Barbara: The Quiet One

[Fireball]

At times, Barbara still seems like a blank page.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Fireball

[Fireball]

Quote

NO CHEMISTRY. Barbara is one of those characters that I have no complaints about, but somehow no praises for either. She is just there. Like a blank little Stepford, ready to be a dutiful insert wherever needed. I haven't seen anything between her and Tom that looks promising or healthy in the long run. I think when he was so stringent with Trixie in one season, and then groping Barbra's butt in another, he proved how inconsistent he is, and I don't know if either woman feels truly respected or known by him. They just haven't done much for Tom's character for me. 

I like Barbara, but I agree that she hasn't been flushed out as a character all that much. In my opinion, the writers just haven't really invested much time in her as a character. I thought with the whole dating Tom that we'd get to know her better by seeing her & Tom fall in love, seeing her get her heart broken when Tom goes back to Trixie, seeing Tom having to convince Barbara that she's not second best to him, or by seeing Barbara realize that she didn't want to marry a pastor. But nope we got nothing like that. To me, Tom's and Barbara's relationship was there to help move other characters stories along and to help move along plot points.  While I was rooting for Tom & Barbara as a couple, I'm very disappointed in how their relationship was written. I can understand why people don't really see them as having lots of chemistry; the writers did a horrible job, in my opinion of course, of showing us Tom & Barbara falling in love.

[Fireball]

I think a lot of the problem with Barbara's hair is styling. I've seen pictures of the actress with her hair styled differently  then it is on CtM and imo it looks better. But I also think that the actress looks better with a bit longer hair. 

It also looks to me like Charlotte has thin hair which is a pain to try and give volume to! I have thin fine hair and no matter what I do within 30min my hair is back to looking flat, limp, and pathetic. So I have some sympathy for Barbara and her less than voluminous hair.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Fireball

[Ohwell]

I can see from the photos that Charlotte/Barbara does look better with longer hair.  It doesn't have to be that much longer, but on the show the short haircut just makes her look kind of boyish.   However, I do think she's quite pretty.

I also have fine, limp hair and I've made peace with it. : ) 

[Fireball]

To me, it just looks like the make-up/hair crew just haven't done anything with Charlotte/Barbara's hair; maybe that's a styling choice since Barbara is supposed to be this low maintenance kind of woman, but idk I wish they would style her hair a bit better. The cut/style really isn't the most flattering imo of course.  I also agree that Charlotte/Barbara is quite pretty.

53 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I also have fine, limp hair and I've made peace with it. : ) 

I haven't made peace with my hair. lol 

Edited May 26, 2017 by Fireball

[latetotheparty]

Honestly, I quite like her hair.  But I wish they'd give her a personality.  She's lovely but so bland.

[Fireball]

On ‎5‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 6:22 PM, latetotheparty said:

 I wish they'd give her a personality.  She's lovely but so bland.

Her character really hasn't been fleshed out imo. I feel like Barbara isn't a favorite of the writers, and as a result they just can't be bothered with her.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Fireball

[latetotheparty]

15 hours ago, Fireball said:

Her character really hasn't been flushed out imo. I feel like Barbara isn't a favorite of the writers, and as a result they just can't be bothered with her.

I agree with you.  She really deserves better.

[Fireball]

I can't but help compare how the writers write Trixie's romances (Tom & Christopher) to how Barbara's romance with Tom was written. To me, Trixie's romances are about showing us the relationship developing and showing us Trixie growing as a person while Barbara's romance with Tom was more about Trixie and showing us that she was totally over Tom and ready for a new guy. 

There were so many opportunities when Barbara was dating Tom where the writers could have explored/fleshed out who Barbara was that they just didn't take. Just some avenues the writers could have explored off the top of my head:

1. Why was Barbara so reluctant to tell Trixie that she & Tom were dating? (I mean I get it Trixie can be scary when she's mad) But imo if this had been Trixie's story it would have been written as a way for Trixie to grow. However, since this was Barbara's story it was written not about Barbara, but to show how amazing Trixie is for forgiving both Barbara & Tom.
2. Why would Barbara want to date a pastor when growing up she always felt like she came second to the church? I would think this would be something that could have been explored.
3. When realizing that Tom was still hung up on Trixie and their failed engagement; why didn't Barbara feel like his second choice?

Instead of writing storylines to address these issues the writers did time jumps to avoid having to write pesky little things like: why isn't Barbara feeling like Tom's second choice, and how did Tom show Barbara that he didn't think of her as his second choice and that he wasn't still hung up on Trixie.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Fireball

[Ohwell]

I, too, was annoyed about how the story was written for Tom/Barbara/Trixie because it did seem that Trixie was made to be the "generous" one for giving her "blessings" to Tom and Barbara's romance.  

However, I remember that scene at the beach when Trixie made what I thought was a snarky comment about Barbara's bathing suit and Tom said that she looked lovely, and the way he looked at her you could tell that he  meant it.  Trixie then shut the hell up.  So it was at that point that I thought that Tom did not see Barbara as a second choice (even though Trixie probably did).  At least that's what I'm going with, lol. 

[Fireball]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

However, I remember that scene at the beach when Trixie made what I thought was a snarky comment about Barbara's bathing suit and Tom said that she looked lovely, and the way he looked at her you could tell that he  meant it.  Trixie then shut the hell up.  So it was at that point that I thought that Tom did not see Barbara as a second choice (even though Trixie probably did).  At least that's what I'm going with, lol. 

Oh I agree that Tom's response to Trixie's bathing suit comment made it clear that he doesn't think of Barbara as his second choice. I also think last night's episode also made it clear that Barbara is Tom's choice; Trixie made the comment to Tom that haha isn't it funny to think it could be you and I getting married! And Tom said something like no there is nothing funny about that; Barbara and I are very much suited to each other.

However, the writers never did show us Tom proving to Barbara that she is his first choice.  I still think after Barbara realized that Tom was still not over Trixie that the logical place for the Barbara & Tom's story would be for Tom to have to win Barbara back and prove that she's not his second choice. Instead at the end of that episode we have a time jump and the episode ends with Trixie helping a happy Barbara get ready for her date with Tom...  I remember at the end of that episode thinking what--Shouldn't Barbara be heartbroken and not want to date Tom and be his second choice? I'm sure if this had been Trixie's story that the next couple of episodes would have been Tom trying to win her back.

[AZChristian]

I think that when Barbara saw that carousel - after having so recently told Tom the story of why she loves them so much - she knew 100% that she was absolutely his first choice.

[Red Fields]

Barbara’s hair with the hair band reminds me of Disney’s Snow White.

[AuntieMame]

It was Trixie that replied to Toms comment about "Isn't it funny, it could be us?" with " No, Tom, it actually isn't funny at all, Tom. " 

Tom also asked Trixie if being married to the church in addition to him would really suit her. I do agree with all of you though that these issues could and should have been better written and explored. Dating a friend's ex austerity are male or female is tricky ground. 

Edited January 4, 2019 by AuntieMame
Because dating and eating aren't the same thing.

[debraran]

I'm been binging on this show the last month or so and up season 7. It's one of the few shows where I love 99% of everyone on. I feel Sr. Julianne and Sr Monica Joan are the pillars and others stand under them.  🙂

The one I can't seem to like is "Tom" To me he is bland and to put him with Barbara, was double bland. He doesn't seem to have a great range in emotion and even when talking about something touching or emotional, seems wooden to me. Barbara is the pollyanna cute kind of 50's stereotype but I like her. I don't understand the the whole Tom/Trixie breakup though. I know I watched a lot at once but didn't they break up because she didn't want to move to a worse area? Then he stayed? I felt he didn't feel that much toward either of them, but they were a nice looking woman. I did feel more toward Barbara.

[Fireball]

I haven't watched CtM since they killed off Barbara. Has Tom been back on the show? I know that was the reasoning for killing Barbara and not just letting Tom and Barbara move somewhere else and have a happy ending. The writers wanted to leave the door open for Tom to return. 

[Cetacean]

9 minutes ago, Fireball said:

I haven't watched CtM since they killed off Barbara. Has Tom been back on the show?

No, he has not been back.

[Crashcourse]

6 hours ago, Fireball said:

I haven't watched CtM since they killed off Barbara. Has Tom been back on the show? I know that was the reasoning for killing Barbara and not just letting Tom and Barbara move somewhere else and have a happy ending. The writers wanted to leave the door open for Tom to return. 

I also stopped watching after they killed off Barbara, and I've just begun watching again.  I'm still upset though.

[Fireball]

On 10/24/2021 at 11:58 AM, Cetacean said:

No, he has not been back.

So, there was no reason to kill off Barara and not give her and Tom a happy ending. 

On 10/24/2021 at 6:23 PM, Crashcourse said:

I also stopped watching after they killed off Barbara, and I've just begun watching again.  I'm still upset though.

Me too. And I'm still annoyed that the writers couldn't be bothered to actually write Tom and Barabra's relationship and instead did time jumps. 

[JudyObscure]

 

From interviews I've read Charlotte Ritchie always says things like, "Sometimes I'm sorry I left the show," so it seems like it was her idea.  She must surely prefer being the star of "Ghosts" over an ensemble part shared with a half dozen other women on CtM.

Plus she has a long relationship with the leading man in Grantchester.

I bet the other actresses who left wish they had been given such good parts.

[Orcinus orca]

3 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

From interviews I've read Charlotte Ritchie always says things like, "Sometimes I'm sorry I left the show," so it seems like it was her idea.

I have read articles where it was her choice as well.  She left voluntarily. 

I suppose they could have sent her off to do missionary work or something instead of killing her off but it seems like that storyline never works out like Patsy leaving - she has never returned.

[Fireball]

It took me a bit to place star of "UK Ghosts". And then I was oh Call the Midwife.  Leaving Call the Midwife was a good decision for Charlotte Ritchie.

However, I still don't think they needed to kill off the character. Since they didn't have Tom come back to the show after killing off Barbara, they could have just written the couple out by having Tom reassigned to a different church. It's been a long time, but weren't Tom and Barbara absent from the show for a while until they brought them back just to kill off Barbara?  

[statsgirl]

From an interview that I can't remember where, I heard that Charlotte Richie felt that Barbara had run her course on the show and asked to end her time on the show.  I don't like deaths even on TV but I have to admit they got a lot of drama out of Barbara's.

[caitmcg]

16 hours ago, statsgirl said:

 I don't like deaths even on TV but I have to admit they got a lot of drama out of Barbara's.

I think the best payoff, so to speak, was how Barbara's death affected Phyllis, not just in that episode itself, but also going forward, where we saw practical, take-in-stride Phyllis still grieving the loss of her friend.

[tvrox]

That was CTM Barbara in Wonka, right? The red hair threw me off for a second, but the voice was the same! 

[dargosmydaddy]

5 minutes ago, tvrox said:

That was CTM Barbara in Wonka, right? The red hair threw me off for a second, but the voice was the same! 

I haven't seen the movie, but have seen the screenshots, and yes, that's Charlotte Ritchie.