Thread #106: Jim’s in a jam, Peggy’s made a pickle and Lexi is blooming - sounds like the entries are lining up for this year’s flower and produce show, but who will be on the organising committee?

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads and @DadDadDad for being our resident statistician and keeping the ball rolling when Pseudo stepped back a bit.

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For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, DadDadDad has created this useful thread: 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 BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks to LillianGish for the title of this thread.

Holding episode tonight, I thought - not much progress on any current storyline. I was a touch surprised Natasha wasn't offended by the postnup idea but I suspect she's biding her time.

Brilliant last couple of minutes today.

Ali and Fi are great together. I hope Shula and Al get back together, but in a better way.

I really hope they don't.

Elder abuse in action. Let the poor man alone, Fiona! You can do nothing to help him, and all you are doing is making it all about you so that he now has to feel guilty for having upset you so dreadfully. On top of personal unhappiness, you have now added a layer of extra shame.

And why was it ok for her repeatedly to let Alistair know that she thought him a liar? He told her several times that Jim was not ill, and she went on asking him as if she thought he would change his story.

“I'm astonished that posters would refuse to attend a church where the vicar married a non Christian. I'm not CoE but I thought these days it was the vicar who was employed by the parish, not their partner?“
I think that the issue would be the vicar not being married in the eyes of God if their wife/husband was a non Christian.

And this bollocks about extending the remit if the trust really is bollocks, isn’t it?
And Peggy’s not going to fall for the small ads bollocks. It’s all bollocks. I wish I could stop listening.

The idea that it would slip through in the small ads is just bollocks - one of the first things a local reporter does is check the small ads. I’m not at all engaged with this story - all it’s doing is reminding me that Peggy Woolley does not really exist, but is really the actress June Spencer and this is the best the SWs could come up with as a 100th birthday present.

Yes Bert The SWs should read this, in the blind pursuit of 'drama' they are being silly.

Does Lillian not think that Peggy will be looking in the Echo to see what the ad looks like? She knows her mum, how does she think she'll get away with it?

It’s a bit of a scriptwriterly insult to Lilian. She’s no gereat intellectual but she’s much, much too smart to do what they’re making her do.

Yes, some nice moments last week, but overall I thought the writing was terrible.

I feel sorry for the actors having to spout such twaddle.

Re the trust, isn't there an issue that family members have had so much more time than everyone else to come up with and refine their ideas?

The timeline is ludicrous if Piggoi is still looking at making the announcement in August. Presumably whoever is judging is going to have to take their time considering every proposal, including thinking about whether it is financially viable, practicable and what the potential ecological benefits are, and realistically the judges will need to be able to call on people with the relevant expertise: I doubt somehow that Piggoi is in a position to adjudicate on all the plan for planting fruit trees all over Ambridge. If they need scientific advice, the reality is that most of the relevant experts will be about to bugger off for the summer vacation. To allow time to adjudicate before making an announcement in August, they need proposals by the end of July. What busy farmer can drop everything to put a proposal together within two weeks at this time of year? If Piggoi really wants to save the planet, why not give it a bit more time to maximise her chances of getting useful proposals?

Isatis - all good questions, but the whole idea is so nonsensical from start to finish, that I've given up bothering to give it any thought. SWs will use it as vehicle for whatever drama / plot / character development they choose (or even tonight's "comedy" of Eddie thinking Natasha has adopted him as family). I'll just ride the wave, man, until it crashes on the shore.

It’s all bollocks at the moment. Bollocks, I tell you.

Why didn't Will just leave Poppy with Ed, Kiera and George? I thought the brothers resolved their differences when Ed said (lied) that his association with Tim was over so it shouldn't have been an issue for Will to ask Ed to watch his niece for a couple of hours.

Alternatively, surely George is old enough to babysit for a short period.

The Eddie/Natasha conversation wasn't remotely amusing and out of character for Natasha to allow herself to be bamboozled by Eddie's 'confusion'.

Yes, it didn't seem right that Natasha just folded. Also, using the SW favourite trope of someone talking over the other person, so what the other person was going to say, doesn't get said. I'm sick of it.

It was obvious what was going to happen, when she assured Tom that she'd have it all sorted when he got back.

I’m not particularly impressed with Lillian’s cunning plan either.

Re the trust, isn't there an issue that family members have had so much more time than everyone else to come up with and refine their ideas?

Its all utter bollocks. Utterly annoying bollocks. I know its the silly season for news but this whole storyline has degraded into nonsense and June deserves better even if Piggy doesn't

DDD - I am entirely with you on this. In fact I am going on holiday on Friday and just hope it will all be over when I get back. I really couldn’t be less interested at the moment which is rare for me. As you say, I feel as though I’m riding out the tedium of this plot in the hope that it will move on eventually.

I think that the issue would be the vicar not being married in the eyes of God if their wife/husband was a non Christian

Alan and Usha were married in the eyes of the church. Unless CoE has some odd interpretation of the sacrament they are married. Any member of the congregation who thinks the sacrament doesn't always count might want to check with their Bishop. Objection to Usha after being married sacramentally by Christian rite is down to bigotry or in Shula's case, possessiveness.

Did Usha convert?

Just realised I deleted part of my post upthread (about the nonsense of the timescale for Peggy's comp) somehow. I meant to say that the judges would presumably need scientific advice on things like the soil proposal, whilst they would need legal advice on the fruit trees proposal given that it apparently involves planting on other people's land. I can't believe Peggy is serious proposing to give away half a million without having pretty rock-solid assurances that the winning proposal is viable. July/August really isn't a good time for accessing expert advice.

Did Usha convert?

She doesn't need to. They shared a religious Christian marriage. If they divorced neither could be remarried in church.

Unless there there is something different about CoE interpretation of sacraments.

The SWs should read this I suspect they do, or at least someone on the production team does.
If the output of my daily labours was discussed on it's very own corner of MN, I would definitely consume what was being said. I'm sure someone would have flagged this thread up to one of the TA team; It seems to me that MNers and BBC employees would occupy a Venn diagram quite cosily.

I suspect they will not get the chance to see if they can adjust their life for a baby. I've been thinking this too. It would be devastating for poor Adam and Ian. But would Lexi really do that to them? I hope not, but she did display a determined (one could say ruthless) single-mindedness when it came to ditching Roy.

Isatis Great analysis With regards to the improbably tight timescale for Piggoi's judging panel: maybe the SW's are as bored as we are and are keen to quickly wrap up the whole competition and quietly drop it!

Have been listening for years, (decades), and I cannot remember a time when it was so ridiculous. I just keep listening in the pathetic hope it will improve.