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.

Russ has nothing and nowhere to go without Lily and is losing his control over her. Will he turn the situation to his advantage and become a cocklodger artist in residence at LoLo?

I missed the Ambridge Analytica comment but a few days ago someone said about Susan -‘she kept going on about the People’s Vote’. The other person said ‘huh?’ (While I thought Brexit?!?) . Then person 1 said ‘you know, who the best narrator is for Canterbury Tales’ .
I’m paraphrasing as I can’t remember the exact words (or who said it) but people’s vote (with or without capitals - hard to tell on radio ) was definitely used.

I think they are marketing Lee as a good ‘un. He is a bit smooth for my liking though.

Lee has chatted to Helen several times about his situation vis a vis his daughters and his ex wife. Does he know anything at all about Helen's situation? Helen having chosen single parenthood with Henry, her nightmare relationship with Rob, the stabbing, Jack being born in prison....? When he chats to her, it sounds as though he is assuming that their experiences are similar.

The scripting of his control of vocabulary is very good.

Yes! That 'putting us up' was sheer evil.

Hard to say which way the SWs will jump - either he moves into LL or he's out of the show, surely? He can't afford Manchester without Lily's income - and would have no reason to be there anyway.

And of course Lily can't leave him homeless after he broke up his family 'for' her ...

At this rate LL will be unrecognisable by the time The Prodigal returns.

I was away from these threads at the time of Lizzie's panic attack - apart from the fact Russ had steamrollered her into going into Felpersham in the first place, he did at least seem to be genuinely good at dealing with that situation. You'd have hoped he would have been able to see how fragile Lizzie is at the moment, though I suppose she's trying to hide it.
Hopefully the next development won't be him trying to talk her through a 'panic attack' which turns out to be her dicky heart going seriously awry.

I am wondering if Russ will ramp up the control as Lily tries to break free. I gave up my life for you, what have I left to live for. But then again we have just been through all that with Rob.

I meant to say thanks for the new thread Bittermint. I had a momentary panic when I couldn't find it!

I absolutely agree with the excellent scripting of Russ - I wanted to punch him at that "thanks for putting up with us" bit. It's Lily's home! I so wished Elizabeth to say that, and that Lily is welcome there any time. But no such joy. I believe in Elizabeth's fragmentation. She won't call that business opportunity, will she. Are we seeing the slow decline of LoLo?

The funny thing about Russ is that he'd be quite good at being something like assistant manager at LL. As demonstrated with Lizzie, he is good in a crisis, practical and he does have good people skills, demonstrated through his teaching career and the way he's talked about being so happy when he made a difference for individual students.

He wants to be the great artist and to have the leisure time to achieve this - or he thinks he does. But he's not actually very good at organising his own time and creating his own 'mental space' in which to achieve this. He's far too dependent on other people to create his 'artistic metier' for him. An extrovert trying to be an introvert if you like, or just someone who hasn't developed the mental discipline to work alone, because it is hard and that isn't what he's ever done.

But then again we have just been through all that with Rob.

I think the SWs will be deliberately showing a different dynamic. Russ is a cocklodger but I don't think he's anything like psychopathic Rob. Lily is caught between her mother's genuine need and Russ's selfish neediness... when push comes to shove she is prioritising the former. She's actually- perhaps surprisingly- the antithesis of the 'MeMeMe' spoilt self-centred brat she might have been.

I hope she has another good chat with Phoebe and gets her university aspirations sorted out sensibly. She doesn't seem very engaged with her course, Manchester has a very good business school... I don't know how course switching works but maybe that would be something she'd focus on more.

In a way Rob was a bit panto. The best characters are contradictory. Eg Susan is a gossip but can be incredibly kind and is a very good friend to Clarrie. Russ is a good character and how he deals with this will be interesting. I don’t blame him for being disappointed- this is not what he had in mind at all. But he’s old enough to know that life has a habit of doing that!

Also Lily is incredibly good at running the place. Would it be so bad if she did that for a year or two. In some ways it might get her further than a degree? Even from a decent Uni.

Yes, Lily is someone who always seemed and thought herself so mature, as she's so socially competent, actually gaining maturity through difficult experience.

And yes, she should definitely defer for a year and start again (but please do not move to the Blasted University of Felpersham!). Stay at Manchester Lily!

Just checking in briefly (long-time lurker/intermittent contributor/frequent name-changer) to wish everyone on this thread a very happy new year!

And to say that I really enjoy the episodes in which Lily has a major role; the person who plays her is such a good actress!

Yes I agree Errol still Lottie and Slightly Russ is not Rob, just a manchild. Good on yer Lily

I like the dynamic between conscientous\slightly sanctimonious Susan and loose cannon Tracey.

I had to google who Tracey was didn't think much of her acting, think the accent slipped a couple of times too!

Does Tracey know Roy’s back on the market!?

I don't see why Lily couldn't leave Russ "homeless" just because he broke up his family "for" her, though no doubt he might try that argument on her. If you break up your family because you expect your teenage girlfriend to support you financially, you have to be prepared to take the risk that when the light dawns you will indeed have to sort out your own accommodation arrangements.

Absolutely Saturday, same as not being surprised if you loose your job for shagging students.

Oh, I agree Saturday - but perhaps Lily will see things differently?

Can I just say, this from lottie

He's far too dependent on other people to create his 'artistic metier' for him. An extrovert trying to be an introvert if you like, or just someone who hasn't developed the mental discipline to work alone, because it is hard and that isn't what he's ever done.

is just so true of people I've known ...

Surely Lee must have googled Helen by now and have learned about the coercive control/stabbing/prison. Just inconceivable that he would not have done so by this stage in a relationship.

I think he would also have heard things from the other parents in the karate class and/or from those he comes across at the Laurels etc.

LoLo is meant to have an art gallery. I'm sure ... the man whose name I can't remember, who was Nigel's mother's friend, who is meant to be running it, despite being in his 80s or something... wouldn’t Mind taking a back step to handover most of it to someone younger. Russ could do his sketches of Lower Loxley house and grounds and turn them into greetings cards to sell in the gallery and gift shop, and in between dealing with gallery visitors, could do more serious painting as part of his job. He could be doing stuff to help LoLo and be artistic.

The main attraction for Manchester is he's less likely to come across former pupils or colleagues than anywhere in Borsetshire. Plus Lily is keeping him, and all he has to do is the odd bit of cooking and housework in return.

Russ is not being realistic at all, which doesn’t ring true for someone who teaches art, he should know the art world, and how hard it is to make a living without another source of income. Most people I know who sell artwork are doing some teaching/gardening/ running workshops etc. ( art workshops would go down a treat at LL)

Was it the silent Lewis Ebear ? Maybe the actor has died and the SWs haven't got round to dealing with it yet.

Surely Lee must have googled Helen by now and have learned about the coercive control/stabbing/prison. Just inconceivable that he would not have done so by this stage in a relationship.

He might have done, and be waiting for Helen to tell him in her own time. But I don't think it's inconceivable that he hasn't. I'm Tom's age, so I suppose slightly younger than Lee; I would never think of googling a potential partner unless someone else considered it.

I googled myself this morning, at dc's instigation, and was surprised that a relatively high result was for teachers undergoing disciplinary proceedings. I have been a teacher but was never the subject of any disciplinary action. I hope I'm not an amnesiac Russ!

The actor who plays Lewis isn't dead - he spoke at a conference on Shakespeare last summer.