As Frilly stress Lizzy out, did the SWs forget her heart defect? Will there be long term llama drama karma in The Archers?

[PseudoBadger]

Cheeky SWs . They don't usually fool us do they? I was trying to remember if they have ever done it before.

Sweet scene with Clarrie and Susan having lunch.

One of the best pubs/bars I've been to has been teetotal. There must be an opening for a teetotal posh mansion. Though I wiped away a tear when Lizzie mentioned Nigel. Shula should have said that ALL those incidents in Frilly's lives could have happened with a father around too.

Shula should have said that ALL those incidents in Frilly's lives could have happened with a father around too.

What I was really hoping Shula would say was something along the lines of 'I guess my self-inflicted divorce woes aren't as big a deal as I thought, you've dealt with so much more and so much better.' Even though I still dislike Elizabeth over the affair with Roy and I think her treatment of Lily has been awful, she could still teach Shula a bit about getting on with life instead of wallowing in self-pity.

Was it just me, I couldn't see what was so hilariously funny about Susan telling Lynda that Clarrie was the Llama thief? And isn't there potentially a problem when Fallon finds out?

Yes, Gersemi - it only seems to be Clarrie and Susan who find the deception hilarious. And I'm not quite sure I understand Clarrie's motivation to make herself an enemy of Lynda.

Also, Susan was worried about Mike's standing in the village, but now what about Eddie's reputa- ... oh, er, hmm

Thanks for the new thread, Pseudo.

Is it tomorrow that Russ is coming to dinner at LL? I guess that's when Elizabeth has the next shock, i.e. finding out Lily's planning to set up house with Russ. Or perhaps Russ will cry off the dinner at the last minute, stringing things out even longer.

I suspect Russ is going to let Lily down in a spectacular manner - his wife will be pregnant or something else that indicates he has being lying about their marriage being over. I also think Elizabeth’s health issues will raise their head again - I thought her breathlessness when she rushed to the licensing hearing prompting Oliver to ask if she was OK seemed to be hinting at that.

I'm not quite sure I understand Clarrie's motivation to make herself an enemy of Lynda

I assumed Susan and Clarrie had calculated that Lynda was less likely to want to be unpleasant to lovely Clarrie who's been having such a hard time lately than she would be to Susan. I once had a job where our contract manager loathed all my colleagues but liked me as I was seconded to the project from his own organisation. If anything went wrong he would be really nasty to anyone else, so I took on the role of professional scapegoat. I'd call and say "So sorry, I've messed up, entirely my fault" and he'd say "No problem Lucretia, these things happen, we'll say no more about it." Which seems to have been Lynda's reaction.

No llamas ever involved in my case, though.

Thanks for the thread, Psuedo.

You're not wrong, Gersemi. The great gales of audibly forced laughter from Clarrie and Susan were inexplicable, to me anyway. Brought to mind the kind of sitcoms of yore which always ended with 'hilarious consequences' and equally inevitably left viewers sitting stony-faced and baffled. Oh, my aching sides

Helen has had two coffee dates with Ian and an argument/ tea with Peggy, her Mum, and Jennifer (when Henry was on a play date but Jack was nowhere in evidence) this week

Well both meetings with Ian were work related - discussing the cheese for grey gables. We don't usually get an update on where Ed'n'Emmur's children are when they are working.
I don't think you can hold having tea with her 90+ DGM against her either (and for all we know Jack was napping). I honestly don't see the advantage in family support with childcare over other parents in Ambridge.

I suppose I'm just irritated by Helen because the examples of bad behaviour we've heard from Henry are all pretty standard from a 7 year old

Yes I agree, but Henry is her PFB - I think with the first most of us overworry about the small stuff but by the time #4 comes around you know that being obnoxious occasionally at 7 doesn't mean you have spawned a pychopath :D

That said, this being TA my working assumption is the LSWs are flagging up Something Significant, possibly Rob related.

From your other post:
[Elizabeth] could still teach Shula a bit about getting on with life instead of wallowing in self-pity.

^This!

Henwee and Freddie, both fatherless and misbehaving, are this week's compare and contrast.
Henwee never did have that post-trauma counselling, did he?

Thanks, Lucretia, that makes sense.

Talking of llamas, I've just remembered this picture hanging up at home (sorry faces obscured to maintain my MN mystique). It dates back a bit - the son I'm holding there is now about to go into sixth form...

That said, this being TA my working assumption is the LSWs are flagging up Something Significant, possibly Rob related.

Yes, I also assumed that. It kind of makes it even more annoying that the Terrible Seven Year Old Behaving Dreadfully isn't doing anything very bad.

On the plus side, it's made my 8 year old suddenly interested in TA. She was even miffed that I listened without her last night.

On the plus side, it's made my 8 year old suddenly interested in TA. She was even miffed that I listened without her last night

I"m pretty sure I started listening at that kind of age because my Dad had it on (another R4 addict) roughly when dinner was being organised. Like me he had zero love for soaps but for some reason listened to TA.

I can give it up any time.

The Clarrie and Susan thing was funny because, after Lynda being so ridiculous about it, the joke has ended up on her. As they had predicted, and we could imagine, the opportunity to be sniffily and ostentatiously magnanimous about it distracted her from the truth. It wouldn't be funny if Clarrie were to be deceived because we mostly feel sorry for her, and even if we didn't it's impossible to imagine her character being so tediously and unreasonably pedantic about something.

Personally what I found funny was Clarrie saying that it was her who suggested it. I could just imagine the two of them after a few drinks, giggling to themselves over the idea. And the way they were laughing reminded me of those times with a friend when even though you know the thing you're laughing about is objectively not that funny, for some reason it's hysterically funny to you at that moment.

Explaining a joke never makes it any funnier, but you did ask!

I can give it up any time.

Of course you can.

ppeat I agree, I can't remember that tactic being used before, where the characters know something you don't.

Shula and fun. Unlikely.

Shula and fun. Unlikely

I was thinking about that after Pat's comment.

I can't remember a time where I would have associated Shula and fun. There must have been a time where she wasn't so sanctimonious, self righteous and tedious (with a side of hypocrisy) but I can't remember it.

The SWs must be secret MNers, with the spa day solution to Shula's peakiness. OK, afternoon.

I know it was supposed to be funny, witch.....the problem with Archers jokes is that they're almost always so dreadfully laboured

I don’t think there are jokes very often are there?!

I also appreciated the backdrop of the To Kill a Mockingbird discussion - a situation where the truth and justice actually mattered!

A spa day in Gay Grables doesn't strike me as being relaxing.

I could just imagine the two of them after a few drinks, giggling to themselves over the idea

But if you are a working class mature woman in ambridge you don’t get to go to the pub- unlike your husband.

Nice ...

Just came across this in the Wiki entry on Patrick Hamiliton’s Gas Light :

The cast of the original London production recreated their stage roles for a 1939 television presentation directed by Lanham Titchener and performed live on BBC Television.

But Catching they were at Fallon's hen party so got more than a bit pissed from the sound of it.

They usually have more sense than to hang around pubs!
( they probably need the break from their menfolk)