Archers thread #152: The Dog Days of Summer in Ambridge! Rabid rants, tearoom dogfight, Bully Dog George gets it all on camera. Is Lone wolf Rob waiting in the woods? 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 love a son like George, 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.)

Starting this new thread a bit early, as we're near the end of the last thread and I'm out all day today. As last night's episode was a banger, I thought I'd better ensure discussion can continue seamlessly!

The original idea for a dog theme for this thread came from the death of poor Weaver. RIP. The Dog Days of summer are associated with storms and the silly season, so quite appropriate for The Archers at the moment! They may technically be over now, as it's all to do with the heliacal rising of the Dog Star, Sirius (no, me neither), but apparently the Anglo-Saxons considered they lasted into September (thank you, Wikipedia), so that will do for me.

So - what next for Helen, Henry and Jack? Surely even the Bridge Farm Archers will see that she needs professional help? After her outburst the other night they might finally grasp that Henry could do with some too. All very grim.

On the lighter side (perhaps), whither Pip and Stella?

Over to you!

This is going to puzzle my head, @greenacrylicpaint … Have I really forgotten so much?

Don't forget @Bruisername it's a Fat Rosie portion... it'll be HUGE!

I believe it was Lilian's house decades ago when she was married to Ralph Bellamy, local landowner and father of James. When they moved to Guernsey, it was sold and eventually ended up as the home of Guy Pemberton, who bought a big chunk of farmland ('the Estate'), which Shula managed for him in her Land Agent days. Guy married Caroline Bone, General Manager of Grey Gables, died not long afterwards, and left the house to her. When the Grundys were evicted from Grange Farm by Guy's dastardly son Simon, Caroline took her godson Will Grundy into the Dower House so he could carry on with his job as Assistant Gamekeeper at Home Farm. He lived in a granny flat. When Caroline married Oliver Sterling, he left his house at Grange Farm and moved in with her at the Dower House. I can't remember exactly when Caroline sold the house - when she and Oliver bought Grey Gables? When they retired and moved to Italy? Anyway, she did sell it, and Lilian moved in there with Matt.

You know how they like pairing up storylines for a compare and contrast? I wonder if something is going to happen to Justin (don’t think they’d kill Lilian off so soon after JD), with all that talk of marriage being just a piece of paper. Did Tiger sell the house to Justin? Because I thought it was some other sneaky thing that I’ve been cross with ever since. Or was the sneaky think just persuading Lilian they didn’t need to marry? The whole thing left a bad taste, anyway.

Does Justin have kids?

I don’t think they will kill him off anytime soon as they need him to tick the ‘ruthless’ businessman box. Adil isn’t quite fitting the brief on that front as he is very much a ‘by the book’ businessman.

Anyway, she [Caroline] did sell it, and Lilian moved in there with Matt.

This, I remember. Just not the specifics of who currently owns what.

As far as we know, Justin doesn't have children. He and his first wife divorced. Was she called Miranda? It annoyed me intensely that he and Lilian changed their minds about getting married on the day of the wedding. I hope she's made sure he has a will in her favour. Of course, the protection from that is limited given how easy it is to change a will.

Bless wee Mia - she’s an idealist. Like her environmentalism.

I refused to get married when I was younger because I disliked what it represented. I was the slightly higher earned and very independent. Later, the legal protections became relevant so I got pragmatic.

You can’t consider that stuff in the giddy years of 16 or 17.

Ah, Miranda …

Currently somewhere hot, horizontal with a pool boy.

But here’s something vaguely helpful. (Apols, photo.)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/entries/9e3774ce-5ab5-406d-988c-ff968fba39a0

Another episode that starts with too much eating and drinking.

Agree Pip and Stella eschewing the pub date for coming in for something to eat was icky code. And went against what had been said earlier about taking it slow etc.

also, did anyone clock the other day that someone (can’t remember who) had been out for a walk/run and mentioned they’d nearly been trampled by Helen who was out running very fast and very seriously? (I paraphrase). I wondered if another sign post to Helen’s eating disorder. I remember when it reared it’s head when she was pregnant with Henry and someone mentioned they’d seen her at the pool doing fast lengths with weights etc strapped to her wrists and ankles.

Stella deserves better than Pip and her child friendly pesto pasta.

@GolgafrinchamB I completely agree re Mia - her views on marriage are exactly what you'd expect of 16-year-old. It would have been far more unrealistic if she (or Brad for that matter) had launched into a long discourse about it giving legal protection to both parties in a long-term relationship. I'm actually thinking of switching off for the Pip/Stella storyline. It feels like such a box-ticking exercise and featuring one of the worst actors. It always feels as if the SWs don't really know what to do with Pip - she was the Pope of farming for a long time as she was lined up as the rightful inheritor of Brookfield ahead of both her brothers, then she was selected for an unplanned pregnancy storyline despite the fact that as the Pope of farming she must have understood more about conception and the importance of contraception than just about anyone else in Ambridge, now she's been nominated to play the other half of the token lesbian relationship in Ambridge. She's rarely convincing in any scenario - I'd be quite happy for her to go silent.

I was going to say there’s not much chance of that, @LillianGish - but then, Kenton … If only Stella could tempt Pip to set up life on another continent. For a decade or two.

Pip emigrating would be amazing! New Zealand?

Noooooooooooooooo - surely not NZ. I may have to return to UK.

I mean Outer Mongolia would be the best - somewhere with no internet or phone signal even better

yes @CompaniesHouse I noticed that and thought exactly the same thing...

The house was Matt's, in trust for Lilian in perpetuity or wtte (which he did when he was sent to prison so that it would not be taken to pay his outstanding fines or debts or whatever, and then left that way when he fled the country for the first time). When Justin discovered he was renting a house from That Man and not as he had supposed from Lilian (whose house it was because it was in trust) he had a hissy fit and stamped his feet and held his breath until he turned purple, and insisted that Lilian had to break the trust so that Matt could sell it to him. Like an idiot, she did. She was under the impression they were going to marry so she would not lose all claim on it, right up until the day of the marriage when Justin said he loved her too much to marry her, or some tosh of the sort, and once again the silly woman believed him and went along with his demands.

In the matter of Pip and Stella, I think we ought to remember Toby's very early remark about Pip to Rex: she comes with a farm attached. And Stella has said that her dream is to own and run a farm.

Very astute point. Decisions, decisions. Do I tie myself to one of the most irritating people on the planet so I am in with a good chance of inheriting a farm, or do I wave goodbye to my ambitions to own a farm but preserve my sanity and equanimity?

But they wouldn’t inherit for a good 10 years and then she’ll be closer to retirement than not

Yes to this! Tracy has no safety net of savings, as we know, and she is on a low income - I assume Jazzer is on a low income too, although no idea really what he’d be paid? Given they’re living together, his income will be taken into account for Brad’s loan calculations I assume? An unforeseen consequence of them moving in together, worth exploring?

Maintenance Grants have gone now, I think, and Tracy is going to have to find a few hundred pounds a month for Brad, which is going to be somewhere between ‘a real struggle’ and ‘impossible’.

sorry, but of a stream of consciousness.

TLDR: I agree, that would be a really interesting storyline!

😂😂😂

Like many others, Pip makes my toes curl. However I also dislike the Stella character (although better acted). The thought of lots of episodes with the pair of them slurping wine and each other turns my stomach.

someone told me recently that there is a limit now on the number of characters that can be used each month. This explains some of the repetitive scenes and characters who seem to go missing for weeks. Can anyone confirm whether this is true?

I miss Lilian, Alice, Prof & many others.

Well said, totally agree with all of this!

So - Lilian’s divested herself of the Dower House.

What of Amside Property Development? Justin wanted that too. Does it still exist? Is it still in operation? I recall someone once commented that it used to occupy Matt and Lillian, plus at least one full time assistant, all day, every day - not forgetting the teams of builders and carpenters and architects and designers constantly on tap - and then suddenly running it took Lillian, single handed, less time than a manicure. Now it seems to have disappeared altogether.

Clearly Justin has to go first, (Lilian deserves better than his insincere wailing) at which point, what? What will be left for Mungo to inherit?

I dunno … What with the erasure of the Home Farm House, the disappearance of Dan, Stella’s presumed designs on Brookfield … Is it that the SWs have lost their bearings, or have I?