Vanessa Whitburn slip up on R4 today programme

[GoodChristianaRejoice]

She said 'we've got a birth and a death'
...


Must mean Nige is kaput

[boogeek]

Argh!

[HarlotOTara]

Poor Nigel - can think of other characters who should have been dedded before him.

[GoodChristianaRejoice]

I know. Poor kids.

Massive feud between David and Lizzie though stretching down generations to come.... Spose could be interesting.

[HumphreyCobbler]

oh no

I woke in the night and worried about Nigel.

I think this is rubbish, I can't bear to listen to anymore

I do know it isn't real btw

[GoodChristianaRejoice]

humph I DREAMT about the Archers. Then lay awake sweaty from 3.30am till 5.30am

PATHETIC

[mrswoodentop]

Had to stop listening the last time Lizzie and David were at loggerheads she was so strident and objectionable ,really hope they don't go down the feud route as I can't stand the arguments and really like David ,think he is one of the more realistic characters,will have to stop listening again can't have every evening ruined by shrieking again .Have enough of that in RL!

[HumphreyCobbler]

glad I am not the only one GoodChristianaRejoice

Honestly, this has really depressed me.

They have misjudged the whole thing massively imo.

[seeker]

Is it possible the death isn't Nigel? (grasping at straws - can't believe the clunking clues in the script for the last weeks!)

[HumphreyCobbler]

they have been really clunking haven't they?

When you think of the brilliance of the Brian/Sioban/Jennifer love triangle, and how the storyline developed over so many months, this just seems pointlessly tragic.

The pregnancy storyline was a bit of a non event as well.

[GoodChristianaRejoice]

Yesterdays script was so clumsy

Don't think the Archers can stretch to 30 min storylines

It can't be David though seeker as all you'd hear for years would be 'oh nooooooooooooooo'

[Chil1234]

Of course he's dead. The Archers is in the WYSYWIG, cause/effect school of drama. There's never been a surprise plot twist yet.

Lizzie and Nigel have been getting on far too well recently for him to survive. And I'm glad we all got to hear his pantomime dame before he did his swan dive....

[Chil1234]

"this just seems pointlessly tragic."

But in the real life countryside recently we've had things like a fire-engine spooking a herd of cattle that then trampled a farmer to death & the bull that killed the rambler. Sometimes pot-boilers are the order of the day but other times you don't always get a big lead-up to these things. John A being crushed by his Massey Ferguson was perfect... and that wasn't heralded at all.

[Northernlebkuchen]

VW is a total monster imo!

[goldenbirdies]

Yeah but there's a difference between a farming accident and a ridiculously dangerous stunt that any village idiot would refuse. So VW said 'death' then? What a waste of time.

The trouble with Deeavid is that he's got such a limited range - he's really not that good at anything other that 'solid'. I thought Tony was excellent last night btw, about the only decent part of the whole let-down.

[GoodChristianaRejoice]

Maybe David will throw himself off the roof too... And nige is not actually dead?

[goldenbirdies]

If they have a prolonged death/coma storyline I am going to boycott.

[traceybath]

I thought Tony was fab and was very glad that Helen and the baby were ok - hopefully this will be the making of Helen.

Poor Nigel though and oh dear - Lizzie is going to want Brookfield as retribution.

[HumphreyCobbler]

I should have said gratuitously tragic Chil1234

I meant in terms of the soap as a whole. The way they have pepped things up by killing off a character after leading us all to speculate on it for months on end

I also will boycott if there is a prolonged coma storyline, I just can't stand it.

[elliott]

I agree HC. I think this trend is part of a bigger 'media eating itself' trend - I mean why have a tragic plotline to 'celebrate' 60 years? We had all sorts of sudden and tragic deaths in the past (John, Mark) without the need for highlighting them months in advance - you just tuned in and found they were gone...

[Chil1234]

BTW... what did happen to Sid Perks? Or rather the actor that played him? Was there some barney about fees that he was bumped off so unceremoniously?

[HumphreyCobbler]

I think that is what happened to Sid.

I am annoyed, I LIKED Nigel.

[Chil1234]

"I think this trend is part of a bigger 'media eating itself' trend"

I think it's more like some shiny young BBC manager, wanting to make a name for themselves, saying to Whitburn et al 'we need to pep up the old Archers and give it a bit more zip'. Thus totally missing the reason most of us like it :)

[ReshapeWhileDamp]

I think I dreamt about it too.

Just re-listened to ep, while re-reading the thread from yesterday evening for added lols. Sad, eh?

You do hear a definite 'thud' at the end of poor Nige's doppler-effect 'ARRRGGHHhhhhhh...' Don't think we needed Vanessa to slip up, to know he's Ded.

[LunarSeasonsGreetings]

The actor who played Sid was ill and needed to leave, so they had to either write him out or recast.

[jodevizes]

Why get rid of one of the more interesting and lovable characters? Who will look after the vines?
Will Harry comfort Lizzie and end up moving in to the Hall?

Will Lizzie force David to sell the farm to pay for the death duties?

The plot curdles.