"Big day for Helen!" - listener discussions to 21 March 2012
|14:17 PM, Friday, 23 March 2012
Thursday's birthday bumps for Eddie, Brian's dodgy compensation, and the budget comes to Ambridge. These are just some of the topics under discussion this week.
But conversation has been dominated by Helen's trip to Leeds. By Wednesday, listeners were rooting for Sharon as "manipulative" Helen tried to persuade her to let Rich into Pat and Tony's lives...
Here's my pick of listener discussions on The Archers message board, Twitter and Facebook between 14-21 March 2012
Eddie Grundy's birthday surprise - a trip to the hospital after protestors descended on the market - had many worried about the fate of Ambridge's residents...
Now a Grundy. They're going down at a terrifying rate. #thearchers. (@cardean45 on Twitter)
Thought we were on our way to the burial ground's first punter there. Stop teasing #thearchers (@TonysConsultant on Twitter)
Eddie Grundy. The only man on earth who would say 'Oh eck' when run over by a 10 ton truck. #thearchers (@TreacleToo on Twitter)
And there was a sharp intake of breath after Brian offered Eddie some "compensation" for missing out on a pint or two on his birthday
Evil Brian... you can SO see how his mind works #TheArchers (@MUSEmunkey on Twitter)
Dirty money Eddy. He'll call the favour back when he wants you to give a statement about the protestors. You can bet on that. (binocular)
Brian can't win... I thought it was a nice gesture to Eddie, bit like giving a pooch a juicy steak, if Eddie had a tail it would have been wagging and I expect some slobber. (Purple_Hay)
I feel Marketgate coming on #thearchers (@martin_hilton on Twitter)
Was it a bribe or a kind gesture? Add your thoughts to the Eddie's now on Brian's payroll thread.
As Helen planned to travel beyond the bypass...
Is it a good idea to send the most uptight member of the family to negotiate with Rich's parents? #thearchers (@MarieAnneQuay on Twitter)
By Wednesday, listeners were cheering Sharon on. Helen's tactic was labelled "manipulative" and "condescending" by most. In stark contrast, Sharon has been granted the "Freedom of Mustardland" (the message board) in honour of her services to the fight against the "smug" Bridge Farm Archers...
*eek* #theArchers Big day for Helen! (@pollypanad on Twitter)
Knock knock. Who's there? Your worst nightmare. #thearchers (@gingabeans on Twitter)
You did everything you should have: you talked down to Sharon, patronised her, ignored or trivialised her point of view, and knocked on the door again before giving her a chance to answer. And you even managed some cheap emotional blackmail! Well done you! Come here! She was right: you're your mother's daughter all right, and a true Archer into the bargain! (Jacks Parakeet)
"I'm not asking anything of you, but if you don't do what I say, people WILL DIE." #thearchers (@Jo_dB on Twitter)
Amazingly, she might be most tactful member of the family. Can you imagine Tom opening negotiations? (Tina Hackett on Facebook)
I feared Sharon would waver. I was leaning forward, glaring at the radio, holding my breath, 'phone off the hook ... (The devil wears Burberry)
I am LOVING Hellin's tears and am SO SO glad she failed. But we all know that this feeling of euphoria won't last ...... TC [Helen aka the Thin Controller] will win in the end. Sadly. (jillscasseroles)
... just to hear her pompous, condescending, oh-so-certain tones at the start and her utter amazement and bafflement when Sharon said "no". [five stars for Louiza P!] (ermintrude)
Join the debate on the "I'm so proud of you Helen!" and OK time for people to fess up threads on the message board.
If you want to add your words of encouragement for Sharon, here's the place to do so.
Is Sharon still in love with John? Was he ever in love with her? There's been a lot of talk about their history. Has Sharon really got Rich's best interests at heart? Listeners are divided. But the majority think the Bridge Farm Archers are only thinking of themselves...
I think Sharon knows that she didn't really mean anything to John other than a leg over. That's why it hurt when Helen brought John into it and why it sticks in her craw that the BF crew are bigging up the relationship now because it suits them to do so. (Auntie Molly)
It is not about Rich as a person - it is about what he *represents* to Pat and Tony. They are the selfish ones... The BF crowd are simply thinking about themselves. Selfish, selfish, selfish. (Mieteka)
Sharon was always a nasty piece of work... Unfortunately for poor old Tony, though (who IS a good guy) she now holds all the cards and will use her power as cruelly as she can. Not nice. (StargazerwithOscar)
Is Sharon still in love with John? Have your say on the message board
And I'll finish with a topical thread on what the budget might mean for Ambridge residents.
Fagash [Lilian] won't be happy about an extra 40p or so per pack of 20. (Borrowed Time)
You don't think Brian pays income tax, do you? ... I'd be surprised if someone like him didn't find a way of remunerating themselves in some ingenious tax-efficient way. £149,999pa to jennydahling for administration services? (Orla Quiver)
David will be annoyed that his campaign to get a badger tax introduced was ignored. (Hybro)
Nick will find out how much Will earns from tips when her Child benefit tapers away to nothing ... (ArkwrightHall)
Add your fiscal thoughts to the Brian will be happy thread.
Tayler Cresswell is host of The Archers message board.
- Join the conversation on the message board
- Or chat about #thearchers on Twitter or Facebook
Comment number 1.
At 09:41 24th Mar 2012, Nemo399 wrote:Yes, I cheered Sharon on, and now I'm horrified to learn that she appears to have caved in as a result of Helen's vile and disgusting (in my view) emotional blackmailing and near bullying! Please, please, let there be a nasty twist on Sunday, some subtle revenge engineered by Eamon and Sharon, straight out of one of the more bitter novels of Emile Zola! If, on the other hand, the script writers have concocted a lovey-dovey scene of family reconciliation where Helen is congratulated yet again for her control-freakery, some listeners will feel even more nauseated than if they'd just eaten some e-coli infected Bridge Farm cream!
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Comment number 2.
At 22:52 24th Mar 2012, anna kist wrote:It is risible rubbish isn't it?
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Comment number 3.
At 09:04 25th Mar 2012, Nemo399 wrote:I'm not making a judgement on that until I hear Sunday's episode. Its certainly not convincing that Sharon would be so impressed by Helen's arguments that she'd give in unconditionally like this. Surely she'd never forget how vile Pat was to her after John's death, when Pat's words seemed to imply she had no right to grieve or express any feelings for John? (Typical Pat, I might add, who was similarly useless at supporting Helen when Greg killed himself--all she could say was 'how dare Greg commit suicide' despite the fact that she, too, had suffered from depression.)
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Comment number 4.
At 12:23 25th Mar 2012, barwick_green wrote:"It is risible rubbish isn't it?" asked anna kist; indeed it is and that's me finished with TA after 35 years. I am sick of the BF storyline and the way in which this vile venal family manipulate everything to their advantage and the financial and family reunion faries working overtime.
I cheered when it seemed that hideous Helen was, for the very first time in her life, not getting what the leeching loony wanted. Now, in the most ludicrous volte-face ever Rich the Wonder Kid will arrive in Ambridge and the fatted calf will be eaten.
It;s been fun but ta ta and I hope the VW is proud of herself.
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Comment number 5.
At 13:56 25th Mar 2012, Nemo399 wrote:Gosh! Hang on a minute. Can we be absolutely certain that Sharon doesn't have an ulterior motive here, that she's not thinking about a possible inheritance for Rich in the long term? This might not be a sentimental 'ending' at all, in fact, in most soaps, there aren't any 'endings' apart from death. If I was one of the script-writers, I'd be working towards a 'slow-burn', whereby, eventually, Helen and Tom come to regret their interference in this matter. I do feel sorry for Tony, an ordinary bloke, caught up with all the obsessions of his (agreed) ghastly, flawed, self-obsessed family.
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Comment number 6.
At 22:46 25th Mar 2012, DracoM1 wrote:I do hope one of these days someone - not on the BBC staff - gets to make a documentary rather than a PR promo of the Whitburn Years.
Nigel, TC/YMB, e-coli disappearing [ did that kid die in hospital?], and now this emetic and deeply disturbing, morally repugnant SL in which the over-weaning Archer entitlement, even by so worryingly dysfunctional a unit as the BF5, has colonised into its poisonous bailiwick a family who had happily settled after a stormy start, lived a quiet and successful life with balanced, aspirational children at its centre.
What it reveals about the ugly mindset at The Mailbox about children, family stability and responsibility on the one hand, and the insatiate greed for self in the Archer clan is deeply and shamingly sobering.
VW spoke about SATTC? Well, this SL has done that. It is an indictment of the judgement that propels TA.
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Comment number 7.
At 07:57 26th Mar 2012, Nemo399 wrote:Sunday's episode was certainly saccharine, not to say unrealistically sentimental, all going without a hitch despite the 'teaser' of the 'the special day might not go as planned'--a very unfair tease, I might add, as it made me listen, fully expecting something to go wrong and I was then disappointed when it didn't. But I'm still wondering----could this be a prelude to Tony popping his clogs? It could be that Colin Skipp wants to retire, as did Alan Devereux....and I'm imagining Tony's funeral wake, with people saying, 'At least he had that happy afternoon' etc. And then----Cue Sharon and an inheritance tussle! It's not over till the fat lady (or in Sharon's case fast lady) sings as they say!
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Comment number 8.
At 18:51 26th Mar 2012, barwick_green wrote:" Cue Sharon and an inheritance tussle! It's not over till the fat lady (or in Sharon's case fast lady) sings as they say!" said Nemo399. That's a possible scenario but one that could STILL have ocurred if the leeching looney's trip to Leeds had been been successful at that point (rather than the misdirection and ludicrous change of heart).
DracsM1 - I couldn't have outlined the malaise better myself. If the Dopeys are TA's 'moral compass' then the bilious Bridge Farm crew are its immoral compass. I detest ever single occupant from the autocratic PolPat to Horrid Henry. Given the Majikal Babe's influences he too will grow up to be a demanding self-obsessed venal selflish spoilt brat.
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