🍾 Archers thread 123: Goodbye & good riddance to 2020 – to Philip too? The Archers is 70 on New Year’s Day – celebrate or vent about it 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 wish we heard more from Shula, 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.)

So! 2021 beckons. Big anniversary next Friday, 1.1.21 (and to mark that we have episodes Tuesday-Friday next week). What would we like to see happen? I may be in a minority of one, but I'd like a nice gentle character-driven episode. I don't think we'll get that, but I really, really hope they don't kill someone else off, just for the headlines.

[Title edited by MNHQ at OP'S request]

I'm not a Shula hater. I like her being flawed.

I don’t hate her to listen to (as long as it’s not too often); I’d avoid her in real life though...

I can’t claim she’s led a charmed life - she has clearly had her challenges both self-inflicted and otherwise. But she’s one of those people who is incredibly smug and self-righteous whilst simultaneously droning on about her self-doubt in order to make sure it’s All About Her All The Time. Very tedious.

AIBU? My son has a rare medical condition which is horrible at the moment but we've been assured it will probably resolve as he grows up and it's being well controlled at the moment. However, I've been badly shaken by the experience of having a child being ill. Our GP has been great. He was my main support when my DH (DS's Dad) died in a car crash while I was going through IVF. GP continued giving me the hormone injections and the end result was DS, for which I can't thank GP enough. Do you think this is why currently I find myself unable to resist GP? We had a sudden unplanned quickie on the desk in his consulting room. This is in spite of the fact that I'm engaged to another man and GP is living with my best friend, my deceased DH's business partner. Now GP is saying he wants to move back to The North, where he is from. I can get past all the other stuff, but The North! I've never been more than a mile from the village where we live, where I was born. How can he do this to me? AIBU to say I will LTB and marry the dull vet as a consolation prize, even though I don't really love him?

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

In Style & Beauty

Do I need a wardrobe overhaul

My current wardrobe is jodphurs and cream cardigan or jeans and cream cardigan, or if I am going to the pub, my going out jeans, ecru waterfall cardigan and wedge boots.
Should I stick to what I know, or do you think I should spruce up my look.

I don't really have anyone to ask. My DSIL only ever wears boilersuits, unless she's going out to the pub and she's a petite size 8, and my DSis's budget it far beyond my dreams. The other DSIL dresses like a cut-price Dolly Parton circa 1984, which wouldn't be right for my lifestyle or hers.

Can you wise MNers advise please?

@ILoveShula your look sounds almost perfect, I just recommend accessorising with a dog collar.

I sniggered at the thought of Shula as a prison chaplin - won’t they be suffering enough being locked up?

Is Ruth really a petite size 8? Never heard mention of her size. In my mind she’s a sturdy 12, well-built from years of dragging gates, wrangling cows, and a couple of flapjacks a day.

Thank you Gasp0de and ILoveShula. I often wonder how The Archers characters would be treated if they posted on MN so those posts made me truly happy.

BeardieWeirdie The photos on The Archers website certainly suggest Ruth is quite petite. I can't imagine how she has maintained this with access to Jill's lemon drizzle cake etc but there was a paper about the Ambridge Paradox (the low incidence of obesity and diabetes despite plentiful cake consumption) at the Academic Archers conference a few years ago:

www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-78743-285-720171011/full/html

Sadly, that link is just to the abstract but the original presentation is still on You Tube:

It's about 42 minutes in and is very enjoyable.

I too was appalled at Shula not answering. Also at her panicking and asking Alan what to do.

She should never have been accepted for ordination training.

But I definitely want to know why he's ringing her!!!!!

Oh I don’t mean the actress playing Ruth, I mean the actual Ruth!
That’s the beauty of radio, surely, the characters need not look anything like the actors.

I did know you meant Ruth Beardieweirdie. I know some people don't like references to the actors and just ended up making things more muddly. You're right that the beauty of radio is that we can all have our different ideas of what the characters look like. I definitely imagine Ruth, Shula and Elizabeth looking and dressing very differently. I think of Lynda as understated but expensive bohemian. Her reference to her scarves when she was in hospital was just right to me.

I definitely imagine Ruth, Shula and Elizabeth looking and dressing very differently. I think of Lynda as understated but expensive bohemian

This made me realise that I don't have a detailed mental image of Ruth or Shula - they are both vague "types" in my head. Elizabeth and Lynda are much more sharply defined, possibly because the actors look like my mental Lizzie and Lynda. (or possibly because I think they are much better characters!)

Is it me or are we marching through this thread at near normal pace again?

Dear Deirdre
I am in love with my best friend. She is going through a tough time at the moment. She recently married a guy who I didn’t think was good enough for her but seemed to make her happy. But now, after only a few weeks after the wedding it has all gone pear-shaped and they have separated. I don’t think they will get back together but I suppose you never know. She has come to stay with me and I am trying to look after her as best I can but really I want more. When she dresses up like a Womble and goes out litter-picking my heart melts. She’s a lovely girl but never had much luck in life - jilted at the altar, miscarriage, dead-end job etc. I think I could be the one. How long do you think I should wait before I tell her how I feel?

@Roysnewshirt

Dear Deirdre I am in love with my best friend. She is going through a tough time at the moment. She recently married a guy who I didn’t think was good enough for her but seemed to make her happy. But now, after only a few weeks after the wedding it has all gone pear-shaped and they have separated. I don’t think they will get back together but I suppose you never know. She has come to stay with me and I am trying to look after her as best I can but really I want more. When she dresses up like a Womble and goes out litter-picking my heart melts. She’s a lovely girl but never had much luck in life - jilted at the altar, miscarriage, dead-end job etc. I think I could be the one. How long do you think I should wait before I tell her how I feel?

Aw bless! I think you should wait a bit longer, certainly don't do anything while she is living with you as you risk losing the friendship. Continue to be supportive, then eventually she might realise she feels the same way.

@C8H10N4O2

Is it me or are we marching through this thread at near normal pace again?

You're right, caffeine. This thread is ticking along at 40 posts per day. Apart from a spike last March (presumably as the implications of Covid on the schedule were coming to light?), we've not managed that pace since 2019. It was down to around half that for much of 2020.

When Ruth arrived at Brookfield, Jill commented on how small she was.
There's being very little reference to her clothes, other than overalls, and a yellow blouse.
Not much reference to her eating much.
Joanna Toye, I think, commented that Ruth doesn't have cellulite but Shula does.

Roysnewshirt, Captain.

I imagine Elizabeth dressing quite flouncily and artistically.

Shula would dress sensibly - M&S or Underwoods.

Lynda, probably has a bit of imagination with colour and I see her in autumn colours.

The lack of weight issues is remarkable, afaik, only Clarrie is overweight and Helen has had an eating disorder.

The lack of weight issues is remarkable

I’m not so sure - I think of Kirsty as being fairly plump. And also Emma, though she is considered to be a great beauty. Joy is definitely a decent size 16 and Ian struggles with his waistline but that’s not surprising.

Philip was huge - with his Xmas jumpers being stretched to the limit. Far too many Gorgonzola tartines! He is going to find prison food very disappointing...

I don't picture Kirsty as plump at all or stocky. I imagined Brenda as being slightly plump. Nic was too, but Emma is slim-ish, like Susan. Neil is quite stocky.

I imagined Jennydarling as blonde and tallish, Lillian darker and tallish, both quite slim.

Philip and Gav both stocky, and Bunter carrying extra weight.

In my mind Kirsty is size 14, about 5'3 with a brown bob. She shops at White Stuff.

Philip has a bit of a gut on him and is 5' 8.

Helen has shoulder length hair with highlights and is a couple of inches taller than Kirsty and a size 12. Boden's more adventurous pieces.

Shula shops at John Lewis.

Jenny Darling is dark.

I've never bought clothes at John Lewis. I don't think I've ever seen the clothes at John Lewis. Are they really that grim?