Archers thread #189: Brian reaps what he sows, in spite of himself. Discuss The Archers here.

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Over to you!

That crossed my mind too.

I thought I might have missed one.
Brad and Chelsea's father is called Den but his surname hasn't AFAIK been mentioned.

Bert and Ivy Horrobin had six children: Susan, Keith, Stewart, Gary, Tracy and Clive.

Susan we know. Keith is an arsonist, Stewart is a thief and alcoholic, Gary is still into Star Wars bed clothes and now works as a docker somewhere, Tracy we know, and Clive is a sadistic thief and arsonist.

Ah yes, the working class big family, whereas a nice middle class family had more restraint.
Jennydarling, Brian, Kate and Roy being nearly the only ones to have children from different partners, apart from Emma, Will and Nic.

Alice: alcoholic, profoundly selfish
Adam: embezzler, exploiter of a surrogate
Kate: serial child abandoner
Debbie: obnoxious, low contact
Ruairi: quondam sex worker

Yes, JD really was a wonderful mother.

To give JD her due, she wasn't Ruairi's mother.
Alice's alcoholism, Adam's stealing and Kate abandoning her children were not JD's fault. They were the acts of adults.
I never found Debbie obnoxious.
All of them, apart from Ruairi, had two parents, but hey let's blame the mother.

In Emma's case, I do blame the mother in that she was the one who slept with two brothers, but George's imprisonment was his own doing.

Jennifer is the parent the five children had in common.

She had the raising of Ruairi from the age of four, so she must be expected to have taken a major part in how he turned out: certainly more than that of Siobhán. And I can't help feeling that the fathers of her first two children had frod all to do with raising them, in one case ever (since he didn't know the child existed) and in the other after the child was five when he divorced Jennifer and left Ambridge forever.

Brian was not a "hands on" father at any point; it wasn't what he saw as his business. He provided a home, and the money to feed and clothe and educate in expensive private schools all Jennifer's children no matter whose they were, and left the child-care to sahm Jennifer. His influence would not have been anything like as great as hers.

Granted the fathers of Adam and Debbie were not around, but Adam and Debbie still had two parents. Why is the absence of a parent not part of how the child turned out?

Isn't an adult's behaviour that adult's fault, not that the care-giving parent.

(I'll admit that some of my character and traits could well be because of how I was treated growing up, but that was the work of both parents and of treatment by siblings, and how the parents handled that. The responsibility lies with me to fix it.)

In the case of the Aldridges, the fault is the SWs' not the characters.

In the case of the Aldridges, the fault is the SWs' not the characters.

True.

And also of the Horrobins, who all have the same two parents, who were there throughout their childhoods.

Yes, silently.

I wonder what MN would make of a 40-yr old woman inviting a single father and his young child to lodge with her while her husband is working away.

Even George likes Brad

I so hope we're not hearing up for a Fallon & Chris fling ?

Depends on how you put it really.

AIBU to think that DH’s temporarily homeless best friend and his DD could use our spare rooms? They’re currently staying in overcrowded with coconut milk accommodation and I work all hours and DH often works away so we won’t be under each other’s feet.

AIBU to move a single man into my house while my husband is working away? He only has shared custody of his daughter so we’ll have plenty of cosy nights in just the two of us. My husband and I have been drifting apart recently and I need a shoulder to cry on.

There’s never been anything between Fallon and Chris has there? Even though they’ve known each other for donkeys.

If there has been anything between them it hasn't been on air and hasn't been mentioned on air.

Oh wow just thought could we be homing in on a good old fashioned partner swap?! I’ve known it happen in real life.

Me too. It didn't work out and the couples swapped back, and it's all been forgotten about.
There were rumours about the paternity of one or two of the children of the couples involved, but a different different name was mentioned.

Chris is single though, no partner to swap.

I really can't see Alice going for Harrison, who was so vile to her about an accident that was not in the least her fault. Has he apologised for his very public meltdown and bellowing at Alice on the village green?

hey let's blame the mother.

Well, no one, either on air or on here shites on about Brian having been a wonderful father, @TheCrasher . I’m just pointing out that the sainted JD didn’t in fact produce very good results in her motley brood.

I assumed they had made up but I’m a bit foggy about the timeline since having a baby tbh

Jennydarling was very kind to Ruairi.
I wasn't aware that anyone on here or on air 'shites on' about anything.
I don't even know what it means.

Are any of the TA mothers good mothers?
Neil and Chris are probably good fathers. Roy was a good father apart from his affair.

Roy didn’t seem to spend much time with his younger daughter

are there any perfect parents out there in the real world?

Me.
(I don't have any children)

I wonder what Harrison will think of it. Fallon has been very clear she doesn't want children, but happily moves in a friend and his small child.

Alice was very keen on Harrison in one of her drunken moments. Plus she's been proven to be fertile.

So was the whole stupid shop closure just to get Chris and Fallon together?

My friends who don’t have children through choice or situation are some of the keenest to hang out with my toddler. Only a few people don’t want children because they loathe them and having one to stay isn’t the same as agreeing to parent one until one of you dies 😁 Does Harrison have the wit to notice this key difference though?

My phone autocorrects them to Gallon and Garrison. ⛽️ 🧑‍✈️