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

She works in the chicken factory, doesn't she?

And may also have a 2nd job??

Ah ok thanks, and she's a town councillor?

She’s a Parish Councillor.

She’s also cleans at The Lodge and works in the Bridge Farm Tea Room.

Parish councillor, which is unpaid. She has several jobs. She cleans for Peggy, works for* Fallon in the tearoom and doing contract catering for parties and the like and she also does shifts in the chicken factory as and when she can fit it in.

Ed has a regular job at Home Farm these days but there is probably less work in the winter.

*I don't think Emma's a partner in the business, but she does seem to be Fallon's right hand woman there.

Ouch, do you think Ed might be persuaded by creepy Oaty to 'invest' in some scheme and promptly rip them off? horrible thought. I want them to have some good luck, but this bloke doesn't sound right.

I think Oaty will offer something dodgy and Ed will turn it down (Emma being the one that figures it out). It’d be too much to have them miss out on this house surely?

A Happy 2019 to everyone on these threads!
I love the idea of Home Farm as a party Air B'n'B! I'm sure that's why the Gills wanted to complete before the New Year! Unlike others of you, I don't like the idea of a new family becoming a permanent addition of central importance to the programme, unless, as has been suggested, there is some loose connection to a member of the Archers' clan. Otherwise the title needs to be changed to "The Ambridgeans", or similar. [there is no grumpy old woman emoticon]
As flowerycurtain said, I'm expecting a struggle for control of the farm after Brian retires completely. The whole inheritance thing seems to have been set up without any expectation of Ruari being interested in farming, but it now looks as if he wants to be King of the (slurry)Heap and eventually take over Home Farm before his siblings are ready to retire themselves.
Betty was supposedly very comely and Brian chased her round the Home Farm swimming pool after his thing with Caroline and well before Siobhan came on the scene.
I missed that bit about the Treetop Walk
I agree that Russ needs Lily back in Manchester so he can sponge off her without anyone else noticing, and keep her in a bubble where she is dependent on him alone. I would love her to take this year out (she can stop now (before the second semester, I think?) without having to pay any more tuition fees, I believe) and then start afresh somewhere else on a different course next September.
Did I mention I can't stand Ruari, and I'm another who has never understood all the hatred Jennifer has engendered over the years.?

I was just refreshing my memory of Brine's various dalliances - both actual and attempted - and his er, liaison with Caroline was way back in 1985. The subsequent fall-out and then making-up with JD resulted in the birth of Alice.

Brine chasing poor Beddy round the kitchen was after that but before The Big One, ie Siobhan. Whose husband Tim became hopelessly enslaved by the vicar at the time, Janet.

Gosh, what a hotbed Ambridge was back then

It's weird isn't it. I like Brian as a character but really he is an awful person. What are his reedeeming characteristics.

No, Otie will die of a a heart attack in 3 months or so and leave everything to Ed n Emm!

Bank balance and dry wit, I suspect. Also, to be slightly more serious, back in the 70s, not every man would have taken on a divorcee with two children, the elder of whom was illegitimate with an unknown father.

birds Brian is good with his family, on the whole, joins in the community activities, under protest he supports Adam. Some men might not be so helpful to a stepson (especially a gay one) I reckon he's fairly typical.

Oh - I wish, ppeat!

(But he just seemed to exude evil intent ...)

Brian was awful - lets not forget Mandy Beesborough and the fictional account of their affair by the local writer.

I suspect Home farm is an Air BnB Party house - I wondered for a bit then remembered it does have a pool. It could make for some very interesting storylines.

I didn't like Tim Oatey at all. I wondered whether he was going to try to steal Peppa Pig. I really hope Ed and Emma come out of this ok.

The idea of Roy being attractive is... interesting. I've always thought of him as Mr Average in every way. He doesn't sound attractive. He lacks the natural confidence that attractive people usually have, gained from a lifetime of positive reaction. By that measure Harrison sounds quite good looking (which tallies with Fallon).

I think Susan scrubs up well, likewise Emma. Christopher sounds pretty fit in every way (or did last time we heard from him) too. I always thought Mr slow-but-steady Roy took after his dad and that their attractiveness is based on reliability and decency (usually, with ability to admit to mistakes).

Brian is good to his family now as he is unable to get his leg over anymore.

Brian and Caroline seem significant to me because that was going on when I first started paying attention to TA. I think the affair and aftermath went on for a while too. I know there was a string of affairs but can't think of other names, until Siobhan.

I think a big contributing factor was Brain and Jenny's social circle, which was established, active, distributed evenly around the county and permissive enough, for affairs among its members to be quite normal and not 'on the doorstep' (perhaps why Caroline was a real indiscretion). Also, Brian is of a pre-boomer generation (1943), which mostly married and had children in their 20s, just because that's what everyone did. Then looked at their long, still youthful lives stretching out ahead and, in many cases, got restless. (I look forward to being corrected by posters of that generation but, especially among more privileged people who could deal with any illegitimate consequences, I get the impression this was not unusual).

Robin Fairbrother was around then too, similar type. Was he always played by Anthony Head? So early and late career, with all his bigger work in the middle?

Robin didn't speak in the 80s. The strong silent type.

Brian is good to his family now as he is unable to get his leg over anymore.
Brian still has fire down below. He was unhappy when he was consigned to the spare bedroom a few months ago and his relief, when re-admitted, was palpable.
I like Brian as a character but really he is an awful person. What are his reedeeming characteristics.
Brian is a shocking character but he is suave, charming (when he wants to be) and funny. He is consistent and forges deep bonds (JD, Debbie, Adam, even David and Will. His relationship with Ruairi is shaping up nicely). He is forceful, driven and he knows what he wants but this is tempered by vulnerabilities (cf Justin who lacks the soft underbelly and is therefore unlikable). And he has that gorgeous voice!

Happy New Year fellow addicts! Reading this thread has become one of my pleasures of the day, so insightful and informative- cheers!

I love he whole wonderfully complicated Aldridge set up. Over the years he has taken on her children, she has taken on his, they have their own children together and to the casual listener it is very difficult to work out which is which. Brian has behaved abominably over the years, but their life together and their marriage has always been bigger than all that. The story arc is so huge it works. I love Jenny as a character, I completely believe in her and the same with Brian. That doesn't mean I always like them as people or agree with the way they behave, but I can understand why they do what the do (with the exception on selling the house instead of relocating Spiritual Home).
I feel Tim Oatey being given a voice and so many lines yesterday is ominous - and agree with others that it bodes badly for Ed.

We know from sartorial advice offered to Roy that he isn't a clotheshorse - probably just a regular okIsh bloke. But attractiveness to women isn't necessarily looks-driven

The character where there is evidence of some disconnect between how he sounds and how he appears (though maybe only in Susan's eyes) is Neil!

Brian and Jenny and are by far my favourite characters. I too love the complex Home Farm (RIP!) setup.

I think that Robin F is meant to be a good 10 to 20 years younger than Brian?