😱 Archers thread #130: The Fall of the House of Aldridge. 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 look forward to Shula's first sermon, or other unusual things.

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/4197199--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-6-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 went for the obvious thread title this time. Poor Ruairi! We've had a good go on the last thread www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/a4289334--Archers-thread-129-Casey-Macy-Lily-Alice-Decent-types-or-full-of-malice-Discuss-The-Archers-here?msgid=109858475#109858475 at trying to work out where he's going and what he might be studying, as the SWs have not seen fit to tell us.

Whither now for Alice? Will Jennifer talk to Peggy soon? Good hint from Lilian the other day that at Peggy's age it's not wise to leave feuds bubbling on.

It's been a long time since we last heard from a certain Archer whose name I am not going to mention in case it acts as a summoning charm. Long may she remain unheard in the dairy or out in the fields, or better still somewhere near a sinkhole. That was a storyline that looked promising years ago and wasn't exploited as it could have been. Pah.

Over to you!

I'm quite surprised that Freddie hasn't been backed off to the Royal Agricultural College down the road in Cirencester by now, to learn about estate management with all the other eldest-sons-of-landed-gentry.

Actually, just checked and it's now the Royal Agricultural University and looks a lot more academic than it was when I was a gel in the 80s and it was Sloane-central.

@nettie434

It was indeed Oneglassandpuzzled (good name). AskingQuestionsAllTheTime put me right charmingly. Hope I won't forget it again again as it is a very handy quote!

Lots about the Archers confuses me! I used to be on the Archers threads a lot until 18 months ago under a different name but stopped listening. I only tune in now when it’s about the Aldridges. The rest still leaves me a little cold. I was such a fan in the past and hope I might get back into it again eventually.

Are Pargetters too grand to need mere qualifications?
Freddie certainly. You only need qualifications to impress employers and, since he's going to be his own boss, a lack of quals isn't going to be a problem. I believe that Mr Zuckerberg has done quite well despite dropping out of his degree.
Freddie (like everyone else, throughout their lives) needs to learn skills but he doesn't need pieces of paper.

You’re right, of course, R4 - I might have phrased that better:

Are Pargetters too grand to care about training their minds or acquiring specifically useful skills?

Are Pargetters too grand to care about training their minds or acquiring specifically useful skills?
Ah, that's more like it. Freddie is working in a hotel which I would think could be quite good grounding for LL. Lily is working in sales and people with the gift of the gab usually do quite well (although Lily did seem to think at one stage - when Sol got his new job - that life was passing her by)

But life really is passing Lily by. It's very difficult to understand why a bright, capable girl like her sticks with a pretty dead-end job, let alone why she sticks with a dead-end cocklodger. It would be nice to think they're planning a storyline where she dramatically chucks both of them.

It's very difficult to understand why a bright, capable girl like her sticks with a pretty dead-end job, let alone why she sticks with a dead-end cocklodger.
I've known perfectly capable people take rubbish jobs because they are stuck by geographical remoteness and childcare duties. However, Lily has no caring responsibilities and, although she lives in the countryside, is only 20 miles from the Second City.
I don't know why the SW ignore the presence of Birmingham and its environs; it only gets mentioned when they feel the need for a comedy character like Jack Woolley, Vince Casey or Kyle the YamYam.

difficult to understand why a bright, capable girl like her sticks with a pretty dead-end job
All she's fit for. If she had read PPE at Oxford, though, she could aspire to the heady, high-pressure, glamorous post of campsite attendant and deputy weed-botherer. Half a French degree, by contrast, would see her managing the arable for much of central Europe.

Her A-level combination was unusual, to say the least. If it were written that way deliberately (and frankly I wouldn't bet on that) then maybe it was to signal that, while she has a certain facile ability, she has no particular interest, ambition, or focus and is, in fact, the spoiled little air-head she sounds.

And without an engineering degree, she won't even be qualified to take up serious drinking.

So - marketing course by correspondence > Stately Home Chatelaine

Oxford PPE degree > Campsite Attendant

MSc Engineering > Child Abandoner & Rehab Resident

Chelsea should stay hidden. Marriage to a Hollywood star clearly awaits her.

@BurningTheToast

I'm quite surprised that Freddie hasn't been backed off to the Royal Agricultural College down the road in Cirencester by now, to learn about estate management with all the other eldest-sons-of-landed-gentry.

Actually, just checked and it's now the Royal Agricultural University and looks a lot more academic than it was when I was a gel in the 80s and it was Sloane-central.

David went to the Royal Ag Coll in 1978.

Marriage to a Hollywood star clearly awaits her

That's a point. Let's hope, say, Aidan Boot rises to prominence before.

Or, as it might be, Randolf Tractor...

There is no way Adam is leaving ...

(And if he does he’ll be back within a year.)

He will still be living in the village; it may be that Home Farm will get along very well without him.

Too much to hope that Adam will now be a largely silent character, I suppose. He's always sounded exhausted. A bit of commuting will probably ensure he's permanently on the chaise longue when he does make it home.

Elizabeth is a more forgiving woman than I am. Although maybe she's driven by insatiable curiosity about this wedding, which would make a cracking MN thread from the sound of it.

AIBU to think I'd better lie to my DP to put her off coming to DD2's wedding? DD1 is coming and I'm expecting we'll have a stand up row at the reception over her DP, who isn't good enough for her. Also, all three of my ex-wives will be in attendance and they all hate my guts. I'm planning to tell DP that DD2 has invited some long-lost relatives and there's not room for her any more.There's a slight chance she'll find out that's not true, as the reception is in her DB's barn, but I'm desperate.

Who has Brian got lined up?

….. Charlie?

Is Tamsin Greig still busy?

Surely Brian would just hand the job to Alice as soon as she’s ‘better’?

Philippa Archer?

Wild card: William Grundy.

It’s always sad when they hand some important role to a silent character - LL manager, Home Farm House resident, Glebe Cottage resident - as it presages that location and all its activity being effectively written out of the Ambridge story. Perhaps they’ll do the same with Adam’s job and we just won’t get to be involved with the detail of Home Farm management any more.

Ooh - the return of Debbie! That would be quite something.

The Lizard and Vince scene had slight undertones of a Dominatrix Dungeon. Lizard cracking the whip over her thigh-high patent boots with Vince wearing a dog collar and chain blubbing away in a corner about the wedding. All a bit much and highly implausible that she would get away with talking like a cross school mistress to her high-flying businessman boyfriend.

I really like the sound of @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g’s Fake or Fortune twist…

Vince didn’t sound much like a high-flying businessman yesterday. It was all a bit odd.

Although - I don’t think the SWs ever wanted us to see him as sophisticated and high-flying, anyway. That’s what Justin was for. () I’m still a bit puzzled about his background. He’s mentioned his father driving a Rolls Royce - I couldn’t work out whether that meant Vince grew up in a moneyed household or whether he himself provided the car for his parents once he became successful. Did he inherit his business or acquire it through graft and judicious deployment of wealthy wives?

I couldn’t work out whether that meant Vince grew up in a moneyed household or whether he himself provided the car for his parents once he became successful.

I thought it was the latter. I thought he told us (Elizabeth) his rags to riches story one time.

Ok. May be not high-flying, just successful.

I heard it as Mince bought his dad a Rolls after Mince made a packet.

Ah - perhaps I missed a crucial sentence or two.

Anyway. this quiz on Lower Loxley is on the BBC site. It’s much too easy for Pargetter aficionados but might be entertaining for any newish listeners.

All a bit much and highly implausible that she would get away with talking like a cross school mistress to her high-flying businessman boyfriend.

It's cause he is in luuurve.