Archers thread #195: Run, Amber, run! 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 think 19 is an ideal age to have a baby with a convict, 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/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.)

Emma spoke sense to George and Amber tonight. Goodness only knows where this storyline is going. I can't see George being Father of the Year. Oh dear.

Over to you!

Yes, I can’t work out what we are meant to think about the Brad complication now either.

Ann-Marie should get with Emma and hatch a plan.

I was mostly on Amber's side there, but I still don't think she should have the baby.

Do people really talk of babies in that ‘he/she will be loved and that’s all that matters’ way? They always trot that line out in soaps - along with the ‘babies being a blessing’ line. I don’t have children so don’t really know about these things but it just sounds so trite. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone say it IRL.

And are we really meant to believe 90+ Jill is carousing down the pub eating cheese and onion crisps?!? I’m really not keen on hearing from Brookfield - R and D are very boring and Stella and Pip are so wooden- but I have to say they are all preferable to the Maliks…and, of course, (whisper it) J*y…

Blimey, Amber's mum is a bitch, isn't she? Like a non-comedic version of Joanna Lumley's character in Amandaland 😬
"So this is George" as if he can't hear her, or speak. And then "it's nice of you to say that" to his "nice to meet you". Although Amber and her dad must be pretty used to it if they didn't notice that she basically said that she herself got pregnant too soon, got married because she felt trapped, would have been better off getting an abortion, and the whole thing ruined her life. I guess I do feel sorry for her if that's how she feel s her life turned out but, hell, don't just blurt all of that out before your daughter and her bloke have even got their coats off 😂

I almost really like Amber as a character. Loveless family, resented by her mother. Shes tried to make something of herself, does the teenage rebellion thing but is actually quite successful. The comment about Emma’s reaction to the baby but commitment to her family was actually more emotionally aware than most other characters. She sees through George’s bullshit but then she’s following the same route as her mother. The character is almost there for me but too badly written, give her a soul and stick with it!

I have no sympathy for Amber’s mother. Yes of course the baby is a bad idea, but you can’t throw your kid out, refuse to see them because you don’t like their boyfriend, tell them that having them ruined your life, and then expect sympathy when they don’t listen!

But she's not really made something of herself, well, not yet! She relies on a normal shop job to pay the bills. Her "influencing" so far seems to have gained her a bit of sponsorship in terms of beauty products and so on (I think she's meant to be some sort of beauty influencer, now looking to branch out into baby stuff, but I'm not sure what her brand is, or if she really has one yet), but not really to be making any money yet. Sure, maybe fame and fortune lie ahead, but I imagine influencing is like modelling or acting or many other media careers, in that there are an awful lot of young women out there, many of them very good at it, but only a very few can make a good living. She at least seems to work at it quite seriously and with a clear head, but that's no guarantee.

What I don't like is the complete personality transplant since the prison-carpark-incident days. Where has the squealing gone? And is Brad seriously meant to have fallen for her when the pony was put down? I found it appalling how she managed to put herself in the centre of something that was really not about her, as she had no connection to the pony whatsoever other than being George's long-distance girlfriend, to the point where the family members that were there to say goodbye to the pony were disrupted. Do the SW really think that her behaviour there was fine, and attractive to Brad?!!

I'm the same. Never heard anyone say it. But my father is almost 92 and he'd be up for a trip to the pub.

For a 19 year old with no support, getting a secure job (that her parents probably disapproved of), supporting herself, doing her influencing. Yes I think she’s done ok, up until the recent disastrous decision to tie herself to George anyway.

Totally agree on the personality transplant though. I thought the point was she fell for Brad at that point, just because of his basic goodness and care which isn’t something she’s had in her life.

i wonder if Amber's parents have a different story about her "tiptoeing" around them. Having said that: if Amber's mum feels that she was trapped into a marriage because she was pregnant (the MAP has been available since when? i mean amber would have been born in what, 2007? surely a termination or not marrying or whatever was totally possible then, if it had been the 1950s i would have had more sympathy)

So maybe Amber's mum's parents cut her off for marrying a wrong'un and she is now seeing Amber do exactly the same thing?

I notice that Emma featured prominently in this - as we all expect (Emma included) the bulk of the support is going to fall on her. Sigh. I REALLY want her to say "nope, i am a tree surgeon no time for babies"

As the Archers has become very issues led recently, I think we are supposed to be fully behind the idea that George will be fully rehabilitated and become a pillar of the community. And although I wholeheartedly believe in that principle in real life, this is FICTION. I want baddies that I can love to hate. George becoming a fine upstanding human being would be so boring!!

also, he was threatening Fallon and being unpleasantly miogynistic to her a couple of weeks ago. Is that now OK?

On the Pip and Stella marriage farce ( Stella inexplicably changing her mind about being a Mum to Fat Rosie etc.) it reminds me of my outrage when Adam changed his mind about wanting children.

He said no to Ian at first and then very quickly it went to enthusiastically pursing adoption and then surrogacy.

I know people change their minds but for the purposes of plot development we need to hear why etc. No just “no I dont want this”, followed by X no of episodes of silence on the topic, to “I really want to do this!”

Stella is marrying Brookfield, not Rosie.

I've no experience of Sapphic relationships so am asking here. Does Pip now have to get a ring for her fiancée?

I am always astonished at how open minded Ambridge folk are.

In my area a marriage with the Stella/Pip age difference would generate a lot of raised eyebrows. And a same sex marriage would not be greeted with universal approval by the older generation. And that‘s before getting on to social differences and inheritances. But maybe we are unrepresentative of rural England.

LillianGish
Is George suddenly going to revert to being a psychopath or is that it now? All he needed was the love of a good woman?

If the message the editorial team are planning to put out is that all he needed to stop him from being a horrible little scrote was the love of a good woman, I am utterly disgusted with them. That false narrative gets women who foolishly believe in it beaten up and terrorised by the nasty bits of work they have mistakenly thought they could redeem, repeatedly raped, and even killed. Badly done, Mr Howe, badly done.

you are so right @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime
disappointing from a programme that brought us Helen and Rob
Still, there's plenty of time yet

We're the support humans, innit!

That sounded terribly like the kind of thing that does happen to people who annoy George.

But wtf did he turn up at 4.00? Round here morning milking is between 8.00 and 9.30. I'm surrounded by dairy farms, we know when roads are likely to be blocked (in the brighter weather when the beasts are outside).

and even more wtf why hasn't poor arthritic Clarrie retired?

I don't know why Susan took it upon herself to offer Clarrie a job, but I was delighted when she turned it down.

I thought Esme did an excellent job of giving Josh the brush-off there. She seems to be less than enchanted with him.

DeanElderberry
and even more wtf why hasn't poor arthritic Clarrie retired?

It sounded to me as if Clarrie is now working round to retiring because she finds work too much for her. Sales assistants are on their feet, as a rule, aren't they? and dinner ladies ditto.

Here’s hoping Esme falls into the arms of her strapping farmhand, freeing Amber up for Brad. Josh and the Dopeys would be appalled at seeing George running the farm.

I agree on both counts.

I know nothing about farming. Can't all 3 inherit equally with Pip and Josh running the farm and Ben doing his nursing and getting a share of the profits? It already pays salaries to 3 people.

Are farms treated differently in divorce settlements or would Stella be entitled to a settlement after a marriage or some length?

Generally not. If you do that, what happens in the next generation?
Farms support 1 family and stay whole, so one child inherits usually with the others making their own way.

The generation above Phil did fancy things with golden shares so David siblings would inherit if he ever sold (hence then the stupid story of them planning to move up north which of course fell through).

Not sure what Pat and Tony are doing, and Brian is still holding the reins too.

Am not a lawyer but when the happy couple divorce eventually I don’t think Brookfield could be considered a marital asset, however, the situation will become blurred if Stella works on the farm for years and contributes to its success. D and R need to make sure she is paid the going rate if she does start working on the farm to offset this but if the marriage lasts a long time then Pip and the farm could become very vulnerable financially. Depends what kind of lawyer Stella has...

I’m surprised David hasn’t voiced concerns about the engagement. I can see him just about being ok with Pip going through a lesbian phase but not actually going all-in and getting married…