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Source: (consider it) Thread: Rewriting The Archers
Albertus
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# 13356

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Didn't hear this evening's, but on (was it?) Tuesday when Pat was wailing about feeling so stupid all I could say was 'that's because yyou are'. She used to be rather a shrewd and level-headed character, didn't she? But over the last few years she's turned increasingly into a Soil Association certificated version of Jennifer Aldridge. I do wish the writers wouldn't sod about with characters like that.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

Ship's Mug
# 11770

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Albertus - you and most of the Archers tweet along group. There's a lot of moaning about how little continuity there is - with us mostly pointing out inconsistencies. Pat was at Greenham. She'd know a whole lot more about police procedures from that experience that she's being given credit for now.

Barnabas62 - apparently the Archers have been consulting with Birth Companions a charity that works with mothers giving birth in prison. Also, because I looked, magistrates cannot give bail for murder and they can choose not to give bail for attempted murder if they think there are additional risks - pretty much as handed down. It's probably back down to the apparent viciousness of the attack. Although there have been suggestions that Rob might have made things worse deliberately - the wrist slash suggests him grabbing the knife. (Very ambiguous that incident in sound effects alone.)

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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Barnabas62
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# 9110

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Yes, they have messed around with Pat's character for the sake of the story line. Also the arraignment was part of a preliminary hearing before a judge, not a magistrate. The judge has discretion over bail and was certainly within her rights to interpret the results the way she did. But the witness-tampering argument was very weak, given the bail conditions applied for. I just thought it unlikely.

(I note that folks are drawing some parallels with Tess of the D'Urbervilles; a bit of a stretch but I see where they are coming from.)

[ 06. May 2016, 00:46: Message edited by: Barnabas62 ]

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
North East Quine

Curious beastie
# 13049

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Helen had a referral to a psychiatrist while she was pregnant; but now she's stabbed her husband, she appears to be being treated as though she has no psychiatric issues? How does that work?

I'm also cross that Pat has turning into a hapless, helpless hand-wringer.

Posts: 6414 | From: North East Scotland | Registered: Oct 2007  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

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# 11770

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Sean O'Connor, the current but soon departing script editor, said in an interview that this story line is based on Tess of the d'Urbevilles and Gaslighting and a Conrad, but mainly Tess.

Hardy's well known melodramatic streak seems to have passed him by, and bending the continuity of the characters to fit a Victorian melodrama with a different agenda has not endeared him to long term listeners. (Hardy was writing to chronicle a way of life in the countryside which was rapidly disappearing in his lifetime with the advent of machinery and the industrial revolution moving people from the countryside to the cities.)

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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Enoch
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# 14322

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Is Helen going to end up being hanged then? To do that, not only has Rob got to die within a year and a day of the event, but there's got to be both the wrong result in the Brexit referendum, and a change in the law that is unlikely to happen.

I'm so glad I'm doing other things at 7pm every evening.

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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson

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Barnabas62
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# 9110

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quote:
Originally posted by North East Quine:
Helen had a referral to a psychiatrist while she was pregnant; but now she's stabbed her husband, she appears to be being treated as though she has no psychiatric issues? How does that work?

It may not be known to the police. And unless I've missed something, it may not yet be known to Anna the defence lawyer. So far as I can make out, Helen has been quite unable in her conversations with Anna to see factors that work in her favour. (Like her conversation with Rob's ex-wife Jess for example.)

Anna observed to Tom and Tony that she just wasn't sure how much of Helen's normal thinking processes had been shut down by Rob's manipulation and dominance. And that strikes me as very realistic, based on my own experience of counselling victims of abuse. It's very hard to see things straight when someone you love has been mucking around with your understanding.

That part of the storyline I have no problem with, in fact it's one of the most insightful issues which has been portrayed.

(I missed tonight's episode, BTW.)

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

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Albertus
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# 13356

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Sorry, I know this is a serious storyline, but

quote:
Originally posted by Barnabas62:
.... Helen's normal thinking processes....

[Killing me]
When has she ever, ever, seriously thought about anything, as opposed to floundering around in a fog of wish-fulfilment and making up superficially coherent arguments to justify doing what she wants to do?

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Barnabas62
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Fair enough. I suppose "normal for Helen" has often been a bit short on sensible, which makes "abnormal for Helen" even more likely to lead to her short-changing herself.

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Albertus
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# 13356

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True, very true.

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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.

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mark_in_manchester

not waving, but...
# 15978

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quote:
Is Helen going to end up being hanged then? To do that, not only has Rob got to die within a year and a day of the event, but there's got to be both the wrong result in the Brexit referendum, and a change in the law that is unlikely to happen.

Thanks. I was feeling a bit glum, and you really got me laughing!

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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)

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Barnabas62
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# 9110

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Thought I'd bounce this. All in all, a pretty remarkable "non-everyday story of country folk".

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Curiosity killed ...

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# 11770

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According to this Government research paper (pdf) 8.2% of women and 4% of men suffered domestic abuse in 2014/15 before the introduction of the offence of coercive abuse. It is a lot more common than is realised.

Not sure the jury deliberations worked as an Archers episode, but the trial through the week was interesting.

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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Jemima the 9th
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# 15106

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I thought the trial was brilliantly done - though I haven't been in a courtroom, so I could be wildly wrong. I'm very, very glad indeed that Helen was found not guilty - I think there would have been outrage if she'd been sent dahn (even though that's what I was afraid would happen).

I listened to the mega-episode last night, and cried at the end. Then I listened again this afternoon, and cried all over again.

And it's also brought us the joy of Bruce, in all his moustache twirling evil.

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Barnabas62
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The jury room discussion was, scarily, remarkably similar to the one jury I was on. Also an abuse with violence case. What surprised me was the numbers who were biased by their own strongly held views. It was very hard to get folks to look at the evidence. Made me wonder about the jury system.

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Who is it that you seek? How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Posts: 21397 | From: Norfolk UK | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
mark_in_manchester

not waving, but...
# 15978

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My jury service left me with the opposite thoughts - a very un-sympathetic accused (due to the type of crime, and who he was), and a jury who on the face of it looked more likely to rush to judgement than your average 11 punters (I, the 12th, am a Guardian-reader with a bleeding heart, obviously).

He went down, but quite a while after I'd got bored of trying to think of reasons why he might not be lying. They gave him a really fair go.

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"We are punished by our sins, not for them" - Elbert Hubbard
(so good, I wanted to see it after my posts and not only after those of shipmate JBohn from whom I stole it)

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Laurelin
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# 17211

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I've become something of an Archers addict in recent years and was gripped by the Rob/Helen storyline, although it was infuriating at times - not the slow twisting of the abuse, which was horribly believable, but the unrealistic reactions from some of the other characters, e.g. Pat being turned by the script-writers from a strong woman into an unobservant wimp.

I've served on a jury three times and none of my fellow jurors were as tetchy and bigoted as some of the jurors at Helen's trial! [Eek!] At the very worst, a few simply didn't want to engage much with the process (which does make you wonder about our justice system, as Barnabas said) but NOBODY was as awful as some of those characters.

I thought Anna did a pretty good job as defence counsel. I was very irritated by Pat's pathetic wittering while Helen was giving her testimony. Loud, agitated whispering is NOT allowed in court. No way would I jeopardise my loved one's trial in that way. The old, intelligent Pat would not have behaved so stupidly, IMO.

Rob is utterly loathsome - just the sound of his voice puts my teeth on edge - but so brilliantly played by Timothy Watson that I feel sorry for the actor, he will always be overshadowed by this role. [Big Grin]

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Eirenist
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# 13343

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'It's not over till it's over, and sometimes it's not over even then.'

This storyline could go on for another two or three years, apparently. Rob hasn't gone away. The scriptwriters have plenty of scope for inventiveness - battles over custody of the children, attempts to take them out of the jurisdiction of English courts, child abuse (of Henry, perhaps), the cricket team (next summer), the Ian - Adam relationship, village gossip, poison pen letters, harassment, stalking perhaps - the possibilities are endless. Perhaps the whole series should be renamed 'The Titcheners'.

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'I think I think, therefore I think I am'

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