Archers thread #165: Bridge over troubled waters! 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 believe Rochelle exists, 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 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/5071889-the-archers-spoilers-thread-9-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.)

This thread may well fill up as fast as the last one, so let's just get stuck in!

Brilliant idea! Newname197373

A, was wondering what on Earth the point of that Mick / Alisdare convo was. Now the affair seems even more seedy and horrible, with this extension to the SL and to the lying.

How is Paul going to feel whenever he finds out??

The trouble is that I really don't care how Paul feels because I don't give a monkey's about Paul. Or come to that Denise the Tease. And I defy anyone to care much about Silent John.

How is Paul going to feel whenever he finds out??

A bit pouty? He might even stamp a dainty foot.

Also, what @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime said.

Now wouldn’t that have been a SL if John had just been happening to do a late night cycle and got caught between the cars

I like Paul!
Distasteful in the extreme for Alistair to concoct such a web of lies. As an ex-addict it’s worrying behaviour from him.

Mick suggested that Alistair should tell Paul. That is the most bizarre suggestion ever.

I cannot get my head around how everyone in Ambridge thinks an affair is fine. (Possible Mick doesn't know Denise is married?). It's so grim.

I thought about that one, and realised that Jennifer had the same number of children born outside marriage, the same number of marriages, one more divorce and more on-air affairs than Jolene!

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime I am struggling with Jenny having 3 marriages and two divorces- Paddy Redmond not married, Roger Travers Macy married divorced, Brian married till death did them part. Was there another husband at some point?

Or was Jolene never married to Wayne?

No need for the gay stereotyping.

I have a friend in her mid thirties who almost died giving birth to her second child during what should have been a straightforward ELCS that ended up being very traumatic. She is certain that she doesn't want any more children and having more children wouldn't be advisable for her health, either. However, she still can't get a referral to have tubal ligation "in case she changes her mind". It's utterly infuriating (and sadly unsurprising, given what we know about women's healthcare in general) that a woman so often has no final say over what happens to her own body.

BOOP for today's episode which got a real laugh out of me with Mick's "Sex, lies and sheep" conversation with Alistair. I enjoyed the whole episode because however repugnant George is, his and Fallon's actor are both really good at their job.

Take that up with the SWs. I’m not the one writing him as camp. [Remembers Eurovision. Shudders]

Actually, about him ‘finding out’, I think he knows perfectly well what the score is and is just needling Alistair to enjoy seeing him squirm. Oddly enough, this doesn’t make me love him any the more.

Like many women I suspect she's realised with horror that her partner may see her as a baby-producing machine first and a human partner second

Harrison adores Fallon and respects her. He has the perfectly natural desire to be a dad. If it were the other way round and the woman wanted a child, I suspect Fallon would get a lot more sympathy on this thread.

His anger with Alice was understandable. He tried to help her when she was dunk and she made a pass at him, she almost lost him his job and - to his knowledge - almost killed 3 people. I'd be furious too.

I hope that Alice goes to London with Ruaaarggghhhri and starts fresh. With regular contact with Martha and maybe a chance to back to her engineering career.

How depressing would that be. For her to walk out on her child and live the single life in London with her 40 year old pal instead of sobering up and raising her daughter.

"Young and dynamic" aren't words I'd use to describe Fallon or Alice. However, they both were thriving in the village before Fallon lost her business without a fight and Alice neglected The Stables in favour of the bottle.

Crap! I've got 2 names on this thread - my usual one and my weight loss one. I'm not sockpuppeting myself!

Yes I think the SW are stereotyping Paul being gay, he will be saying "Im Free" next. I know a lot of Gay men and not many, if any are as camp as Paul.
I think George will be confessing to his mum if anyone as she will be a bit defensive about him. No one else will be when the cat is let out of the bag.
I dont think its a good idea for Alice to go to London, she should go back to the place that helped her before.
The A and D big cover up is silly and as if A is going to say to Paul " there wasnt any sheep, your mum and me/I were going to spend the night bonking in a hotel, OK!
So stuff your accounts where the sun dont shine."
But he wont.

Sometimes he's camp. Sometimes he isn't.

Your assumption stuck in my craw.

Young and dynamic" aren't words I'd use to describe Fallon or Alice. However, they both were thriving in the village before Fallon lost her business without a fight

Fallon lost her business because Harrison who supposedly "adores her" wasn't willing to support her business plans ; despite Fallon having gone along with his , entirely inexplicable as far as I'm concerned, desire to work reduced hours. I'm sure Harrison could have gone back to being full time if they'd needed the cash.

A sergeant's pay is £49,077 to £51,498- that would have been more than enough to support them both whilst Fallon had the chance to give it a go. If it didn't work out Fallon would have been able pretty quickly to find another job.

I wonder if Alistair’s gambling problem will ever re surface?

So. Clearly the storyline arc will have George going all Macbeth level guilty about being lionised and somehow the truth will come out, but how and when is going to keep us guessing (and listening). I didn’t like him but now feel slightly sorry for him in that it was the stupid in the moment decision young people, especially young men, make and this isn’t going to end well. Like watching a car crash in slow motion 🫣

Was really pleased that the Texels got a mention yesterday.

Having just watched Blue Lines, I can easily understand why a police officer might be feeling burnt out! Very tough job, unsocial hours etc etc. However, I do think he was less supportive of Fallon than he should have been in respect of her business and their need for sufficient joint income to pay the mortgage.

[In haste as am now off to do what Alistair calls hiking. I call it walking.]

Tbh I’ve never liked Harrison since his stalkerish behaviour with Fallon and I don’t really see him as being devoted to her but more enjoying having her.

if he has realised having kids is most important to him then he needs to accept he will likely have to end his marriage and that isn’t fallons fault. I’ve a friend who has just divorced for this reason and he was an absolute pig to her about it despite her having been extremely clear before they married and being understanding if he didn’t want to go ahead. So I may be a bit biased!

Harrison adores Fallon and respects her. He has the perfectly natural desire to be a dad.

It's perfectly natural to want to be a parent, as much as it's perfectly natural not to want that either. But he knew Fallon didn't want children and chose to stay on that basis.

He isn't "respecting her" if he's hoping/assuming she'll eventually change her mind, or that she'd have magically changed her mind when she found out she was pregnant (shades of "You'll love it when it's here"). He isn't respecting her when he doesn't acknowledge that she may not have even wanted the baby. He certainly isn't respecting her when he bellowed her private business across Borsetshire meaning that everyone knows about the miscarriage.

As @Bruisername so brilliantly put it, it's less "being devoted to her but more enjoying having her". It's such an important nuance as the former is about loving someone for who they are, the latter is loving someone as long as they are who you want them to be and caring that other people see what you've "got".

I don't think Harrison respects Fallon at all. He squashed flat any suggestion that she could try running her own business.