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The Archers - Freddie is getting OUT: will Russ hop it? Helen is falling DOWN: is Lee still in the frame? Tom is heading UP: will Natasha be the boost his sausage needs? (Thread no. 101

999 replies

DadDadDad · 23/03/2019 11:51

Archers

We're still here and still discussing TA (The Archers). We welcome newcomers and old hands, so if you have a question or a point of view, please dive in. No spoilers - if you've seen info on future storylines, there's a separate Radio Addicts thread for that.

I loved all the name changes on the last thread. Don't forget to change back! (If you want to).

Who's going to get Russ out of LL? Freddie? Lily? Elizabeth? Or is it Freddie who will head off?

OP posts:
Acis · 02/04/2019 11:25

I do hope Freddie's offender manager is going to ask some hard questions about his plans for jobs, college or just doing something useful with his life.

TheHumbleHawthorn · 02/04/2019 11:50

Elizabeth sounds like an infatuated girlfriend. The bowling and pizza was like a date (and I don't mean that in a pervy way)

BuckingFrolics · 02/04/2019 11:52

I am really feeling for Lily.

Mistake of a boyfriend with huge guilt and stress attached
Ballsed up first year
Mum not appreciating her
loveable arse of a brother
Excluded from inheritance

And she's only 21.

EBearhug · 02/04/2019 11:55

Is an offender manager what used to be a probation officer?

GeorgeTheBleeder · 02/04/2019 12:05

I do feel sorry for (beautiful, clever, heiress Hmm) Lily - But much sorrier for Elizabeth.

How old was Nigel when they first met? No doubt Freddie seems more like him every day. It must be awful for her - she couldn't protect/hold on to Nigel, and now she's failed to protect his living reincarnation too. She must really be wondering which gods she should abase herself before in order to keep this one safe from now on.

It's sad but not surprising that she pays no attention to the (female, non-reincarnated) child she thinks can cope better with life.

Motoko · 02/04/2019 12:10

Lily's 18, not 21.

ppeatfruit · 02/04/2019 12:17

Lizzie is trying to be fair to Lily, she was at work when they went bowling and it was mentioned, you'd want to treat your errant ex con child wouldn't you?

GeorgeTheBleeder · 02/04/2019 12:22

I hope the words Riot Act might occur to me before "Let's go out for a lovely day of treats".

ppeatfruit · 02/04/2019 12:32

I'm trying to remember who he broke down and said sorry to, was it Lily or Lizzie? He's been punished why should he be punished again by having the riot act read to him George ?

BuckingFrolics · 02/04/2019 12:32

I think all the more of Lily now I know she's 18.

Lizzie should absolutely talk to Freddie about his behaviour from now on. The "it's only one missed session" comment he made re her therapist was telling - he's not changed.
(Huzzar as I love him as he is but I would not want him as my son.)

BuckingFrolics · 02/04/2019 12:34

Pp he's been punished by society yes, but his mother should /could usefully talk with him about a) what prison has taught him b) his plans for himself c) how they will all live together at LL.

MikeUniformMike · 02/04/2019 12:35

Lily is 19.

Pegsinarow · 02/04/2019 12:41

Elizabeth sounds like an infatuated girlfriend. The bowling and pizza was like a date (and I don't mean that in a pervy way)

Yes , I think that might be because her success as a parent - especially since Nigel died - is all tied up in the sense of her own worth. And as that has taken a huge knock recently, she is desperately trying to cling on to the relationship not only because she loves and adores Freddy but also as a means of saving herself maybe?

GabrielleNelson · 02/04/2019 12:45

So is Freddie. He needs gainful employment, not endless treats.

EBearhug · 02/04/2019 13:17

He needs gainful employment, not endless treats.

He does, but he was only released on Friday, so I think a week off real life is okay.

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/04/2019 13:28

All that insistent inspection of Jakob's birth, nationality and parental background was really uncomfortable to listen to.

In the past one had to put up with that sort of thing. If I'd been Jakob right now I'd have been on the phone to my employers by lunchtime.

I thought Alastair was just struggling to make small talk based on what scanty facts he knew and Jakob was just rude. He could have said at the beginning 'I've lived in England all my life and don't know anything about Sweden' and prevented all the questioning. The idea that he could be on the spectrum is an interesting one, though.

CaptainMyCaptain · 02/04/2019 13:29

Compare&contrast to Anisha: I don't remember Al trying to force tablet or fish curry onto her
Because she was more outgoing and it was less of a struggle to talk to her.

BorsetshireBlueBalls · 02/04/2019 13:37

his mother should /could usefully talk with him about a) what prison has taught him b) his plans for himself c) how they will all live together at LL.

I'm not sure that even non-depressed Elizabeth was ever quite up to that kind of strategic thinking. IIRC her strategy with Freddie was a) nag and push him into more academic success and when that didn't work out b) give up and leave him alone. I can understand that, since Freddie's future is absolutely bound up in LL, the question of what he's doing to do with his life seems less pressing but, as other posters have very sensibly pointed out, taking him out of school, getting him doing practical work in running the business and supplementing it with relevant part-time studies might have done that boy a world of good.

PresidentOliviaMumsnet · 02/04/2019 15:00

I started another thread but just wondering if anyone from this thread is coming to the conference in Sheffield this weekend?

EBearhug · 02/04/2019 15:12

I will be at Sheffield.

MollyButton · 02/04/2019 15:40

If anyone can get to Sheffield this weekend, they have reopened booking for the Academic Archers conference, apparently they need at least 10 more people on Saturday to break even. www.eventbrite.com/e/academic-archers-2019-in-sheffield-tickets-46680949978
You might even get to hear me as well as the beloved Olivia.

ppeatfruit · 02/04/2019 16:19

Yes Borsetshire But IME there's a stage in ado development when they don't want to do ANYTHING recommended by parents, however sensible. They have to grow up and become more experienced to appreciate good advice. They get there eventually with luck and sensible parenting, which I define as not too free and not too strict Grin it's not an easy path but worth it.

Motoko · 02/04/2019 17:18

Lily is 19.

Ah, I must have forgotten their last birthday. I remember their 18th, and as she was in her first year of uni, was thinking she was still 18.

I won't be going to the conference, but I do follow the Twitter feed, when I'm on Twitter.

ValuesPrivacy · 02/04/2019 17:42

Jakob on autistic spectrum? it seems a bit unlikely if he is a successful horse vet. In my experience, most horse owners need more delicate handling than their horses and wouldn't put up with someone as rude as Jakob. On the other hand, perhaps he is just letting it show that he thinks Alastair is a patronising old git?

BorsetshireBlueBalls · 02/04/2019 17:59

I am living through that stage right now, ppeat. It's a fucking nightmare. And a long one, too. So I am absolutely not without insight and sympathy for Elizabeth. However (to do that weird thing of mixing real life and TA), were I in Elizabeth's position, in possession of lots of different strings to pull to get my offspring decent work and experience, I would certainly do that rather than insisting that the poor sod keep flogging away at A levels. Do you remember how Freddie wanted to leave school/college and work on the farm? Elizabeth could have helped him develop that into a better idea but instead she just set her face against it.