The Archers - It's not about the money, money, money, think about Jill's honey, honey, honey, Justin wants to farm by satnav, forget about the prize tag.

[PseudoBadger]

Will The Dopeys have buggered off by the end of this thread?
Will Tom finally reach home, after weeks of trekking through the tundra?

Maybe someone will shoot Justin - that would stop the Brookfield sale in its tracks.

I was about to dismiss the "shooting at the shoot" speculation but realised I'd been thinking about something similar myself. Did we talk before (or did I just write a long imaginary post) about this new dramatic motif of dress-rehearsing everything important? We get the first event - heavily trailed, lots of hints, nothing happens. Then the same thing happens shortly afterwards - with some greater import. I can't say I like it.

But I think Ed's safe.

Now that would be interesting, Lillian! If Justin SOTMC, it might turn out that Demara is actually all an illusion, a South Sea Bubble which merely looks prosperous, and the whole thing would collapse. The Dopey Duo would be stuck on Brokefailed, with the sinkhole and all their neighbours hating them; the siblings would be steaming with resentment, each of them having mentally spent their share (and even better, having committed themselves to expensive improvements on each of their establishments); and Jill would gracefully - oh! - absent herself from daily life, by spending all day lying on Carol's chaise longue puffing on an opium pipe. Or in Jill's case, an oh!pium pipe.

I love the idea of an oh!pium pipe. I want all those things to happen.

My post makes it sound as though I think the sinkhole will hate the Dopeys. That might be interesting too - a sentient sinkhole.

Bit Torchwood ...

Very Torchwood. Ambridge could do with a little Captain Jack Harkness!

Tell us more about the dress-rehearsals zero with examples.

1. Otto. Johnny's first encounter with him; frisky bull, danger averted by the born stockman. So we wondered why they were labouring the safety tour a few days later. Then - BOOM.

2. Séance. Damp squib first time. Can't even recall the pub thing - but we have the play to come.

3. Hunt. None of the anticipated fatalities the first time. Poor fox and poor Oliver the second time.

4. The shoot. Very damp squib first time - with Ed as an underling. No one died. Next time - who knows?

There are probably several more (Kirsty had two wedding dresses, there was Greenshag and Loxshag ...) and I haven't worked out what it all means yet - if anything. But I don't really like it as a dramatic instrument - it induces over-noticing.

Soc is from the school of 'look at me, aren't I clever which necessitates over noticing. He doesn't care about characters because he wants us to marvel at how cleverly he weaves his web.

Problem is that he's not as clever as he thinks he is!

Yeah, right enough, BYOS, he's got us to keep him right! and give him ideas.

Zero's onto something with the double-blind idea and I agree with BYOS that SOC is in danger of over-weaving!

I like a good literary allusion as well as the next woman but don't like being bludgeoned with 'em. I'm kicking myself for not spotting A Doll's House though!
But am I right in thinking Rob's oppression of Helen pre-dates SOC?

Oddly enough, digitalis popped into my mind as Carol's poison of choice though I doubt if she's out and out evil, just the kind of person who thinks she knows better than anyone else including doctors. I'm fairly sure she's going to do someone some harm with her herbal stuff.

oh!pium pipe - Bluestocking you are a genius.

Do we know if George is definitely keeping Lucky at No1? Not sure that will go down too well with Holly...

Poor Clarrie, plucking 80 turkeys in a day. Is that even possible? I also wondered what health and safety regs there are for Joe and Eddie to be drawing and gutting turkeys in Grundy's field. They don't strike me as being the types to go on a course.

Loved Will's mealy-mouthed "good luck with that". Not the sentiment but the delivery.

Emma said Ed had to agree to them taking No1 because of Lucky.

You lot are great. I read this thread every day too but I feel a bit stupid to post! As you were.

Ps I like Carol but prefer more Lillian; please more good news for Ed; and yes festering resentments for the dopeys that my grandchildren and great grandchildren to enjoy

Thanks for the dress-rehearsal examples. You might be on to something - has anyone spotted the book/play that it comes from? That's the trouble with too many literary allusions, it looks like you haven't got any of your own original ideas.

Back to The Man Who Killed Off the World's Longest Running Radio Soap™, he could have been brought in to do precisely that. Remember Alistair Cooke and his never-ending letters? The only way they could get them to stop was to wait patiently for him to die. They have said to SOC: kill it off, lie low for a few years and we'll see you right.

R4- I suggested that a few threads ago but no one thought it likely.

Drive the listeners away then there isn't anyone to complain

You mean SOC isn't the only one who steals ideas and passes them off as his own?
Apologies

Not impressed with Will saying he didn't want the shoot to be another fiaaaaaasco solely because Ed would crow over him. It's not as if Ed crowed over him last time, and if anyone has form for unpleasant crowing over a sibling's misfortunes, it's Will.

Who employs Will? Didn't it used to be BL with Brine as his manager, who has now flounced. Who is his manager now? Is it Charlie who will exhort him on to some short cuts in the name of efficiency cos it's only the yokels, not Big Money that need impressing which will result in the deading of Justin and the sacking of Charlie.

PS : I know someone suggested deading Justin upthread. I'm not stealing ideas again, just elaborating.

This is why the Damara Capital story is so brilliant. It affects everyone.

I suppose it must be Charlie now. And if Will loses his job he loses his home - and would need his buy to let.

It's too good. We're already seeing Ed ascending - marrying Will's wife, being invited to the shoot - just as Will becomes more insecure ...

Although there's also separatey the possible threat of the elder Grundys being made homeless by Hazel. Just imagine poor Ed n Emma, finally with their own front door again, having to shelter Clarrie, Eddie and Joe behind it.

One big problem with the theory that SOC has been brought in to kill The Archers off is that listening figures are up, not down - for podcasts, anyway. I can't see any recent figures for ordinary radio listening.

The Telegraph again!

"The Archers has ... [been] accused of "sexing up" its recent storylines [but] an analysis of the show's podcasts, which became the most popular of any BBC radio download in August this year, has shown how online listening has peaked to coincide with some of its most controversial affairs."
Or the summer holidays.

This must be the upcoming story line:
At the local farmers' shoot, various local farmers shoot Justin, Charlie and anyone else in their circle ... Rob would be a good choice. No one can tell who fired the fatal shots.
As Deevid and Ruth realise that Jill isn't too well and that Heatherpet is happy to move south (did anyone ever ask her?) and that their potential buyer is dead, they then decide ... Christmas or New Year episode ... to stay in Ambridge.

I would like to know how much leave Alice gets from her aeronautical engineering job.