😱 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!

“Darling” was obviously to inform newer listeners - it did sound terribly awkward. I guess the actors haven’t spoken to each other for years?

Remember when Pip appeared with a new voice? For weeks (if not months) Ruth and David sounded as if they were curtsying to her.

Hadn’t thought of that, WorriedWishingWell!

It’s possible ...

Though it wouldn’t be the most mature response from a future nurse.

@WorriedWishingWell

But do pray tell me what a "professional " is supposed to sound like? There's nothing wrong with Usha's voice. I know a very senior employment law judge you'd probably rubbish too because of her voice. Male I expect, and if you're not male you're supposed to lower your tone a la Margaret Thatcher; and wear "business" suits which approximate to men's traditional clothing -so navy blue pin stripes good, pink bad. That was the advice I was given at the beginning of my professional career, which I have made a point of ignoring, not to my detriment.

Nice to see you're perpetuating such outdated stereotypes then by criticising how women speak.

I still find the JW love weird. They were twats and she was doing her job. It is not remarkable and PCs are like this. Often.

I was thinking exactly this while I was making a coffee this morning. I used to be a local reporter and attended parish/town council meetings all the time. Never a meeting went by when we didn’t have a JW-style moment to a greater or lesser extent. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the JW clip became a phenomena but it must be something to do with the fact it was all played out on Zoom.

@KimikosNightmare
Nice to see you're perpetuating such outdated stereotypes then by criticising how women speak.
You're confused, I was doing the opposite

So lovely to hear Usha again!

@Edmontine

Hadn’t thought of that, WorriedWishingWell!

It’s possible ...

Though it wouldn’t be the most mature response from a future nurse.

I hope it's not Ben either, I just think he does have a motive. Ben and Ruaraidh are high on my list of characters I actually like on TA. (It's a short list).

I enjoyed the sleb guest.

I think she went viral because of time and place.

[quote WorriedWishingWell]@KimikosNightmare
Nice to see you're perpetuating such outdated stereotypes then by criticising how women speak.
You're confused, I was doing the opposite [/quote]
Sorry, it's Three Weevils who was criticising Usha for not having a "professional" voice.

how separated from the rest of the world, and Ambridge, Ruth and David seem to have become
But Ruth having friends is just so unlikely.

Jackie Weaver could give some of the cast a lesson in "how to sound as if you aren't reading from a script".

At least the scarecrows can go back in the fields or get consigned to the recycling.

I'd always imagined that Usha was a commercial solicitor, not criminal, which was why she didn't get involved with any of the multitude of criminal cases in Ambridge. It's nice to have her back.

Professional people have all sorts of voices and accents, and aren't all male, middle class, white, English, and public school educated.

I like Usha's voice. It's usually very clear, and it's distinctive.

But Ruth having friends is just so unlikely.

That’s as may be - it’s just in my memory Phil and Jill were always out and about in the village and beyond - magistrating and doubleyou-eying and generally embracing wideranging interactions with their parts of the world. (Dan & Doris also.)

As you say FoxgloveSummers - the current Brookfield incumbents are resistant to pretty much any contact with people outside their gates. I don’t know how the creative team has allowed this to happen - the Brookfield Archers ought to be the people who galvanise and lead the community. Instead they’ve become irrelevant.

I also have no recollection of Usha being a criminal lawyer.

Mark’s little practice was probably general, but I had thought the hot-shot Borchester firm she moved to was civil / commercial. It’s too long ago for me to recall accurately though.

I work with a lot of women who do public speaking and the amount of grief they get in feedback about their voices is unbelievable. The men never get any. It’s an ingrained sexism people don’t know they have. The other thing that happens is they assume the women don’t know anything when usually they’re far more senior than the men they’re working with and probably told them what to say.

@Edmontine

I also have no recollection of Usha being a criminal lawyer.

Mark’s little practice was probably general, but I had thought the hot-shot Borchester firm she moved to was civil / commercial. It’s too long ago for me to recall accurately though.

I'm glad they have finally decided what sort of lawyer she is: until now she has been the go-to everything-lawyer for Ambridge.

She was the one who advised Roy about his paternity suit over Phoebe, for example, and she was consulted about Joe's barn afair. Her advice to Freddie was remarkably bad if criminal law is her speciality (on the whole you don't tell your client to dob himself in for stuff the police don't know anything about, thus bringing himself up from petty to serious in the crime stakes).

Apologies for posting a link to the Jackie Weaver interview. When it was published, sometime ago, there was no indication that she would be appearing at the Village Fete, only that she had a secret part.

I’m not glad if it effectively negates professional progress she might have made in other fields ...

Isn’t she a partner now? If not, why not?

(Usha, I mean!)

@Edmontine

I’m not glad if it effectively negates professional progress she might have made in other fields ...

Isn’t she a partner now? If not, why not?

Usha became a partner quite a while ago but I can't remember exactly when.

Her being a criminal lawyer didn't stop her from advising Roy and Hayley about their having been sacked by Elizabeth -- even though she also said that as a friend of Elizabeth's she couldn't advise them.

I’m still not over that, Asking.

I suppose I feel we should have had some impression of her career progressing - to bigger and bigger cases, conference presentations, international work, media appearances on her specialism. Instead, the SWs were always dragging her into the little concerns of Ambridge - and with no regard to relevant expertise.

By now she should be visibly, audibly rich and successful - and she should have been making things happen in the village for years.

@Edmontine

I’m still not over that, Asking.

I suppose I feel we should have had some impression of her career progressing - to bigger and bigger cases, conference presentations, international work, media appearances on her specialism. Instead, the SWs were always dragging her into the little concerns of Ambridge - and with no regard to relevant expertise.

By now she should be visibly, audibly rich and successful - and she should have been making things happen in the village for years.

As a criminal lawyer in a backwater high st practice she'll be on woefully low legal aid rates, whether a partner or not.

making things happen in the village for years
Women in the cricket team and other such vital social justice initiatives?

But that’s what I mean, Worried! The impression given over decades was that she was a high flyer in some lucrative, business focussed area of law, in one of the busiest, most high profile firms in the region. No backwater, no bail applications down the magistrate’s court for boys who’d stolen nail varnish from Boots to sell for drugs ...

This retrospective labelling as a criminal lawyer is frankly outrageous. And probably done purely because that’s all the SWs know. (God help my blood pressure if they magic up some low grade crime to occupy her with. )