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...

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime - as they say on Reddit, username checks out! That's some good attention to detail...

Mia was brilliant.

Yes, the Mia actress was fantastic.

I'm amazed that by the implication Elizabeth has been guarantor for a flat that a grown man would be living in. Surely CMR has some money? Or is the "flaky Lara going turn out to be "unreasonable/angry wife"

Agree that Lily's sneering at Freddie's proposal was out of order though dramatically apposite as she was about to be exposed as a feckless liar.

Tip-top acting from Mia.

It all hangs together for me.

I also do have sympathy for Lily, you are only a grown up some of the time at 19 and she has a mostly utterly useless mother and criminally useless brother.

I also do have sympathy for Lily, you are only a grown up some of the time at 19 and she has a mostly utterly useless mother and criminally useless brother

Though to be fair, neither of these people, by their uselessness, forced her in to her affair with CMR, her insistence on living with him, and the continued concealment of the real reasons for their departure from Manchester. While Elizabeth has been alienating by her attention to Freddie at the expense of Lily's "reliable" status, he isn't responsible for it. Not sure Freddie is entirely unless as he has consistently warned Lily against CMR.

You are muddling eviction and payment of the rent. A landlord can pursue unpaid rent without going for eviction. But they had been evicted, surely - that's why they turned up at LL with all their worldly goods

I’ve had to pay the bailiffs for my father in the past & he’s always sounded completely panicked. I think I made a bank transfer. Thank you for the new thread DDD.

I don't think Lily and Russ ever said they had been evicted. I suspect they left because, understandably, eviction was being threatened or in response to an eviction notice. Once they'd left, the landlords took action to recover the rent.

With a £5000 debt hanging over her, Ireally don't understand why Lily has always been OK with CMR refusing to soil his hands with non-arty work, or indeed why she didn't try to find a job sooner and make arrangements to pay by instalments.

I was about to say that it is a pity radio acting doesn't get enough recognition. If mia actress was putting in those kind of performances on a tv soap she would be a shoe in for best newcomer awards etc. But perhaps this is a better way, as am never sure that kind of attention at such a young age is a good thing.

So are we to understand that Lily and CMR essentially did a moonlight flit from Manchester?

This whole SL really has strayed into the unbelievable on many levels - that Lily would just walk away from the flat and the debt and think she could simply ignore it (while entitled and stubborn, she isn't stupid) is ridiculous. She knew full well that Elizabeth was the guarantor and would be pursued for any debt.

That CMR, the adult man whose petulant whining and laziness created the situation that led to the debt, is just not being mentioned at all - so far - in relation to it is preposterous.

Scales need to fall from the eyes of the LoLoThree pretty damn quick. It's terrible scriptwriting.

(Though well done Mia - boo and hiss to Will, and I despair of Clarrie).

I can’t remember them turning up with all their stuff, either. I remember that L&R had angry exchanges about money and L refused to touch Peggy for it, but I don’t think we knew they had left forever, did we? Or an I forgetting?

Yes there was an implication that they had all their stuff. There was a conversation where lizzie said but I haven't made the beds up and they said oh we brought sheets too.

The scene with Mia was quite good, but don't forget that the actress is several years (?about 7?) older than the character.

We heard them turning up with all their stuff and Lily told Russ they weren't to tell Lizzie that it was because they couldn't pay the rent because that would upset Lizzie (and take the shine off Lily's altruism in giving up uni to look after her mother)

It must have been a moonlight flit.

I vaguely assumed they had come to an agreement with the landlord- (most landlords will allow an early exit if the tenant does the running on finding a new tenant and meets the costs of setting up a new lease. It's far preferable to having an empty property and rent arrears) That of course would have needed Lily and Russ to behave like adults. They must however have led Lizzie to believe that was the case.

That Lily would just walk away from the flat and the debt and think she could simply ignore it (while entitled and stubborn, she isn't stupid) is ridiculous. She knew full well that Elizabeth was the guarantor and would be pursued for any debt

Apart from being good at passing exams I've not seen much evidence that Lily isn't quite stupid. The whole setting up with Russ miles from the university and the awful shopping episode don't show someone using much critical thinking.

Plus she knew for ages about Freddy's dealing but kept quiet.

“Plus she knew for ages about Freddy's dealing but kept quiet.”

Because Freddie blackmailed her. You know, that nice, boyish, charming Freddie?

People very often go into denial about debt. Maybe she thought if they cleared out the landlord would write it off?

Bu are muddling eviction and payment of the rent. A landlord can pursue unpaid rent without going for eviction.But they had been evicted, surely - that's why they turned up at LL with all their worldly goods

There was no mention of eviction when they turned up- just that they could not afford to stay. That could mean a negotiated exit (which would be the sensible thing to do if Lily is supposed to not be stupid) or a moonlight flit (which is the really stupid thing to do when your guarantor is easily traceable)

So not only has Lily deceived her mother about why she left she has concealed the fact they left leaving debts.

People very often go into denial about debt. Maybe she thought if they cleared out the landlord would write it off?

I thought Lily was supposed to be the clever twin ?

Freddy blackmailing her doesn't cut it as an excuse for not telling. If she and Russ were so much in love it was going to become public eventually.

Blimey Lass you really don't like Lily!

I love how complex and contradictory she is - which is bang on for a 19 year old imo.

It will be fascinating to see how CRM responds to this.

I thought Mia was really well written and very well acted. When we are emotional we don't limit our outbursts to the "facts" so if course to Mia it feels like she does " all the shopping" even though factually that may not be true.

I thought Freddie showed the tiniest glimmer of emerging maturity in leaving the room when told to by Lizzie.

george is right about every thing, as per.

Tom showing his usual clot colours - not confiding in Helen was typical of him.

I can confirm that 19-year-olds at university can be as wise as anything one moment and then flip back into behaving like much younger teenagers the next.

Some of my daughter’s friends from very wealthy backgrounds can be naive about the realities of signing legally binding contracts.

Hi All,
Thanks for new thread. Questions surely you can have a hair cut and still need it plaited? I also do an online grocery shop and in store shopping too so I don't think it's a stretch, nor to imagine Will doesn't do the best grocery shop. Also I don't think Will making one sandwich is evidence of him doing chores. I don't know why he isn't paying Emma to clean though. Him not having a cleaner has annoyed me for ages. Mia explained that she forgot to ask Carrie after trying twice because she is overloaded with stress. She's trying to do school, homework and be a house and wife and maybe once or twice an actual teenager.

I think this filial duty and forgetfulness contrasts quite nicely with Lily and her recent financial memory problems.

Stop it ...

Lily’s misfortune has lately sent me into a reverie, because I was just as clueless and idiotic during my first year at university and along with other things it had a significantly deleterious effect on - really - the rest of my life. I too was supposed to be clever. And had led a rather protected life. And was the know it all elder sibling. Debt (Blackwells!) and boyfriend distraction and total abandonment of critical thinking completely scuppered smooth progression to a brilliant future.

I can well imagine that Mia feels the weight of expectation bearing down unbearably on her - all that ‘good girl’, ‘aren’t you doing well, helping out like that’, ‘it’s the best cricket tea evah’ stuff. And Clarrie’s one of the worst perpetrators.

Even if she’s not physically hauling all the shopping back, she sure as hell knows it’s her responsibility, because nobody seems to have thought properly for a moment about what’s happening to this young teenager who’s been turned into the default carer for the family, and carries the mental load.

I absolutely cannot stand Will.