Archers thread #142: Kill Jill? Is Ambridge heading for a Tarantino-style bloodbath on Stir Up Sunday? 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, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that , or other unusual views.

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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.)

Well, things have taken a turn for the better in the last few days! The SWs have re-discovered their form and the actors and directors have risen to the challenge. I won't say much more than that for fear of jinxing things. Over to you!

(Thanks to @JanglyBeads for the thread title idea!)

Also, where's this magic hospital where they got checked in so quickly?! I know there's no particular time frame mentioned, but they don't seem to have been waiting long yet.

Joy's been through this before, hasn't she?
Wonder if we'll find out her back-story.

He was in the midst of a crisis so I don’t think it was that simple. He was convinced he heard Bess on the Green so a call home probably wouldn’t have calmed him.

True, and I've lived with someone who has hallucinations (amongst other MH problems) so I know it might not have worked. But it's surprising that David didn't even seem to consider that as an option. David didn't know what was going on to start with, and doesn't have a lot of experience in MH, surely his initial reaction would have been to phone home.

I think David's reaction was realistic. My DD has been suffering with anxiety and depression since the start of the pandemic. It took time to learn the 'right' reactions to her anxieties, and tbh my DH still struggles at times to react as needed.

Either it's happened to her before (Rochelle?) or she's a professional.

I think that exonerates Chelsea/Jazzer, though they'll presumably feel bad about it. But even if they'd alerted the Dopeys last night, it would have made no difference. They'd still have been discussing whether it was true and, if so, what to do about it and would probably have adopted a wait-and-see strategy. Joy is an excellent person to have around in a crisis, though.

I know it wasn't a solution but it was the first thing I thought to try and I imagine other people would think that too - even if it didn't work.

I’m not generally a Joy fan but she was mighty impressive there.

Yes! I was waiting for Joy to explain how she knew what to do. But if it is Richelle then that didn't end well as they are estranged. Maybe Rochelle's father?

I wonder if they actually had Natasha in mind for that role in the scene but the actress wasn't available?

I thought that. I wonder if we’re going to get the truth about the mysterious wotsername.

It occurred to me that Natasha would have been great in tonight’s episode. I also thought her matter of fact conversation with Chelsea a few weeks ago was very good.

Poor David (that’s something I never thought I’d write). His confusion and helplessness was heart-rending. Surely Ruth would already have rushed to the hospital by the time Ben was admitted. It seemed very odd that David said she was still at home ‘panicking’.

Not caught up, and have no idea if how Ben was is realistic, but all the acting was good all round.
I can't tell if Joy had been through it before, but she did very well.
It needed an outsider to calm Ben and she said the right things in the right tone.

Family don't always register how bad things are because they have seen a gradual decline and will probably blame it on heartbreak. Joy was easing Ben into accepting help.

I'm not blaming the Dopeys at all because they hadn't seen it before. Phoning home to confirm Bess's whereabouts would not have achieved anything.

I thought we'd get the EE doof-doofs tonight but I had a tear in my eye.

Ruth was probably running around trying to pack an overnight bag for Ben.

So - Joy’s a former psychiatrist in witness protection because it was her evidence that swung the conviction?

Wonder what her real name is.

And whether she does actually have any children (who she’s never allowed to see ever again …).

Maybe that’s not even her real accent?

And there may still be time for an Ambridge Green bloodbath, now she’s effectively been outed.

I don't think she has been outed. Lots of people would have done the same as she did.

Typed that and went for a comfort break and realised she probably has, and there's a reason why I'd have known exactly what to do, isn't there.

As with every friend Helen ever had being stripped away (including the manufactured row with Ian) and her parents rendered mindless, so that she had nobody to turn to when Rob started raping her, in the same way everyone Ben has ever got on with had to be got rid of so that he would be hapless and alone when he needed help. That's why Jill had to be made uncharacteristically harsh to him for something he had not actually done, refusing to hear his side of things in a way she has not done before. Otherwise she would have been noticing he was in trouble and pushing hard for him to be found help.

Was so relieved it was "only" a psychotic episode. And very well done.

I wondered if Joy's actually experienced some similar ind of crisis herself?

I thought Joy was lovely in this, she’s really grown on me. I’d like an Archers world where she and Leonard are a couple.

Anyway - after many months of painful mental health episodes where we have the obligatory Public Health Service style explanatory monologues from slow speaking professionals (although good luck getting mental health support in the real world right now) I’m suspecting there will be a male mental health nurse that Ben will probably end up wanting to emulate in his career. It will give ‘female health professional’ a rest because she has been busy being a midwife, a nursing course teacher and an alcohol dependency counselor. It’s a lot of slow explaining for one person.

It would be helpful if TA did reflect the shocking state of mental health services. And where is Lizzy? Her fella has had a big hand in this.

It would be helpful if TA did reflect the shocking state of mental health services. Yes - it will be interesting to see if Ben immediately gets help or finds himself on a long waiting list. Maybe Joy can help him in the meantime.

Whoever dubbed Jolene the Pirate - genius

<twirls> 😊

I was surprised Rex stayed in the shop and didn't dash out to help his mate.

I was surprised Rex stayed in the shop and didn't dash out to help his mate.

I’m afraid I wasn’t. Rex is not a very nice person underneath. I will never forget the poison pen letters. He is the sort of person who would quietly be in love with a girl, declare his feelings and then turn on her when she says she just sees him as a friend.

My thoughts are that Joy has probably experienced someone close to her going through something like what happened to Ben.