Ambridge on the Couch

Mothers and sons - a podcast for fans of The Archers

What an episode. Is this Georgie's turning point, and when's Paul going to cut the umbilical cord?

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Duration:: 52m
Broadcast on:: 04 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Love this podcast? Support this show through the supporter feature from MakeCast. It's up to you how much you give, and there's no regular commitment. Just hit the link in the show description to support now. Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my hundredth mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much? I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at midmobile.com/switch, whatever you're ready. $45 up from payment equivalent to $15 per month, new customers on first three month plan only, access and fees extra. Speed slower above 40 gigabytes of CDTails. Welcome to Ambridge on the couch. An in-depth look at the arches with me, Harriet Carmichael, Lucy Freeman, Geoff Thomas, Matt Rodriguez Payne and James Everett. Now, before we make his art on your e-mail. Oh, and also James and Tilly, who are in the kitchen making bacon sandwiches. It's James Everett round at yours. Tilly and her boyfriend, James. Guys, that's still- She's got you boyfriend. Yeah, that's still smoking, Tilly. Can I get out? Okay. It sounded, when we, when we, before we started recording it sounded, the bacon frying sounded just like Lucy was in the shower. And I was like, oh, we've got some SMR going on in this episode, ladies and gents. Tilly, it was a bit too lean. Tilly, just stick your head around the door and say hello, because lots of people yesterday said congratulations on graduating. Oh. No, there's nobody there darling, it's the microphone. It's radio too. Thank you very much. There we go. Congrats Tilly. Congratulations from Harriet. And commiserations too. For leaving the bubble. Yes, yes, it's all shite from now on in basically isn't it? She'll have a great summer. She's doing very artistic things with olive oil in a pan to do fried eggs. It's very exciting. Now, hang on a minute. What? Olive oil and eggs. Yeah. I would never fry my eggs in olive oil. What do you? Harriet would never fry her eggs in olive oil, James. What do you think you're doing, she says? Doesn't it mar the taste of the eggs? He says only a little bit to coat the bottom of the pan. Oh, carry on, carry on, carry on. Carry on, carry on. Oh, it's like being on Sunday brunch. We're just going to chat while they serve up some incredible breakfast. Yes. I'm not going to be eating. Neither am I. You can eat it. They'll bring you away there. No, I won't eat it on the podcast. I don't think that's very professional. And you know how keen I am on keeping up professional standards, Harriet. Absolutely. Because I never eat on the podcast. You see what happened this week in Ambrady. Yes. This week in Ambrady brought to you by Strops, whether it was the heat or everyone waiting to go on their summer holidays. I don't know, but there were sulky sulckings everywhere. At Brookfield, Jill was being a proper mad arse. I was slightly alarmed when she said it was because Leonard was sending her videos, and I had visions of him dancing around a hotel room in Buttermere and his undercrackers. Whatever the video consisted of, it would have pissed her off as he was having the temerity to have a nice time, rather than remaining in boardchester and escorting her dutifully ran garden centres or accompanying her to Tesco, so she could go through the prawns that officially point out which ones are nearing their sell-by. Ruth blithely ignored Jill's massive drop and has now started talking about her in front of her, in front of other people, in the way people do with the very old or the very young. Oh, ignore him, he's grumpy because he's overtired. Bish Janap, didn't you? Yes. Jill clearly does not appreciate this, which I can well understand. Her hand responded to Ruth in the manner of someone planning on pushing her down the stairs the first chance she got. I'm not sure if you can actually hear someone narrowing their eyes, but I swear I could hear the sneer in Jill's voice. There was then much kerfuffle over this wretched hen night. The papers had to move the thing to the events barn and made the peculiar request that Jill attend, Harriet. Oh! Yes? Sorry. The Jill attend on the instructions of the bride to be, who is completely unknown. You're checking out, still awake. No, it's because the line, the feed suddenly looked like it had gone dead and I panicked. It's fine. On the instructions of the bride to be, who is completely unknown, not only to us, but also to Jill. Everybody was being very jolly and patronising, and Jill said it was absolutely ridiculous, and I found myself warming to her a great deal. The whole point, as Pitt pointed out, of this ludicrously over-complicated hen night was to have different activities in different rooms. You're now going to have a group of women in dressing gowns that their names spelled wrongly on the back, as have all been done on the cheap in China. Wandering round a barn full of cushions, while Fallon makes cupcake willies in one corner, an old lady makes marzipan bees in another, Chelsea kneels in the straw with a foot spa, scrubbing up their corns, and David drops about with a bottle of prosecco telling inappropriate jokes. Oh God! Chelsea forced George to have a haircut, which he said he didn't want, so she said, "The customer is always right!" and carried on anyway. She then forced George to go out with Tilly Button, which he didn't want to either, because he appears to have lost his mojo, or at least I think he has, it was difficult to establish what the hell he meant. This all took place at Brad's 18th. We didn't get to hear Brad at all in between the hair cutting and the impotence. Alice is back from rehab and happily isn't talking about it. Chris came out as Team Alice, which pushed Bryan into a major hissy fit, worrying the Alice sounded like the sanest person in the room on several occasions this week, which either means she's improving or everyone else is just deteriorating rapidly. Jimus, Jazza, and Alice there certainly were. Jimus was so horrified that the scriptwriters forced him to use the phrase "can't be in a very good place right now" that he took to drink, and Jazza and Alice there willingly joined him. They decided to categorise all the women they knew as chocolates, with Tracy being the coffee cream on the grounds that no one likes it at first, which seemed a little harsh. Alice there in the same uncomprementary vein announced that Denise was either nutty or square. She was at least mercifully quiet this week, unlike Paul. Paul told Jakob that the reason he was upset was because he wanted to be Denise's go-to. He reckoned he'd been dumped, as a go-to, in frame of Alice there being her go-to. Although was John clearly hadn't been Denise's go-to, I don't know why he was worrying. I've never written such an ungrammatical sentence in my life and I wish they'd all go-to somewhere else, so don't you listen to them whinging on any more? Adults have complicated lives, that is what being an adult is. But everything could be simplified to 23 minutes and a brief moral. That is not life it is the Cosby show, and look how well that turned out. And then we had Friday, the collapse of Georgie, the collapse of Emma's image of herself, the collapse of the happy family fable of Will, Emma and George, all triggered by George not smiling in a photo with David on the Shay's long, crikey. What an episode. Having said she won't go to the police or anyone else, there's no option but for George to confess and then go on the run, quick, ring Johnny on the boat, there might be a spare birth. Oh hi there! The end. Oh, what a week it was in Ambridge. What an episode. What, actually that was very, erm, what's the word Lucy? I don't know, I don't know what you're trying to say. It shook me right up. Yes. It moved me. I had tears streaming down my face listening to that. Sorry Lucy, one second. Go to Dad. Go to Dad. I'm not your go to today. Shoop! This morning I am not the go to. Yes. The go to is your father. Yes, I also found it very emotionally, er, yeah, very emotional actually. There was so, it was so beautifully written and there was so much in there to unpack. I have to say, this whole week, although there have been bits I haven't liked, like the drunk scene, but there have been so many truthisms just popping out here and there. And when Emma said, "Put you are me!" it really struck something with me. Me too. It really gave me the shivers. I was going to say exactly the same thing. Yeah. I went goose-pimply. Yeah. When he said, "This isn't about you," and she said, "But you are, but I am you, but you are me." Yeah. Oh God. And actually, that's, that's why it was such a good act, wasn't it? Because at the beginning I was, when he told, when Emma had said, "You know, you can tell me anything and I'll love you forever." And then it sounded like she had turned on him and I was so shocked and so sorry for George and he was just trying to explain his, his side of things. Yeah. And I was so, so angry with Emma and then, of course, she then, you know, but that was just shocked. But wasn't it? She, you know, the fact that by the end she was just saying, "It's just you and me. Oh my God, Lucy." The big turning point, I think, and this will be the turning point for Georgie. I don't know whether I'm leading too much into this or not, but is the fact that she has now put Georgie above everybody else. She's put, she's finally put George above Ed, above Will, above Kira. She said, "It's you and me and I will look after you." But that must be the... And she's never, she has not ever said that before. And he's always felt like second best. He's always felt like the inconvenience. Well, because he said, didn't he, Ed's never loved her like a son. Yeah. And that must have just really shattered her and brought back all the guilt. Yeah, yeah. But the thing is she, it's through guilt, isn't it, really, that she has to protect him now and that she can't share this with anyone. Because it's true, I wouldn't go, I wouldn't trust Ed, because Ed would go, we've got to go to, but you know Ed was a right old naughty boy in his day. Yeah, I was thinking that George will write a note confessing to get Alice in the clear and then, and then he'll, he'll leave. Oh, I really hope not though, Lucy. I mean, because I was... And Ed will lie about knowing where he is, she'll just say, no, he's run away. Oh, God. I really hate this because there's no good ending here is there. No, no. I do think... The police aren't going to go, oh, all right, we understand then. No, because he's been like, although, I mean, as Emma said, he is young and he, if you do confessing is better than never confessing, like he'd, I mean, I suppose you don't realize when you're, when you've never been in the, well, I've never been in that situation either gap, but I assume you don't want to live with that guilt for the rest of your life, that burden must be much worse than a six month prison sentence. Yeah. Freddy's been to prison. Yeah. He hasn't been to prison. Come on, guys. I'm fine now. Yeah. It's probably a trade-up or something. Yeah. And also, there isn't any room for anyone in prison that we've had. No, I know. And it'll take so long for anything to happen. Yeah. I mean, you know... But the most important thing I guess is that, uh, that Alice, that he tells Alice, and Alice is cleared. Oh. And Alice is cleared. Or somebody tells Alice and Alice is... Alice is cleared. It is the whole way of luck. I mean, as a kid, you can see why he did that, because it was... It was still... It was... It was actually... It was Alice's fault. It was George's fault of not telling anyone, but he didn't cause the accident. It was Alice who was drunkenly trying to get out of the car. Yeah. And it was just an accident. Yeah. So they are... So she... I mean, ultimately she is to blame, but then he didn't mess up. It was just so complicated. And actually, also if she has a better lawyer than him, and I was thinking... If he was standing there in court, like a bit like he was trying to explain to Emma and she wasn't listening. Yeah. This could go so horribly wrong for him in court. Yeah. Because, you know, they never... They didn't... Unless they breathalyzed him. Which I assumed... I assume everyone must have been breathalyzed after that. I don't know. That accident. Yeah. Because then they could sort of turn things as though he was actually drunk and get witnesses from the... Oh, anyway. It's awful, Lucy. I just think the... I'm terribly sad, but I'm terribly relieved. Me too. And I just, because he's not on his own anymore, knowing this. And even though I don't like him, I'm a lot more sympathetic now when he said I just want a cuddle. Yeah. I thought, "Oh, God, he's still such a baby." And... And that's the thing, isn't it? A mother... 'Cause my kid's always say to me. 'Cause I murdered someone, but you still love me. If I went to print it... 'Cause I have murdered someone, so do you. Yeah. But it is that thing, isn't it? Well, as a kid, you need to know that it's unconditional love. And it must be so, so hard to... Well, you always hope that it's never gonna be tested, don't you? Yes. But actually, at the end of the day, of course, you can't just stop loving your kid, can you? No. Whatever they've done. But it's... Yeah. I think this is going to be the turning point for George. This is going to be because all his... For me now, all this acting up, all the droppiness, all the... The self-aggrandizement, all of that insecurity. Yeah. I think he laid that completely bare where that's come from today. Right. Today, 'cause I heard it today. Yeah, I heard it this morning too. So, I think this will now be the turning point because it will be... He's revealed his fear of not being good enough, his fear of being unwanted, his awareness that he was unwanted, and he was a, you know, sort of a burden, not a burden, but he was in the way. Yeah. He's revealed all that, and I think this will... Once he's got through this, this will be the redemption arc for George. Okay, that's good. But then how... Okay, so maybe he disappears for six months, comes back, saves his time or whatever, and then we all live happily ever after. Yeah. Well... You know his tilly button? Blah, blah, blah. Although she's older than him. Yeah, she is only a few years. Yeah. But still, when you're 21... Yeah. No, that's a big... You should go out with an 18-year-old. Yeah, yeah. It's a bit of a jump. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, that was a very good episode. It was. And beautifully acted as well. Yes, yes, yes. It was your favourite writer Lucy. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So, well done, guys. Yeah. Okay, well, thanks, Lucy. It was so nice to introduce you. Enjoy your vacation sandwich. Bye. This is from Carla, who said, "What a belter of an episode. So wonderfully acted that I actually felt sorry for both George and Emma, which are new experiences for me. Can't wait to hear how Emma copes are being right in the middle of George, Chris, Martha and Fallon. Who will she confide in so we can hear her talk through the dilemma? Susan, Neil, I think my money might be on Chelsea after hearing her interactions with George recently. Maybe Chelsea will tell her mum, who will tell Jazza, who will tell Chris. Oh, my God. Yeah, she's right. She does have to tell somebody, isn't she? I mean, if I was Emma, I'd go to Susan. Because Susan is not going to -- I don't think Susan would go to the police. I think Susan is as fiercely protective as Emma is. Yes. Or maybe Cher, but I don't know if you could really -- Because the thing is with the horror bins, and I am deliberately referring to them as horror bins because I'm talking about Emma's family of origin, that it's like a sort of -- they are so sensitive to any criticism or any -- you know, that's why Susan is like she is, isn't she? That's why she's worked so hard to move away from that. You know, when she's had to live with her own sentence, she's had to live with Clive, you know, the Clive's reputation, everybody going on about the horror bins, you know, all that. And then to have something like this that catapultes them straight back into crime drama is -- I don't think Susan would cope with that very well. I think Tracy would. Or do you know what? I think Neil might be the best person to go to. I mean, he's so honest to go to the police, wouldn't he? But you feel like you had a bit of a rock with you if you could confide in Neil. And also, you know what, if you -- I mean, that's what's so awful. But if you do say to a family member, "I'm going to tell you something you have to swear on Kira's life not to tell anyone," then they sort of have to respect that. You know, it's a massive -- it would be a massive betrayal of a person if they did. So I think Neil might be the right guy, the go-to in this case. Because it was difficult, wasn't it, when Georgie was saying to him, "I'm going to tell you something, but you must promise not to tell anybody, and you must, on Kira's life, and not even Ed." And I was thinking, "Don't agree, because you don't know what it is." Yeah, but she would never have imagined it would be anything so terrible. No. No. Oh, dear. Although you're right. You shouldn't agree, because they're going to tell you anyway. I loved that her reaction. The acting was so brilliant, especially when you heard her go -- and she did this. She was trying to calm herself, and she did this big breath out. And also, when the dawning, when he was talking about getting Fallon out of the car. And she said, "I know love you did so well." And then he said, "And moved her." And she went, "George, and you could feel her body tensing up. You could hear it's brilliant, such a good actress." That's the thing, Lucy. I mean, radio, you still have to be a physical actor to be a good radio actor. Yeah. But the only funny thing was that they all came to the conclusion that George was having some sort of crisis, because he wasn't smiling in a photo. I have to say, if I was on a Shae's line with David, I'd probably be smiling. I don't know why he was. You did a very pale face. Lucy, I think you'd be slightly blushing, wouldn't you? I would. I'd lost you again, because my leaves just come out. Oh. Are you back? Hello. Oh, there we go. Yes. Just pull out a lead. No, it just fell out. I told you. It just gives up the ghost and thought I need it. Why can't you just put a bit of sellotape on it? Yes. Okay. But, you know, that was quite funny, wasn't it? I mean, I guess maybe George is one of those guys that always has a big grin on his face, but it was... I doubt it. Yeah. I was a little bit skeptical of that evidence. And Ruth and David being the unlikely mental health experts as well, which I thought was a little stretch to ingenuity quite fast. I tried really hard to respect that. Well, the thing is, I can tell, just by looking into George's eyes, he's going through exactly the same thing. I mean... Not exactly, but... Ben had a full-on psychotic episode, and it came as a huge surprise to both of them, so, you know. I liked that too, and I just felt so sorry for all those people at the hen do. Yeah. What you said, doing in a cassette barn, is just an old barn, an old airy barn, isn't it? Yeah. So, unless you're having a big dance or putting lots of... And it's beautiful weather. They should be outside doing things. It's going to be called in a barn. Oh, why not just go to a club? Yeah. Oh, why not just have dinner, have a few drinks, and then go home? Because, or just go to a salon for a manic... I don't know. I was Tocantine Stella this week when she was saying, "Why do they need all these pictures? Why do they need everything?" And I was thinking... Oh, good point. Because there's something called friends. Yes. Like, I cannot... I haven't bought any personally, but I'm sure other people do. Yes. The more I hear Pipp and Stella, the more I feel Stella moving partially away. Yes. Yes. And I don't believe her when she's... No. She's sort of joshing back with Pip, because I think... No. No. I think Stella is more likely to run away with Jill than she is with Pip too. If Jill's up to it. She was lovely. It's always lovely to have Jill, though, isn't it? Yes. But I didn't like the fact that she was jealous of Leonard. Yes. And she sounded like she was a woman on the end of her tether, to be honest. Yes. And I think it's probably living with Ruth patronising her every two seconds. And also... I'm not sure you do want a 90-something woman at your head into when you're trying to talk about her boyfriend's willy. No. No. No. Well, maybe you do. I don't know. No. No. Well, maybe you do. I don't know. No. I don't know. I wanted to hear Natasha this week. I wanted to hear her clapping about interfering with everything. And she didn't... And also the head and do going wrong. Yes. And the photographer not turning off. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Maybe we'll hear the outcome of that next week, or... Oh. Pip's gonna end up with a big invoice or something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was a shame. It's so hard. I think playing drunk is so... It really is. Yeah. And it's fine if you've got a 30 second scene, but there was a whole episode. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why that had to happen. And they're levels of drunkenness altered. Because it's really hard to sustain, because it's a gradual thing. Oh, dear. It wasn't very good. And the box of chalk. Life is like box of chalk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. But any... Anywho. Anywho. Yeah. I don't know. That felt a bit... Yeah. I don't know what the point of that drunk episode was. No. I don't either. When did it move the story, Lucy? No. Absolutely nowhere as far as I can tell. I mean, unless it was just like relief to... And when was Jim? Jim wasn't there. They were at Jim's house, but we didn't hear him. No, Jim had gone to find something. He'd gone off to go and do something. And he'd gone off to get... No, he'd gone off to do something, he said. Because when the doorbell went, I thought, "Oh, that must be all or all." I thought there was going to be something to show down again. Anyway, never mind. Never mind. It was a great week, and we can forgive and forget. Yeah. People are very, very... Oh, let's finish off the... Let's try and do this in some semblance of order this week. Okay. There's a huge novelty. We'll finish off the Georgie stuff. Oh, yeah. Carly said... I've just finished listening, and I couldn't help shouting repeatedly out loud to Emma. She handled the conversation with George so appallingly. First, getting him on board to go out to dinner with her, then jumping straight into the issue before even arriving at the venue. She then pushed him for more information when he was clearly distressed. And when he did share, she was judgmental and having concerns for herself over anyone else. I am a millennial mother of boys, and my snowflake heart was aghast at her treatment of George. My instincts have always been to support my sons no matter what. Assure them that they are always loved and that we can work through any situation together. I hope she'd be able to listen to George and reassure him that she loved and supported him no matter what. She seemed to have more concern for herself and Alice over George. Historically, I feel Emma has enabled George's poor behaviour and defended him to his detriment. But on this occasion, she swung too far the other way. I'm concerned that his mother's reaction will cause him to spiral into a more dangerous situation. Carly from Australia. But she swung back because I worry about that as well. Yeah, she swung back. And I think the defence of her when Carly says she made it about her. I mean, George said that to her and it was that line that we loved when she said, "You are me." So that was her defence of it. I do know what Carly means because there was a definite... She was running through her head. The scenario of what's going to happen when I tell so-and-so. What am I going to look like now? But that's always the case when you've hotly defended somebody and then discovered that actually they were in the wrong. You know, you do go through... God, you know. God, I said this. God, I said that. God, I accused them of blah, blah, blah, blah. And actually they were right all along, that is. She had to play that all out before she could see George against the kid he is. But also the shock of it must have just sort of turned... Suddenly your world has been completely turning upside down. And it's quite hard not to be angry with children sometimes, Lucy. I mean, I am one of those mothers that goes a bit crazy. But I always apologize at the end if I've gone too far. But it's hard not to express your emotions when you're angry. Yes, of course. As long as your kids know by the end of it that it doesn't really matter and that you love them and you just... It was just the shock of it all. You know, like when they pour water on your laptop and stuff. But it's good today that your laptop is still working. It is like the Lord. Yes, it is. Oh, yeah. So Beth Marshall, who messaged a while ago, so this was a really good plot prediction because it's... You know, she sort of saw this coming before we started to have the sort of the gradual collapse of Georgie. She said, Georgie, after a deep heart to heart with Bartleby, will eventually confess to Alice. Alice flushed from rehab and brimming with the need to take accountability for her actions. Will forgive him, recognize her own culpability in the proceedings and change her plea to guilty. Or something, Beth says. I don't really know how laws work in the US, let alone England, so the rest is a bit blurry. But I think she will not let Georgie destroy his life for essentially trying to save hers. She will get to be a martyr. Georgie will be snapped back to actual size and nobody will have to go to jail. Oh my god, no, that couldn't happen. I mean, do you do what though? Could George sort of go? This podcast is brought to you by eHarmony. The dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. Why doesn't eHarmony allow copy and paste in first messages? Because you are unique, and your conversations should reflect that. eHarmony wants you to find someone who will get you. How are you going to know who gets you? If people sing you the same generic conversation starters, they message everyone else. Conversations that actually help you get to know each other. Imagine that. Get who gets you on eHarmony. Sign up today. Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from noon. Like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am. But noon worked for me. Get your personalized plan today at noon.com. Real noon user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical noon user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary. We must have completely lost my memory, and suddenly I've just remembered that I might have been in that car. That it was me! But, I mean, there is that scenario, isn't there? That he could sort of go to Alice and go weirdly. I've got these memories of the night are coming back to me and I feel like I was sitting next to you. I don't think he'd carry that off, would he? No, I don't know. No, maybe not. But I think if he confessed to Alice, there's no way she would go, I'll take the wrap. Because she's got to think about Martha. Yeah, but you could. They could kind of both appeal or something, or there's some sort of mitigating circumstances where they both get a suspended sentence or something like that. Where she wouldn't have to go to prison. Anyway, I mean, it's... Yes, I don't know. It's a mess, isn't it? Yeah, it's really, really hard. It's really hard. This is from Nina, who says, "As a mum of three boys whose dad has moved on, got more children and totally forgotten his first three boys, my heart broke tonight listening to Emma and George. The actor who plays George is amazing. Why do they give all these awards to TV soap actors? If they listen tonight, not only do the actors play the part, but it's like you're in the room sat next to them. Amazing acting. Yeah. Here, here. Absolutely. That's why it's much more powerful than Telly. Yes. And I'm sorry about your poor boys, Nina. That's... Yeah. Telly. Hmm. Yes. No, it was very, very powerful. That's very, very powerful. I loved it. But not too many of those, because I find them too upsetting to text me just to recover myself. It was a bit annoying for me, because I was also listening. I left it a bit lately, and I was listening just before we did this. Okay. I was also making coffee, and I had a little boy going, "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy." And I was like, "Can I just... can I have to keep pausing?" I was like, "Can you just listen to it? Pray, Pray, Pray, come, Telly." Okay. Just for five minutes. Mummy. And I was like pressing play, and I listened to about 30 seconds. I had to stop it and go back. So I'm quite looking forward to listening to it. In one go. Yes. I'm sure. Well, I messaged Geoff and said, "Oh my God, this is so good. I can't stop crying." This is from Steve. This is about Paul, who generated a lot of annoyance on the Twitter. I bet Paul's really... I bet the actor who plays Paul has got it. Please, can I stop being a prick? Please. Dear collective hive mind, can someone please tell Paul to get a grip of himself? I am someone who has been through their parents spitting up later in their life and found it very difficult as I was pressured to take sides by one parent which I did not want to do. Paul is perfectly entitled to be shocked and to go through the stages of grief and find it difficult. He is not entitled to regress to his own childhood and behave like a spoiled eight-year-old. Paul, have a word with yourself. With regards to Georgie, how did Neil usually so astute and aware not dig deeper? And, as an aside, has anyone else heard that Brad is currently advertising rural broadband providers and that Denise has been running a drug's empire in Bristol in the fabulous outlaws? And lastly, on the topic... Really? She had outlaws? Oh wow! Lastly, on the topic of fantastic narrators, Kopna Holdbrook Smith, reading the incredible Rivers of London series, is a real delight. Thank you, Steve. Check that out. Like a recommendation. I mean, I love talking about the artists, but I do slightly wish we were also doing an audio books podcast. Ooh! It's in a sale on Audible. Ooh! It's interested. Quick, quick! I'll download the sample. What was I going to say about that email before I got distracted by Rivers of London? Paul. Yeah, but actually, do you know what? Part of me... Right, okay, so Paul's being a prat, obviously, because he's a grown man and, as Jakob said, grown-up lives are very complicated. But when he was sort of doing that thing about you're my goat, he's my go-to now, Alice. The jealousy thing. Yeah. I did sort of get it because I think even... Paul hasn't left the nest yet, has he? No. Hasn't got his own family yet. I'm not sure he's left the egg. I think he's still basically... I think there's a massive umbilical cord. It's just trailing round ambrage. But it's that thing, isn't it, of, you know, your pet... His... Denise was his... MR, I suppose, or his one, you know, his... Yes, but John wasn't. So, if Denise has replaced John with Alice there, how does that affect... No, because it's... No, because Denise is... Because it's all the sort of... It's the humiliation, as well, isn't it, of like, you know... Oh, you said you were doing this, but you actually weren't. So, you know... I trusted you implicitly. I thought, you know, we had this bond, but actually, you were lying to me. I guess it's like his best friend has... You know, when you're at primary school, your best friend goes off with another best friend and doesn't tell you they've been on a sleepover with them and all that. Yeah. That sort of jealousy that fuels the... That still rankles, doesn't it, Harriet? Yeah. I'm not going to talk about it on the podcast, please. Okay. Because it might end in floods of tears. It comes to 20 minutes time with Harriet going, and then she said that I... I know. I used her to use her... Was it World of Beauty doll? And cut his hair and then she did it instead. And actually, it was a two-night sleepover, and they said it was a one-night. And they had pizza, and we don't have pizza when I go there. Those feelings, they dig deep still, don't they? Luckily, it was a happy ending. I'm still very best friends with the girl who went off with another best friend. Oh. Neither of us is in touch of the other best friends, though. So, boo to her, so boo. So boo to her. We won. Ha ha. Ha ha. We won. She is still my go-to. Yeah. And we never, ever, ever, ever, ever talk about that. It's very healthy. Just don't mention it, ever. Weirdly, it's sort of happening with my own daughter. She's sort of going through exactly the same thing I went through. And it's very weird, but it's also good because I can understand. Yeah. Because I've got the happy ending and that me and my friends are still best friends. Yeah. Triangles are very difficult, aren't they? They really are. Very difficult. And actually, that's why you should never have a best friend, Lucy. You should just have lots of good friends. Yeah. That you think? Do you agree? Do your best friends are overrated? Why do I get the impression that you're forcing me to say yes because it makes sense? Because it makes sense for something for you. Don't drag me into your bloody psychodrama, lady. I'm going to make one of those henry things and just put pictures of me and my best friend. And that other girl crossed out with a big, big red X across her face. Um, I, but so I do, I do see, I do see where little silly Paul is coming from. I mean, I think he didn't, doesn't need to be so, you know, so explicit about it all, but, and I thought Jakob was really good with him this week. Yes. Didn't you? Yeah. I mean, you know, lovely, lovely, rational. Cause when Paul said, you know, you don't have to be nice. And he says, I'm not. I don't say anything. I don't, you know, he says, you're just saying that was something. And he says, no, I'm not. I can't. I don't do that because I can't do it. I don't know what that is. Why would I? I just say sense. I say what I see. Yeah. Well, it's you said the other week. He is the, I can't believe you were Jeff. Somebody said he's the best person for, for Paul to talk to. Absolutely. Because there's no kind of, uh, there's no coddling. There's no gray area. There's no, he just deals in facts, doesn't he? Yes. Yeah. And you know, I think Paul is going to grow up and everything's going to be fine. But also, I think if I was Paul, like, come on. I think he should, he should just go, I'm the bigger person here now. And I'm going to get a different, if I don't like, I, I, I, to be honest, I wouldn't want to be working with my mom and her new boyfriend. No. It's just weird. Yes. Very weird. And, you know, you basically got Denise in the middle and these two. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Paul Yekop just kind of like hedging his hands in the corner. Yeah. And actually. And then he comes home to Kate. Uh-huh. Anyway. Paul God. I know. Kate must be loving the drama. Oh, yeah. Um, oh, uh, this is Hannah talking about the, um, the Hindu. Oh, yeah. Combining two recent storylines, I actually went on a wonderful Hindu last summer, where we spent the morning foraging in a local woodland park, then came back to the bride to be his house for a foraged lunch. The lady who led the workshop also has a vegan farm. So all the food was either grown there or foraged. My first thought when I heard the word foraging was mushrooms, which I did test. And I was very wary as I'm a fussy eater, but there wasn't a mushroom in sight. And I even took home some of the recipes because everything was so tasty. Wow. I think my surprise favorite was Nastur Shampesto. This was followed by making our own sauerkraut using both forest farm-grown items, squeezing out the cabbage for ages to get the liquid out for the ingredients to sit and ferment in. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the whole experience. More importantly, the bride loved it. It was right up her street. That sounds like a much classier Hindu. It does. Bloody pedicure. And it's very archer themed. Yes. How delightful. I think for a Hindu, you've got to do a physical activity, whether it's a dance or, you know, you've got to do a shared experience. You've got to do a bonding thing. And the pedicure and manicure isn't real. No, it's not. No. Just go and swim in the am or something. And she sympathises with me for booting water into my laptop. She said she did it knocked a bottle of Sprite into her laptop while she was writing an essay at university. She submerged it in three kilograms of rice to dry it out. And it switched back on again on day three. But every time it overheated, there was a strong scent of lemon fried rice. Fried rice, excellent. And she also says that whoever said that you, Harriet, look like Sarah Hadland, that image fits perfectly with your voice in my head. Oh, good. I like Sarah. It's weird, isn't it? Yes, that is weird. Having a... When people think you, yeah. Yeah. Ask someone. Talk you're foraging. I need to say, because I've been in the new forest this week, which has been lovely because of the weather. And my vet sister-in-law, I was on a walk with her. And she said, because there's a lot of nettles out at the moment, she said you can take the seed deep bits of a nettle. If you take those off and dry them or cook them, can't remember what you have to do with them. They're like kia seeds or these chia seeds. Oh, really? Packed with sort of super fun stuff. Wow. Yeah. Can't remember what she said you had to do with them actually. And also you'd have to get stung while you took them off, wouldn't you? Or you could just go to the shop and buy some chia seeds. That would also work. Yeah, but Lizzie, they're probably like shipped in from Peru or something. Yeah. Actually, it's better. Come on, guys, let's all go and do some nettle picking. Okay. You first. If anyone actually knows-- You have a basket of things. And then tell us how it goes. I'll get my sister-in-law to do it first. Yes. It'll take you hours, wouldn't it, to get. You know, you get about five seeds of each thing. But maybe we should share some foraging recipes. Nettles are a bit like spinach in that you have like a wheelbarrow full and then you cook it and you end up with a half a tea cupful, and you think. And I bet you have to squeeze for a long time like that. Which is that they smell really horrid when they're cooking. What? Um, Michael Gorman has-- I was trying to remember who said it's not enough that I succeed, but others-- but my friends have to fail. It was by Gore Vidal. So thank you very much, Michael. I knew it was somebody, as you said, waspish. And I couldn't remember who it was. Who is Gore Vidal? He was a sort of journalist, writer, political commentator, very big in the '60s. I think he died late at mid-eighties, maybe. I don't know. Somebody will go to writing now and tell me why I'm all wrong. Well, it's a good phrase. Uh, William has messaged, not my William, a different one, who is thinking about storylines that have been dropped. Has George finished repairing Caroline's bench? Who are the gills? Yes. What has become of the money Oliver invested in George's business? Yeah. Oh, gosh. Who are the gills? Did Brian ever hold the community event he promised as penance for polluting the am? And who are the gills? They're the great man, of course. But he says, "With Freddie's recent involvement in getting Marky arrested, I'm wondering if we'll ever hear from Ellis again. Freddie gave information to the police about his drug supplier, Ellis, in an attempt to get a lesser sentence. Ellis was sent to prison, had Marky into the mix, and that's two baddens that Freddie has snitched on. Oh, my God. I'd love it if the script writers somehow drew those two strands together." This is great. This is great stuff. I really hope that that should definitely come up in a couple of years, shouldn't it? Yes. But we've all forgotten about it and go. But actually, oh, well, this is another thing, isn't it? Now George has done a bad thing. That has consequences for Oliver and that money, and has he already spent the money? I don't think so. No. Anyway, yeah. Some good storylines there. We need to keep reiterating these unfinished storylines so that we don't forget. Matt Rodriguez Payne said, "I feel completely sorry for Georgie, although I feel slightly vindicated about Emma being a slight cockwombal." Yes, she was being a slight cockwombal, but only a slight one. James Everett says, "You can't keep Pip out of the archers anymore. Not the time complaining. Obviously the script writers know what an amazing character she is and are hoping to attract more listeners. I will keep seats free at the Pip Archer Fan Club," he says. I really hope there isn't going to be a... I can see, because there's been so many... There's been a chat, hasn't there, about weddings between Pip and Stella, and it's so obvious that Pip wants to get married. Yes. Wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, yes, it's a lot of that. It would be a lovely storyline and they could use the barn and blah, blah, blah. Yeah. But I just really don't want it to happen for Pip and Stella, because I will never believe that Stella will sign up for that. No. However much she loves Pip. Yes. Yes. I agree. But you know, we did think the same about Harrison and Fallon. Really? Because we kept saying we kept, because Harrison was slightly... Well, that's why we call him Harrison, because he did pursue Fallon to the point of stalking. And we were like, "Ugh, she could do so much better." What? Yeah. We've seen Harrison. Right. But that's real. In my head. Yes. But, you know. I can't... I think it's so hard to get his real image out of him. Okay. Right. Yeah. I mean, I think because I know what everyone looks like, actually, I never see them as imagined faces anymore. Yes. But yeah, so I think maybe we will learn to believe in their relationship, but not yet. Right. Maybe. But also, Pip is a bit of a problematic character, isn't she? She does rub a lot of people up the wrong way. I know. Lesser. It's not her fault, because she actually is a likable character. She's a good person. If she just calmed down a bit. I think if she was just less, yeah, less intense and stuff, she just needs to lighten up a bit, doesn't she? Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, we said the same thing about Helen and Rob. Right. It lasts last week, because last week James was pissed, so couldn't do what the hell is happening here. This one keeps having bacon at yours. This one. Different, James. Yeah. He... So, do you remember the clip that ended somewhat abruptly two weeks ago? Yes. And we couldn't figure out what it was. Apparently, it was 2012. Jim had decided he wanted to write a segment in "Borchester Life." Glenn Whitehouse, who was the director of "Borchester Life," had asked him to write about "Borchester Residence." Jim got the phone call that Glenn had accepted his first article about Mike Tucker, about his milk round and forestry work. So, that's what that was. I had no recollection of any of that. None at all. That was a bit of fascinating. I have got your message. Thank you very much. And now here is this week's one. What the hell is happening? What the hell was happening here? Great, great. Now, the first thing we've got to do is to make sure you know the difference between a weed and a plant. I do. Oh. So, well, what's that one then? Dandelion. Very good. Let's see. Oh. How about this one here? That's a plant. Excellent. Hello, you two. Oh, hello, Mum. Hi, Grandma. Oh, we're doing some gardening, are we? Mm. Roar is about to do some weeding for me, aren't you, Rory? Can I start now? Yes. Yes. Why not? Okay. How much is it for each one, Auntie Lillian? Haven't we agreed that yet? No. Well, perhaps we'd better decide later. Tenpence? Let's just see how you'd get on, shall we? Okay. And if you're in any doubt about anything, come and ask before you dig it up. Wheeler, we'll just be sitting on the terrace. It's a lovely day to be outside there. Oh, isn't it glorious? So he's got on to you for a job as well then. Oh. He asked you too, did he? I remember that. Do you? There must have been ages ago. It was 'cause Rory was little. Little. Had he broken something and he was trying to repair, he was trying to get some money together to repair it without anyone finding out. So he must have been about ten? Yes. So that would have been about twelve years ago. No. Oh. But yeah, he's about twenty, twenty. Mm. I don't remember that. I don't think I would have maybe I was having a break. He was, yeah, I'm sure he was trying to fix. He was trying to make a problem right himself without telling anybody 'cause he ended up telling Jennifer and she said no, no, no, you don't have to fix it. I think I might have got this completely wrong and I'm maybe inventing storylines in my head. I'm sure that's what happened. He was a sweet little boy. Yeah. I don't remember Rory being a kid in the arches. I remember hearing him actually. No. But we didn't for a very long time. He got packed off to school, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. It was very sweet actually. Yeah. I love hearing old kids that are now grown up. Yeah. Like when we heard Kate. I've got a pony. I've got a pony. You won't believe it. Ninety pounds, but daddy says I can have it anyway. What a jolly little rascal she is. If only I could murder her. Right. Now there is no sketch this week because I have been too busy frantically. Well, you can not do this week. I have. You've been bringing your daughter to the cusp of child adulthood. Adulthood. Yes. And then letting her go free. And spending four and a half hours in a car twice. Oh, did you not get a train? I suppose you live in a car. Because I had to bring them all back again with all their gear. Oh, God. Oh, God. The York is so nice. And the weather was so lovely this week. It is. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Yes. No, that's Harrogate. No, there's one in York. Is that? Yes. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's Becky, Betty's. And you can book and have tea in there upstairs bit, which is the posh bit with the penis and everything. So nice. Oh, you should have taken Tilly as a little treat. It's all right. Don't tell me what I should have done. And now the opportunity's gone. Thank you very much. I've actually shot. Probably emailed Tilly and let her know. Did you know that your mother didn't do that? She could have done. She chose not to. Because I went. I took my children last time. Oh, good for you. Yes. And I cried because it was so lovely and the penis was very such gorgeous. You cried an afternoon tea. That was probably very hormonal because it was so lovely. I think it was because Rex was asleep. So he didn't join us for tea, which was a bit of a relief. It was so peaceful and lovely. Yes. Oh, I do recommend. Nice. Yeah. Um, so we are going to not have a sketch and we are going to play out now with, as Matt puts it, uh, Georgie is being tormented by his conscience regarding his past actions and trying to redeem herself himself. I felt that the piece approaching Menace by Neil Richardson, better known as the theme to mastermind, was the perfect choice to synapseize the ever closing net around the night of the car crash. Oh, Matt, that's an amazing. I almost feel sorry for him. He says. Well, I think we do all feel a little bit. Yes. And then he heard the fight. Then he heard Fridays and said, no, I take that back. I do definitely feel so. Oh, yes. Poor old Georgie. Poor old Georgie. Who thought we would be saying poor old Georgie? I know. I know. And poor Emma. I mean, actually good. Emma. Yeah. You know what? With that burden being up a tree with a chainsaw, that's not going to be healthy. And the awful thing is she can't tell Ed. No. She's got to carry it all by herself. It's horrible Lucy. She can't. She just can't. It's too much. Oh, he says he's also researching funk that you mentioned. He said telling people about funk as it's even further out of my wheelhouse than the recent trance attempt. It'll take some time, he says. Good. Matt, feel free to ignore our request suggestions because you've got more than enough to do, I suspect. But anyway, right. So we'll say goodbye. There will be a sketch next week when I have got slightly more time and I'm slightly less straight said. I know. Everybody's feeling relaxed. No. They're not. Anyway. So we'll play out with Mastermind and we'll see you all next week. Who's... I can't wait to find it. This is one of those weeks where I'm going to be listening on the dot. If they skip this, if they skip this, I'll be so cross. I will be so cross. I will write stern emails to everybody. Don't write one to me. Dear Director General, I know you've got quite a lot on your plate, but really, this is ridiculous. Okay. His debt, the arches is so far down his priorities at the moment. Is that still going? Is it? The arches? Bloody hell. All right. Whatever. God. Anyway. Yes. All right. Well, have a brilliant weekend, Lucy. Thank you. Lovely week, everybody. See you next week. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. (bell chimes)