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

[PseudoBadger]

Is it too early for a thread title suggestion?

Your suggestion's good, but I fear you have peaked too soon.

Anyway, the next thread will be the home to the 90,000th post in this wonderful series. We might get to 100,000 next year.

We might get to 100,000 next year.

How tragic is it that this thought was more exciting than anything going on with TA at the moment?

Scrolling through my photos I came upon this, written in the first week of August. I must have been hugely distracted for it to have ended up as a screenshot rather than a post.

I hope you went for a kettle with programmable temperature setting, QuaterMiss!

Bu there are 2 solitary characters I can think of Quater There's Carol (hooray she's back) and Bert.

Brian is staying out of the way of Jenny keeping the house perfect for viewers , and is now retired so he can do what he likes. (if that includes being somewhat out of character by spying on the entrants for the F&P then so be it).

dairyfarmerswife Great to hear from you after all this time (I thought I took long off line breaks!)

How is Bert solitary? The Fairbrethren live with him.

Oh no I just remembered that Rex is at Bert's, It shows how short of housing it is in the countryside I suppose.

I'm still catching up after getting very behind in August - nearly caught up now - have finished listening to Sunday's omnibus edition this morning - I will get there. I listen to it in the mornings while getting washed and dressed to take DS2 to school. Did anyone else do a double take at the reference to Emile Zola? I had to rewind to see who it was! Brian Aldridge of all people!

Good point about characters never being allowed to live alone because then they can have storyline driving conversations. What will they do with Elizabeth and Shula when Freddie gets sent down?

Those of us who “bask in solitary splendour” (what a fabulous phrase) are allowed out for conversations with other people

Elkiedee I noticed the reference to Emile Zola it think it was about Lynda's reading matter.

Love Mrs Grindahs thread suggestion.

Did anyone else do a double take at the reference to Emile Zola?

It was Linda reading Germinal one of the endless and endlessly depressing Rougon -Macquart cycle. It's about a miner's strike. I read masses of Zola in my youth - couldn't face it now.

Lily’s A levels? German, Geography, and what was the 3rd subject? I’m off to study the Manchester prospectus. What a waste of time!

I liked Germinal - yes it was grim but it was interesting and well written. I must have read it around the time of the U.K. miners strike of last century.

I loved Germinal, but mining history was part of my dissertation andmy holiday next week will include a visit to a mining museum.

I'm rather enjoying Brian's espionage. I kind of hope Jenny goes away with the trophy for best across the board. Though I rather thought he was sussed in last night's update.

I enjoy the references to Lynda's cultural pursuits. She made it into Grayson Perry's Reith Lectures and the accompanying book, Playing to the Gallery. If I remember accurately, he pointed her out (I think it was her attempt to get Ambridge represented on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square) as an example of how modern art, once an elite pursuit for the avant-garde, had become a more middle-class, middle-brow, less chin-stroking and intellectual endeavour e..g. visit Tate Modern and you weave your way through the children gambolling in the Turbine Room and past the shop selling tea-towels with Paula Rega reproductions to get to the abstract expressionists. Everyone loves it! I particularly liked the way Grayson Perry used one BBC institution to illustrate another, in a sort of lovely, self-reflexive flourish that stroked his audience and soothed any anxieties we might have that this was a bit intellectual.

And I also like Zola, so love Lynda even more now. REading Nana in French was one of my great reading feats while living in Paris years ago. These days I would struggle to get through a short story, but hope springs eternal that this will be the winter I rev up my language skills...I identify with Lynda's perpetual desire to improve herself and engage with Great Works, but I lack her energy, alas. I'll bet she wouldn't get distracted by Mumsnet. And a massive hot flush which is engulfing me RIGHT NOW! Argh. I need one of Carole's herbal remedies.

Lily has just been mentioned on Moneybox, they were discussing budgeting for students, they did point out that her stately home meant she wasn't a typical student

I never seem to enjoy the exhibitions at Tate Modern as much as I think I will, they are always a disappointment.

If Elizabeth wasn’t caught up with worries about a daughter in a dodgy relationship & son going to prison we could have learned about her coping with an empty nest & living on her own.

I need to listen to the Zola bit again because I missed Lynda being in the scene, I thought Brian was talking to someone else. I really like Zola's Rougon-Macquart books and especially Germinal - I got rather fed up with Therese Raquin, which is not one of the series, at A level, as it was intentionally very repetitive and of course we spent a lot more time on it than you would reading a novel for your own interest. I haven't tried to read them in French though, apart from Therese Raquin.

They have left it far too late to make chutney.
It needs at least 3 months to mature properly before it is at its best. And Kumquat chutney would be disgusting, more like marmalade.

And is there a bit of public service broadcasting going on about the perils of smoking and benefits of running?

(Sorry for bringing down the intellectual level of the thread. I was a Scientist myself)

I was amazed that anyone would even think of making a traditional British chutney (as opposed to the fresh ones made in Indian cuisine) so close to the show. I know nothing of kumquats but if they're anything like other citrus fruits this isn't a good time of year for them anyway and it seems perverse not to showcase local produce like apples, plums, pears and so on, all of which make wonderful chutney.

Can't contribute to the French lit conversation, I'm afraid. My French stopped at O level and we never read any real French (as opposed to textbook French). I did struggle through a translation of Therese Raquin (I think that was it) many years ago but found it so depressing I've never made another foray into Zola. I'm ashamed to say I've not even read Madame Bovary.

If Elizabeth wasn’t caught up with worries about a daughter in a dodgy relationship & son going to prison we could have learned about her coping with an empty nest & living on her own. This! It seems to me that radio series (like books) are either focused on character or on plot. And the ones that focus on character are far more interesting. TA is best when nothing much is happening and we're seeing how the different characters react. There's so much going on now that all the writing is intended to further the plot, not to explore the characters. No way would one small village have all these major stories happening at once.