🌟 ⭐ Archers thread #138: Two new stars on the Ambridge firmament, but will Peggy’s retirement leave a black hole? 🕳️ Join us here for a window on The Archers.

[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 commissioning a stained glass window for two of your great-grandchildren and nothing for all the others is a sensible thing to do, 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/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.)

Thanks to @LillianGish and @MuddlerInLaw for title ideas, which I have played around with a bit. I'm sad to have heard the last of Peggy. An era starts to draw to a close.

What a relief to be out of the Steph Casey phase, which I hope was an unfortunate blip, not to be repeated. [Triumph of hope over experience there ... ]

@BoreofWhabylon has asked the 🔮 about Adil and it predicts that he is actually the Mysterious New Owner of Grey Gables but won't be revealed as such until he has won Kirsty's heart (or some similar Mills & Boon level tosh - apols to the 🔮 but it does seem to have a mushy side). I still cling to the idea that the mysterious silent and invisible Gills who now own Home Farm may have some role at GG, but why not name them?

No mention of the heatwave in Ambridge, but budget constraints probably severely limit their scope for topical inserts these days. IRL I believe this has been a tricky time for farmers. Perhaps the SWs will catch up with this over the winter and start putting in some farming chat about diversification away from oats to olives, or similar. We already have at least one vineyard in the Ambridge area, at LL. (I understand there was another, in the heart of the village, decades ago, but the SWs have now forgotten all about it, sadly.)

Over to you!

That's another reason Jazzer gives me the creeps.

No I'm sure it won't be. I just think a creepy sex pest like Jazzer (the cricket pavilion/ Grey Gables/ noisy sex in Jim's spare room) having made a pass at the attractive teenage girl he is now living in close proximity to is a more plausible explanation in real life of why said girl has run away than the implausible explanation that Chelsea didn't want the village talking about her.

I also don’t believe for one moment that it’s Jazzer. Even the SWs have limits and to heap that on Tracy, who’s going through utter hell after already enduring the year of nightmares, would be beyond risible.

I do subscribe to the theory (which I voiced upthread too) that this whole thing has been elaborately reverse-engineered to achieve the Russ/Lily split. Very poor show to make Tracy the one who really suffers (have you noticed I’m rooting for Tracy?!).

I agree it's been reverse engineered to save the gormless Lily- quite what Tracey and Chelsea have done to deserve being thrown to the wolves for the betterment of the spineless waste of space that is Lily escapes me.

I'm rooting for Tracey and Chelsea. The pregnancy was an appalling and unnecessary storyline to start with and has now spiralled out of control.

My point re Jazzer is that in real life the over-sexed new boyfriend moving in would be a real possibility.

I would have liked the SWs never to have introduced the actor Roman. Tracey getting the hots for him scuppered the Tracey/ Oliver romance which was starting to show tiny green shoots. Tracey being elevated to Mrs Oliver Sterling would have set so many noses out of joint and would have secured financial stability for Bradley and Chelsea (Brad off to Oxbridge to do maths- Chelsea to do fashion and design). It was no more improbable than many other stories.

Instead Tracey has been shackled in poverty with the comedy Scottish sex pest and has had this foisted on her.

I’d like it if she was with Brenda. She was a good character. I don’t think she’ll be with Kate as she’s with Peggy/vet2. I think Blake is a good idea.

I wonder if it was to get rid of Lily rather than Russ. She can disappear off to uni but I doubt he'll give up his cushy job without a fight. We might end up with the first employment tribunal!

Jolene is getting on my nerves banging on about posters and fliers all the time.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Elizabeth reacts to the break-up (and the reason for it). She’s become quite chummy with Russ since he got his feet under the Lower Loxley table.

Yes, that was what pleased me in the episode it all came out. Even though it's rough listening to him act the injured party, it definitely creates a scenario where he can stay sans Lily.

We learnt around the Lon that he has made a real success of the gallery so they'll be loathe to lose that.

From Russ' point of view the break up was because of Lily's cheating.

There hasn't been the slightest evidence he did anything wrong with Chelsea beyond Brad saying Chelsea has a crush on him.

The entire village knows about his relationship with Lily - it's a bit late to turn round now and castigate him for that. The tutoring of Chelsea wasn't instigated by Russ. I can't remember the exact details but it was Lily who helped out originally but she was useless at it and he stepped in. The hair cuts were instigated by Lily too.

How long have Russ and Lily been together?

I get that the SW were trying to show the scales dropping from Lily's eyes but it was too rushed. Going from being madly in love and buying a flat to calling him a perv in the space of one episode was lazy writing.

Yes totally, it's just fascinating as I suppose I'd always imagined a break up between them would be all one way.

Russ used to be a lecturer/lecherer at Borchester College.

I think she started seeing him a few months after moving there to do her A levels (2018?). There were minimal repercussions against Russ because Lily had finished her A levels and had left by the time the college were aware of the affair.

Yes, we all thought this was odd.

Lily had a place at Manchester Uni and, rather than moving to Halls, she and Russ had an expensive flat miles from campus. They ran out of money and moved back to Lower Loxley.

This conveniently coincided with Elizabeth having a serious bout of depression. History may observe that Russ helped Elizabeth get better and he often came to the rescue in subsequent months.

Freddie was in prison at the time and there were knock on effects for the business as they lost their alcohol licence for a while, because he'd been convicted of dealing drugs at Lower Loxley. (Thanks, Harrison!) To be fair to the SWs, even without Russ, Lily might have struggled to settle at university at that time.

Lecturer/lecherer Deputy Principal, I think; trained as an art teacher.

About 4 years, I think.

Aww... <sniffle>
Nicely done.

And the 🔮 awards the golden globe for perfect prognostication to @Scarydinosaurs who was the first to think Chelsea might have sought refuge with Blake.

So Blake it was

But he's not the Daddy.

I get that the SW were trying to show the scales dropping from Lily's eyes but it was too rushed. Going from being madly in love and buying a flat to calling him a perv in the space of one episode was lazy writing.

She's had doubts off and on over the years, hasn't she? The SWs used to tease us - we'd go "Ah, now Lily sees it..."

Yes, not the daddy

I thought it was me who suggested that? That she'd sought refuge with Blake but Blake wasn't the father.

Scarydinosaurs suggested Blake as a father.

The award for the correct prognostication goes to @ButtonSister for her post at 08/09/2022 07:53 refuting Scarydinosaurs' suggestion Blake might be the father but suggesting instead that was where Chelsea was.

And the Lynda Snell prize for making everything about Lynda Snell goes to Lynda Snell.

Lynda, no one cares what you wrote in the book of condolences.

Oops!
Sorry @ButtonSister, you get to share the Premier Prognosticator award with scary, who was the first (I think!) to mention Blake

And a share of the award to @TheLassWiADelicateAir too!

Prizes for everyone

I got rather teary at Lynda’s message in the book of condolence. I do love Lynda.

Have we considered Ruari as a potential candidate for Father of Chelsea’s Baby? In the event that he’d wanted a break from the predatory Julie-Ann?