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Original poster

Archers thread #143: In the Bleak Midwinter, Ambridge Folk Make Moan. Best Christmas ever? Probably not! Discuss The Archers here.

987 replies

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 09/12/2022 20:13

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

Archers 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 you'd love to be in Jolene's choir , or other unusual views. Grin

Archers 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!

Archers 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, we made it through Stir Up Sunday without bloodshed, but poor Ben is now in the grip of psychotic depression. Not going to be a happy Christmas at Brookfield, sadly. When will Jill swallow her pride and go and give him the abject apology he deserves? Would it be a good idea anyway for Ben to see his gran at the moment?

Will Jazzer say yes? I hope so. We could do with a Horrobin wedding to look forward to.

Will Emma and Ed end up in court if they go ahead with this idiotic scheme to nick the logs from Peggy's Folly?

Will the two choirs put on a joint concert at Christmas? I assume so, and also that the BBC will continue to fool nobody by using recordings of what is clearly a really good well-rehearsed established choir, not a scratch choir of half a dozen novices.

Over to you!

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Thread gallery
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OverArmour · 31/12/2022 03:16

The actress for Pip looks how I imagine Kate should.

Brefugee · 31/12/2022 07:50

Is Robert just going to become a silent or are we waiting for his death to occur when we're over the hump of Jill and Ben // Jazzer and Tracy?
It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The George/Ed/William scene was painful in the extreme, but his reaction and what he said to Fallon afterwards is maybe an interesting foray into the world of Incel/MRA culture?

As for Jill coming back. Hmmm. The points Ruth raised are still there, aren't they? she has been a controlling matriarch for years and Ruth did have a hard time early on. Without the kids there to give them focus, maybe Ruth and David have run the course of their relationship - but with Ben back maybe they have a chance to get on an even keel.

JanglyBeads · 31/12/2022 08:08

I don't remotely get the feeling Ruth abs David's marriage isn't working?

TeenDivided · 31/12/2022 08:22

@EBearhug A 30 year old would have been offered braces when younger if needed. A mid 50s (my age) would not, they were pretty rare (non existent?) when I was a teen.

I also think Ruth & David's marriage is fine. They are just thinking differently over what might be best for Ben, which having been through / going through something similar myself I'm not at all surprised. There isn't an 'obvious' answer, and the only way to know if what you are doing is right is to try it. I think they work well as a team.

SnowlayRoundabout · 31/12/2022 08:57

Is Robert just going to become a silent or are we waiting for his death to occur when we're over the hump of Jill and Ben // Jazzer and Tracy?

It isn't inevitable that they will kill off the character because the actor has died. They've recast several characters, after all.

Brefugee · 31/12/2022 09:18

my feeling is he'll become a silent then maybe quietly bumped off when we need a bit of drama, or Lynda's actor decides to retire.
(Incidentally i saw her in The Thief Lord, wouldn't have recognised her face but her voice was instantly recognised)

David and Ruth are squabbling a lot. I like to think that some of Ruth's "home truths" (from her pov) over the whole Jill thing are giving him pause for thought). They were funny when they were congratulating themselves on being good at the parenting thing, given that their main focus has always been the farm, and the home stuff was largely done by Jill.

stilldumdedumming · 31/12/2022 09:45

Have we talked about the Ambridge mental health services fairy yet. One spot of psychosis and some suicidal thoughts and Ben gets a support worker. My then 12 year old put herself in hospital 3 times with charcoal treatment too and got 2 sessions from CAMHS at which point they say she's doing well so discharge her so she attempts suicide again and she gets nothing but a referral to a local volunteer run counselling service. FFS I'm livid at this sugar coating of our decimated and essentially non existent services.

WeWereInParis · 31/12/2022 10:25

stilldumdedumming · 31/12/2022 09:45

Have we talked about the Ambridge mental health services fairy yet. One spot of psychosis and some suicidal thoughts and Ben gets a support worker. My then 12 year old put herself in hospital 3 times with charcoal treatment too and got 2 sessions from CAMHS at which point they say she's doing well so discharge her so she attempts suicide again and she gets nothing but a referral to a local volunteer run counselling service. FFS I'm livid at this sugar coating of our decimated and essentially non existent services.

To be fair to them, I think services are a bit luck of the draw. When I was suicidal with PND I had a support worker out to me the next day, a nursery nurse the next week, and a phone call with the perinatal team's pharmacist to discuss suitable medication with a couple of days. The support worker didn't come daily but did come weekly and was available for me to call whenever. And this was only a few months ago.

stilldumdedumming · 31/12/2022 12:27

@WeWereInParis I do hope you're finding things easing. PND is terrible. Maybe it's the difference between child and adolescent services and adult services. I don't know a single person that's had meaningful child and adolescent input. Or maybe it's where I live. It's truly shocking. They said she'd get 6 sessions. She got 2 and then discharged - so she took another overdose. She had been getting paracetamol off friends at school for period pains and storing them up. She's never actually had any help . I paid for therapy privately of course but by that time she was so disillusioned she thought nothing would help!

JanglyBeads · 31/12/2022 12:47

So sorry to hear about your experiences, @stilldumdedumming and @WeWereInParis.

We did talk a few weeks ago about how we hoped TA wouldn't conjure up a MH services fairy. But I guess it's difficult bc the first step is for people to seek help.

Original poster
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/12/2022 14:30

I'm very sorry to hear of your experiences, @stilldumdedumming and @WeWereInParis. I thought from the start this was not a sensible storyline for the production team to attempt, as they were bound to be either slated for portraying mental health services in the NHS as working well, or slated for being party political if they showed the reality, which is that it isn't working well, not for everybody and not all over the country, anyway.

The Jazzer/Tracy proposal storyline is tedious in the extreme. Just do it, one of you! Or don't do it. And then let's hear very little more about it.

Happy New Year to all our posters and lurkers. It's been a very strange year on the world stage and in Ambridge. Here's to a better 2023! 🥂🍾

OP posts:
JanglyBeads · 31/12/2022 15:34

🥂 @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

OverArmour · 31/12/2022 16:12

TeenDivided · 31/12/2022 08:22

@EBearhug A 30 year old would have been offered braces when younger if needed. A mid 50s (my age) would not, they were pretty rare (non existent?) when I was a teen.

I also think Ruth & David's marriage is fine. They are just thinking differently over what might be best for Ben, which having been through / going through something similar myself I'm not at all surprised. There isn't an 'obvious' answer, and the only way to know if what you are doing is right is to try it. I think they work well as a team.

No, Invisalign is sold hard now. Older adults are a huge market - either people that never had treatment, had it and didn’t wear a retainer, or teeth just move over the years. I know a few over 40 who have had it recently.

OverArmour · 31/12/2022 16:14

@stilldumdedumming and @WeWereInParis I’m so sorry, and I agree. Any issues in Ambridge and the kind speaking female medical staff arrive, it’s not realistic. In real life you’re screaming into the wind.

Original poster
Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 31/12/2022 18:46

OK, reverting to utterly pointless Archers-related nonsense, the so called Twitter World Cup of Archers characters has reached the semi-finals and it's Jim vs Tracy in one and Chelsea vs Jazzer in the other! Really? Of all the characters available, these are the ones that make it through to the last four?

Of course, as others have pointed out, it's not quite clear what we're voting for. Favourite characters? Favourite actors? Favourite storylines? Mixture of all of the foregoing, but from 2022 only?

OP posts:
Gonners · 31/12/2022 18:58

I wonder if anyone knows what they're voting for? If anyone thought it was "most irrelevant character of the year", that might explain the inclusion of Jim!

Minimammoth · 01/01/2023 18:08

Geeowrge is gonna be trouble

Gonners · 01/01/2023 18:29

Am I right in thinking that Jaw-gee is Will's son, not Ed's? It was a long time ago and I didn't much care at the time, as breeding with either of them struck me as less than ideal. If so, the potential psycho gene (which I have just made up) is strong.

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 01/01/2023 18:40

The criminality one, on the other hand, is not present in Will as it has frequently been shown to be in Ed. Swings and roundabouts.

Gonners · 01/01/2023 18:54

Swings and roundabouts indeed - psycho or criminal? I think if I absolutely had to choose, I'd go for the* *criminal, but only if he was a really successful one. In that case, of course, I'd probably never even know!

JanglyBeads · 01/01/2023 18:58

Will isn't a "psycho", whatever that actually means?!

JanglyBeads · 01/01/2023 19:01

I wonder if a proportion of stalking which would have previously been put down to delusional thinking and or narcissim is these days more due to incel influence.

(I'm unsure as to what I really mean by "put down to", btw)

TeenDivided · 01/01/2023 19:20

That made me cry. Though I seem to do that a the drop of a hat these days.

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 01/01/2023 19:32

JanglyBeads · 01/01/2023 18:58

Will isn't a "psycho", whatever that actually means?!

He was a man driven demented by the way he had been treated by his family and his wife, and then a man in mourning for his second wife.

TheSilveryPussycat · 01/01/2023 19:42

"Psycho" usually means "psychopath". Not someone who has been driven demented like Will, Ben, and possibly Natasha's dad (like other episodes of mental ill health, bipolar acute episodes are often triggered by life events).