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

[DadDadDad]

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?

I’m keeping my new name just now too. I’ve just had a pm addressed to a very previous user name so I’m feeling more confused than ever! I was away with DH Thursday and Friday but listened on podcast. However I’ve completely forgotten what happened in either episode so I can’t make any comments whatsoever - I don’t want to listen again as have other things I need to do. Thanks to Father Fred again.

I don’t know if the storyline is meant to highlight how behind the times Bridge Farm / Tom is so we can see how easily he’ll be seduced by Natasha’s ambition, or if it’s just a load of nonsense.
I took it to mean that Bridge Farm concentrate on doing whereas Natasha subs out that boring bit and concentrates purely on the marketing. Tom and Natasha could be yin & yang or chalk & cheese. Time will show.

We went out to a National Trust property this afternoon and had a look round the second-hand bookshop. They had a few Archers books, most of which were the usual who's who / summary of SL. But they had a copy of JD and John Tregorran's book so I snapped that up - especially since, tucked inside, there was a birthday card from 1990 signed by over 20 of the cast!

At the end of Thursdays ep I sighed happily and thought "the lsw has been listening to Bon Jovi" after Helen said "we've got each other and that's enough".

And now you all have an earworm... :o

Tom met Natasha through the Nuffield scholarship - I'm not sure if we were ever told where her orchard is situated, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't in Borsetshire as no-one in the Ambridge farming community seems to have any prior knowledge of her. She wasn't routinely around before they got together (after her first mention) which made think she didn't live locally - if not actually in Wales then certainly over that way. Tom goes out in Borchester and Felpersham and the Bridge Farm organic shop used to be based in Borchester so you'd think he and Helen would have had wind of someone producing award-winning organic fruit juice in the local area. Tom might be a bit of an idiot, but he has done lots of networking and marketing of his sausages all over the place at supermarkets, other retailers and at various country fairs and events over the years. If Natasha had Borsetshire links their paths would have crossed.

So much going on in tonight's episode - Lily loving being away from CMR (preferring to be selling kitchens and hanging out with young people), CMR deepening his bond with Elizabeth and Shula raising an eyebrow at the suggestion he is "looking after" her, confirmation of Tom and Natasha's the expensive house in Penny Hasset with assumptions being made that Natasha is loaded based on the car she drives and the "clobber" she wears, Jill's enthusiasm about the possible forthcoming christening - still blithely unaware that one of Rosie's names is Grace, to say nothing of the spring cleaning and plans for French toast going on at LL in happy anticipation of Freddie's return as if he were just coming home from Uni (as my dd an infrequent listener assumed) rather than being released from prison - BOOPS all round.

The son of a friend of mine got married a few years ago, a while into the marriage they had debt collectors at the door, and it came to light that unknown to him, his wife had endless debts and a very serious spending habit. I wonder if this is where they are going with Natasha, is there actually money there or is it all an illusion.

They are certainly sowing the seeds - remembering the generous Christmas presents as well.

Thank you Father Thread

Am increasingly annoyed at the horror being expressed by assorted Archers that Lily is working in a call centre.

I thought it ended very abruptly.

I think the horror at working in a call centre is a clumsy device to demonstrate that she'd rather be doing a gruelling and lowly task (which the call centre is intended to represent) than hanging out with CMR at LL. The fact that she's finding it such fun and so stimulating only serves to emphasise how un-stimulating hanging out with CMR must be by comparison.

I'm similarly raging at the Archers all sneering at Lily working in a lowly call centre as if it's beneath her. She's dropped out of university with only A Levels to her name and no other job on her CV. Why on earth do they think top companies will be desperate to sign her up? She's bloody lucky to have a job at all.

My beef in this ep is lingusitic. Peggy? saying it's Mothering Sunday rather than Mothering Sunday. A USAnian inflection.

The same goes for the increasing trend to speak of wildflowers and all one word!!!, rather than wild flowers and two words.

And breathe.

She's bloody lucky to have a job at all. The point is she doesn't really need a job - she dropped out of uni to support her mum and help run LL. The telephone sales job was suggested by Rex and she is relishing it because it gives her time away from CMR (something which is also necessary plot-wise if he is to make his move on Elizabeth).

Yes, CMR is so terribly useful right now.

I must say I thought it a bit grim Lily's discussing Elizabeth's medication with CMR there. Can't put my finger on why. It's as if he hasn't earned the right to this, no matter how many beds he heaves around.

I suppose the collective Archer gaping at Lily's call-centre job is about the gap between their expectations of her - high achiever at school, landing very good university place, the 'together' one of the twins - and what she is doing currently - dropped out of university, loser boyfriend, working in a job about which no-one ever has a good word to say. (Mind you, wasn't Jill a product demonstrator, so should know a thing or two about sales?) For the listener, Lily getting this job is A Good Thing because she's away from the wretched Russ and with people her own age. Also, might begin to appreciate where some extra education could take her.

I'm puzzled that high-flying, juice making, successful business woman Natasha seems to spend no time at all on her business. Now I get that it is possible to be so successful in business that eventually one can leave it to managers to run but (a) that usually takes some time and (b) even then the entrepreneur usually keeps her hand in.

I'm also puzzled why high-flying, juice making, successful business woman Natasha was still living in a house share when she met Tom.

The point is she doesn't really need a job - she dropped out of uni to support her mum and help run LL

No she didn't. That is what she is happy for Ambridge to think. She went back after the Christmas holidays. She dropped out of uni because she and CMR had no money left to stay in Manchester.

The collective, vocal outcry at the call centre job is weird. Phoebe is at Oxford but she got a job fruit-picking. I don't see a great deal of difference.

I think the outcry is that she has got a job while CMR has not - he's the one hanging around LL with Elizabeth. Phoebe's holiday fruit picking job is seen as a normal extension of being a student. Dashing home mid-term with your unemployed, middle-aged boyfriend to look after your sick mum and the ailing family business (which is how Lily has explained her return), is not the same thing. To be honest I think even if people knew the truth (that they'd come home because they'd run out of money) their attitude would be the same - why doesn't CMR get a job?

Excellent post BorsetshireBlueBalls. A good summary.

Oh I love it here. I have found my tribe.
Warm dopey smile as I drift off to sleep thinking of all things Ambridge.

I wonder if this is where they are going with Natasha, is there actually money there or is it all an illusion.

I really hope not. It would be nice if just one woman in TA is allowed to be intelligent and successful without being penalised for it with some horrendous "flaw". I would be surprised if someone was a Nuffield advisor without some sort of track record of success.

The orchards could be Hereford way or closer to Borsetshire. We haven't actually heard much from Natasha until quite recently. She was always quite busy before she started going out with Tom. OTOH we don't hear much about the day to day work of other people unless it overlaps with their personal stories.

The collective, vocal outcry at the call centre job is weird. Phoebe is at Oxford but she got a job fruit-picking. I don't see a great deal of difference.

Yes quite. At that age, especially as a student, you take anything that pays and doesn't require long term commitment.

Jill seems to have forgotten that Lizzie worked in telesales when she needed work and learned a lot from it which proved useful later on. Jenny is often called out for being silly and snobbish but the Brookfield Archers are no different in forgetting where they came from.

She dropped out of uni because she and CMR had no money left to stay in Manchester.

There was more to it than that. Lily and CMR had run out of money but in the first term Lily was telling Phoebe that she wasn't really enjoying university life. Hardly surprising as she wasn't involved in that life because she had a middle aged cocklodger to support in his artsy area nowhere near the university.

She also wasn't particularly enjoying the course. I was surprised that she chose English. I had assumed she would be going to do something business related.

C8H10
I thought Lizzie either invited Roy into her tent or crawled into his at the festival. He was amazed and couldn't believe his luck then fell in love with her. She had just wanted a fling with him and couldn't take his puppylove emotions so told him where to go. And the casualties were lovely Hayley and her daughter, plus, of course, Roy.