Archers thread #202: How are you finding your visits to Ambridge? Fill in your feedback forms 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 working as a hotel receptionist is a perfectly reasonable career choice for a graduate from a family with a stately home, or other unusual views.

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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!

When I was a teen we used to say "I wouldn't go with him if he were the last man or earth" or "I'd only go with him if he were the last man on earth."

It's as though Harrison is the last man on earth, or the only "available" man in Ambridge and it's him or nothing for Lily.

I can't think of any other single men in Ambridge, that aren't related to Lily. Although of course, there's a family link to Harrison in that he's the step-son in-law of Lily's Uncle Kenton.

And this is why young women of brains and means leave their village or local community as soon as they can.

It’s a problem for a soap, where you want strong, interesting, young characters to remain in the story. They’re forced to write the opposite of what would be happening in real life.

I definitely don’t see her residence at The Stables as a ‘grotty flat share’. In truth it’s the sort of thing you only have access to if you’re the gilded niece or nephew of the wealthy owner. This. And I think Lily's fixation on an older man and the excitement of having to keep her liaison secret is absolutely par for the course for her. Indeed it seems to be a requirement for her to find someone attractive so I don't find it far fetched. The repercussions will be spectacular - not least with Fallon having left the pub to work with Elizabeth. I don't see Lily wanting a baby so if she does get pregnant I foresee Elizabeth (a veteran in such matters) supporting her to have a termination which will finish Harrison off and he and his Lancashire accent will retreat to Yorkshire once and for all.
I found the scene with Tony and Dom extremely touching. I think the death of John is one of the things that has been handled extremely well as a long term storyline. It is never very far below the surface for Tony and Pat - I liked the discovery of the buried tractor as an emblem for the impossibility of burying their grief and moving on. I like the fact that it is not continuously alluded to except occasionally between themselves (probably for the fear of being thought ghoulish!) but occasionally slips out as it did on this occasion when Tony's guard was down. The shadow of John's death hangs over Bridge Farm - it is easy for us to forget it is there, but it never goes away for Pat and Tony. to anyone who has lost a child.

The repercussions will be spectacular

Oh I do hope so.

What a good post. Agreed on all points.

Single men in Ambridge not related to Lily -
Brad
Oliver
Billy Button (probably)
Nathan Booth
Martyn Gibson
Maurice the butcher, if he's still around - not that I think we know his relationship status

Not a promising field, admittedly!

Re cleaners, I was just thinking about that as I listened to the episode. There is absolutely no way that a couple as old as Lynda and Robert could have been running a B&B without paid help. They would have been supplying the youth of Ambridge and probably some of the older women with casual work at the very least helping with cleaning, loading and unloading the dishwasher, changing beds and preparing breakfasts and packed lunches at busy times. At a minimum they would have been looking for someone to do some ironing. Lots of laundry associated with running a B&B.

The obvious thing for L&R to do now is to sell up and downsize, if they really can't manage without the B&B income, but it puzzles me that they seem to think they couldn't. As they must have paid their mortgage off a long time ago, what are their overheads now, ignoring the business costs? Insurance (buildings, contents, pet, car), running a car, food for themselves and the animals, electricity, gas, internet and mobile, council tax, water rates. As Ambridge Hall is old there's probably a fair amount of routine maintenance required. Everything else is discretionary.

There are the identical twins too. I can't remember their names.
The obvious omissions from the list: Brian Aldridge, Oliver Sterling and, last but not least, Bert Horrobin.

It is the second time (we know of) that Lily has moved in on an older married man. At least Harrison is genuinely on the road to divorce, but I wonder if the old man being attached elsewhere is part of what she 'needs'?

Oliver was on my list. Brian is related to Lily. Jennifer was Lily's mother's first cousin. Bert - good grief. Yes, I suppose technically. Clive doesn't live far away and not surprisingly also appears to be single. Can you imagine?

The identical twins ring a distant bell. Did they win some sort of disgusting eating competition, or was that one of the Booths? I suppose I could have also added Eddie's friend Fat Paul, as it seems unlikely that he has a partner. Surely even Lily wouldn't be that desperate, though.

Apologies, Oliver was there. Brian isn't related by blood, he was the husband of a cousin once removed. Ruairi isn't related, wherever he might be.

Why would Fat Paul be single?

I'm starting to think Paul's presence in Ambridge is all in Lily's imagination. Hope so.

In my village there is a doctor married to a gardener, and in the next but one the lady of the manor was notorious for liking a “bit of rough”. The poor men would fall madly in love, leave their families only to be dumped as soon as they became fully available.

I'm really quite enjoying the Lily/Harrison storyline. It's totally believable that she would fancy him - she likes older men, and he's supposed to be pretty fit isn't he? And I like their blundering awkwardness around each other, the sexual tension is very real. They're actually not doing anything wrong either, they're both single, but it's obviously a bit taboo which is adding to the excitement (for them, not me!).

The GPs I know are married to GPs or married to software engineers.

The only widowers of cousins once removed who are still alive are ones I've not seen since I was primary school age.

@Somnambule , he might be 'fit' but he doesn't sound sexy and it's radio.
Not many of the men do.
Jakob - yes, Erik - definitely.
Harrison, Tom, Rex, Brad... - No

Yup, that's Lily of Lower Loxley. I970s style folkloric horror figure.

I knew a medical student who was engaged to a plumber but lost touch before any wedding.
Generally medicine does tend to match like and like. I suppose because it's a long course and that's when you're more likely to meet a life partner.

What sort of gardener though, @Molecule?

Made a fortune in the City and shipped out at 35 for ‘a gentler pace of life’. Owns a spade and will occasionally cast an eye over the many acres of his similarly retired peers?

Trust fund and Kew Diploma - international clientele and a column in Vogue or Interiors?

Three GCSEs and a dozen odd jobs. Finally taken on permanently by a Mrs Antrobus type - so earns just enough to feed his children?

@TottersBlankly very much the latter sort, though self-employed. Good looking and articulate so can see the charm, but a lazy individual.

Erik - doesn't sound sexy to me, more like string vest and socks with sandals material.

Jakob though... Hmm. All that repressed Scandiness waiting to be undammed.

Oh I agree, he's massively unsexy. I can only assume he's really hot so when you can see him you don't mind his voice so much.
Pretty much all the Archers men in my sort of age range have annoying, weedy voices - Jakob is probably the only slightly sexy one. I can't believe they couldn't find gruffer voice actors for Rex or Erik, they're both meant to be a bit buff and rugged but their voices make them sound like 9 stone weaklings.

Erik definitely sounded sexy.
Robin Fairbrother is missed.

Eddie's friend Fat Paul (not Denise's son Paul) may have been like Eddie and found a victim to put up with his endless laziness and scamming (in the past) but surely there can't be that many gullible/desperate women. He was an oft-mentioned silent decades ago. I think Eddie's other good friends from earlier days were Baggy and Snatch. Lovely bunch of lads, I'm sure.

but surely there can't be that many gullible/desperate women
There's this website called Mumsnet that seems to suggests that there are many such women.

I wonder how Chelsea and Brad’s dad, Den, is getting on in his newly married state …

I'm sure I thought so at the start, but last time he came to visit he just sounded like Tom or Rex.