Discuss The Archers #107: Beware of the Dragon! Peggy's in her den awaiting bids - who gets the hoard and who gets flamed?

[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.

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 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 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

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 @MrsGrindah for inspiration for the title of this thread. I was hoping to find a way to combine it with @C8H10N4O2's inspired suggestion of '"The Assumption of the Ambridge Angel' and @chemenger's comment 'I hope she gets kicked in the head by a horse and wakes up an atheist', but it all got a bit too lengthy.

Odds on Joe shuffling off this mortal coil before this thread ends? We've been marking/anticipating his passing for a while now.

(I’m not even attempting to understand the rationalisation for whatever amount she thinks she needs ...)

She's just desperate, that's all.

Can someone who knows about this stuff tell me why Emma needs money? I thought the mortgage was all sorted, they are due to exchange on Friday- then all they have to do is make the repayments. Which surely they can do with a bit of help from Susan and Neil until Ed gets another job.

Of course, Helen, had her usual lack of emotional perception, but I thought what that portrayed was even Emma, who is so determined and willing to abandon her self-respect to get what she so desperately wants, was beginning to falter. She'd been so badly rebuffed by Jim, Fallon and Ruth (that "I'm more than offended" was particularly cruel), that she just couldn't humiliate herself anymore, knew Helen would say no and couldn't take any more rejection. She came close to asking and then turned away. Tough stuff.

Like everyone else, I still can't work out what she actually needs the money for.

Why doesn’t he try the chicken factory? In previous scenes Emma’s mentioned how they are always hiring and that she can pick up extra shifts

I thought Emma said they complete on Friday (not exchange), then move in next week?

I've got no idea why she's trying to get this money. Well, I know she's thinking that paying more equity will lower the payments, but I'm pretty sure that can't happen without the mortgage company giving the go ahead.

I don't blame Ruth for her reaction, as she said, their finances are none of Emma's (or anyone else's) business. I'd also be peed off at Kenton and his big mouth and would be having strong words with him too.

Well, I know she's thinking that paying more equity will lower the payments, but I'm pretty sure that can't happen without the mortgage company giving the go ahead.

I don't think she's said that their mortgage payments would be lower, she only said that she thought the mortgage company wouldn't be as bothered about their change in circumstances (and potentially a lower income). I have no idea if this is true (it sounds like nonsense to me but I'm no expert), but it's what Emma thinks ...

Yes, why not the chicken factory for Ed?

I thought that Emma was going to ask Helen for help (a loan or a job for Ed) but after Helen did the whole spiel about how wonderful Emma's life was (exciting move, new house, cosy nuclear family, lovely DH, etc) then the social-climber in Emma couldn't bear to shatter the image.

Does she think that it would cover mortgage repayments for a month or so and buy them time? But it didn’t sound like that was the reason for the urgency.

I think Helen would have helped but Emma was feeling bruised and humiliated. All plot-driven...what will Emma do next out of desperation?

I'm also unclear on how Emma thinks she will repay all these loans as well as keeping up mortgage repayments, credit card payments etc. So far she's only got Will and potentially Neil to agree, but that's still an extra two lots of payments out each month. With the interest she's promising. She's gone completely delusional.

I also don't think the Carters taking out a loan without letting Susan know is a great idea. Presumably it would be secured against their home.

So far she's only got Will and potentially Neil to agree, but that's still an extra two lots of payments out each month. With the interest she's promising. She's gone completely delusional

I'm wondering if this is a potential debt SL to compare and contrast with Gnasher's when her particular rock is turned over and all the horrid stuff crawls out.

Has Ed's much-more-expensive-than-he-could-afford tractor been paid for yet? It was only bought in 2015, and he had to get most of it on credit. And now he's talking about selling it: wouldn't the finance company take most of the money he gets?

The going around begging for loans sl makes no sense.

Will has said he will help out for, I think he said £3,000(?). That's enough for 3 or 4 months payments, possibly more. Neil and Susan can probably cover 2 or 3 months. They have at least 6 months for Ed to find another job- even if it is at the chicken factory.

Also, not sure if this is feasible, but could Neil and Susan act as guarantors? If the house falls through they are still going to have to pay rent at Grange Farm, and they've implied in the past that the rent there is quite high.

Yes- I don’t understand why Emma needs a lump sum. Surely if they are on the brink of moving in, the mortgage must be all sorted and all they have to do is find the payments?

Yes- I don’t understand why Emma needs a lump sum

Losing a job is a notifiable change of circumstances on the mortgage. I thought Emma was desperate to reduce the capital being requested when the mortgage company finds out that Ed now has no job. Neither Ed no Emma have had a mortgage, nor have Eddie and Clarrie. I can see why she is so desperate and randomly asking people for money.

I thought Jim's response was mostly surprise. I thought Ruth's was unkind - Emma and Ed used to be their tenants, Ed regularly works on the farm and Emma has skivvied for the Dopeys for years. Ruth's response was more what you might expect to a casual stranger.

Having just caught up with yesterday's episode I'm wondering if Brian is going to ride to the rescue either financially or finding a job for Ed.

How old is George, 14/15? Would he really enjoy a day out at a theme park with Henry and toddler Jack?

Just imagine (some of us may not need to) being Emma right now - in a place apparently awash with money. It’s not just the amount she heard Kenyon loud-mouthing about in the Bull. Fallon and Harrison had a nest-egg; Jazzer got a redundancy payment; she knows Bridge Farm pocketed a million recently; the Aldridges sold their house. Then there’s Peggy.

Completely agree. Yes she's deranged at the moment, but I can't blame her. I do think it's snobbish to describe her as a social-climber. If she were, she'd be keen to disassociate herself from her roots, but if anything she often speaks of the disparity of the rich and poor in Ambridge, the fact that she is one of the have-nots as opposed to the haves. All she wants is a secure home for her young family, she's hardly Hyacinth Bucket.

But Brian can’t employ Ed either because of the contamination link ...which is why Ed sacked him in the first place.
I don’t think Ruth was rude or unkind...just genuinely taken aback as was Jim. Especially when Emma said “Or is it all gone?” . To be fair , we know how desperate she is but the other characters don’t yet, so it’s right that they would be gobsmacked.

I think Ruth was more irritated that Emma had overheard Kenton and appeared to be prying into Ruth's and David's finances. When Emma said "I hope you're not offended", Ruth could have chosen the Jim route of "let's not mention it again", but I thought her actual response, "I'm more than offended", was unkind.

I meant Brian finding a job for Ed by asking his acquaintances/friends.

Emma is so entitled. Why should anyone just lend her money?
It's obvious that they are struggling to by the house, so why would they believe they would be repaid?

That would be my worry, considering they're always going on about being poor, and they couldn't afford to rent somewhere. How are they planning on paying it all back? Emma hasn't even considered that.