Archers thread #167: Welcome to Ambridge, the world capital of loose ends! 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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Over to you!

She hasn't been there more than 2 years. Of course they can fire her.

TA does STIs? Oh joy.....

My thoughts too Asking! It's a small business, it's not like they'd have another person doing admin

Also why is Lilian so exhausted: Shula used to run The Stables on her own?

Also why is Lilian so exhausted: Shula used to run The Stables on her own?

Because of making sure all the extra quarantine measures etc are followed because of the strangles outbreak. I can see how this would result in extra checks on the horses, possibly with decontamination between seeing each horse, and also managing people - upset parents and children and horse owners who can't have lessons and hacks and so on.

I simply cannot wait for another Public Service Announcement.

Ah ok, I don't know why I thought he was so much older.

Wait, what?

The Archers evoke that much passion?😁

Lillian is now about 76, isn’t she?
Shula was a lot younger and had the assistance of Joanne, who sounded efficient..

True

Also she seems to have three jobs at an age when most people have retired.

Edit: Although the Bull just seems to involve her sitting at the bar and we don't know what goes on at Amside.

No one seems to retire in ambridge. Except Jim.

it feels to me that all of these post retirement age characters come across as much younger and that’s because they’ve had to keep them as they just don’t have the characters in the next generation (who all come across as much younger)

id assumed adil was being introduced to replace Justin as the ruthless businessman but his character clearly wasn’t!

No one seems to retire in ambridge. Except Jim.

Who retired to Ambridge, rather than in, IIRC. He’s an anomaly. As is Joy.

But I guess the socio-economic structure of the Ambridge we hear about just isn’t based on salaried jobs from which one retires. Most people either farm or live off their land or property - and resist with every fibre of their being the moment when they must cede power over the land / property to the generation in waiting - or they work for farmers or land / property owners, generally for a pittance, and don’t have the wherewithal to retire. And as the storytelling is based on the dependency of the have nots to the haves, anyone who might eventually retire on a safe pension unrelated to Ambridge’s feudal ecosystem is usually written out before they reach retirement age.

The two Berts have been interesting recently. One, the doff capping serf, was allowed to retire to a tied cottage. As he was still dependent on the First Family he was still allowed a voice and lots of adventures. The other, seemingly reliant on the State, and thus independent of the local aristocracy - is entirely silent.

What business would allow a staff member to take an open ended leave of absence?! Let alone one with only three employees! Ludicrous 🙄

Lillian showing nepotism at its finest. If Alice were not her niece she wouldn’t be given the leave of absence and there wouldn’t be the angst over replacing her

I’m not sure I want to know about Paul’s itch.

Will Fallon also develop an itch??? 🫣

Couldn’t Alice argue she is off sick? We keep hearing that alcoholism is an illness so presumably she could get a certificate from a doctor. And it was unclear as to whether she is currently on full pay. The SWs may have attempted to write about employment law but there still seem to be gaps in their knowledge…

I really don’t believe Fallon would have snogged/done anything inappropriate with Paul. A random may be.

I don’t like the move to make gay characters bisexual. He’s a gay man and can’t we just accept that. I think statistically it is more likely anyway. We already have 2 bisexuals, 2 gay men and a lesbian. I think a third gay man would be more realistic than a third bisexual.

Alice has been employed at the Stables since September 2022, so not for the two years she'd need before taking her relations to an employment tribunal. … unless on disability discrimination grounds.

Lilian was born in 1947 so 77 (aka getting on for 80).

Will Fallon also develop an itch??? Kirsty announced her intention of staying glued to Fallon all evening.

I don’t think Paul is bi, the worst I can imagine between him and drunk Fallon is some accidental touching during the dancing if it was a crowded club. Fallon really does love Harrison the poor deluded girl, so I doubt she’d cheat. She’s not given up on the marriage yet.

Can imagine her being attractive to teenagers, a friend of mine who’s a teacher says the number of times she can tell teenagers have a crush on her is ridiculous (and she’s not the sort to imagine everyone fancies her, she just knows teenagers are overwrought and hormonal). And Fallon seems active, fun, creative etc - I imagine she still dresses quite “rock” so jeans, leather jackets, boots, maybe some skimpy tops, plus cool vintage stuff. Funnily enough never imagined her dressing to match her tearoom in florals and 1950s frocks.

If Paul’s itch is the result of an STI I doubt he would be openly scratching a body part visible to Kirsty. She commented that he was behaving as if he had fleas so I assumed he was scratching /rubbing his arms or neck. He said it was because he got caught out in the sun and Kirsty replied it was a strange place to get burnt. Perhaps Fallon gave him a love bite?

made the mistake of googling lyrics to Snoop Dog song entitled Slut...
Can't actually find it but the lyrics did find I wouldn't want to post here

If she does then we'll know whether we want to or not. She must have been incredibly drunk not to remember.

The body part might not have been visible but if he was scratching his crotch she'd know. It must be at least 50 years since I had a love bite but I don't remember any itching.

Kirsty would have had her beady eye on her the whole night

as for Fallon dressing in a fashionable manner - didn’t she have a raincoat with her? That does sound very modish