The future at Brookfield looks Rosie, and will Home Farm be home no more? Discuss The Archers here.

[PseudoBadger]

And there’s some rubbish about an ex-stripper policeman?

I don't think Russ's mate is real. Like Lily he won't have told anyone lest they interrupt the fantasy with awkward questions or opinions.

Hasn't Lizzie noticed that Lily hasn't sorted Halls? She really is a rubbish mum.

Just because her children act like entitled brats doesn't necessarily mean that Elizabeth is a rubbish mum. Good parents don't always produce problem -free offspring. If only.

She's kept the LL show on the road whilst trying to bring them up as Nigel would have wanted. I think she hasnt had much emotional support over the years.

She's certainly going to need some family support when Freddie's banged up and Lily's certainties crumble.

...and what was all that wittering about wildflowers and seeds tonight ?
Scriptwriters going for a bit of conservation education?
And a bit of How BREXIT is going to affect lamb prices....and farm machinery....

Are there any farmers left who listen to TA ?
Cos there really isn't much farming information in it these days.

Ruth was being a bit ...err...ruthless tonight. Condemning all those sheep.
Did she say one of them had the wrong teeth?

Why would Russ think that serving his notice is optional? It's only optional if he's prepared to take the risk of the college taking legal action against him for breach of contract. It would also be extremely unprofessional to leave them in the lurch, as the chances of them finding someone else to take over his classes at this late stage aren't great. He's either an idiot or, more likely, he's stringing Lily along.

Why would Russ think that serving his notice is optional?

I took that as further evidence that he has no intention of quitting. I'm still hoping that he will be caught out and made accountable but I feel sorry for his poor wife who is also being treated like dirt.

what was all that wittering

That was BAU for the current crop of LSWs. Endless drivel, tedious storylines and apparently unable to remember their own characters' characteristics.

Only me that rather enjoyed the flower chat then?

I loved the flower chat - and fully intend to plant some in my own garden!

I'm struggling to have much sympathy for Lily. She was in the wrong in hiding that she knew about Freddy dealing.

And she is being a complete idiot over Russ.

"Ruth was being a bit ...err...ruthless tonight. Condemning all those sheep.
Did she say one of them had the wrong teeth?confused"

How do you think farming works? If an animal has bad teeth it can't eat and keep weight on and successfully feed its young. So it has to go.

I often fall asleep listening to the Archers (via podcast, not at 7pm) and miss bits. I’m going to have to LA, I heard a bit about herbal lays but don’t remember anything about Lily. If you accept a place at your firm your accommodation is sorted out when you firm. It’s only if you go through clearing or adjustment that you have to do anything (if you’re a typical student).

I liked the wild flowers and the farming, and it was good to hear a reference to Brexit. Tricky for the SWs to incorporate references to it when the government clearly hasn't a clue what's going to happen, but they can't ignore it altogether.

As for Lily, I suppose we have to assume she either did apply for accommodation earlier this year or she told her mother she did. Surely Elizabeth didn't just forget Lily would need somewhere to live?

I may say that Elizabeth forgetting to ask about Lily's A level results is one of the worst things I've ever heard on TA. I am a very impatient person and have always been desperate to find out my own and my children's exam results at the earliest possible opportunity. I've had to bear with my children quite rightly asserting their own boundaries and refusing to pander to my nosiness maternal concern until they were ready to tell me, but the idea that on results day I could have forgotten that one of my children had results is preposterous. Even someone as busy and preoccupied as Elizabeth couldn't have done that, surely?

but the idea that on results day I could have forgotten that one of my children had results is preposterous Even more so when the child is a twin and you remembered about the other child.

the idea that on results day I could have forgotten that one of my children had results is preposterous

Lily only turned up, after radio silence, when they were just about to enter the Magistrates so Lizzie was preoccupied with Freddie but you'd think that Lizzie would have sent a text before then (either a 'good luck' at dawn or a 'hope it went OK' mid-morning, something to show that's she's thinking of Lily).
Lily is also cross because nobody ever frets over her. She's fed up with being the reliable one, fed up with being taken for granted.

Surely Elizabeth didn't just forget Lily would need somewhere to live?

Remind me - Elizabeth didn’t go to university herself, did she? So (outside the world of drama plotting - and despite the stately home bolstering) she might well be anywhere from intimidated to simply completely ignorant of the current application/acceptance process.

Having graduated from my first degree in a previous century I only know exactly what happens now from MN. I think “in my day” accommodation was paid for when the local authority grant kicked in after matriculation.

Russ will have asked how she did in her A levels. To Lily he is the only one who cares. It is going to end so badly for her.

Lizzie's day job is, basically, super-organiser. You'd think that she would manage to fit in a bit of organising of her DCs' lives and not be intimidated/ignorant. But, having said that, she does seem to spend a lot of time being distant and distracted. She doesn't interact with them much. Or anyone, actually! Most parents talk to their DC's friends' parents or school or access websites and pick stuff up from there.

God Ruth was a patronising cow to Josh over Brexit and his business wasn’t she? You could just see her rolling her eyes when he initially made the point as if to say “what would YOU know, child?” and then her condescending response when he made a perfectly good analysis of the situation...and she completely ignored his comment about having to do more lambing if they dispensed with Eddie. I can’t work out if there really is an ongoing SW agreement to highlight a rift between Josh and his parents or whether it’s just an accident of the Dopeys actors’ somewhat unsophisticated acting style.
Surely a genuinely good mother would have said something like “that’s a good point son, we’ve got to upgrade the [insert machine here] in a couple of years and if the price goes up too much we’ll need to rethink our plans, are you going to stick up now etc etc”. They are beyond awful.

[Lily] was in the wrong in hiding that she knew about Freddy dealing

The criminal here was Freddy though not Lily.

Freddy repeated lied to Lily and manipulated their relationship to keep her quiet before he even knew about Russ. He kept promising he would stop, then that he had stopped then that it was just legal uppers for helping exam study, then he would stop again and it would worry Lizzie too much to tell her.

He played her just as effectively as Russ has.

She is silly over Russ but in the way a vulnerable young child/adult is to an older authority figure.

I would assume regarding accommodation that Lily told Lizzie it was in hand. I asked mine if they had applied for accommodation if it didn't come with the offer but I didn't check they were telling me the truth.

“the idea that on results day I could have forgotten that one of my children had results is preposterous”

I suppose I might have done if the other one was going to court. But not with twins, surely?

I’m a bit surprised that they went for Freddie’s results before court, actually. Wouldn’t that have been the last thing on their minds?

Oh and I agree with PPs that Lily and Freddy are two of the handful of credible characters atm. Freddy's whiny sense of entitlement is excrutiatingly realistic as is Lily's excessive need to be protective of everyone except herself.

I’m a bit surprised that they went for Freddie’s results before court, actually. Wouldn’t that have been the last thing on their minds?

I thought that was weird too. Especially since the results have been available online from home for best part of a decade.

grauch matriculation! Either it was the previous century to the previous century, or you went somewhere Very Learned.