Movin' on up (Ed and Emmur), Movin' on out (Brian and Jenny), Time to break free (Lily from Russ, we hope), Nothing can stop *The Archers* in 2019 - Thread 97 (Joe Grundy’s age!)

[Bittermints]

Many thanks to @LilianGish for the title and to @NotdeadyetBOING for being the last threadstarter. Further thanks due to @PseudoBadger for kicking of this long, long series of Archers threads and to @DadDadDad for being our resident statistician and keeping the ball rolling when Pseudo stepped back a bit.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

I wonder where Brian and Jennifer will end up. I was very taken with the idea on the last thread that the mysterious Gills won't last very long and the house will be sold back to the Aldridges at a knockdown price.

Welcome, subspace , pull up a chair.

Yes, people have speculated on here before that he's after the painting. Recently, some have thought he might try to start a relationship with Lizzie. Whatever his plan is, I agree that he's not going to be deterred by tonight's set back.

Hello, subspace! I'm ashamed to say the Brexit reference passed me by altogether. Can anyone say what happened?

Oh, Ambridge Analytica! Yes, I remember now.

As well as Ambridge Analytica, the second time Tracy was in the shop, talking about rigging the vote for the tellers' meal, Susan said, "we've got to respect the will of the people ... even if it's wrong."

That seems subtle to me. Certainly far too subtle to have registered with me.

didn't hear tonight, what happened to Russ? did she finally dump him?

Fink - you've must (understandably) been tuning out government ministers for the past two years saying almost exactly that phrase: "we've got to respect of the will of the people..." (I suspect some of them in private are adding "...even if it is wrong").

coffee - she didn't dump him, but she was beginning to exasperate him with her reluctance to go, then at the last moment she jumped out of the car and declared she couldn't leave her mother in her current state. This will test whether Russ is a wrong 'un or not.

Hannah is annoying me too, not sure how that dynamic is going to come to a head

With any luck she will fall into the pig feed after a drunken night and the pigs will eat her.

It would fit if Lee was abusive though wouldn’t it? From knowledge gleaned the relationships board, those who leave abusive relationships seem to often end up in another. Helen needs the famous “Freedom Program”. If she was on MNs someone would recommend it to her for sure.

Hello peeps. Re Russ's intentions, I did notice him complimenting Elizabeth on her dress the other day, and think, aye aye, so that's what's going to happen. Could be wrong of course...

As for Lee, I thought he's meant to be a good 'un - his sensitivity and gentleness with Henry in contrast to Rob's 'make a man of him' attitude. And issues with his ex mean that he and Helen can bond over past difficulties. But wouldn't some randomer in the village have warned him off the woman who stabbed her last partner?

You're too kind, Dx3. I have indeed heard the 'respect the will of the people' thing innumerable times. I'm just not bright enough to recognise it out of context. For reference, as a practising Christian, it took me more years than I'd like to admit to see the allegory in the Narnia books. I also once had a guy who bought me jewellery, assiduously walked me home and came to call for me, pointedly introduced me to his parents (which involved flying them over), even invited me on a weekend break to Monaco, just the two of us, and I didn't realise he was interested in me romantically. Honestly, the world of subtext and nuanced connotations is a closed book to me, in real life as in fiction.

I'm having a small crush on lily today. What a lovely daughter. Sniff.

Russ will issue an ultimatum. She will stay at home. Then regret it. But he won't have her back. She'll blame Elizabeth for ever. Then Freddie will be released as a real bad 'un and take Russ aaaaaht for having broken his sister's heart. And the nation will cheer loudly. Huzzah

New year, new thread. Excellent.

Thanks Bittermints and Lil.

Thanks for the new thread chaps! Ambridge Analytica made me laugh out loud, very silly. Was it Fallon who had told Tracey the story, I didn’t catch it? I also hope Helen and Lee is a genuine relationship option for her, and they try and work through the issues she would undoubtedly have going into a new relationship. As for Russ and Lily...well he is clearly a wrong ‘un “Ok Lily, you do a full time job AND your course AND never make any friends and I will let you be a shining star.....” Hum. But also Elizabeth seems to have PTSD or something and no-one apart from Lily has noticed anything is wrong, which is just stupid. Surely Kenton or David or Shula should have seen by now that she’s just not coping?

Rather a good moment when Russ said: "Thanks for putting us up for so long, Elizabeth." The casual cementing of the relationship while turning "them" into house guests. Also Russ always calls Manchester "home", which doesn't ring true in any ordinary sense, as it isn't, being temporary and based on Lily's course, so is plainly intended to be part of his narrative of their life together. The scripting of his control of vocabulary is very good.

But Dr Who did allude to Brexit! UNIT is no more thanks to overseas funding no longer available. And there's a post going round Facebook, so I'm not alone in thinking this

Elizabeth sounded really on the edge tonight, didn't she?

Well, people have chosen to interpret the Dr Who line that way, but it wasn't explicit. It could equally be a dig at Trump - he doesn't like things like UN or NATO, so we could imagine that the Americans have pulled the plug on funding UNIT, because no-one in Washington wants to tell the President what it's for (he would blab on Twitter about alien invasions and cause global panic).

Just checking into the thread - it’s already racing ahead! Happy New Year and happy new thread to one and all. Loved the Brexit allusions - Ambridge Analytica really made me smile.

Apparently lots of complaints that the anti-foreigner stuff in the BBC Christmas Agatha Christie was thinly veiled anti-Brexit propaganda too.

I somehow missed 'Ambridge Analytica' but google lead me to this https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/shortcuts/2018/mar/21/ambridge-analytica-the-spoof-account-thats-combine-harvesting-data (hmph, I'm sure I was the first with Big Farmer on here ages ago) and thence to the twitter ... better late than never!

I can't see Russ issuing an ultimatums, he literally cannot afford the risk of Lily calling his bluff. I quite hope she decides to defer her university course for a year and give up the flat, and that he realises that blatantly living off his girlfriend's mother is not a good look - besides leaving him in far too close proximity to the likes of Josh who would find it hilarious.

Thank you for the new thread. Lily needs to properly defer ASAP, it’s not going to harm her long term to have a year out.

No one seems to be worrying about Josh’s decision not to go to university despite him getting better grades than Pip. I think Ruth & David have given up on him.

Thinking about the Helen - Lee relationship... Perhaps he will turn out to be good 'un, they get it together, then he finds out she stabbed her ex and decides she's too unstable to be with, and dumps her. And she's left alone & miserable again.

Checking in, thanks for the new thread 😊