Ambridge is in the doldrums. When will Pip pop? Does anybody even care? And Anisha’s off, leaving Rex in the (pig) trough? Discuss the Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

Sorry about the title, nothing particularly inspiring in the storylines currently

No spoilers please, there’s a thread for that.

previously kind, thoughtful, sensible Anisha is the latest victim of the Ambridge personality transplant fairy. eh dear. is rex really going to be destined for pip? do we really have to do this 'one brother raises the other brother's child as his own' storyline again? it's all getting a bit Royston vasey isn't it. I suppose it's either that or a rerun of the 'enclave member becomes a plucky single mum going it alone with only free childcare from both parents and extended family plus a guaranteed job and accommodation for life to see her through' storyline though isn't it arrrrrgggggh

in other news my eldest asked me 'is this set in the olden days?' earlier, and was gobsmacked when I said no

..... and another thing (sorry, only just got caught up with the omnibus properly earlier) are we supposed to be rooting for David while he's being this much of an utter bollock to josh????? are we supposed to be like 'haha he sure told that cheeky young lazy entitled millennial what for didn't he, you go David' or something? because every time the dopeys and/or their golden child interact with or talk about josh I want to do them all a bad murder, and I don't even like josh.

I've just realised. All that guff from Lilian telling Peggy to tell JD not to sell the house ... this is from the woman who practically owned a house (beneficiary of trust) but ended up with it being sold from under her to a bloke that she proceeded to not-marry.
Lilian should look to her own housing situation before she starts lecturing Jenny.

I think Lilian has a strong sense of pride in her dull sisters successful (externally) life, and has been partly able to be the flighty one because of Jennifer's stability.

But as I've only been listening properly for 2 years I stand to be corrected.

Jennifer's stability.

Possibly, after a bit of a rocky start from Jennifer.

I find the personality changes of long established characters to fit new preposterous plot lines so dispiriting. What really, is the point of listening long term if not to see how characters develop in different circumstances. Sigh.

Anisha: "That's not what friends do"

Ha! Friends don't drop each other in the shit at short notice, either

"I never thought you'd go down this route"

Translates as: "I thought I could walk all over you and get away with it".

previously kind, thoughtful, sensible Anisha is the latest victim of the Ambridge personality transplant fairy.

I dispute this. The first thing that Anisha did on arriving in the village was to have a laddette-style drinking contest with Jazzer, in which she cheated. She has always been one for getting ahead without caring too much about niceties and for not caring about who she tramples on in the process.
OTOH, I do like Alistair's character change because it isn't change, it's evolution wrought by what life has thrown at him.

I hate to admit it, but I have a sneaky liking for St Smugula - ever since she had a miscarriage in the early eighties, I've felt sympathy for her, and her affair with Dr Locke was interesting, too. In this case, I'm not sure it's fair on Shula that Alistair is throwing the fall-out from his badly written partnership agreement with Anisha at her, though I do agree that it's great to hear Alistair roar, even though it's (partly) at the wrong person!

I like Shula and am quite open about it. The Dr Locke affair made me switch off. The breakup with Alistair is out of character.

I have an affinity with Shula: we are the same age, give or take a few months and our DSs are the same age, give or take a few days.
Like MUM, I don't understand the marriage breakdown
I liked her friendship with Caroline over the years; it felt genuine. (That scene last year had me in bits.) The youngsters' friendships never feel real, they always feel like something the SW occasionally drag up from the depths for plot purposes.

Oh i forgot anisha’s ‘90s ladette’ behaviour

I really liked her when she joined the cricket team and first got together with rex - i thought they were sweet together

I am slightly older than Debbie but identify with Elizabeth and would have married Nigel like a shot.

The Shula and Caroline friendship did seem genuine.

I liked Nigel but would have drawn the line at marrying him, not least because of getting Julia as a MIL. Nigel wasn't all that bright, although his heart was in the right place.

Well maybe he wasn't all that bright but seeing as I'd have to marry someone from the local area, who else could I have married? Cameron Fraser turned out to be a git and Simon Pemberton was abusive to Debbie.
Poor Debbie, despite her lovely voice and her good legs, she never had much luck with the men. Marshall made nice cakes though.
What happened to Tim Beecham/Beauchamp?

Poor Debbie, despite her lovely voice and her good legs, she never had much luck with the men.

She hasn’t met Anna Tregorran yet, has she? ...

No...
Of course there's Debbie's skill in agriculture too.
I like that she's got greying hair.
Where is Carol Tregorran?

Carol is in the cupboard with Ben and Kathy

I agree that Anisha has always been portrayed as pretty ruthless. Whereas Alice has had a complete personality transplant.

COMPETITION TIME

Ahem. To actually address the thread title, when will Pip pop? She's about 38 weeks now. We could make this is a competition - put your guess at the end of a post (to make it easier to find) and we'll see who gets closest! I'll start by boringly going for the due date so I certainly won't win (as computed by Fink).

Should we also have a competition over what Pipette will be called?

1st August

TA has history for things happening on coincidental dates (eg "I always remember your wedding anniversary because it's on my birthday", Nigel/Henwee, etc) so my vote is for PipPup to be born on Shula and Kenton's sixtieth birthday.

8th August

I'm going for July 29 DDD and I'll say Phillip for a boy and Grace for a girl.

Robin, boy or girl, just to get Jill going.

23rd July

Never understood why they had to have Debbie breaking up with her silent boyfriend in Hungary, why not just let her be a happy settled silent character instead of an unsettled one? Suppose to give scope for her to come back.

Re Pip I reckon it has to be early as there will be an obligatory drama with Pip being rushed to hospital, probably in rex’s taxi on the day he’s meant to leave to join Anisha in Newmarket.

Name- Doris for a girl, something dull like Michael for a boy.

23rd July.

Oops cross post Bibesia.

I’ll take 24 July then.

25 July