Robbieeeee! It's meee, it's Jessieeee! I've come home. I'm so cold! Let me in-a-your window. The Archers pay homage to Wuthering Heights?

[PseudoBadger]

A new thread in time for the film this morning.

BTW, I second the webchat idea - if I need to communicate that direct to Olivia/HQ, happy to do so.

I'm 50, but I've always listened . He's certainly not going for the teenagers, as he has no idea of how they behave, judging by the child-of-famous-person's reaction to the Ambridge move.

Or, if SO'C didn't want to focus on Brookfield anymore, couldn't they just move over to being more silent. Why do they have to be exciled?

I'm in my 30s and I loathe what is happening to TA at the moment (apart from the HellRob storyline, which is well done).

Re David & the badgers, can anyone remember what it was he said wasn't a problem, livestock-health-wise, at the Perfect Farm? Was it TB?

(I meant to go back & listen again but it's all got so depressingly nonsensical since that I just haven't the heart. I might do all my 'listening' on this thread in future)

I wonder if he's done this as a stunt. It's certainly generating publicity. Then it will turn out they'll all stay at Brookfield, with a larger audience base, and he can rub his hands in glee. I don't mind them going, so much as the total lack of characterisation and reality of it all. And the portrayal of women.

What would you be saying in a year Quill if Brookfield had been virtually silent (with no interesting SLs) for months?

It needs a ruthless touch to carry out a grand plan. (Whether it's a good idea or not is another question ...)

Oh - I also reported. (It sounds so ominous...)

I have to admit to being overinfested Nicest.
I did a google of TB hotspots and although the worst of it is in mid-to-south Wales, the Midlands and SW there are actually a few outposts in the North. Guess where?

The programme has a history. Why didn't SO'C start his own new soap if he wanted one based on different characters.

This should be the first question.

yy to bluestocking's new thread title. (Or should that ending be "blame it on Sean O'C")

i'm in my twenties and i'm not attracted to unrealistic storylines with plot holes the size of craters and characters behaving bizarrely any more than someone who's been listening longer than i've been alive

Cretaceous, what child-of-famous-person, and what was their reaction?

But, Petula, you are an old listener in terms of knowing the old characters. New listeners won't know the characters for a few months. When SOC has the (new) characters he wants, then it can go back to being character driven... just sadly for us old listeners, driven by new characters and new actors. The old characters will be in name only, with completely new personalities.

josh is played by ?celia imrie's son

TBH I'm not entirely convinced by the "seeking a younger audience" argument - even if it's what the Editor wants. The way to get more Archers listeners is to attract more people to Radio 4. No one's going to regularly turn on TA if they aren't already R4 people. You can't engineer an audience - as AMEX proved.

Don't blame it on TB, don't blame it on Route B, don't blame it on the BBC - blame it on the badgers!

Bluestockings' suggestion for the next thread title - nobody else has commented but it made me smile!

Looks like we're going to need it soon - this thread has been galloping along. (I'll announce the competition result on the new thread).

Icimoi - New Josh, in real life son of Celia Imrie, who seems happy to move, except for those hens of course.

I would rather Brookfield was silent for years, but still there than gone altogether.

And I dont actually like David/Ruth/Pip at all. They annoy me. But I don't want them not to be in Ambridge anymore. The continuity is reassuring, a bit like the royal family. They ARE The Archers. Without them living there anymore, there is a big hole.

Although I still think Something Is Going To Happen which will mean the road doesn't get built and life carries on as before.

Actually, I've just noticed that R4 did vote for Bluestocking's title. Sorry, R4!

zero i think you're right - whoever it was (sorry for lazy not checking exactly who) who noticed that their DC was coming back from univeristy listening to R4 rather than R1 was right that it's a more natural process. dp and i both had parents who listened to R4, and we used to listen to the friday night comedy at university and have the today programme on in the mornings. this naturally extended into some of the other comedies and documentaries and serials, especially as the iplayer and digital radio started during that time, and it's very easy when you're tuning into the 18.30 comedy while cooking or driving to leave it on through the archers (although some will always be "dum-de-dum-de-click" people as characterised by john finnemore!)

cretacious i see what you mean. one feels like there could have been a kinder more natural way to do it

One of the many unbelievable aspects of last night's chat was Josh being so happy to abandon the hens. When he started that up it was going to be the beginning of the Josh Archer business empire; I could understand it if he just announced he'd lost interest, that's what teenagers do, but the way it was portrayed last night was that he hadn't lost interest and was concerned about them. And what about the money he put into it? He can't just assume Neil is going to pay him back.

Yes, so do I, QuillPen, which is what I said in my missive to Feedback. If this isn't going to happen after all, we are putting up with this nonsense for nothing. But if it is going to happen, it's going to Shake Ambridge To The Core* far more than Nigel's death could ever have done and the storyline should therefore be done with great care to make it credible - which for a start would mean taking years rather than months to play this out.

My personal preference would be that they forget all about this awful storyline and stick to established characters doing realistic things. Pigs might fly!

*ill-advised phrase from the BBC PR department there on the 60th anniversary

Someone please send this link to Hellin

Oh no I've missed The Archers! Don't blame it on the badgers - blame it on the BBC. Join the Ambridge rant here!

Pest is my middle name