The Archers #96: Is that a rat I smell or the whiff of Snell? In Chaucer’s famous Tale of Two Torsos, Brian’s ‘still got it’ and Poldark is searching for scything opportunities in Susan’s kitchen.

[NotdeadyetBOING]

Welcome..... I'd concocted a longer title with all sorts of references to bitch stitching and pasta bakes, but was thwarted by the pesky character limit

I too think JD has pulled her weight over the years. I know she used to sell strawberrys at farmers markets (and presumably other produce) and didnt she used to take money for the fishing lake? And we have never heard anything about them having a cleaner or gardener.

Plus we heard her cleaning up the pickers' caravans, and she might have done the change over for the holiday cottages.

I think it's time we had a new family in Ambridge to shake things up again.

When's the last time?

We've had a few singletons move in (and out again - e.g. Anisha) but no big families.

I also like the idea floated upthread that the new owners may not last long.

The value of the property will collapse post-Brexit & Brian & JD will then be able to afford to buy it back....

To change the subject HNY to everyone too.

ref. The Canterbury Tales part 1. Extremely good, acting (they weren't being TA characters 'playing' luvvies they WERE being luvvies and talented ones too) I don't usually feel IN a radio play, esp. historic ones, but this was exceptional!!

Oh and does anyone think that possibly Lexi and Adam may have DTD (just to get her pregnant ? Which is why her and Rory broke up (I know she said she wanted to use an implanted egg but maybe they decided it was more likely to be successful that way?).

Lexi was off with Roy from the time he met her at the airport, so I don't think that is likely.

Hasn't Lexi said she doesn't want to use her egg? If so, she definitely won't be doing anything with Adam.

Plus we heard her cleaning up the pickers' caravans, and she might have done the change over for the holiday cottages.

Yes she did the holiday cottages, plus all the catering for the shoots and other corporate entertaining. She was keeping the accounts at one point but I can't remember whether that was for the cottages/side ventures or when she was running the farm.

I think it gets forgotten that Brian and Jenny are most definitely pensioners, as are Tony and Pat I think, they must be drawing some kind of pension.
I just can’t see Adam and Ian as parents. Unless Jenny is hauled in.

I felt so sad for Lily being so openly manipulated by Russ. She can see it and hear but can’t quite call him out for being a lazy cocklodger. Aside from Phoebe, everyone is taking from her and giving her nothing supportive back.

What the heck?

What is Russ up to?

He sounded desperate to get Lily out of Ambridge and back to Manchester.

What's going on?

I know it was before my time listening, but can anyone tell me about when Adam 'came out' to Jennifer and Brian?

Was there a big 'coming out' scene?

Just a brief synopsis from someone's memory would be appreciated!

What's going on?

He needs to keep her isolated from family and friends to keep control.

I find another abusive/coercive partner relationship so soon after Helen's a bit surprising. I'm vaguely hoping Phoebe is being set up to save the day on this one before its irrecoverable.

I imagine his hold on her will be more effective in Manchester where she has no friends or family to point out the fact that he is an arse.
I actually thought phoebe did really well with her gentle questioning of Lily, there is no point Phoebe telling Lily straight, it would just make her dig her heels in.

What Russ is up to is getting Lily back to a place where, when she isn't earning money on his behalf, her attention is focussed solely on him. Also a place where her relatives can't ask awkward questions about when he's going to start contributing financially, and he can't be asked to help around LL.

It sounds like she's going to continue avoiding going back to Manchester (presumably the new term doesn't start before next week anyway?) and with any luck she'll get back to them about deferring the whole thing for a year when she can start again on the electives that she wants to do. Or maybe she'll decide to swap over and do a business management degree instead, given that she seems to be something of a natural at managing LL.

I realise there must be years of Adam growing up that I have missed out on.

Was he vocal as a child and teenager, or was he conveniently packed off boarding school?

I have a young nephew (19) who has just been so brave coming out to us all, and, to be honest, he's not had the best reaction.

Thank goodness for Phoebe.

Phoebe is so well drawn and acted.

Sorry to hear that Baxter
I seem to remember Adam didn’t come out until he came back from Africa (Kenya?) so was probably in his 30s.

Adam went to Brian's alma mater then to Newcastle- to study agriculture. Then went to Africa. Came back in the 1990s IIRC.

I actually gained sympathy for Jenny last night. I thought she was very snobbish and up herself when looking round the house for the first time, but if the kitchen is genuinely so small that she can't fit a food mixer in then that does seem to be tiny. We're not talking a massive luxury item three speed kettle, a food mixer is an everyday kitchen appliance. If she can't fit that in (and it's not a ridiculously huge one) then it would seem to be an actually miniscule kitchen rather than just smaller than her previous grandiose standard.

I recall Adam coming back from Africa with a broken heart and pouring it out to Debbie. She initially assumed he was talking about a woman, then he revealed it was a he. Debbie was totally unfazed, as you‘d expect from such a character. Later he had a chat with Jenny but I don’t recall the detail. I think (but I’m unsure) it transpired she’d already guessed. I remember Brian being negative but I don’t recall any detail of that either.

The house at Willow Farm was extended and split into a 3-bed and a small 2-bed. Willow Cottage was the smaller part, with the small second bedroom converted into Mike's study.
Mike subsequently met and married Vicky and she had a baby, Bethany.
They sold after the editor decided that no useful mileage could be had from them
I would expect that the rooms in Willow Cottage would seem tiny in comparison with Home Farm. Probably, the pantry in HF would be bigger than the Willow Cottage kitchen.

The house at Willow Farm was extended and split into a 3-bed and a small 2-bed

Yes and not only that, but Mike and Betty effectively gave Roy/Hayley half their house, telling Brenda that their half would be hers eventually. Then Betty died and Mike remarried so bang goes Brenda's inheritance (she sounds like she did much better after leaving Ambridge but I've often wondered if that would ever come back as a storyline).

That's right C8. What was the financial settlement between Roy and Hayley?