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.

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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-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.)

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!)

Fab story! Thanks@suzyscat

I thought our reservations about the message in a bottle were to do with it being a letter to Santy. Messages in bottles in general are fairly common, it was specifically the idea that that's how a child would want to deliver a letter to Father Christmas that seemed odd.

What @Fink said. Messages in bottles in general are fairly common, it was specifically the idea that that's how a child would want to deliver a letter to Father Christmas that seemed odd.

I don't mind Ruth being dubbed a menopausal warrior. I suspect I am perimenopaual and I am getting a lot more fearless. I believe this is a known thing as the caring hormones drop.

Ruth might also feel she’s been working hard on the farm for years, is in her mid-50s, has 3 adult children & is a grandmother, when is she going to have some respect from her mother in law?

OK, clearly I'm more touchy about this than most of the other old bats on here so I suppose it's just possible that I overreacted

I don't think you overreacted.

I'm also fed up with discussion of the Menopause.

I get fed up with women feeling they need to cite hormones/menopause when their anger or irritation is entirely justified.

I see it on MN and other platforms a lot - "maybe its because I'm hormonal but I really don't like DH shagging his way around the office whilst I'm pregnant" or "maybe its because I'm menopausal but I'm just so fed up of 20 years of doing the double shift whilst DH swans off to play golf and get drunk every weekend" .

Me too. It makes it seem like women just permanently walk around in a fug of hormones. It also detracts from real issues that affect middle-aged people.
Men get health issues in middle age too.

"maybe its because I'm hormonal but I really don't like DH shagging his way around the office whilst I'm pregnant" or "maybe its because I'm menopausal but I'm just so fed up of 20 years of doing the double shift whilst DH swans off to play golf and get drunk every weekend" .
Maybe the problem is your DH'S hormones not yourown.

... and, just maybe, Jill's outburst might be because she is opinionated and not her age.

...and maybe because Jill is an old 🦇

I think the fact we are all tying ourselves in knots trying to work out if she's got dementia shows how out of character this behaviour is. Yes she has strong opinions on abortion, yes she's been unreasonable in the past and clashed with other family members, but this seems above and beyond that. I've found the whole Chelsea pregnancy storyline has stretched the bounds of what is credible to the limit- from the rave which set events in motion in the first place, to taking the MAP then leaving it until the 11th hour to get an abortion, to the whole 'who's the daddy thing'. I don't think Jill has dementia, but her reaction has to be this OTT to knock down whichever domino this chain of events was designed to fell next. Just as Ben's reaction has to be as OTT as possible and Vince's to keep the chain in motion.

Does Jill have a view on Peggy's plans for a new church window? I'd imagine that she'd be quite cross about that too.

Well said, Bore

presumably she meant that rather than suicide when she said she wouldn't be there anymore Could just be an awareness she’s in her final years. I’m acutely aware that my cat may outlive me.

especially as many older people are embarrassed by the symptoms so hide them or because we know it’s a fast track to life imprisonment in a care home.

Jill’s reaction may be OTT but Ben’s behaviour has also been beyond ridiculous. Constantly crying, Ruth finding him curled up in a ball on the floor, throwing Beth out…so unnecessarily dramatic. I know he is meant to be a sensitive soul but I really don’t think this is a realistic depiction of the way a 20 something who has dodged fatherhood after a ONS would behave. The vast majority of men in Ben’s situation would brief a huge sigh of relief and carry on with their life.

I also thought Bens reaction was over the top. I agree thats most boys would have been relieved in that situation. It was a ONS after all and I thought Chelsea would of had a termination sooner instead of humming and arring. Its not as if they were in a relationship or even close friends a bit unrealistic in my point of view.

surely he's crying also because Beth left?
and because he was responsible (albeit jointly) for a young girl having to go through all that?
and because it has caused financial worries or his family
and perhaps because he suspected his grandma and other family members were 'disappointed' in him
and because the whole village knows what happened

its not a simple case of OMG she's pregnant...phew she's not'

I think it's a really refreshing reminder that NABALT.....

Beth didn’t leave, he unceremoniously threw her out. She begged him to reconsider but he was too busy playing the martyr “I’m not good enough for you” etc.

He was weeping and wailing long before Vince called in the loan and the whole village found out. Then threatened to abandon his studies so he could find a job and pay back £40k, which obviously would have taken years whileVince wants the money now. So more nonsensical theatrics.

He has made this whole thing about him from the moment Chelsea told him she was pregnant - turning up unannounced at her doctor’s appointment and making self important announcements to anyone who will listen about how responsible he feels.

I still love Ruth for sticking up for him though but only because it has involved putting awful Jill in her place.

@StillWeRise Yes absolutely. Admittedly, he threw Beth out, but that was because he thought he didn’t deserve her. He will be devastated, even if it’s self inflicted. And all the rest to cope with too. (Add to that the expectation that Real Men don’t cry)

He has made this whole thing about him from the moment Chelsea told him she was pregnant - turning up unannounced at her doctor’s appointment and making self important announcements to anyone who will listen about how responsible he feels I agree. This would have felt like a more realistic reaction if if had been Beth who was pregnant - someone he might eventually have gone on to have children with, but it felt very OTT for a one night stand. I think in RL - particularly in view of the fact she immediately took the MAP - Chelsea would have confided in her mum, quietly had a termination and told as few people as possible. But that would have left Ben and Beth still together and heading off the NZ, Brookfield with its solar panels in place and funded and Jill stirring up in the Brookfield kitchen none the wiser (not to mention CMR with his feet still under the table at LL).

Beth didn’t leave, he unceremoniously threw her out. She begged him to reconsider but he was too busy playing the martyr “I’m not good enough for you” etc.

I'm sorry? I thought we saw this as partly a story about young men's mental health?!

"I'm sorry? I thought we saw this as partly a story about young men's mental health?!"

It's a story about what is described in the episodes.

He told Beth to get out.

Because he was absolutely filled with self loathing!

Whatever that is.

Hope he grows up someday.