They're not plucky Tuckers, they're turkey pluckers' sons - Archers festive chat

[PseudoBadger]

:)

So the actress playing Shula is 70 and therefore Shula will have to be got rid of reasonably soon? This is the best news I've had all week!

But Somewhere the actress who plays Peggy will be 95 this year!

gypsy the link explains they've already cast the new actor. He's the son of Dr Who Patrick Troughton.

True JaneEyre! or they could just get a new actress in of course.

Just catching up with the last few days. Can't believe Helen's cheek in inviting herself along to the 'wives and girlfriends' drinks. Cheeky mare.

What happened to Jess?

according to Rob, left him and gone back to mother in Hampshire I think. But he may be an unreliable narrator.

Do you think will be getting Eddie to build him a patio in the new year...........?

That should be "Do you think Rob will be........."

did Tom see Jess packing up her car, though?
yes, though that could have just been because she was going home for xmas anyway.

Hopefully we'll get her side of events at some point.

Oh no ReallyOverThis !

Just catching up on last night's episode, it's rather good isn't it.

I am sad Tony is going to change but killing him off or making him a silent doesn't feel right either.

Phew! Caught up thanks to the Colchester Plumber, iplayer and this thread! Happy New Year everyone.

Utterly flabbergasted about Helen and Rob 'moving in together'. Does Rob really mean it? And no mention of Henry. I expect Helen will start saying 'we' in terms of the moving in and Rob won't be happy. Or maybe not.

Moving scene with Jack and Peggy - beautifully done, I thought.

Here's the link to the Archers page of BBC website with news about the new Tony (Stan in The Cafe - love him!) so you don't have to click on the DM link!

That was very thoughtful of you Songbird i don't give the DM anything including clicks!!

Henry was mentioned as moving in too. Hellin is so blinded by lust she doesn't seem to be thinking at all WTF????

Poor old Jack....

I wonder if this might lead to a change in Peggy's living arrangements. Perhaps she might move in a Makepeace?

Anyway I'm hoping that evil Rob and Helen's plans will never come to fruition. It will be extremely disappointing if Jess's story just peters out like this - not that one would wish for any innocent person to be discovered under their native patio...... But the police turning up shortly after the funeral might be rather fun.

Quite. The Eastenders business was a total waste of resources - which meant that yesterday there wasn't enough money to have Tony actually present when Peggy brought the news about Jack....

The rob and Helen storyline has me hooked though. I'm tuning in every night to say 'oh Helen don't be dim' at the radio.

Zero I reckon that the actor who plays Tony is or was too ill to be in that scene did you read the link we got from songbird?

Ah! Good point - holiday brain didn't join the dots.

The episode was just so thin in characters. Couldn't they have shoved in the new person? Or Jenny?

.... And they're just about to discuss the change of personnel on PM!

I quite like an odd episode when something significant happens and they have a limited cast.

Sorry the old Tony is ill IRL - but David Troughton is a great actor. I first remember seeing him when he was really young playing Sloppy in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.

Gosh, that's a big bit of news! Sorry to hear that Colin Skipp has been so unwell. Sean O'Connor (new editor) sounded very sensible on PM just now when he explained that it was Colin's choice to retire and that he thought Tony was such an important character and so relatively young that they needed to re-cast. He said rather than going for a voice match he had gone for a character match and thought of David Troughton for that reason. I remember DT vividly from A Very Peculiar Practice many years ago and I wish him well in the part. Apparently he's already recorded a month's worth of scripts so it looks like Bridge Farm is centre stage for the next few weeks!

Ohhhhh - DH just rang me on his way home to tell me that Jack is dead because he heard it on PM when Eddie Mair was interviewing David's replacement

I thought that couldn't be right so I came straight here to check (I knew you would know!) It must be the name David that confused him.

Sounds as if someone dropped a clanger though with "Jack's widow"!