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 thought the opposite - they will be staying with Lynda (and the silent Robert).

Lillian is so self centred I’m not surprised she didn’t notice Jenny was sub-par!

I also thought James and co will be staying with Lynda. And Lynda was lovely with Lilian - not everyone would have got away with suggesting that the extra gin and tonic was unnecessary.

I thought Lilian was very unpleasant last night. Takes a lot for me to feel that Justin is hard done by! Clearly gin and grief are not a good mix for her. She made me think of a Victorian lady who 'takes to her bed'.

Yes "Takes to her bed and has a touch of the vapers" Lindy was very good with Lilian and I did feel sorry for Justin he was only trying to make lilian feel better. I think Lilian should be left alone to wallow then she will notice no one is paying her any attention then perhaps she will stop feeling sorry for herself and realise everybody else is grieving not just her. Apart from that Lilian and linda would have made great suffragettes. ( sorry that just jumped into my head).

Not so sure about that. She may be fag ash Lil but she is also the outdoors type - a lifelong regular rider, walking the dog every day and she talked a lot about swimming in Jersey at one time. I wouldn't be surprised if she was reasonably fit in spite of the lifestyle.

I also thought Lynda was a good option for Lilian last night. Outside of the family politics but someone close enough to be sensible with her.

Why is nobody thinking that Lee and his daughters could live separately to H and the others. Surely that would be the answer rather than plunge them all in together at once? The way the whole thing seems to be deferring to Helen is a bit sickening. Imagine being his daughter! Or had this been floated already and I missed it?

Of course that’s a possibility, @stilldumdedumming. But we inevitably start with the status quo - Lee is living with Helen, so it’s the effect on the Archer (and her offspring) that the SWs will focus on first.

Hard to say what they have in mind for Helen, Henry and Jack’s future. Lee hasn’t made much impression (on me, at least) so seems expendable. And I’ve never ever believed that Helen would rent a new build house on land she used to own. (Any more than I believe Kirsty would let her marital home and become a lodger in Roy’s house … ) So I’m always waiting for her to return to Bridge Farm, or inherit some other Archer property.

(Unless they have a child together Lee doesn’t actually matter!)

Helen is 43, so a baby isn't out of the question.

And I’ve never ever believed that Helen would rent a new build house on land she used to own. (Any more than I believe Kirsty would let her marital home and become a lodger in Roy’s house …Hmm ) Yes to all of this. I've never really taken to Lee because I don't like his voice (or the idea that he has collection of action figures). Apart from anything else I don't relish more random teenagers being thrust into the Ambridge landscape I think there are enough already particularly if Noli and Seepo are about to make a return.

I thought Lynda was her most excellent self with Lilian. She is someone you would really want at a time like this, she listens, she is supremely practical and she will tell you when you go to far (love the "you don't need another G'n'T)

Poor Justin, he was almost human there. But of course he can call and say "sorry, I jumped the gun, your mum's not up to visitors right now"

As for Jenny not telling anyone. Diagnosis in November. Takes time to get used to that and work out any changes to your lifestyle that you need, then her usual christmas stuff, planning and prep (buying all those lovely presents) and then maybe wanting things to calm down before she told everyone. Lillian's reaction tells us she was right in that. Pat was wrong, imo, to insist Tony tell her though. But then Pat is a bit of a steamroller. Jenny probably thought "one last fantastic christmas, then I'll pull the rug from under them, but not ruin Christmas".

When they all calm down, i think they'll agree.

Tbf Noluthando is 22 and an Ambridge heiress, (assuming Kate still retains any useful share of Home Farm?)so I’m longing to see her return. Imagine - Kate didn’t even fly out for her daughter’s 21st birthday last year.

Sipho (also presumably set to inherit a piece of Home Farm) is about 16 - so I guess he might become embroiled in all the rural teen shenanigans.

I keep falling off these threads in recent months as I've been behind with listening to The Archers. Marking place to read the discussion about the current events.

Hello! Long time lurker and very long time listener here. I'm unlurking to do my bit in the effort to get to thread 150 for the 10 year anniversary, in true Ambridge 'Village effort' style...
I think Lillian isn't behaving brilliantly, but I like her, and I think really what is happening is she is in deep shock over witnessing Jenny's collapse, but mostly, I think she is really really hurt that Jenny didn't tell her she was unwell.
I also really like Ruairidh, I think his current state of being is really understandable, and whatever is actually happening with the escorting or otherwise is believable. But I do hope that storyline ends soon because I find it a bit grim. Bring him back to Ambridge so he can have a lovely happy story with the lovely vet nurse!

Yes, @PuppyPerson I’m also hoping for a Paul and Ruari storyline when all the Julianne business blows up!

We need some more characters as so many of the good ones are being silenced or written out imo. I’d be happy to see new blood, whether it’s Kate’s kids or Lee’s kids or both.

I cannot understand why they haven’t thought about separate houses, if Lee’s girls do move back; weird that Helen’s first thought was “we’ll need to move!”

@Fink - I've only just seen your question from yesterday. Yes, the spreadshit is still going counting the total posts on each thread (but it would be a much bigger undertaking to record who and how many post on each thread, so I can't tell you that).

Obviously, if we all increase our posting rate by 50%, then the rate would follow suit from 40 per day to 60 per day. (Actually, since Jennifer's death, we've been running at over 50 per day, so just sustain that and maybe it nudge it up a little).

There will be other milestones coming along: later this year we should hit our 150,000th post, and also Gasp0de is on track to host her 50th thread before the year is out.

Anyway, you've inspired me to create a Chat thread to see if we catch some more fans - maybe a few of you could pop in there to give it some profile...

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4732538-any-fans-of-the-archers-radio-4-drama

Helen and Lee are incredibly dull. Their conversations are suffocatingly so! But maybe we should acknowledge that it was a pretty big deal for H after the terrifying and also confusing abuse she had suffered.

I have teenagers (though my eldest teen is 22). I like the younger storylines - they are a bit 2D though.

Just marking my place.

Ooh, don't just mark your place, @SallyWD - give us your thoughts?

Do you think the revelations around Jennifer's death will tear the Aldridges apart?

What does Lee do about his daughters moving to California?

Will Brad Horrobin ever find true love? As a fellow maths geek, I felt his pain over his recent attempt at some romance.

Following! I've been an on/off listener for ages and trying to get back into it. Agree that Helen and Lee are soporific but I've never liked H tbh.

Actually, since Jennifer's death, we've been running at over 50 per day, so just sustain that and maybe it nudge it up a little Or we could just start new threads a bit earlier … ?

I picture Helen and Lee wearing matching fleeces, emblazoned with pictures of wolves.

Lee also wears blindingly white trainers at all times.

Probably tucks his shirt into his underpants too.

Not a bad idea, given the persistent MN problems with long threads loading. I cured it by going over to pages (100 posts per page), but I gather that even that doesn't sort it out in all cases.

@BoreOfWhabylon yes to Lee's trainers, but not the fleeces. Helen is too dull for that!

iratepirate
I cannot understand why they haven’t thought about separate houses, if Lee’s girls do move back; weird that Helen’s first thought was “we’ll need to move!”

Oh, that would be because she wants to take possession of Bridge Farmhouse. She has not worked out that it has the same number of bedrooms (four) as the house in which she is living at the moment, and will therefore do her housing congestion problem no particular good.

I think it has been mentioned by Lee that Lee could not afford somewhere large enough for his daughters as well as himself to live in.

Do we know where ex-Mrs Lee and the girls live? She sounds fairly high-powered and presumably owns their home. So the logical thing, if anyone cares about GCSEs, would be for Lee to move back there and live with the girls, avoiding the need for them to change schools. This would have the added benefit of annoying Helen.