Archers thread #198: Josh sent to Patagonia, Pip stays put. Wrong way round! Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

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 also confide only in your budgie, 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/5457344-the-archers-spoilers-thread-11-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.)

Not feeling greatly enthused about what's going on in Ambridge at the moment, tbh. I'm annoyed at Brian's hypocrisy about Ruairi given the furore over George's attempt to frame Alice as the cause of the accident. I do hope we don't have a slow drip drip drip now as one after another the members of the Aldridge/Archer clan find out what really happened and endlessly agonise over what to do. Frankly I don't care. There! I've said it.

Pip's OK. Well, good, but what was the point of that story, I wonder?

I suspect I'm in a minority of one in rather enjoying hearing (a) from Bert Horobin and (b) about Fletcher. I surmise Bert is here to stay for a while because the BBC has (amazingly) updated his character page: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1wQP3mKR6yr9LVs05jddxcY/bert-horrobin (prominent actor photo warning). Given how out of date a lot of the other character pages are, this seems odd, but there we are.

That's all I can be bothered to say! Over to you.

It's so creepy hearing Leonard mention Jill but us never hearing her.

How did the Dopeys afford to buy out S&E? Did Kenton get anything when R&D got the farm and the daughters got the cottage?

Did Jill actually own the cottage? I thought when Phil sorted out his will, favouring David over his other children, he left Jill a life interest in it and on her death it was to go to Shula and Elizabeth. This was considered "fair", presumably because all involved are women. Dunno what Kenton got ... possibly a mention in the will along the lines of "And to Kenton, who I always promised I would remember in my will ... Hi there, Kenton!"

I can’t see anything ‘official’ on the Brookfield inheritance after this from KD in 2014:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fthearchers%2Fentries%2F05f5cdc6-d5c2-34b1-ad8d-a2784debf828

Perhaps the BBC might deign to update their information given the brand new story we’re now hearing?

Dunno what Kenton got ... possibly a mention in the will along the lines of "And to Kenton, who I always promised I would remember in my will ... Hi there, Kenton!"

😂

Does Amber know George in blackmailing Brian to get the money for the new drone? I feel like this plot becomes less and less credible the more it is drawn out. First the fact that Ruairi attacked him in the first place in a half-baked whodunnit, then the fact that Brian is trying to take the blame for it on the basis that George remembered smelling his aftershave, now we have Ruairi falling to pieces somewhere off stage and Brian paying George to keep quiet with Lilian now in on the act. No mention of the person currently on the hook for the attack - and this is a family who were so utterly outraged that their daughter/niece was almost framed for a crime she didn't commit. It feels like a hugely contrived way to ramp up the Home Farm inheritance story which really needed no such ramping up - the competition between Ruairi and Adam alone would have been enough without this. It requires too much suspension of disbelief at every stage.

Agree with @TottersBlankly, The Retcon is so odd, David has been whining about money for years and years (though less so recently), but someone's he's bought out Shula & Elizabeth for presumably 6-7 figures?

A missed opportunity to do a storyline about struggling to buy family members out.

When George talks to Brian, he ramps up the yokel accent but sounds normal when speaking to Brad. He's not a very intimidating blackmailer, is he? And Brian saying he'd have to check his finances to see if he could spare £2k. Come on!

A missed opportunity is exactly right. There are good stories to be told, but instead of telling them we are subject to dramatic 'events' and then backstories are hastily rewritten to suit the new narrative.

then backstories are hastily rewritten to suit the new narrative.
This. Had the Dopeys bought Glebe Cottage, we'd have heard about it. Elizabeth would have been very vocal about it.

I've got vague memories of a SL mentioning all the bits being chucked outside the house and general angst about trying to prevent Jennifer hearing about it.
Me too.

Me three …

Anyway - have I missed something or has George still not worked out that it was Ruairi, not Brian?

Because surely when he does (or when Amber does), that will be a whole new ball game?

Phil and Jill jointly owned the cottage, and whichever died first, the other was to have the use of it for his or her lifetime before their daughters jointly inherited it.

So no, it was not Phil's alone to dispose of as he saw fit.

There's no way Lizardbreath would have agreed to sell her not yet inherited share of Glebe Cottage.

I'm pretty certain that the George as incel SL will be a slow burn one. Little Georgina will be the start of it.

RuairiDonovan
There's no way Lizardbreath would have agreed to sell her not yet inherited share of Glebe Cottage.

And there is no way that it would never have been mentioned that it was happening.

Elizabeth hasn't been vocal about anything for a long time. Utterly ridiculous to be including lots of new characters and not even mentioning stalwarts like Elizabeth.

As for this ham-fisted attempt to correct the earlier mistake about who owns Glebe, words fail me. It's made things worse, not better.

As for this ham-fisted attempt to correct the earlier mistake about who owns Glebe, words fail me. It's made things worse, not better.
It's insulting.

Perhaps if we each submit a complaint of a similar nature we'd get something done.
When I've complained ( Complaints | Contact the BBC ), I usually get a 'nobody else has complained' type answer, so I suggest that we pool together our niggles and get a fairly standard list to submit.

(** I don't normally complain but one issue was one I just couldn't ignore and it wasn't to do with The Archers. After making several complaints, I got an answer where they said they'd look into it. Things have improved but I don't know if others had complained. )

Edited because fairy standards is what we don't want.

Elizabeth should be featuring in her own inheritance drama. When will Freddie inherit and what will happen to Elizabeth and Lily when he does? They might even need to live in Glebe Cottage! But I don't understand how David and Ruth can have bought out two people who have not yet inherited. Jill is still alive - and likely to be so for some time yet judging by the SWs' treatment of Peggy. Elizabeth and Shula don't get Glebe until Jill pops her clogs.

Oooh.... A while ago there used to be a phrase that was an extension of what we used to write in the fronts of school books: "He who sells what isn't his'n, when he's caught shall go to prison."

If Shula and Elizabeth sold property they did not (yet) own, I think that might actually be a criminal offence.

Assuming that this is not dissimilar to Glebe Cottage, where and how did the Dopeys manage to silently magic the money to buy it?

rightmove.co.uk/properties/171854504#/?channel=RES_BUY

Of course we should be hearing from Elizabeth and the much more interesting question of what will happen with Freddy and Lily. I really hope the SW are going to do a good story on that because it's a fundamental part of the continuation of the family. But it involves people with privilege and money which the SW seems to want to forget about.

Re Glebe Cottage, perhaps Phil owned it fully and on his death a Will trust was set up with Shula and Elizabeth the beneficial owners but with Jill having a life interest. Would it then be possible for them to sell to David and Ruth as Jill was still able to live there for life? But as others have said, they often moan about money so how did they afford to do that? So much shoddy writing by the SW with no mention of the mechanics of it at all.

Phil didn't own Glebe Cottage; Phil and Jill bought it, not Phil on his own.

Have the dopeys specifically said they bought Glebe, or are they acting as landlords on Jill's behalf and don't actually own it?
Happy to be corrected!

Whatever has happened to Gnasher’s firm Summer Orchard? Absolutely no mention of it though she has time to be a tour guide for Justin, make coffees in the Te’rum and sell stuff on Vinted. When we first met her she was a high-powered businesswoman but now she seems to just be filling Fallon’s old shoes as Emma’s boss who sells second-hand stuff on the side. Weird and inconsistent writing again. Such a waste as she was one of the better drawn - and acted - characters.

Leonard would be better off with Carol than Jill. He was a bit indiscreet talking about how tense things are at Brookfield though.

Ruth specified that they bought Shula and Elizabeth out. Whatever she thought that meant.

Keri Davies’ Brookfield Inheritance essay (which I linked above) doesn’t spell out in words that Phil and Jill owned Glebe cottage equally - but there’s no other way to interpret it. 🤷‍♀️

I want to know what sort of bats they are.