Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to Ambridge on the Couch, an in-depth look at the archers with me, Geoff Thomas, Lucy Freeman, James Everett and Matt Rodriguez-Payne. Now, before we make a start on your emails, let's have a recap of what happened this week in Ambridge.
We began this very grumpy week in Ambridge with Brian being breathtakingly arrogant and making George feel bad for wanting the money he was promised in exchange for his silence. I don't have two grand in my wallet, you know. Yes, but you do actually have two grand, which none of the grundies do, you pompous git. Does he have any idea of the trouble he'd be in if George blew the gaff?
Not just with the police, but with his own family. That's got to be worth two thousand quid of anybody's money. And then Brian wrote him a cheque.
A check.
Have they never read a 1920s murder mystery? You don't leave a sodding paper trail. You pay in cash. Ruth was even grumpier than normal as she was being asked to look after Carol Toboggan, which I must concede is a bit of a cheek on Anna's behalf. Anyway, Leonard, as the pride of the merry widows of Ambridge, dashed over there to stick his oar and anything else he could grab hold of in.
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Chapter 2: What happened this week in Ambridge?
His visit to Carol served two purposes as he bought flapjacks with him, which meant they were out of Jill's reach should she get a bit tetchy about something. Turns out she has bats in the belfry, which I think anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes with her could have ascertained, frankly. As Anna is profoundly anti-bat, Carol is naturally pro-bat.
Anna has no idea how to deal with her mother. If she'd wanted to get shot at the bat, she should have announced that she'd joined a bat conservation group and was thinking of marrying one. Carol would have been in the attic with an air gun in a trice. Anna bumped into Azra in the tea rooms.
Natasha introduced them, and before they knew where they were, Anna was ordering a cappuccino while describing her work situation and financial status to a woman she'd only just met. Sugar? Natasha had her BDI on Anna to replace her as WI speaker, which I have to say is very unprofessional. Your program gets printed in March, and last-minute changes are frowned upon.
Natasha was busy showing one uninterested party of British investors around the village and one group of what were clearly Russian spies who were apparently keen on rewilding. Maybe they were planning on using Ambridge as a base from which to visit Salisbury Cathedral. The tea room can start doing brie and novichok sandwiches.
Natasha took them to the rewilding where they were hoping for a glimpse of Beaver but they had to settle for a quick flash of Justin instead.
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Chapter 3: How does Brian's arrogance affect his relationships?
Bert is on the apps, and Tracey's anxiety that he might meet someone that liked sushi made me think she was concerned he may start a meaningful relationship with Fabrizia Felpersham, which would be far from ideal for both of them, although jolly useful in material for me.
Just to really put the tin hat on Bert's day, he was having tofu for tea, which they all talked through with their mouths full, which was horrible. Horribin'. Azra accidentally let the bird out of the bag and Fletch flew to freedom out of the window where he will no doubt be immediately eaten by Hilda Ogden and that will provide us with another fortnight of going nowhere storyline.
Rory reappeared and was on the receiving end of an Adam's special sinister voice and a few moments of that meant the dam burst and he told him all.
Yeah.
He ran away, pursued by Adam, droning on like a Dalek, and fortunately ran into the best person he could possibly run into, namely Dr. Sigmund Benjamin Archer. Being the only therapist and mental health specialist in an entire village is a heavy burden to carry,
particularly when you're not one, but instead are a newly qualified nurse who spends most of his day rolling up old people's trouser legs. Anyway, a momentous decision was made. Rory announced to Brian that he couldn't cope with the guilt anymore. And Brian told him, with the lordly air of the very experienced, that if you just ignore guilt, it goes away eventually.
He then attempted to coerce Rory into not confessing to perverting the course of justice by suggesting something that would, well, it would pervert the course of justice, a false confession. Brian's plan worked so well that Rory went to confess to George instead, which was a much better plan.
Apart from George appeared to think that Rory, who he's only recently got to know, would trek all the way over to number one the green to play a hilarious practical joke on him and refused to believe him in a scene which featured some of the worst fake laughter I have ever heard. And then it just stopped with Rory saying, well, that's all super duper now. Is everything super duper?
Has Brian forked two grand over to George for nothing? I really wouldn't put it past them to just sweep this all under the carpet now and wander off whistling. But surely they couldn't. Could they? How many times have we said that? The end.
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Chapter 4: What challenges does Ruth face with Carol Toboggan?
But they never seem to notice, do they?
No, exactly. That's exactly what I'm getting at. George sat and had that conversation with Rory and it never crossed his tiny little mind. I mean, maybe, I don't know, maybe it'll come to him in his, he'll wake up one morning next week and go, hang on a minute.
There has been a few times, particularly with the Grundys, Joe used to bring this up quite often, that there is one rule for them and one rule for us. Yeah. But recently it hasn't, no one's had that sort of, it's a revelation that just keeps rolling on that every so often. And Emma has brought it up as well. Has she? Yeah.
Yes, when she was struggling with, was it when she wanted the deposit for the new house and couldn't get it and she went around the village asking everybody and all that. I think it was possibly then. But she's occasionally got a flash of socio-political awareness and so did Jo, sort of have a bit of class war.
Chapter 5: What is the significance of Leonard's visit to Carol?
Yeah.
But recently, nobody's, everyone's just trundled along in the status quo and not questioned anything.
No. And it says, it really says something about George's fundamental character that he's prepared to let this go.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would see those two in hell. I would see them all the way down the steps. And I'd make sure I was standing there when they locked the door. There is no way I would let that go. But George, I think, and it's the flip side of the same thing. George just expects that kind of stuff to happen to him.
Yeah.
And when it does, he shrugs and makes the best of it and gets on with it.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: How does Rory's confession impact the storyline?
So there's the check. So everyone's going to say to George, where did you get that money from to buy the new drone? You know, I know no one's going to be looking at Brian's private checkbook, but it's got to be either someone's going to see that check. It's going to be questioned.
It'll be Amber seeing George's bank statement.
Yeah.
And because it's a check, of course, then Brian's name will be on it.
Will it be George saying to somebody, ha, ha, ha, guess what, mum, that was really funny. Rory came round and said he'd, no, because then he'd have to tell you it was Brian.
No, no, no, exactly, yeah. No, because they'll all go, well, it could have been Rory. Yeah. Indeed it could, because it was. But George, no, he can't say anything to anybody about it.
If it had just gone away, it wouldn't have been a cheque. Brian would have said, okay, give me two days, I'll go to four different cash machines, withdraw 500 quid from each, and then I will pay you.
Well, except that this is exactly the sort of thing that the scriptwriters do. They sprinkle a few dead ends and red herrings around the end of a... And this is the thing. So this was the big storyline. This was the big splash for the 75th anniversary, which has just fizzled out at the beginning of May.
And what about this fella that's in custody? What's his name's mate?
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of Brian's cheque to George?
No idea. Tourism, land appreciation. What? I don't know. Land goes up in value. Depends what's on it. I mean, yeah.
It's just bollocks. It is absolute bollocks.
Yeah, I think we're probably giving the script writers far too much credit here, I think, aren't we? Yes. Occam's Razor suggests it's bollocks.
You have a recording, do you not, Mr Thomas, of Ryan saying, me and all.
I do. I do.
Who was the person that wanted it? Can you remember?
I can't. I can't either. That was a few weeks ago.
But I hope, whoever you are, happy listener, that you are now going to be even happier listener because we have the clip of Ryan saying... Me and all.
Yes. I rather wish you'd mentioned that before we started recording. Oh. Because I haven't uploaded it.
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Chapter 8: How do the characters respond to mental health discussions?
I thought it was going to be a poem for a moment. It says, the more I learn about Jeff, the more I think we are related in some way. I too am very good club cricketer level XL, VBA a speciality.
That's visual basic, Lucy, as I'm sure you know.
Yes. I too hate anything not being level or unbalanced, he said.
Yes.
In the first week of the pandemic, I spent a very happy morning wandering around the house with a spirit level, ensuring all our pictures and mirrors, and we have many, were absolutely straight. I, too, am driven mad by the cricket chat. Oh, look, he's blocked a ball. Well played, Rex. The therapy sessions strike a chord, and I've even started saying, very style.
One day, I want to buy Jeff several drinks of his choosing, following which I may return to your place, as I'm not sure you'd notice the difference.
No, it's entirely possible that you wouldn't. We are very much brothers in arms, Steve, I think, and I would be delighted to take you up on your offer of a few drinks. Yes. Next time I'm down in the West Country, we could have a get-together of all the Steves, couldn't we, down in the West Country?
Could I think slightly longer about your offer about coming home with me and not Geoff? So, yes, I would... I'm not ruling it out, but I would like a little bit more thinking time, if that's all right, Steve.
Maybe a test period, you know, a sort of running in period. Probation. Yeah, probation, exactly. Just to see what you think, whether you've had an upgrade or not, I think is key, isn't it?
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