grieving pfb that she isn't giving much thought to anyone else. She probably assumed that, as Emma is looking after her own DC over the Easter holidays, a few extra DC won't make much difference. It will all come to a head next week when the older DC go back to school and Emma doesn't want to refuse any more shifts for the sake of the one DC (Poppy) left.
The family need to be moving on to the next stage, where they train Will to take over all the wife-work that Nic did.

I thought that the Clarrie/Emma scene was brilliant radio with the image of glittery knickers strewn round the kitchen. Really well acted.

Plus, glitter is a beast to get out of your knickers

That was posted with an air of experience.

I felt a whole lot more sorry for Emma

Yes me too. Clarrie seems to have had a lesson from Jill in Favourite Son behaviour, it was not typical Clarrie.

I'm also wondering how this woman's work story is going to progress. Ed, Will and Clarrie all seem to expect Emma to pick up all the slack and pay the financial penalty for doing it.

It will blow up. Probably the next time Will and Ed fall out. So about 24 hrs

I think Peartree definitely has a point. Imagine how tough it must be to be Emma, living with her MIL (who was also her first MIL) and now with her ex-husband too. She and Clarrie usually get along fine, but I would expect Clarrie to side with her grieving son and not with the DIL who threw him over for hIs brother. Great drama though - Emma being forced to bite her tongue because she has no choice but to live there until she and Ed can afford a home of their own and that hope being put on the back burner as she turns down work to look after Will’s children. Some great acting too - very believeable. As a side issue, does anyone know what A levels Lily and Freddie are doing? He’s going to have his work cut out cramming two years of study into 8 weeks.

As a side issue, does anyone know what A levels Lily and Freddie are doing? He’s going to have his work cut out cramming two years of study into 8 weeks

He's already owned up to never listening ot any lessons/lectures, so if the SWs finesse this into success, as teacher I'll be very peeved indeed.

Excellent point, Peartree.

A levels: no, if we've been told, I've forgotten, but Lily is doing sensible hard subjects and Freddie probably isn't. Now I'm thinking about it I'm rather annoyed that we have no idea at all what Lily is going to do next year. From the sound of it she is expecting to go off to start her degree in September, but where's she going, what's she going to do?

Freddie might be doing English. I have a vague memory of that being mentioned, but it could be an invented memory. I'm good at those.

Where Lily goes will be wholly dependent on whether the SWs want her around for plot purposes. If they don't, she'll probably be off to somewhere like Exeter or St Andrew's; if they do, sadly it's going to be Felpersham.

No. If she goes to Felpersham I’m off!

(She said ...)

Just to clarify, English is obviously a sensible hard subject. Realises has dissed own A level subject

Oh dear, please not Felpersham for Lily.

I don't think it is out of character for Carrie at all. I like Carrie but she has spent her life looking after the feckless men in her life. If she was to have a sudden revelation about the unfairness of wifework it would surely involve re-evaluating her own marriage.

Gaspode

Remembering the discussion in the previous thread - is it possible to say simultaneously that ‘there’s nothing wrong with staying close to home’ and ‘someone like Lily has probably exhausted all the entertainment and stimulation her locality has to offer and would be eager to spread her wings.’?

Gruach - absolutely it is fine. I know without the 'children' staying around, there wouldn't be a radio drama at all, but the rate at which the next generation stick around in Ambridge is odd. Although perhaps less so these days with the gap between housing costs and wages. Perhaps TA is catching up with reality (although I suppose most young adults would be expecting, if they're lucky, to be moving back into the ordinary-sized family home rather than be given a whole house or a wing of stately pile).

Good points Gruach. Not sure what Lily is planning to study, but could understand if she wanted to stay close to her Mum to continue helping her out with the business. Not saying she should feel any obligation to look out for Elizabeth or that Elizabeth would want or expect her to just that it would be understandable if Lily chose to do so anyway bearing in mind her family circs. I also think she would be far better suited to taking over the business even if she is not first in line to inherit.

I think Lily and Freddie should jointly take over. Lily is great at the administration running it bit, but Freddie is the one who could bring in the punters, and if they were sensible they'd use his strengths. So when Lily gets a difficult customer - send Freddie in to charm them and make them feel not only listened to but also "got something special". I also think he'd be great fronting events. (And if he went to Uni he might well be the type who funds their way through doing DJ sets.)

Carrie missed a line there, looking at Emma's underwear: "I don't give a shiny shit how you feel!"

I've been struck by the same autocorrect as birds, changing Clarrie to Carrie...

I think Lily and Freddie should jointly take over

They can't though, Freddie will own it. Lily could only work for him as an employee. Its a crap approach in 2018 but still commonplace.