Archers thread #113: Who’ll find some Magic Time this Christmas in Ambridge? Share the glad tidings (and bad writing) in The Archers! Election-free zone so far ...

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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 Hannah to stay around, 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 @SurpriseSparDay for the title. I haven't heard 12/12 yet so must catch up now, seeking relief from the outside world.

How can the rewilding thing conceivably take up all Phoeble's time? What was she planning to do if Peggy's competition hadn't turned up? I do wish that at some point during the last year they'd writtn in one scene when someone talked to her about her post-graduation plans.

Last night she sounded like some naive 18 year old. If only she knew something about basic economics. Oh, wait ...

I'm waiting for the University of Oxford to sue TA for defamation.

I just don’t believe in Phoebe anymore

That is because its not Phoebe.

The real Phoebe is working for an investment bank along with all the other PPE graduates (except for those which go straight to Westminster).

That left the LSWs with a gap so they filled it with a completely new character but forgot to change the name.

Still not sure where Pip/Rex found their moral highground. They were the two business focused partners and neither of them read the contract either apparently. The idea that one word from Brian would result in Pip rethinking anything is laughable. She is like David, never wrong.

To be fair to Pip and Rex they have jobs. They probably thought they could trust Phoebe, who has nothing else to do, by her own admission, to have time to glance at the contract.

Just caught up with last night. Phoebe is as thick as two short planks, but I suppose one could be charitable and paraphrase Jessica Rabbit to say she's not really stupid, she's just written that way. It's the only explanation - it beggars belief otherwise that an Oxford-educated PPE graduate could be so catastrophically dense.

Had she (or any of the witless trio) really not even physically inspected the land they were getting from BL? That's what she implied in asking to borrow the quad bike to go and look at it. What the hell are they actually doing, I mean in terms of measurable work on this grand project? I can't see that they've done anything at all, bar Phoeble blundering her way through a board meeting, failing to have anticipated the ONE obvious question, and then stuffed her face with canapés.

Phoebe has always been an Aldridge.

I have high hopes of Ruairi being the true heir of Aldridge.
The female side of Peggy's family seem to have brains but don't know how to use them.

He’s been entirely written out of Phoebe’s life in her elevation to Aldridge.

This really is astonishingly striking, isn’t it? Have we heard even one conversation between Phoebe and her father on the subject? It’s as if the SWs have lifted her portrait out of one frame and inserted it into another.

What is it that they want us to understand from this? That Phoebe Aldridge BA Hons has risen into the cadre of Ambridge business royalty and left the Tuckers far behind? (In which case I don’t hold much hope for Roy’s continued presence in the village.)

Or that she’s a headstrong idiot completely at sea without any parental input in her life. Because we’re not hearing her talk to Kate either. It’s really, really weird.

Phoebe Aldridge BA Hons
Are you sure about the 'Hons' bit?

I did hesitate ...

Wow. Phoebe's ridiculous but listening to Pip is frankly incredible. She's a spoilt brat who's been given priority over her siblings in the family business and got accidentally knocked up by Toby Fairbrother. She lied about being in the rewilding bid at all and simultaneously swore allegiance to the Brookfield project. Lest we forget IBR and all the lies she told to cover her back then too. You'd think such an easier liar would have some sympathy, but then it is Pip. Ugh.

Phoebe is totally out of order for not sharing Brian's tip off but they're all culpable in not reading the contract nor considering legal advice especially given they're dealing with Justin.

You can see how at home Russ is with a bunch of teenagers, he seduces them and he bullies like one, making a mean picture to bully Lynda. Ugh. Please let this be his undoing.

Wow. Phoebe's ridiculous but listening to Pip is frankly incredible. She's a spoilt brat who's been given priority over her siblings in the family business and got accidentally knocked up by Toby Fairbrother. She lied about being in the rewilding bid at all and simultaneously swore allegiance to the Brookfield project. Lest we forget IBR and all the lies she told to cover her back then too. You'd think such an easier liar would have some sympathy, but then it is Pip. Ugh

Some good points, though not sure getting pregnant is relevant, and has she ever owned up to letting the cows out?

They probably thought they could trust Phoebe, who has nothing else to do, by her own admission, to have time to glance at the contract

I trust a lot of people but I wouldn't sign a contract based on their say so unless they were my business or legal advisor. And then I'd still read it. The whole point is they had the experience in this and she didn't. They have noone to blame but themselves.

You'd think such an easier liar would have some sympathy, but then it is Pip.
She confessed to David, before it became public knowledge, about going into a partnership with Justin* i.e. she finally grew up and had the balls to own her decisions. She is now a zealous convert to The Truth which is why she is so hard on Phroeble. There's nowt so hard as a reformed character.

• David, predictably, blew his top which made her defensive, so it was impossible to have a grown-up conversation along the lines of "have you take legal advice?"

R4
She confessed to David, before it became public knowledge, about going into a partnership with Justin
David, predictably, blew his top which made her defensive, so it was impossible to have a grown-up conversation along the lines of "have you take legal advice?"

But he didn't! It was weird. He just kept on saying "Congratulations" as if he didn't dare to say anything that might upset her.

We're both right?
David blew his top in the morning about the Dower House matching-jumpers-Christmas-card and said "I'm not over the Justin-is-a-snake thing". The conversation got interrupted.
Pip resumed talking about rewilding later in the day, expecting a push-back. It didn't come. Both sides were relieved to not engage further in discussion/debate.

We didn't her Ruth's take on it.

We didn't hear Ruth's take on it.

Sorry echt I realised after writing that was unclear but the inklings were causing chaos. By talking about Rosie and her place in Brookfield I was referring to the conversation between Pip and Phoebe where Pip's position at Brookfield and as mother she was so 'sorted' and mature. Nothing against surprise babies, I was one. It just grates on me when parenthood is used as an explanation of how mature or clever someone is. It's just not relevant. It's certainly not an indication for or against maturity or intellect.

Pip confessed the IBR thing eventually, she confessed the rewilding bid eventually, she's always been honest in the end but she takes her time and she lies very easily. She didn't rush to tell DAvid about Justin either but she did, eventually. She and Phoebe deserve each other. Here's hoping Rex gets Hannah's job and RA is scrapped over the BL contract. Phoebe and Pip entirely deserve each other, Rex deserves so much better.

Oops sorry repeating myself

On the Lynda portrait - how well does CMR know Lynda? It does seem like a randomly nasty thing to do. I don’t want to see Lynda’s feelings hurt (unless it’s the turning point of Russ being shown the door)

We know in real life what the stories are and presumably it's known in Ambridge. If my theory about the picture being a prop for one of them is correct I'm surprised Jim has gone along with it.

@LeesPostersAreInFrames Lee's posters are help up by blue tac or more likely toothpaste

We just need @DadDadDad to see the light.

They're held up by double sided sticky pads.

Why on earth didn't Pip, Rex and Phoeble get the contract checked?

Lee is someone who is meticulous - how could a martial arts instructor be otherwise? If he had posters that he prized he would make sure they're framed, not some shoddy blu-tack / sticky pad solution that would expose them to being torn.

nah, the poster are carefully glued onto chip board and put up on a hook.

Look, I accept that they'd be those cheap clip-art frames, but glued onto chipboard is a line I'm not prepared to cross.