#102: Fatted calf is off the menu - will the Easter Bunny save Lower Loxley's bacon, or will there be egg on Russ's face? Will Tom's sausage business get the chop? Join us here to discuss The Archers!

[GabrielleNelson]

Thanks due to @PseudoBadger for kicking off 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. Thanks also to all those who contributed to the thread title, principally Dumdedumdedum and MikeUniformMike on this occasion.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to be Susan's best friend or other odd unusual views.

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 this thread, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

So, to business: will Helen's new cheese be a success? Will Kate succeed in keeping her visiting Brummies under control? Will Pip, Toby, Tom and Natasha fall into the slurry pit, leaving Rosie to be brought up by Anthony Head Robin Fairbrother? Will we ever hear Lee again, and will he casually drop in a mention of his fine collection of framed Bruce Lee posters?

I'm not of Natasha's mentality (which would probably expect something exotic for a honeymoon; we went on basic self-catering on the south coast for ours) but I think even I would reject a destination where I'm likely to bump into people I know.

Can you imagine having a romantic week interrupted by meeting your MIL at the supermarket, or being spotted at a restaurant by work colleagues?

Natasha mentioned Scotland or Northern Ireland. She would have been fine with that.

Yes, but she'd rather have had the other option. She only mentioned those after hearing she didn't need her passport.

Good point DDD . Different people have different expectations of a holiday, e.g. relaxing vs active or beach vs city but a minimum is to get away from everyday life.

Plenty of nicer & more interesting places Tom could have booked within the UK if the carbon footprint was a consideration (which it wasn't).

I reckon you need a journey of a minimum of 2 hours away by car not to feel that you're just holidaying 'at home'. At least not in the same county!

Anyway, I guess the whole point is to show the final straw in Tom not really "getting" Natasha.

He's so lacking in emotional intelligence: I mean, I hardly know the woman, but it's blindingly obvious that he'd have been better saying "let's book two nights city break in a luxury hotel - I was thinking Edinburgh but maybe there's somewhere else you've never been, take some time for shopping and sightseeing, then start saving for a proper honeymoon in Thailand / Morocco / ..., once I've sold the pigs" that would be more likely to hit the spot.

We also had a one nighter near home, which I booked - I was v busy at work and couldn’t take more leave at that time. But I ran it past dh - it went something like ‘What do you prefer? Dunbar or North Berwick?’ We went to NB, did some cycling, had fun, visited Tantallan Castle which I hadn’t been to before. Months later we went to Bruges.

With Tom and Natasha it was even more crucial to have had a short chat about destination and expectations- it’s all just a bit silly at present. I hope, for all our sakes, the writing team have a plan. However, I find myself wondering about Natasha - since she doesn’t eat proper meals, maybe s/c seemed like a good choice. Just bung a few energy bars in your bag and on you go.

It only seems to be in soaps and sitcoms that people make a big thing of surprising someone with a trip, party etc. You'd think they'd have learnt by now that it always results in upset (soaps) or hiLARious misunderstanding (sitcoms).

Planning things together is part of the fun - and a good way to get to know each other.

I agree with DDD!

And to add insult to injury, a self-catering honeymoon

Re Jazzer. I would have thought he would have jumped at the pigman job. What kind of job is he expecting to get now with his "transferable skills"?

Didn't he say something about no less than management?

Deeevid and Roooth are on Pointless right now! BBC1.

I think Jazzer’s been spending too much time listening to Susan Carter! Much as I like Jazzer - I love all my boys - some people just aren’t destined for management.

The sound of Natasha's clicky high heels gives me a very good mental picture of her.

Deeevid and Roooth are on Pointless right now! BBC1.

Whatshername should use her real voice, it's a lot more convincing, she seems to speak through clenched teeth when in character, as though she's had her jaws wired together.

Also they are very mismatched in size, Deeevid is huge beside her.

Actually DDD I get the Alexei S. moaning monologue although it applies more to the vast industrial piggery run by Justin, than to the free range pigs at Bridge Farm they live in arks and are moved once the earth is too muddy for them.

Just over the hill from us they had happy pigs in arks that we waved to But the effing Elf and safety finished that and they now live in a great long shed. it's vile what we humans do to the natural world.

Ah, yes - on a second hearing it does seem Peggy was thinking about how to divvy up her money amongst the grandchildren and their offspring - rather than simply being horribly nosey towards Natasha.

But she doesn't need to ask Natasha her plans to do that does she?

I thought Peggy has reverted to leaving her children equal shares? It would be impossible to be fair to the grandchildren / great grandchildren because it’s possible that more will come along after she dies.

Perhaps Tom was being mindful about cost aswell.

Since he pointed out to Gnasher that her debts are now their debts, I bet it's preying on his mind.

Especially as farmers are well known for being very 'careful' with money

As much as I dislike Gnasher, Tom's honeymoon idea was awful.
If he'd phrased it like "I know we've not spent much time together so I've booked us a few days away nearby to enjoy" it would've sounded much better!

If he’s being careful with money he wouldn’t be getting takeaways all the time either!

Are her debts now his debts too? I didn’t think that was the case By more. Or is it? In which case, she presumably now vanishes and leaves him to the bailiffs.

No, Gnasher's debts aren't Tom's. I shall be seriously pissed off if the SWs try to make out they are, there is already far too much misunderstanding around that generally.

The SL is absurd. Even idiot Tom wouldn't book a lodge in borsetshire for their honeymoon.

I think gnasher is dreadful but I'm very bored by both Pat and Tony's children making such awful relationship choices

Are her debts now his debts too? I didn’t think that was the case By more. Or is it? In which case, she presumably now vanishes and leaves him to the bailiffs

No they aren't, other than the implausible bank loan they jointly and implausibly persuaded a bank to give them for the implausible vegetable box app. (I have mentioned the implausibility of this storyline before)