Archers thread #164: AmbridgEnders! An Everyday Story of Soapy Folk. Discuss The Archers here.

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Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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Thread thrown together in great haste in advance of tonight's episode. Who's in the Am? Is it George's fault? Is this the end for Alice? Over to you!

Yes, absolutely this!! A medical doctor on a FB Archers group said this was an absolute no-no (we know that anyway, right?) and furthermore, confirmed my suspicions that there's no way a urine test for blood or signs of damage to bladder or kidneys would also have included a totally separate test for pregnancy. She'd have been asked, given she was compos mentis, before that x-ray, if she had any reason to think she might be pregnant, and if at all hazy would have been OFFERED a test. This is not what happened. So her pee was tested without permission. Which is not on. But the implication via the stupid scriptwriters is that it was a matter of 'oh we tested to see if your kidneys were damaged and Oh look at that! the test says you're pregnant too!' Utter bollocks.

But what is boiling my piss after last night is the SAME bloody doctor (strike him off!) telling Fallon and Harrison that yes, there was just a chance that her early 1st trimester pregnancy (we assume early, yes? though I suppose her coil means she wouldn't have missed a period) was caused by 'trauma'. Does he mean emotional trauma (nope) or mechanical trauma? (nope, not that early, anyway) Misrepresenting why 1st trimester MCs happen is irresponsible and really bad writing/research. Just for added drama and possible culpability on the part of George/Alice.

Personally I wish she'd remained pregnant and then stuck to her guns and had a termination. She is allowed not to want kids!

It would have been much better to hear Fallon telling Harrison that she was pregnant. Or NOT telling him, and him finding out after a termination.
There was no need to introduce a doctor character at all.

(I have complained before about one-off appearances of unnecessary professionals, I think the SW do it just to give jobs to their friends)

Sorry about your pregnancy loss.

I'm really quite pissed off at this particular storyline and how crassly it's been handled already. Bad research, bad writing - this is a lived reality for many women and we don't want to hear miscarriage misrepresented for crappy melodrama!

To be fair, he can mess up his degree more effectively by going to a “good” university and being unhappy than by going to a lesser university.
If being near his family and girlfriend is important to him, then he would probably be better off at a local university where he is happy.
Being a large fish in a small pond might be more helpful to him than being a bright student in a cohort of bright students.

Yeah me too, if they must have a pregnancy/miscarriage storyline for a character who has been very clear they don't want a baby then they bloody well need to do better in terms being responsible in their depiction.

There are far more original approaches they could have used regarding Fallon & Harrison rather than this which feels rather repetitive of previous stories.

I'm annoyed at the unplanned pregnancy. It's too soapy.
It seems that the planned pregnancies are those where the couple (or singleton) did not conceive without intervention. (I've posted this elsethread)

The surprise pregnancies don't seem to happen where there aren't complications.

Phoebe, Ben and Jamie were surprises but they are adults now. More recently we had Bethany's DS and Mike's depression, poor Cursedy's stillbirth, Marthyr and Alice's alcoholism, and now Fallon's miscarriage.

Ben and Chelsea's unwanted pregnancy and Fat Rosie were ultimately positive outcomes (but not to Chelsea).

Planned natural pregnancies (not going back too many generations)- Tom and Natasha’s twins, Keira, Poppy, Freddy and Lily, Noluthando and Sipho, Mungo possibly? Brad and Chelsea probably.

Jack was planned by Rob but not Helen.

Today's trailer of doom: Alice saying "...Just when you think things can't get any worse..."

TherapistInATabard
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned the awful stilted conversation between Alan and Harrison about the collection for Palestinians and whatever it was for the synagogue. Dreadfully clunky topical insert!

Ridiculously clumsy.
Plus there's no way a place like Felpersham would even have its own synagogue. If there were 10 Jews they might gather in somebody's house. Otherwise any that might live there would probably travel to Birmingham.

Such a contrast between the Alice/crash drama/well-written Aldridge dialogue and this ham-fisted 'topical insert'/Fallon pregnancy SL.

There is a synagogue in a town near me (population approx 70,000)

Isn't Felpersham loosely meant to be Birmingham?

I thought more somewhere like Worcester or Malvern.

I assumed Felpersham was Cheltenham.

ETA - which does have a synagogue.

I thought (last week?) when Fallon was enjoying playing cricket with Henry and Harrison that we might be heading towards her changing her mind re kids. But maybe fostering/adopting an older child. Not sure where they'll go with this now.

Borchester is a market town with a small department store and a small hospital.
Felpersham is a cathedral city with the council offices, a teaching hospital, a university and a much wider choice of shops than Borchester. Make of that what you will!

Joy surprise deading please please please

Well, ok, fiction and all that.
It seems that Felpersham is bigger than I imagined it to be!
In RL, the only synagogues in the West Midlands outside Birmingham are in Coventry, Solihull and a tiny community of less than two dozen spread widely around the Stoke-on-Trent area.

Sounds a lot like Worcester. Synagogue closed in 1973.

Stoke-on-Trent isn't in the West Midlands and AFAIK has only one synagogue.

The community is called the Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire Hebrew Congregation, based in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffs, and is listed under W Mids communities on Wiki

The Newcasle one is the one that used to be the Hanley Synagogue.
Stoke is in the North Midlands not West Midlands. It's nearer to Manchester than Birmingham. Newcastle is near Crewe.

Fallon has a coil fitted - THAT is why the pregnancy likely ended!!

Infuriating to hear such a botched job done of early maternity care.

The doctor was a random person in a white coat who was pretending to be an A&E doctor and a Gynae & Obs specialist.
Otherwise, he'd have asked the half-drowned Fallon if there was a possibility she was upduffed, she'd have said she had a coil fitted, and he' have known that the coil can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting.

The pregnancy storyline is infuriating on several levels.

Alan is a total doofus. I couldn’t believe it when he said what they were collecting the clothes for!

I understand what posters mean about George - he’s the type who’d commit rape if he could easily tell himself it wasn’t rape, IMO. I had a moment of worry when he approached Alice, but I don’t think it would have been in character for him to rape her - he is an opportunist, but I don’t think he is really a predator.

Harrison is being played like a moron. The man is meant to be a police officer but displays zero logical thought or emotional intelligence.

They talked about the situation but didn’t Google what happens if you become pregnant with a coil inserted? He must have known that the chances of it proceeding physically were lower than normal, and Fallon is also almost 40, so the stats for miscarriage at that age are easily found. (let’s not even start about whether or not F would want to continue it).

I've not read the whole discussion as it has filled up so fast, and I may be confused about location, but assuming the bridge is a bit out of the village, why is no-one asking questions about how 1. George happened to be on the spot at the time and 2. Alastair and Denise were also there together late at night. Or maybe that's to come?