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.

Oh and the other thing that annoyed me in SoupGate was the whining that "its not fai-yer, mummy took Alastair's side".

The side Jill took was the relationship and trying to see if it could be saved. That isn't the same as taking "Alastair's side". What did Shula expect? All Archers to send him to Coventry on her say so?

Did anyone notice in the family meeting, Adam almost shifted out of his usual ‘reclining on a chaise longue’ position? Most emoted I’ve heard him from year.

And wtf the kids thought of the ‘grown ups’ private conversations would have been a good alternative 2 minutes of radio.

I was trying to remember signs/symptoms of Shula's great misery-in-the-marriage before Philip arrived I think the point is Shula fell out of love with Alistair years ago when he told her about the gambling and she has been trying to make her marriage work ever since. They’ve jogged along in a dull manner for all these years running the businesses and looking after Dan, but since Dan left, Shula has watched her sister being wooed by her old flame Richard Lock, Kirsty being pursued by her latest crush Philip and started to wonder “What if?” In her own mind Shula has been trying to make the marriage work for years, but she never made this clear to Alistair (or anyone else for that matter) so he has not been trying hard in return. Everyone (including us) thought she was happy to tonk along in the dull-smuggery of her life. This is a shock to everyone except Shula because her smug public-face fooled everyone into thinking she had something to be smug about.

Maybe the MFH thing tipped her over the edge. She had spent years being a member of the hunt, enjoying it in a jolly, uncomplicated way. She was then invited to join the top table which you would think was a positive but has turned out to be a disappointment - the huge cost, the organisational stresses (damage to the kennels, the Ball), the loneliness of command. It was a case of "be careful what you wish for". So maybe she looked at the cost, stress and loneliness of marriage and decided that was a bad deal too.

I've only just realised the significance of Philip mending the stables - he was remedying damage that was done years ago and which was badly repaired, with the root problem not addressed. It looked like it had been caused by someone carelessly reversing into the marriage wall.
As an aside, who gives a builder soup for goodness sake? They need stuff like bacon sandwiches or cake.

R4 excellent observation re damaged stables metaphor. I personally think another big trigger for Shula was Caroline moving away - to live out the dream with the love of her life - and then dying. It made Shula realise life is short and reminded her how far short of the dream her life has fallen. Also with Caroline gone she lost her best friend which only served to emphasis what a poor substitute Alistair. She was having all these thoughts, still hanging in there trying to make things work, until Nic’s death finally tipped her over the edge and pushed her to act. At the time I thought it was poor timing to shoe horn her drama in with Nic’s death, but now I see how one might have precipitated the other.

This forum, and the witty thread titles are the only things which keep me listening to TA at the moment.
Sigh.

The CA possibly signalled more 'drama' than there actually was at the Aldridges' meeting ( I did like JD siding with Ruth against Brian though).

Vichysoisse soup is delicious I'd give it to our gardener!

Philip doesn't strike me as being "the bacon sandwich or cake for lunch" type

The thing is, when Shula says “It’s just soup I’m afraid”, you know it will be something homemade bubbling on the stove and not from a tin or packet warmed up in the microwave and you know it will be accompanied by an artisan loaf of some kind not a couple of slices of white bread from a plastic bag.

I bet there was cheese on the table too, and possibly ham.

Mmmn yes Hopefully fresh goats cheese from Bridge Farm. Has Helen started making goats' cheese?

I'm a day late but need to register my outrage at Pat being all Poor Tom at Kirsty finding a new man as if it was nasty old Kirsty who'd left Tom at the altar. Would it really be so hard to acknowledge what an awful time Kirsty has had over the last couple of years and be glad she's found someone who can make her happy? So much for the sisterhood, eh Pat.

I remember Shula confiding in Caroline about her feelings towards Alistair, which resulted in her getting the Glebe Cottage marital bedroom redecorated. So a long time ago.

Gosh, spectacular insights on here, especially stable wall analogy R4!

Anyone else amused by how much help Helen requires from seemingly nearly all members of her family and staff - just to carry out the prototype cheese-making workshops, and she then appears to be terribly blase about how well they went - heaven knows how she will cope when the project is rolled out to more students?

R4 Like the damaged stables metaphor .... but do you really think the Archers story-makers are that deep?

That's a good point Meredint!

And meant to say - yes Jenijena - my thoughts entirely! I did notice Adam sounding uncharacteristically emphatic at the family meeting - he'll have to lie down in a darkened room for a couple of after all that exertion

One thing that struck me about Brian in last night's episode: despite all his self-serving justification for hiding the truth, when Alice and Adam turned on Jenny for also keeping it secret, he defended her and showed some integrity in saying she had wanted to tell them. A small redemption for his "stab in the back" outburst a few weeks ago.

but do you really think the Archers story-makers are that deep?

Yes! I love listening live and don't like spoilers ruining the it's-just-like-RL effect. Having said that, the omnibus is often a great listen because you pick up little nuggets that the SW often drop, that you missed first time round.
The hive mind of the SW has been doing this for over sixty years. We would hope that when they are not being messed about by the editor they are quite good at it by now.

I was fairly amazed at Brian saying in effect "We must keep lying to Ruairi because it's not good for him to know that I'm a liar". I really don't think the character as depicted is really so dim as to believe that is in any way a convincing argument.

However, the suggestion that he step down as chair and they start a separate company with Adam in charge is utterly sensible. In fact, he really needs to fall on his sword completely - the facts are bound to come out and it really looks like the only way to save the business.

the suggestion that he step down as chair and they start a separate company with Adam in charge is utterly sensible IIRC someone on here suggested they do just that some time ago.

Ruairi is 15 now. Surely he knows the circumstances of his conception, so he already knows his father is a liar. His mother was too. Poor lad.

Aaah Gnu But Brian's ego is too large to admit to himself ,let alone Ruari that maybe he's a bit of a lying shit! Look what had to happen before he admitted it to his other children.

I think I suggested Brian fall on his sword...

But my favourite bit of last night was the fact the Kate was running Ruari to Brookfield, I assume to see Ben and maybe explore their mutual love of art.

Which SW got snubbed by Peter Jackson a decade or so ago?

Or maybe they wrote a fantasy trilogy in their youth and every publisher turned it down. They certainly enjoyed getting their teeth into Tolkien.

Indeed. Lynda’s diatribe was brilliantly hilarious.

(Are we still giving BOOPS?)