Archers thread #155: Cold Comfort Farms! The rural sagas continue. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

FILL THE OLD THREAD UP FIRST! https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4902507-archers-thread-154-cider-with-fat-rosie-meadow-rise-to-candleford-or-the-darling-horrobins-of-september-get-your-rural-saga-fix-discuss-the-archers-here?page=10

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 hear more scenes in the abattoir, 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.)

Lots of lively discussion about Brad's university aspirations and the Open Day on the last thread. Do you want him to end up at Felpersham or do you want him to spread his wings and go further afield? Where will Mia go?

Will this thread see the end of Rob, or do we have many weeks more before his long overdue demise?

What's going on at Grey Gables? Are they running into financial trouble? Will we hear from Roy, who I had forgotten was working there until he was mentioned the other day? Who are the mysterious 'Owners'? Will the locum GP turn out to be Adil's sister, as we have been surmising since she first spoke? Why's she been conjured up?

Talking of the GP, I'm hoping against hope we're not in for bad news about Jim's mole.

Praying that we're going to get a long and much-needed break from hearing P*p. Not praying that we hear Rob being christened. Who would be his sponsor, as someone commented on the last thread? Harrison? Surely that would be a conflict of interest. Can't see who else would do it locally.

I wonder how Ben is getting on now he's back on his nursing degree? Will we ever hear anything about Lily's course, or how Freddie's getting on at the abattoir?

So many questions! Over to you for some answers and boundless speculation.

There’s nothing he could have suggested that would have met her approval at that moment completely agree @TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore She's decided it's over and nothing will persuade the doggedly independent one to change her mind.

So it was over a year before moving in together then. Not so bad I suppose. Very unfair on the boys though. Particularly with everything they’ve been through

Having Helen for a mother is very unfair on the boys! Whatever Henry and Jack have been through has either been or been caused by their mother.

Right at the beginning of this sorry saga I was concerned not for Helen's inability to have an adult relationship with anyone without treating him horribly, but for the unfortunate child she conceived with the intention of creating someone who would always have to love her (unsaid: no matter how vile her treatment of that person). Jack being the product of rape is not Helen's fault, but that she decided to set her cap at a married man and break up his marriage was her idea, not Jack's, and it seems unfair for him to have to suffer for her selfish bad judgement. Except that to be honest I can't see that he has: he was under a year old when Rob left the country after attempting to kidnap him, and I doubt that he would remember anything about it; also seeing someone nasty for about five hours during his entire lifetime and before he was eight months old is unlikely to have been all that much of a hardship. All Jack has suffered is Helen.

It was obvious from their first date that Helen and Lee were ill suited. She was dressed up to the nines and he took her to an all you can eat Chinese buffet. I seem to remember she organised a subsequent date - a walk through the countryside - and he turned up in unsuitable trainers as he didn’t own a pair of wellies. Shared interests or culinary tastes do not guarantee a successful relationship but their pairing was always odd. The action man figures, martial arts posters… I’m sure she’s always known deep down Lee is not The One. If he had an ounce of pride he’d walk after the way she humiliated him in the bowling alley.

Alice and Lillian flapping over the fireworks was plain weird. They’ve both been around horses their entire lives. Are we meant to believe this is the first time Lilian has had to consider what to do with skittish horses on Guy Fawkes night?

Re: the horses - too stupid for words! Not to mention they've both grown up around farm animals and dogs (or spent a lot of time with them) which also famously go mental at fireworks.

I wasn't at all clear what they were both DOING when Jakob was there. Alice was potentially soothing the horse. Lilian sounded like she might have been prostrate on the ground. Can't believe neither had the wits to look at the post and work out (by sight!!) how much had been broken off. Poor horse.

Did anything nasty happen to animals this evening? I'm not listening unless it's safe.

Well, Mia has now espoused their cause so the Good Lord in His mercy alone knows what fresh hells they may have to face. But none was injured or hurt to night, and last night's casualty is doing well.

Thanks

The whole bonkers horse story is obviously yet another public service broadcast, this time about fireworks and animals. And to give Mia yet another hobby horse (sorry 🤗!)

I did wonder if we witnessed the beginning of Mia’s Legal Career tonight. (Not that we actually heard the confrontation.)

Was mildly amusing to hear Ian and Adam disrupted in their village uniqueness!

The whole horse/firework thing is stupid as others have said - though I can’t help wondering if the disappearing shoot might have helped to desensitise the horses in previous years 🤔

Oh my goodness Mia is so annoying but her character is written so well! I'm an animal lover and I'm not crazy about fireworks but it seems unreasonable to ask a venue to cancel an event. Obviously Liliian has a vested interested though in the Bull bonfire happening..I thought flyering the village sounded like a sensible compromise.

Can't see why Adam wants to have pdas with Ian, they are an established married couple. Apologies for speaking from hetero privilege but I'm a straight woman in a long established relationship and can't imagine wanting to put on a display.

holding hands isn't a display though!

One of them said something about not needing to put on a display when they were talking about Pip and Stella. I don't know which one. I had the air fryer on and it was difficult to hear properly.

I have to disagree. What else is it? Friends don't do it in the UK. Definitely a couples thing.

As an aside, It's something I noticed early on when I came to Australia, the prevalence of couples holding hands when going out for a walk, unlike the UK. Still a thing.

I'm with Ian on this and have never held hands with a boyfriend or my late DH. I don't think the worse of others, just don't want bro do it myself.

oh, I must be Australian then

This thread is filling up fast! Will keep an eye on it tomorrow. Title thoughts?

Poor Lee. Helen is behaving like a brat. Why can't she have a grown up conversation with him, instead of snapping and sulking? The whiff of burning martyr was so strong at the bowling place I could almost sniff it coming out of my laptop.

It was a bit noticeable that when Helen contacted Ian about last night, it was still about her, and she didn't apparently think to apologise for buggering up their evening out.

I know Mia is naive and all that, but surely Alice could work out that, even if The Bull did cancel the fireworks, it was never going to resolve the problem?

I agree that Helen seemed almost determined not to be in any way pleased withe night's events, and the SL time spent having Ian and Adam discussing it lends weight to the perception of her being unreasonable. I see her inability to discuss things as yet another, and frankly fecking boring aspect of her shutting things down/not speaking. Although now I think of it, so many threads on MN about relationships in crisis focus on repeated behaviour, so true to life.

But this is fiction I tell ya! so I want her to grow up.

Something like… Fireworks in Ambridge, Adil’s AWOL and Helen’s bowled over. Is the writing on the (church) wall?

Bravo!

For ‘fireworks in Ambridge’ this might be useful:

https://metro.co.uk/2017/11/05/14-fireworks-and-firework-types-ranked-from-worst-to-best-7054129/amp/

(My head’s still fogged with virus so I have no actual ideas.)

Might not work if Adil turns up this week?

Silent fireworks are available. I think in Italy they are the only ones available. All the colour and spectacle without the noise.

That sounds so much better