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

[PseudoBadger]

We are clearly building up to a big set piece drama - Freddy's trial.

Not all that long since we had another trial as a big set-piece drama, for Rob.

Why can't the scriptwriters think of something original?

Isn't Freddie pleading guilty? So there won't be much of a trial unless they amend the charges.

Just caught up with last night. Agree with Lass - what luxury to have THREE characters behaving like utter twunts, all in the same episode! So hard to decide which one is the most vile! Made Hannah look like Little Miss Sunshine by comparison

Going back to the LL kitchen supper. Did anyone notice that Russ chose cheesecake over the gooseberry fool? I thought that this choice foretold that Lizzy wasn't going to fall for his charms that she was no one's fool and certainly wasn't going to be playing gooseberry. I maybe mafe that up in my head and it meant nothing but I thought it was quite clever/funny!

I also thought the gooseberry fool was a poignant touch

Hannah cowbags! Haha. yes yes.

I don't think Russ would have been that rude to Lizzie. Seemed really out of character.

Surely Freddie's phone/computer must have linked him to Ellis by now? Even if all the messages just say "what's up mate" or "pub later" the sheer volume must be telling?

Hmm. Can you be done for perjury if you plead guilty?

Did anyone notice that Russ chose cheesecake over the gooseberry fool?

Yes. And possibly read far too much into it. I'm not remotely upper class but have made gooseberry fool from gooseberries from my own garden. Gooseberry fool is U; shop bought cheesecake is very non U.

Lass, surely shop-bought gooseberry fool is non-U?

Yes, but shop-bought gooseberry fool is not as non-U as shop-bought cheesecake.

I doubt that you could be prosecuted for perjury if you plead guilty, given that you aren't giving evidence on oath.

It was, 'gooooooooseberry' that got me. I know a lot of people pronounce gooseberry that way but it just seemed to add to Russ's lack of appeal.

I think Ellis has dropped Freddie in it hasn't he?

Re. Russ, I suspect he's good at 'reading people'. He was nervous before the dinner but soon saw that (somehow) Lily holds the power in the mother/daughter relationship so now feels quite at home! Very weird though. The arch tone in Lily's voice when she suggested they could stay in a hotel - ooh she's good! Hints of Rob with Russ's sense of entitlement. I keep thinking he's being played by Greg Wise, then picturing him as wrongun Willoughby in Sense and Sensibility (swoon).

Cheesecake in combination with the other foodstuffs mentioned in connection with Russ implies to me he's one of those tedious faux-intolerant types.

I was hoping Lizzie would take Lily up on the hotel and pointedly ask who would be paying for the hotel.

Just caught up on the last couple of episodes. Please tell me they are not going down the ADHD route with Henry.

If he's fine at school and a pain at home he won't get a diagnosis.

Yes, if they're being realistic we should have numerous episodes where the teachers tell Helen it must be a parenting problem.

Yes, but shop-bought gooseberry fool is not as non-U as shop-bought cheesecake

Indeed.

Sorry if I’ve missed it: do the police know about the multiple instances of dealing, escalation etc? Think so. The reason that Lizzie failed to get her license back in that emergency hearing (not the later appeal hearing where Oliver spoke) where she was making a big thing of it being "one-off" was that the police had informed the licensing authorities about Noluthando (so that it wasn't a one-off), and Lizzie/Freddie concluded that Ellis had blabbed. So I presume Ellis has told the police as much as possible abut Freddie's dealing without implicating himself.

Feel sad for Johnnie. Don't get the impression he finds it that easy to make friends, and he did seem to have a good friendship with Freddie. So not only has he lost his best mate, he's also got all those feelings of betrayal to deal with.

Poor Johnny has also lost the South Africa trip. (Hope Pat and Tony will give him the money towards something else.)

I’m trusting that his friendship with Freddie can be repaired - they’re set to be one of the best things in TA ‘going forward’.

Has Johnny definitely lost the SA trip? I'm a bit vague on the details, so apols, but weren't they staying with Nolly? She knows Johnny as well from college, doesn't she?

I'm still trying to work out the point of Hannah at the moment. I'm assuming future Mrs Tom, as otherwise I can't see what she's doing in the script other than to irritate Emma. Ordinarily this would be a worthy function but not when it involves mud-slinging at Neil

Role model for aspiring female pig farmers?

I’m trusting that his friendship with Freddie can be repaired Yes, that would be nice. Freddy's current idiocy aside, they seem to be good for each other. What I find reprehensible in Freddy, more than the dealing, is his complete lack of remorse, his belief that after a few weeks inconvenience life can go back to normal. And since he has that attitude, he cannot understand why Johnny has withdrawn his friendship - his lack of understanding is almost a big a hurdle to overcome as is his behaviour in the first place. So it would be a bit of a stretch for the friendship to be re-kindled.

In theory, Johnny could go to SA and stay with Nolly. But Kate may well take the view that any friend of drug-dealer Freddy needs to be kept away from her cherished daughter.

Actually, I'm finding this story quite uplifting. Whenever I'm berating myself for my inadequacies as a mother, I can now look at Lizzie's two and feel I didn't do that badly...