Is it just me?
Or is Peggy Woolley THE most irritating character in The Archers? It must have been such fun though, for the scriptwriters, when it came to writing the scene where Lillian tells the hospital-bound Peggy that her Alzheimer's sufferer husband Jack has gone to a respite home.
I would have been rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of writing that scene. In all the years I've been listening to The Archers I've always found Peggy utterly infuriating though she has had a few moments of humanity every now and then with her grandchildren, and of course with Jack. However, half the fun of writing for a soap must be in hitting listeners round the face with the big wet slap that is a devastating return to teeth grindingly irritating form, after you've spent some time building up the character's more positive side. (And of course show the pantomime villain Matt in a rather better light at the same time.) Boy, did they do a good job.
In between wanting to throw something at the radio as I tuned into the story enough to sympathise with poor Lillian, and tuning out again and wondering what new depths Peggy could reach I was wondering if the scriptwriters would be moving towards a climactic moment with Peggy throwing Lillian out of the room, and yes, they were.
Having said that, it might have made the situation easier if the family had found some way to at least hint to Mama that all was not going well, and that it was hard for them, and for Jack. A desperate situation all round, of course in real life. I hope that if I am ever in the same situation I will have learned by then that I cannot do everything myself and allow other people to help.
Shall be glued to the radio tonight, however.
I would have been rubbing my hands with glee at the thought of writing that scene. In all the years I've been listening to The Archers I've always found Peggy utterly infuriating though she has had a few moments of humanity every now and then with her grandchildren, and of course with Jack. However, half the fun of writing for a soap must be in hitting listeners round the face with the big wet slap that is a devastating return to teeth grindingly irritating form, after you've spent some time building up the character's more positive side. (And of course show the pantomime villain Matt in a rather better light at the same time.) Boy, did they do a good job.
In between wanting to throw something at the radio as I tuned into the story enough to sympathise with poor Lillian, and tuning out again and wondering what new depths Peggy could reach I was wondering if the scriptwriters would be moving towards a climactic moment with Peggy throwing Lillian out of the room, and yes, they were.
Having said that, it might have made the situation easier if the family had found some way to at least hint to Mama that all was not going well, and that it was hard for them, and for Jack. A desperate situation all round, of course in real life. I hope that if I am ever in the same situation I will have learned by then that I cannot do everything myself and allow other people to help.
Shall be glued to the radio tonight, however.
Comments
I'd like to shake Peggy too, though I think unless her stroke was extremely mild, she wouldn't have been able to cope with Jack and housekeeping AT ALL when she came out. I speak from experience, as I nursed my mum through several strokes. Gripping stuff all the same.