#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?

Dadx3 If you took on that duty (of challenging sweeping generalisations) regarding this thread, you'd be busy!

ref. Mia's future, I'd prefer working in a teashop for life to floating around a tiny cabin, breathing artificial air, eating shxx , wearing a spacesuit with vast nappy, for a possibly very short life.

But the difference is that you and your wife discussed it first DDD!
Alleycat’s point was that ASSUMING a woman will want to go s-c is a moronic thing to do.

I really hated that they got Mia to do the teas and I particularly cringed at Will saying how it was going to be a really great one. And I didn’t see it as Mia picking awkward times to ask the question, I heard it as Clarrie being too dim to notice that Mia had something genuinely important on her mind. I hope Miss Jenkins sees the family setup and supports Mia to resist being steamrollered into being a “little wife and mother” at such a young age. It reminded me of how the Famous 5 used to treat Anne!

It was Shula who picked an awkward time to ask a question - just as Al was rummaging for his box and then rushing off to continue the game of cricket. Which he was right in the middle of.

And when he excused himself and rushed off - quite rightly, in my view, given that it wasn’t the moment for in-depth relationship analysis - she could harrumph and yet again feel the warm glow of being hard-done-by.

Honestly, there’s a time and a place, and Shula doesn’t seem to get that.

And that box reference! What is this tedious willy obsession? That’s 5 in a week, I think.

Really? They must have gone over my head.

What was Shula thinking? She knew Alistair was in the middle of playing a match, and anyway, how Alistair feels about it, is none of her business. She's the one who wanted the divorce.

She seems to think that she can still have the same close relationship with him (minus the living together and sex) that they had when married. She doesn't seem to understand that divorce changes that, and he has no obligation towards her any more, so she has no right to expect that, and get huffy when he's not available for her.

Any self-catering break is no holiday for a woman

It is when I go. It is always strictly on the basis that I will be doing minimal cooking, so lots of meals out, take aways, things like soups, salads, bread and cheese/paté, etc. And that washing up, tidying etc will be equally shared. I like not being tied in to hotel mealtimes etc.

“Really? They must have gone over my head.”
Two rabbit/carrot incidents, Jakob’s organ, Russ’s wasp sting and now a box

I don't get what sort of conversation Shula wants about the decree absolute anyway. She wanted the divorce, she's got it, it's quite simply no longer her business how Alistair feels about it,

Actually, on these threads, I think we are quite good at avoiding sweeping generalisations - there is good discussion of the subtleties, eg recognising that whatever the merits of Tom's honeymoon's plans he hadn't really thought through how it would be perceived by Natasha.

So, sorry, @Alleycat1, you made a statement without any qualification which I felt a bit personally. I appreciate it wasn't personal, so I'll back off, and say it's always good to have lurkers join the discussion - so welcome, and please come back!

I'm with you on that Bertrand.
Maybe they've got a 9 year old on the sw team.

DDD Very sorry to upset you. Mea culpa. I should have been more specific and said that any man who books a self-catering holiday, especially when it is their honeymoon, without consulting his partner is a complete moron. Obviously that was not the case with you and your wife. Tom is just so thoughtless and had no idea how Natasha would receive it. I didn't expect her to do a runner though!

A honeymoon is a once in a lifetime holiday and Tom should have considered one of the Spiritual Home yurts.

Two rabbit/carrot incidents, Jakob’s organ, Russ’s wasp sting and now a box

Ah yes. Had a lot on my mind, and they felt like longer ago.

I don't think Natasha did a runner because of the honeymoon I think she did a runner because she realised she doesn't know Tom, and that what she has seen so far is not for her.

Alley - no problem - as I say, I realise it wasn't aimed personally!

birds - I agree, but I guess that just takes us back to wondering why they got so married so quickly in the first place - did the SWs really think that was realistic? did Tom not hesitate knowing what happened with Kirsty?

If it's really the end of the marriage, I wonder what Tony and Pat are going to feel about keeping their doubts to themselves?

Oi, spoilers thread is that way BertrandRussell.

Oh god sorry! I thought we’d talked about it on here! I must be getting it muddled up with real life........

Nat and Tom are both silly, one is a flybynight salesperson with very little depth to her. The other is wedded to his farm and pigs (which he won't admit to) .They both obviously felt that it was time for them to settle down properly and have chosen their partners unwisely.

As I said upthread "marry in haste....."

BertrandRussell
Two rabbit/carrot incidents, Jakob’s organ, Russ’s wasp sting and now a box

The first four were Adrian Flynn writing and the last one was a new scriptwriter, Sarah McDonald Hughes. Does anyone know any of her other work? I've never heard of her before.

Google tells us that Ms Hughes is an actor and writer and artistic director of a theatre company.

However - this synopsis of one of her plays seems significant. It appears there’s a reason for her being brought in!

Oh. Oh dear! I hope you're wrong about that. I don't want any more doom-and-gloom in The Archers. There's quite enough already. In fact, when was the last really cheerful storyline?

Oh god, is she writing the Mia SL? It sounds much the same.

As a lurker I don't want to get ahead of myself... but does anyone else think that maybe Mia has taken the money? She's under a lot of pressure, who knows...

That was my thought too chatnick....