Archers thread #167: Welcome to Ambridge, the world capital of loose ends! Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

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

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Over to you!

It’s sad isn’t it, we should be lighting that wonderful spark of youthful enthusiasm, natural interest and self discovery, not treading it down by dictation and formulation.

Reminds me of the Logical Song by Supertramp

I have to say English Lit O and A levels didn't dampen my enthusiasm even for Shakespeare. I'm still an avid reader.

That’s probably because it’s your type of literature! DS favoured literature was first and Second World War! If his GCSE text had been All Quiet on the Western Front he would have done a lot better! And for me I much prefer 20th century. I am not a fan of Shakespeare or hardy or the other one I had to read which was obviously so good the name hasn’t stuck in my mind!!

Are they allowed to do translations for GCSE? (Good, if so.) Erich Maria Remarque wrote in German, after all. I found AQotWF was an excellent way to point out to people that being a German village youth in that meat-grinder was no more bad, or less deceived, than being an English village youth from, say, Oxfordshire.

I must admit to liking Hardy’s novels. I know the TL;DR version of all of them is “They suffered terribly and then they died” but he does write beautifully about nature.

I'd have less sympathy with Fallon if the prayers hadn’t referred to “both the parents”. In her shoes and in that situation I’d be absolutely furious to be referred to as a parent, it would like being forced into a role I didn’t want.

Harrison has never given the impression that he really understands fatherhood. All his interactions with children are ‘fun’ and I think he would be a full on Disney dad

God, yes. He’d be larking about when poor Fallon would have been trying to get everyone out the door or whatever. Imagine having to put up with that for a child you’d never wanted in the first place 😬

No idea - just an example! It’s a hard read! I also don’t recall non-fiction coming up much which is a shame

Fallon discovered just what a lousy father Harrison would make when his two-year-old niece Daisy came to stay and all the looking after her fell on Fallon, except when Joy had her for one afternoon to give Fallon a break.

I'd have less sympathy with Fallon if the prayers hadn’t referred to “both the parents”. In her shoes and in that situation I’d be absolutely furious to be referred to as a parent, it would like being forced into a role I didn’t want.
This, absolutely. They weren't parents.

a 2 year old being happy to be with near strangers seems unusual

I remember we had to do a comparison between two texts of our choice. I chose a French text (Camus), and said I was prepared to read it in translation. I was told that the text had to be originally in English. I was mightily pissed off when the bottom set all did Anne Frank's diary!

So court hearing day - Alice sounds awful. She is a good actress. Pleading not guilty - they are really dragging this out. Bit bored

I know it’s to reduce the number of actors but Adam is being a good brother. As if Brian wouldn’t be there though. Sending him off on holiday was unrealistic.

don’t like them saying the certificate is official when we’ve determined it isn’t really. Harrison is very lucky that Fallon has turned around and wants to support him - especially given the limited support he’s given her since the accident. The fact she felt guilty about getting wasted on Friday and that it was a confession and that she felt relieved he wasn’t cross is odd. Harrison got past the whimpering crazed stage pretty quick. Glad they seem to have tied this SL up.

Wish I could give Alice a hug …

Certificate is official I think just not legal

Fallon and Harrison aaaaw still love each other, backing each other up

well done Alice told you to remember - now fruit cider - think

And yes, there’s no way Brian and Kate and probably Ian and Lilian and even Jakob wouldn’t have been there. Probably Tony as well.

And once again the silence from Brookfield is the loudest thing in all of radio land.

I’m almost glad Jenny isn’t alive to see her daughter go through so much trauma.

Same here. I went on to do an English degree and - and I do realise this will make people question my sanity - I still read Paradise Lost for pleasure.

When will Alice’s court case be, presumably about 5 years if the stories of queues for court are to be believed.

I’m suspecting she will remember soon and confront george

I'm an avid reader but gcse english lit did nothing for me. I still read outside the syllabus but for my ds he just didn’t have the time due to his sen.

I don't find it at all believable that Alice is sure she wouldn't drive when drunk. IME alcoholics do drive when they have been drinking, even with much loved young children in the car. Even basically decent people who are deeply ashamed when sober. Alice did some awful things when she was drunk - Martha's christening, the brick through the shop window, her behaviour to Rhuari, all her lies - so why would she draw the line at driving?

Of course, we know she didn't drive in the SL but in RL I am pretty confident she would have done.

Yes me too. She would have driven in the morning and she would have still been over the limit and there would probably have been a lot more cars on the road

it would be better if she was starting to remember that she hadn’t driven and she’d tried to open the door to be sick. Then the scene report would hopefully show vomit in the wrong footwell

Whatever happens and wherever she says she put her keys, Alice should still get clobbered for drunk in charge and, given a blood alcohol level that we are supposed to think is terribly high (I’m surprised it wasn’t more, tbh), the Crown Court is unlikely to be lenient.
So there’s still room for cautious optimism.

I do wish Adam’s head would drop off.

So we have had

• a GP giving very little hope that an alcoholic can get more help than just being told they need to want to give up
• a sl that will end with an alcoholic saying ‘I knew I would never drink drive because the keys are in the glove box’

this is feeling increasingly irresponsible

I do wish Adam’s head would drop off. That’s a very specific bit of ill-wishing?
Which bit of Harrison’s anatomy would you like to drop off?

If that is a general question, for me it would be his buttocks. The inconvenience would be amazing, without necessarily being fatal, so he'd have to live with it...

Would make sitting in a police car eating doughnuts pretty uncomfortable