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

[PseudoBadger]

Am I right that they haven't actually seen this flat yet?

I used to iron my sheets, even at uni.

I agree that Lizzie should have put her foot down and tell Russ to bugger off, this was about being a mother and daughter.

So - re Fish TV - he wasn’t doing anything else, just loitering while his meal-ticket paid for the Didsbury mansion.

Just to explain my omnivore & vegan dessert comment - l have, over the decades l’ve been a vegetarian so since l was 17 & l’m now in my fifties so a fair old time, had comments from people about veggie food not being ‘real food’ without a chunk of dead animal & that vegan food is dreadful, tasteless, etc. These people usually have been acquaintances rather than friends, often colleagues. But sometimes relatives. I personally love vegan food and like trying desserts. Partly that’s because l’d love to be vegan but l’m too lazy to go the whole hog (haha l’ll leave that in so we can all have a laugh) - when l have had spells of being vegan l’ve never been short of food, or ideas, or nice desserts, and l’ve felt very healthy. I hope that’s all cleared up now, folks.

It was definitely the “Egyptian” qualifier to the cotton that was designed to mark Russ out as a twat; basic 100% cotton is easy to find even in a cheap supermarket range.

DDD I admit I did Google variable temp kettles after asking the question on here! And saw that most of those kettles have as part of their online descriptions a guide to which teas need which temperature. Mind. blown.

Oh and by the way I said upthread that my ads were full of “blinking water taps”. Autocorrected from boiling, of course!

The most unrealistic part of this whole storyline is how they seem to have managed to find and secure a flat without even going to Manchester. I do hope Lily kicks him into touch very soon. Shame Phoebe wasn’t able to convince her what a bad idea it all was. Incidentally, Lily did pretty well in her A levels didn’t she? I’m surprised there was never any talk of her trying for Oxbridge.

Finally, we have an ancient but lovely Le Creuset casserole dish in our cupboard. My DH was given it by his Godmother when he went to Cambridge (second hand I think). I don’t think he’d ever used it till I met him aged 32 .

Incidentally, Lily did pretty well in her A levels didn’t she? I’m surprised there was never any talk of her trying for Oxbridge.

I missed what she actually got - but given the lack of mention of what subject she's going to be doing, or where she'd be doing it at all until recently, Lily seems to be more in the vague 'go to an RG uni for a generic degree and for the experience' camp. Which, I suppose, makes it sadder she's on track to missing out on the experience at the moment.

I rented a flat once in another city based purely on photos. Needs must sometimes. I think Russ had a friend there who was meant to be finding it for them.

I thought that for a long time Lily had been portrayed by the SWs as super-academic, it jarred to me that her university choice/selection was so cursory. But then if she had gone to Oxbridge she would not have been permitted to live out in the first year so the storyline couldn’t have happened.

I thought that for a long time Lily had been portrayed by the SWs as super-academic

I think it was more that she found schoolwork easy compared to Freddie, which isn't quite the same thing. She's not a Phoebe.

I find Lily going to Manchester very odd. Surely she'd be at Exeter or Bristol? Nothing against Manchester, I went there and had a great time, but it seems an odd choice for Lily. (Exeter and Bristol have a much higher proportion of privately educated students.)

I must confess I might have been a bit of a Russ at uni loved kitchenwareand natural fibres and boycotted supermarkets. It was a very feast or famine existence. Hadn't even heard of Egyptian cotton though. Had a very bad experience with a housemate who got far into making duck liver pâté, but then I'd only just stopped being vegan.

Ah, no - I’d disagree. This is the only evidence we’ve been shown that this apparently clever young woman has a mind of her own. She’s shackled with a relationship to a stately home - and a weight of expectation about the kind of life, job, friends she’ll have. I’m interpreting Manchester as a Statement on her part. It’s just a pity Russ is dragging her down.

It’s interesting that what she’s studying has never been mentioned and where she is going is almost incidental - this story is all about shacking up with Russ and it’s obviously not going to happen or at any rate we are not going to her about it otherwise she’d be going to Felpersham.

I find Lily going to Manchester very odd. Surely she'd be at Exeter or Bristol?

Yes me too. Those seem a better fit ; or Edinburgh or St. Andrews. The Making a Statement suggestion is a bit unconvincing as she otherwise shows no signs of having done so.

True ... I like it as a theory but I suspect none of the editors made these decisions a priority - so they may only have decided on an actual place at the last possible moment - when they couldn’t avoid it any longer. And we may not hear about a specific subject unless or until it becomes crucial to the story. It does give the impression of total lack of editorial interest. Which is a terrible shame when we’re talking about female higher education in Ambridge.

Choice of university may depend on the subject Lily is doing - some universities have a good reputation for particular faculties.

On a practical note, I suspect the SWs chose it because they still want to keep it vague which university she's at, and "Manchester" could cover a number of possibilities. It's a bit like their vagueness about Phoebe's college.

The 'northern industrial' MN/MC bias is alive and well. Maybe Lily has more nous than we've been crediting her with?

www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings-articles/world-university-rankings/top-universities-uk-2019

Manchester is excellent in particular fields (business, physics, engineering for instance) and is higher in the world rankings than Bristol, way ahead of Exeter.

As a Manchester graduate I think Lily's made a perfectly realistic choice, unless she'd gone for Oxbridge or London. If Borsetshire is in the West Midlands somewhere, even to the south, and Birmingham is an hour away, Manchester is far away enough from home but not too far. There may be direct trains but Lily drives - is the car she drives her own?

I don't think they're keeping it vague - I would assume Lily is at the Russell Group University.

There were lots of privately educated students at Manchester when I was there, including a whole group from Marlborough (public school) in my year and I don't imagine that the proportions have gone down much in the last 30 years. Also lots from selective state schools like home counties grammars and the prestigious schools in London. It also fits with someone who has gone to private school for GCSEs and local sixth form college for A levels and done very well in both.

She shares the car with Freddie. (Wonder how that conversation will go ...)

Errol - I don't think posters were questioning Manchester's academic reputation, it's more that someone of Lily's background would perhaps find more of her "type" at Bristol or Exeter (or Durham?)

But from what elkie has just said, her type may be at Manchester too. I suspect we're all overthinking this (unlike the SW)

Lily could have some interesting "getting to know you" conversations with her fellow students:

Any brothers or sisters?

• Yes, a twin brother.

Oh, is he at university?

• No, he's in prison

Are you living in hall?

• No, I'm living in a flat.

Oh, do you share with other students?

• No, I'm living with my boyfriend.

Is he a student?

• No, he's a much older married man who I'm supporting financially.

They're not going to find much common ground, really.

Gersemi

The supply of conversation stoppers is endless!

• Where do you come from?
• A place called Lower Loxley in Borsetshire.
• Oh, a village?
• No, a stately home. It belongs to my brother.

• Do you have a garden?
• No, we have grounds, including a vineyard and a falconry. There's a rather cool treetop walk.

• What are your mum and dad like?
• My dad was fun, but he fell off the roof on New Year's Eve a few years ago. Then my mum had an affair with her assistant who was married to our ex-nanny, so that was all a bit awkward.

• I bought a poster for my room.
• Oh, that's nice. I've hung up the Gwen John oil painting I inherited from my father.