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.

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 The Archers to be wall to wall election conversations for the next month, 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.)

Over to you!

Ah thanks those are a bit before my time (I didn’t realise Christine had had any husbands let alone two)

She was also an object of interest for a posh lesbian back in the 50s, but Dan objected to the suggestion that they should travel the world together and it all withered.

Has there been a more awkward and self conscious marriage than that of Harrison and Fallon (Maid Marian and The Sheriff of Nottingham) ?
Other marriages are believable
Brian and Jennifer RIP - comfortable and affectionate as well as fiery
Usha and Alan - humourful and intimate
Lynda and Robert - loving
Kenton and Jolene - bonded
David and Ruth - comfortable and generally United in purpose
Jazzer and Tracy - fun and kind (my fave)
even Shula and Alistair had more connection

Just leaving this here for the SWs. (Apologies if it won’t share to everyone.)

Scarcity of organic cows puts pressure on UK milk supplies, warn experts
https://on.ft.com/4cfzA65

@WitcheryDivine As is often the case on these threads, the entire marmalade diversion was because of one short scene: Chelsea sold some of Fallon's marmalade cake to Lynda and Robert, waxing lyrical about how it was tangy and sticky and sweet all at once (or similar adjectives). The next day, Lynda received an entire cake from Fallon as a birthday gift. People on the thread were inspired to make marmalade cake. Posters living outside the UK are deprived of a decent selection of marmalade.

Ahhh thanks Fink! Delicious.

and thanks @DeanElderberry that sounds interesting! Don’t tell Pip…

Watching this at the moment - the final item on how transitioning from working tax credits to universal credit is impacting small farmers;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00204cr

Exactly the issues we’ve often wondered about regarding Ed and Emma. But so horribly complex it’s hardly surprising the SWs prefer not to touch it.

(Am in a hotel so seeing far more live TV than I ever would at home.)

Being set up for Roy leaving again

harrison sounds like a northern eeyore.

PIA on baby loss certificates. I can’t see Fallon being pleased about it. They are on such different pages

i hope they’re keeping accounts. Could have an HMRC sl. All the parties promising to pay for everything by cracking down on tax avoidance/evasion🙄

I like the sound of bartleby. What’s going to happy with this lady? Is he going to have a nice retirement with her?

I think we may have considered this before but is Bartley being overworked?

Is the nice lady from the RSPCA?

Has he got strangles?

Harrison seriously overstepping the mark there, clearly sees Fallon as an afterthought in the memorialising of his lost heir

She is not going to be happy to discover that he has applied for this certificate; and she will, because afaik they will only issue it after the other parent has been notified and asked for consent.

(Unless he plans to pretend that he personally had the miscarriage, which he is rapidly becoming doolally enough to decide to do.)

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime - (Unless he plans to pretend that he personally had the miscarriage, which he is rapidly becoming doolally enough to decide to do.)

It really is high time she dumped the pillock, or got the new doc to accidentally castrate him.

"Oh, you wanted your bunion removed? I'm so sorry, I thought you said testicles. My bad." 😂

I can't remember what came out about Dr Malik's husband. Was he having an affair in Pakistan? I could be confusing him with someone else.

Fair enough, surely? Fallon had done her best to make sure there wasn’t an heir to lose. So IF he is going to memorialise it, she is completely irrelevant.

The problem their having such diametrically opposed views. She might accept him getting a baby loss certificate if it makes him feel better, but the service I think is a step too far.

What on earth does he want a baby loss certificate for - proof that he isn't firing blanks? And Fallon isn't a churchgoer, is she? In her shoes, I might be inclined to roll my eyes and ignore it. But if any of the congregation mentioned it to me then there just might be sarcasm in my response, along with some clarification that the loss of an unwanted pregnancy was no tragedy to me.

maybe that's it- his manhood is involved

It seems either parent can apply in their own right and be granted a certificate

The partner will only be contacted for permission to include their name, if the applicant wants it included. If the partner refuses permission, the applicant will still get the certificate but in their name only.

The certificates are official documents but have no legal standing, but equally recognise either parent wanting to officially document their loss of their baby.

I am assuming Harrison has not included Fallons name, as given he has not even told her he has applied for the baby loss certificate and feels they cannot discuss it, then it would not make sense for him to want her to find out from being contacted by officials asking for her permission to be included.

Of course he has a perfect right, but given their ongoing relationship it might have been better to discuss it with her rather than keep it secret to prevent rocking the boat.

V.difficult either way.

@Gonners I imagine parents of either sex who have had a miscarriage may find your comments rather insensitive.

So they require some sort of proof from the hospital? That would require access to fallons medical records

and if she doesn’t need to be told and they don’t need anything but Harrison’s word then these certificates could be used for quite sinister purposes

@JanglyBeads - What Fallon had was a contraceptive failure.

Like what, I wonder? They strike me as singularly useless and unnecessary.Institutionalised mawkishness already. Birth, marriage and death certificates are administrative documents, not some seal of social validation.

Wow they are completely self declared, no medical record needed. That is a bit weird.
www.tommys.org/about-us/news-views/everything-you-need-know-about-governments-baby-loss-certificates

It could be used in coercive control for example - create a narrative

she went crazy after the miscarriage
her drinking caused this miscarriage

etc to alienate someone from their family/support