Archers thread #146: They did fall apart. Can they put themselves together again? 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. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to donate your time as a guide at Lower Loxley to save the Pargetters paying someone else a living wage, 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.)

Thanks to @Impostersyndrome for the thread title suggestion Buses and trains are sorely lacking, canals might be nearby, but all roads lead to Ambridge, picking up on transport discussions in the last thread. In the end I didn't use it, having in mind the character limit. @TottersBlankly contributed an early draft title Wreathes, wrath, writhing (Jennifer, Lilian, Ruairi). Both good starting points for the new thread, which I hope will last till Jennifer's funeral, surely not too far off now. So, over to you - whither the Aldridges? Also, does anyone care if Lee goes to the US? Is anyone even slightly interested in the Brookfield B&B venture?

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. Is anyone even slightly interested in the Brookfield B&B venture? - with the loss of Jennifer, Peggy, Shula, Robert, Jill (now seldom heard), Debbie (long gone I know), Lee's possible departure maybe taking Helen and the boys with him and now even Alan silent in the middle of a plot that's crying out for a vicar I think the B&B will be necessary to generate enough characters to eke out future episodes. Otherwise the next thread title will have to be along the lines of will the last person to leave Ambridge please turn of the lights

Thanks Gasp0de

Are we soon to see the appearance of the Ambridge US Visa/Green Card Fairy?

Hellin will never leave her cheese though.

Haha ^

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I'm assuming that the Brookfield B&B will be of little day to day interest, aside from an 'is Ben coping' plot device... Lynda's B&B guests are silent, for example.

On the other hand, will it all lead to an expansion of the business and it becoming 'Ben's new thing' instead of nursing? Wedding venues with on site accommodation seem to be very much sought after these days...

Thanks @gasp!

Helen has probably been trying to come up with a way to get rid of Lee for a while. He’s a nice guy so she doesn’t want to break his heart but packing him off to San Fran with a promise to stay together is a good way of doing it.

I think I have said before that the month-long wait for a funeral is exactly what I have experienced. Mum’s funeral actually took place five weeks after date of death. This limbo period is very strange esp when thinking of your parent/loved one lying in a fridge all that time - particularly if they are the kind to hate the cold. Having said that, the wait does offer an opportunity for reflection and for quietly getting used to things being different. It is also the only time that others keep the kid gloves on. After the funeral, all bets are off and people expect you to bounce back to being normal- failing to recognise that life will never ever be normal again…

I suspect one of SWs has experienced this hiatus period for real as they are getting the maelstrom of emotions churning amongst a family pretty well spot on. All they really need is a row over dress code and sandwich fillings - with everyone terminating their closing arguments with ‘it’s what Mum would have wanted…’

Surely Fallon will be handling the post-funeral tea - in most villages that would be a good money-spinner but, of course, the death rate in Ambridge is quite low…

Are we soon to see the appearance of the Ambridge US Visa/Green Card Fairy?

Well, quite.

They'll have him gone within days!

Thanks for the new thread, Gaspode.

My interest in the Brookfield B & B is mainly in how Lynda and Robert feel - whether they see it as stealing their business or don't care. I would have loved to have heard David basically asking for tips as to how they could better poach the Snells' customers! It's sad to think that we'll never hear what Robert has to say about it.

It would be so lovely if Helen's wrong opinion on the superiority of American pancakes was a prelude to her departure for the continent where Rob Tichenor awaits a happy reunion.

Not that there's anything wrong with American fluffy pancakes, I might have some for breakfast with bacon and maple syrup, but lunch will be proper pancakes with lemon and sugar.

I have a dim memory of discussions before about whether Lee could practise as a physiotherapist in the US without re-training or at least having his current qualifications evaluated. Does anyone know? I'd have thought he'd be in with a good chance of getting a work visa as a qualified HCP, but have no idea how long it takes to get that. No doubt he could get some sort of job in health care to pay the bills while waiting for full accreditation to come through. Would he want to, though? The US health care system is about as different from the NHS as it's possible to be.

Thanks, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g !

Must admit I fell asleep wondering who might take over the Bridge Farm dairy - however unlikely a prospect that probably is. (Natasha? Fallon? New non-Archer?)

I’d be delighted if Helen emigrated. Until such time as Henry becomes capable of independent trouble Helen isn’t really much use as a character now. She’s had her major drama and it would seriously strain credibility to include her in another - so she just potters along being dull but self centred in the background. And Lee is ditch water.

I think a 4 week wait for a funeral isn't unusual, if there is to be a cremation attended by family.
I'd expect them to have a service at the church followed by family only cremation (or the other way round which works better logistically).
If they are going for crem only they'll need a large service room due to size of family and their general contacts.

I assume that Ben & Lynda are aiming for a different type of clientelle.

2 small local B&Bs could pass clients to each other if they are full, or if the potential client wants to bring, say, a big hairy dog?

I hope this isn't leading up to killing off Robert and Lynda giving up though. I worry about that part of the storyline. The Archers without Lynda is unthinkable.

The zero mentions of Alan (even talking to him on the phone while he bounces from parish to parish) would be more realistic than just ignoring him. As for the window - urgh. Make it go away.

Thanks for the new thread, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g .
I don't think Helen will go to SF.

It will be a long distance relationship, with Helen, Henry and Jack going out to visit perhaps.

There's no obvious candidate to take over the cheesemaking. If Johnny had a girlfriend, she might be one.

Emma or Tracey as cheesemaker? Or maybe Rex or Will?

If I were Lee I would have felt like I was being given the good old heave ho last night.

I hadn’t thought of Helen going too - surely too much to hope for, although Susan and Clarrie barely need her do they.

It is amazing how many international connections one small village has, I remember when Phoebe got the job in Scotland thinking what? Not Uttar Pradesh?

Still in two minds about whether Helen was being selfless but am coming down on the side of “I’d rather you sodded off to America than pollute my home with your offspring.”

Also I still don’t believe that two teenage girls with presumably school and friends and activities as well as a loving dad would be cheerily moving continents without a care in the world. Mind you that dad is Lee…

Emma or Tracey as cheesemaker?

Emma would be an exciting choice. She must be familiar with every aspect already, having grown up with her Ma working there. (Not that I could do either of my parents’ jobs!) Evolving from doing the work to managing the business would probably really suit her. And the Bridge Farm clan would trust her.

I can’t see Tracy enjoying being stuck in a sterile environment with only one other person to talk to day after day! She’s all about noise and chat and dashing off on a whim.

Presumably Susan and Clarrie are approaching the possibility of retirement - though they may be free to carry on forever.

I doubt that having your mother working in a dairy would make someone familiar with every aspect of cheesemaking, but wouldn't Emma's envy curdle the milk?

Surely SF would be the ideal place for hand-made artisan cheese? Helen could set up a Bridge Farm Cheese thing there, surely?

But she's doing what lots of people advise on the Step-parenting board - encouraging Lee to put his children first, surely? I can imagine posts from each of them over there, though, getting different answers.

It would seem the obvious thing @Brefugee , though I vaguely wondered if the Californian artisan cheese market isn’t already saturated. (No idea, other than that it’s a place that seems to produce a ton of chi chi cookery books!)

Imagine Lee's ex-wife's reaction. Comfortable in SF, not affected by the worldwide wipeout of IT jobs, enjoying the life, learning to surf, meeting nice new people, and suddenly Lee, Helen and the boys come tromping across the sand.

I can’t imagine Helen will move to SF. Is she realising what we’ve all known for years? That Lee is as dull as shit and they’re totally incompatible?

P.S. Fanks for the fred @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

A lot of nice cheese is illegal in the USA as they have some weird (to us) rules around raw milk.

wrt to funeral. if there is an autopsy then it takes aaaages for the body to be released for the funeral. remember she died without hcp present.

and if you want/need to have the funeral at the weekend (relatives travelling from far away) the wait can be even longer.

funeral for a relative was 2 months after death due to above reasons.

Thanks for the new thread, Gasp0!

TeenDivided
I think a 4 week wait for a funeral isn't unusual, if there is to be a cremation attended by family.

I don't think cremation is being talked about for Jennifer: service in Ambridge, bury her in the churchyard there.
I have been wondering why on earth, in the circumstances, Alice was talking about hiring cars for the occasion: nobody will need to travel more than half a mile to get to the church, and they all have cars anyway.
Apart from Debbie, and I would suppose she will be staying with one of her relations and going along to the church with them.

TottersBlankly
Presumably Susan and Clarrie are approaching the possibility of retirement

Clarrie was born on 12th May, 1954, so she is nearly sixty-nine, while Susan, born on 10th October 1963, will be sixty this year.