Archers thread #145: The glue that held the Aldridges together is gone. Will they fall apart? 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, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it.

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.)

Lillian and I both made the glue observation, so I thought that would be as good a way as any to kick off this new thread. We raced through the last one, for obvious reasons. This one may last until the funeral. Will Tamsin Greig find time to attend? I do hope so.

The poem Jennifer quoted in her journal is here: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43775/rabbi-ben-ezra It's doubtful whether the last of Jennifer's life was the best, but she had plenty to contend with all the way through.

Over to you!

I would also like to hear more about the man with 15 cats who wears Christmas pyjamas all day every day.

Exactly my thoughts!

So would I!

Poor Alice. Hope she can get things back on track.

Glad to hear Brian getting back on neighbourly terms with Roy and Kirsty.

By the way, did anyone else notice that as well as Jennifer being the glue that held the Aldridges together, Shula was declared on air the other day to have been the glue that held the Archer siblings together? I think that was said by David when he was having supper with Elizabeth. He certainly bewildered Freddie just after the meal by thanking him for being Shula!

I'm very fond of Kirsty. She's brave and has what I believe is called a hinterland.

She's been let down by the men she put her trust in (Tom, Philip), suffered heartache (Wren) but she picks herself up and takes solace in nature and has a real purpose in life.

Perhaps it's all that glue that accounts for so few of the Archer clan making the break from Ambridge!

echt
I bellowed "Casket!!??" as soon as the words were out of Alice's mouth, so glad Brian was similarly outraged.

Annoyingly, a coffin and a casket are not the same. They are different shapes: a coffin is that kite sort of shape, wider at the shoulders and tapering to the feet, and a casket is rectangular.

But I bet the things in the brochure were indeed coffins!

I think it is true though that you need a glue / organiser sibling once siblings become adults and parents become frail / die.

I think Americans call it a casket not coffin. Yep feel sorry for Alice. Rhauri needs a big kick up the behind he is so self centered. I would be really furious if I came home to that he has no respect not even for himself.

Have I missed something? Where's Debbie? I know the actress is busy elsewhere but to plot a death and then have the eldest (?) daughter remain silent is a bit strange.

I agree, @faffadoodledo. I can only remember one mention of Debbie, right after Jennifer died - a video call. Odd choice of words, as surely the natural thing would be to say 'We Facetimed Debbie' or 'We had a Zoom call with Debbie' or 'We did a video call with Debbie on WhatsApp', but I suppose the BBC still has this residual resistence to naming brands.

It is very odd that they've not dropped even brief mentions of Debbie in since then. In many big complicated families someone living abroad might be in very little contact with everyone else, but we've never been given that impression about Debbie. I still have my fingers crossed that she might turn up for the funeral, which must be about 10 or 11 days off now.

And Nolly's accent is all over the place. She arrived with a lovely soft SA accent. And it's disappearing and meandering all over the place now.
The polar opposite to Ruth's accent!

but I suppose the BBC still has this residual resistence to naming brands.

I was surprised to hear Alice mentioning Rizlas!

Yes!

I always remember Blue Peter when I was growing up. Endless references to sticky-backed plastic which everybody knew was Fablon.

I thought the sticky back plastic was Sellotape. They also referred to candy-covered chocolate buttons, IIRC.

Sellotape was sticky tape.
SBP was something I could only dream of!

Thanks faff. I didn't really watch it. Elder sibling preferred Magpie. Similarly, we watched Swap Shop not Tiswas.

We watched both Blue Peter and Magpie. I was a bit old for Tiswas and Swap Shop, and had a Saturday job by then, so that solved that dilemma. We also watched How!, which I think would have been significantly different in a number of respects now.

I'm not sure if we ever had Fablon in our house, but it was a cheap and easy way of covering up shabby/damaged surfaces, e.g. kitchen cupboards, so as far as I can recall was not something posh.

I never knew the name for Sticky Back Plastic as I didn't see it anywhere other than on Blue Peter, except once a year when we had to wrap our school exercise books in wrapping paper, and then some teachers insisted on SBP on top. It was a bugger to use without it sticking to everything or going all bumpy. I've still got the tail end of a roll from doing the same for DD several years ago.

I used to love Fun House with Pat Sharp, and Round the Twist (from Australia). When we were younger we had some excellent cartoons like Bananaman, Willo the Wisp, Wacky Races ... Rentaghost and Supergran were two of our favourite shows, but the absolute best was Simon and the Witch.

I think the sticky back plastic was Contact. Fablon was the patterned stuff. Sellotape was called sticky tape.

Talk about tough love! Lisa is coming across as really unsympathetic. And does she get it?! Does she actually understand that single parents don't always have time to attend one or two meetings a week, even when they're not recently bereaved? That's not Alice making excuses! I really hope she doesn't drink again, but she needs a better support network than someone telling her that she can make two meetings a week on top of working and parenting.

And Brian is actually getting ridiculous. Surely someone his age has seen friends and extended family die around him. He may not want to deal with the reality of Jenny's death, but he will know that not having a funeral just prevents people from getting the closure they need. Maybe he doesn't want it, but he's not the only one grieving.

First time poster on Archer matters, but I got so angry today
can I just say that Brian’s behaviour is absolutely appalling - he was the one person (apart from Tony) that had some time to prepare
has he really lost the ability to understand the needs of his children? Maybe he never had it - as a parent, surely there is always a part in you protecting your children (I see this more in mothers), no matter how you are (ok not counting severe mental illness / suicidal situations) - is Brian really that unwell? Denying his family the chance to say goodbye to mother / grandmother/ sibling? it seems he values no one apart from Roari?
Who will talk him out of this?
Nolotando?
Will?
Neil?
if I were Alice I would stay well clear right now as she is in the camp of „can do no good“
Clearly extremely well written to wind me up so badly

Sellotape was sellotape!

Sellotape was sticky tape.

Poor Brian, he's not thinking just sort of hiding.
They have time for him to come round with the funeral being some time away too.

I don't like the no fuss cremation ads on the TV either. I think funerals are for the bereaved and saying you don't want one deprives loved ones a formal, ritualised way to say goodbye.

Alice needs to make time. Her weekly meetings should be immovable. It should be that Chris has Martha that night as standard and nothing gets in the way, ever. Self care first.

Sorry Brian’s putting up your blood pressure, @LittleOwl ! It’s surprising - he’s such a traditionalist. If they do manage some other type of ceremony we’ll know where Kate gets her non-compliant steak from!