💥 Archers thread #117: Welcome to the only C19-free area in the world! Discuss The Archers here.

[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 think Phoebe is a genius, 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/3853783--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-5-Cant-wait-for-7-02pm-Join-us-here, 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.)

I put the BOOM! emoticon in the title as I thought it could transition into a vague likeness of a virus if we're still going by early May, when we expect some wild contortions from the production team to get Ambridge back in synch with the rest of the world. I think I would have preferred them to ignore it altogether but I suppose they couldn't.

Well yes and there are people in the midst of a civil war with no home, it depends what you compare it to, but it still crap, just because there is other different crap doesnt mean it isn't crap.

Well ... What I meant was that, given the skills and education with which she began adulthood, she's carved out a life that has plenty of enviable elements. It's Not All Bad.

And Emma doesn't seem to want a high flying career or that sort of lifestyle. If she can pin down the things she needs most to be happy I daresay she'll forgo some aspirations without too much complaint. (Though she probably will complain a bit!)

C8H10N4O2
"When she was upset, he left her for a while to get her back into line."
Back into line? Because she should know her place as the little woman, secondary to the bankrupt in financial matters?

I'd have been pissed off if my DH had given 10k including a chunk of my earnins to a feckless adult stepchild who treated me like rubbish when we were still on shaky grounds financially. No way were Robert and Lynda ever going to get it back.

I absolutely agree; but TASWAMA, and it was clear that her feeling she was entitled to a say in what was done with money that was half hers was unacceptable to them and had to be punished so she would learn not to be so unreasonable again. I found it sickening at the time and still think it was yick.

I seem to recall it was a gift, not a loan, so they were never going to see it again -- that was part of what Lynda objected to. That and being told, not asked, what she would be doing with the money she had earned.

Clarrie had more qualifications when she started out in life than Emma had, and had had fewer opportunities because less chance of school qualification. She worked for a travel agent outside Ambridge until it went bust, and the worst mistake she ever made in her life was marrying Eddie and becoming his unpaid serf.

WitchWife
Any idea who wrote the episode that went out on the 27th? Some nice touches in the script I thought.

Liz John.

I didn't know that about Robert

1994 was before The Millennium Bug, so there was legacy work, and the .com sector was starting to set busy.
He could have practically walked into a job then. Homeworking was around even then.

I think Emma should do more politics - and even for the Script writers to avoid Party Politics (even though Mark Hebden was a LibDem) - she could be recruited by the local Residents Association. The Councillor allowance should help her.

I agree. She can be an independent to avoid the party political issue. Not just about money but as a means to escape. Not that she ever will now

I can't agree Clarrie made a dreadful mistake marrying Eddie. They've had their ups and downs but they are a very warm and loving family where all four generations see each other a lot and get along well (Ed and Will least well, but they're through the worst now). That's worth a lot.

Clarrie may have done better at school than Emma (few could have done worse, as I recall) but she was the daughter of a farm labourer and grew up in a tied cottage. It was probably a step up for her socially to marry Eddie, given that the Grundys were tenant farmers and had their own large farmhouse. (I'm talking in those terms because Ambridge is still a class-ridden, nearly feudal society.)

The feudalism is precisely what makes it fun!

All the forelock-tugging, and then gradually or suddenly the reversals of fortune.

Susan finding herself able to refer to Jenny as family is, to my mind, one of the greatest events in the whole history of the world.

But at least its stamped out any ambition she had for her family. As obviously we cant have that. But it's so much more complicated than that. She has ambition - and I don't think that will ever be stamped out - but she's understood that she has to compromise some of that for the time being if she wants to be with Ed and it is worth the compromise. She thought she wanted the house more than anything, but when she and Ed were apart she realised that what she wanted MORE THAN ANYTHING was to be with Ed. She's made a conscious choice and taken control of her own destiny and made it happen. And PPE (this won't surprise you at all) I entirely agree with your analysis of Clarrie. Clarrie and Emma's stories are so real - ordinary people who haven't had any exceptional education opportunities or family money behind them (Phoebe Aldridge I'm looking at you), but have achieved great contentment living small lives. I just listened to that episode over lunch with tears rolling down my cheeks - Emma and Ed's joy at bringing their family back together in that mobile home was no less than it would have been moving into the house at Beechwood. And we know for a fact that one resident of Beechwood's joy at moving in there is destined to be short-lived.
I'm still not clear how the story will go forward after the break. Will Ambridge be in lockdown or is it just the contraints of recording in lockdown? If it's the former then I would have thought it easier to go in with lots of characters living in isolation and having to communicate over the phone, Zoom etc rather than having large family groups living together (much as I love the idea of Leonie and Mungo moving into Ambridge Hall).

Yes I think women curtail their lives for men like ed all the time. Its hobsons choice. Its choicey choice feminism at its best

I don't think Emma's ambition has abated (and neither should it). But she wants to be with Ed more than anything else and I think this was her way of proving to him that he mattered to her more than anything. He split from her because he felt he couldn't give her what she wanted in life, she's shown him in caravan form that she loves him no matter what their circumstances are. They'll get that house someday ❤.

Oh Emma! I know I am going to be shot down in flames on here for saying it, but Ed is such a loser! She shouldn’t be judged as being Hyacinth Bouquet’s long-lost twin sister for wanting her own front door key...

Nothing wrong with a mobile home but it feels like she’s sacrificing her future and dreams on the alter of Ed’s poor choices and immaturity - and then we’re told it’s all ok as it’s being done for love...

It’s a compromise too far - and all seems a bit Hollywood to me!

Altar! Can’t bear to leave it uncorrected!

Yes, let’s hope Ed pulls his finger out now and concentrates on earning a secure wage.

I mean dear god if she had chosen Roy she would have had a better life.

• I mean dear god if she had chosen Roy she would have had a better life

I can’t tell if you really mean that **Langsdestiny...

Life with Roy might be a bit predictable (!) but he is the kind of man who would ring when he says he will, and drive you anywhere if your car breaks down. He’d even take you to the cinema to see a film he doesn’t want to see if he knew you’d enjoy it.

Not exciting life-goals I have to say, but he is kind and stable and there is a lot to be said for that. I’d take reliability over a free ‘no questions asked’ van from Tim-otei any day...

If she'd chosen Roy she'd now be divorced and banished to Birmingham!

And how could anyone call his endless staff rota conversations an improvement on the alarums and excursions of Ed's various attempts at earning a living. She'd have died of boredom with Roy even before he shagged Elizabeth.

I was disappointed in the way she was begging him to start again. I agree its a typical Hobson's Choice.
I'm really hoping they will continue with existing plotlines in the new recordings as they can't just drop the whole Phil / Gavin situation but how could it be resolved if everyone is sat in their own homes and talking to each other a lot less?

I don’t think I would mind the rota chit-chat...though it would be tedious to have to cope with Phoeble hanging around...

Ed is such a loser! He's a decent guy. He doesn't criticise or belittle Emma, he is unlikely to cheat on her. There's an awful lot of men you can't say that about.

Life with Roy might be a bit predictable (!) but he is the kind of man who would ring when he says he will, and drive you anywhere if your car breaks down. He’d even take you to the cinema to see a film he doesn’t want to see if he knew you’d enjoy it. I think you could probably say all of that about Ed. And Roy cheated.

but how could it be resolved if everyone is sat in their own homes and talking to each other a lot less? If Ambridge life with CV is anything like mine, they;ll be talking to each other a lot more. What with people I'm phoning to make sure they're all right, and people phoning me to see if I'm all right, I'm spending a lot more time in meaningful 1-1 conversation than I was before lockdown.

I dont really know if I was serious about Roy I was flailing around looking for someone in TA who was half decent. Ed is a flake, and in real life that is not romantic or charming by his age it's just sad. He reminds me of those men who are wannabe musicians when they are old enough to know better.

That was the last episode, wasn't it?

Oh well, that's another story to add to the long list of unfinished plot lines.