Discuss The Archers - yes, this really is Thread 103. Are you going to vote for feet, stations of the cross, or a hologram? Will Natasha ever return? Will Russ ever leave?

[DadDadDad]

Exciting times - this thread will witness our 100,000th post in this long-running unbroken chain of threads.

New and old posters welcome. Don't spoil with any future plotlines.

And if you need a beginners' guide see here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have

Carry on...

I thought the actor who plays Elizabeth, played it very well. When she was getting her bag and talking to Lily, you could hear a slight tremor in her voice, even though she'd taken charge of the situation, which as her adrenaline would be pumping, was exactly right.

I've had bailiffs at the door, and it's scary as f. I was a young mum in an abusive marriage, and had run up debts because my (now ex) husband didn't give me enough money for the housekeeping.

I've avoided credit since.

“I was intrigued by your bailiff story, Bert, what hadn't you paid for?”

Long story- and 30 years ago!

Fair enough!

Told you it was Mia who took the money!!!

Massive BOOP for Mia.

You go Mia!!!
Hope Will is ashamed of himself. She's a little girl.

That was rather heartbreaking

Lizzie would have had to be a guarantor or Lily wouldn’t have got the flat.
She should have paid. Then summoned Russ to get his story, I can understand her comforting Lily- she’s only 19. But Russ needs a wake up call

Lily needs a wake up call as well. She went behind her mother's back about cancelling her place in halls. She just expected her mother would pay up for a flat instead.

She lied about her non- existent lesbian friend.

She lied by non- disclosure about the real reason she and Russ are at LL allowing her mother and everyone else think what a saint she is in giving up uni for a year.

I don't understand the sympathy on here for Lily. She is a spoilt, deceitful brat. She's happy to bask in the glory of how wonderful she is yet reverts to being 10 years old when it suits her.

A bit gloomy all round.

I don’t know what the SW intended to convey but I’d imagine Elizabeth and Lily are entirely accustomed to being in charge of LL. And thinking of Freddie as just another thing (though beloved) to manage

That's it exactly. Lily being a grownup when it suits her. The very same idea if it had come from Lily would have been snapped up.

Poor Mia! I’m actually finding the scenes with her in very well done and well acted.

I’m also a fan of Leonard. He can stay too.

I don't see much sympathy for Lily on here. Not compared to peoples view on Freddie, I think the contrast between how people talk about Freddie and how they talk about Lily is quite noticeable.
My sympathy for her is based on the fact that in my view she was groomed by an abusive man. Her inability to deal with the consequences of that are not unusual in someone of her age I would have thought.

I couldn't agree with Clarrie telling Will it wasn't his fault. He's been avoiding spending time at home, leaving Mia with all the housework and mental load. It's totally his fault.

Poor Mia, but at least it all came tumbling out. Now Will needs to face the fact that he's the only parent, and get on with the job.

It was well acted.

Yes, huge BOOP for Mia. No BOOPs at all for Clarrie and Will who have all the emotional intelligence of Joe's toenail clippings.

I also couldn't understand why everyone was so quick to pooh pooh Freddie's idea. Very astute as ever, George - they are indeed in for a huge wakeup call when it sinks in that very soon Freddie will be in charge as the owner.

Isn’t it quite likely that Will has no idea of all the details that Nic would have taken care of? And before he met her he probably relied completely on Emma to run George’s life - he only had him for a short time each week. I doubt he’s ever had to see to children’s hair, or uniforms. Though ducking out of reading is decidedly off. And forgetting when school things need paying is pretty dreadful. I’m afraid his wives both enabled his uselessness ...

(Thank you Nelson ...)

If he is unable to understand the above he needs to not have custody of his children.

Yes indeed. And of course when he was at school Clarrie would have seen to all of that, and amongst his friends so would most of their mothers, including Susan. Even Pat and Ruth probably took on almost all of the humdrum day to day school and household stuff without anybody else ever noticing it or valuing it.

I don't see much sympathy for Lily on here. Not compared to peoples view on Freddie
Lily lost sympathy long before CMR. Remember her Emma Woodhouse phase? She's always been a bit full of herself, which is an unforgivable sin.
Freddie is a charming mix of bravado and little-boy-lost. (Well, it's charming when he's 19 y.o. It won't be so charming if he's still doing it ten years from now.) People warm to his vulnerability and therefore tolerate his foibles.

I don't really get the charming thing, I think he treats Johnny appallingly for example.

Bit disappointed by Clarrie taking the blame. I would've been a lot happier had she ripped into Will telling him to step up and get some parenting skills.

I’m hoping Clarrie will have words with Will when Mia’s not there.

“People warm to his vulnerability and therefore tolerate his foibles.”

I don’t. I’m definitely team Lily.

About Mia: this storyline it is full of holes. Not huge in each case, but they add up, for me.

For a start, Clarrie said Jim brought the money round "first thing", when presumably Mia wasn't in the house -- she sleeps in Greenwood Cottage not Grange Farm. And it was gone when Clarrie next went home. So when exactly did Mia take it? Would she have been there after school when Clarrie and Emma were out?

And then there is Poppy's hair. A couple of weeks ago Mia was saying she had to spend her money to take Poppy to have her hair cut by the person Nic had it done by, but today she was having to plait Poppy's hair. So it is long and needing plaits, or short and needing to be cut by the special hairdresser.

And then there is doing all the shopping, only she doesn't: Will does it on line, as we know because of the time Ruairi gave her a lift home on his bike so she would be in when it was delivered. If he forgets something (like the pickles) he immediately takes the blame for it. Mia sometimes gets one thing from the shop, but that's not "all the shopping".

And he does at least some of the housework, because we heard about the pickle when he was making sandwiches.

And why didn't silly Mia leave a note: "Dear Granny, I borrowed some money so Poppy could go on a school trip, I'll pay you back" isn't that hard to write, is it? And she borrowed it on 29th, and was talking to Clarrie on 28th and said she had tried to tell her about the trip then, so she could have mentioned it at some point when they were not being interrupted by Clarrie not listening to her. They must have been together for a couple of hours at least and alone together for quite a lot of that while they got the teas ready.

It doesn't quite hang together, somehow.

Brilliant acting by Mia, perfect example of the mental load and how stressful it can be.