Tis the season to be jolly, Fallon, Alan, Helen, Lillian; Deck the Hall with boughs of Holly, Lily, Will and Jill, Tilly Button. Celebrate Christmas with The Archers!

[PseudoBadger]

Thanks to SmallLegsOrSmallEggs for this thread title way back in November!

I'm afraid, for my Christmas dinner, I want something a bit better than "really not too bad"

I thought it made sense not to have any big drama for the Christmas Day episode - partly because, as ColdTea says, a drama would in itself have been boringly predictable, and partly because I suspect listenership goes down that day anyway. I, for instance, normally listen to it in the car on the way home from work, and was collapsed in front of Strictly at 7.03 last night.

Thank goodness for Listen Again; I didn't catch up until midnight.

I wish Dave had seen Pip giving a 'good send off' to the relief milker the other day. Then instead of blaming himself and his decision-making, he might have remembered that Ruth has bailed on the marriage before. And if he's not angry on behalf of himself you'd think that he would be angry on behalf of the DC. I hope that Josh and Ben become non-silent in the new year.

For some reason I find it impossible to work up any outrage regarding Ruth's flounce. Surely over the course of a long marriage people are allowed a little time to themselves? 27 years? And this is the first time she has voluntarily absented herself for a few weeks. I'm sure it would be quite shocking for her family but from the outside - why can't they think about her once in a while?

(Although if this is a way for the SWs to cut her out of the story that's a different matter.)

Still feeling a little sore about the lack of a Dum dee dum apron in my Christmas stocking.

Surely over the course of a long marriage people are allowed a little time to themselves?

Maybe, but it's usually planned. Who up-sticks on a whim a few weeks before Christmas and then decides to stay on indefinitely? Especially a parent with a young teenager and another teenager going through important exams and UCAS.
She spent the whole of 2014 moaning that she had too much time to herself, on her own, sitting around like a spare part in Prudhoe. If it was you, wouldn't you relish being back at your own hearth with your nearest and dearest.
< background music of there's no place like home >

My Dum de dum pinny was worn all day yesterday whilst I cooked so is well and truly christened.

We had goose one year when the kids were really little. It was absolutely gorgeous taste wise but there was very little meat on it and I spend the morning spooning off the fat. There's no way I could feed ravenous teens with it now.

Merry Christmas. I really liked the heartwarming Xmas episode, got something in my eye while listening to Clary (I'm such a softy).

Not missing Ruth at all, I think she's been pretty selfish. How David has managed to bite his tongue and avoid pointing out she's not the first person in history to lose a parent is beyond me.

We had turkey, I wouldn't mind goose one year. Do you have all the trimmings with goose the same as you do with turkey?

Was anyone else sniggering at that bit about Lily's love life consisting of non-stop messaging and Freddy calling her boyfriend her invisible friend? I suspect reducing her to communicating solely through messaging may have been an SW concession to the likes of us talking about her use of mime.

And what the hell is there about preparing sprouts that David found so difficult?

Waiting in anticipation for Dead Ringers so I can listen to the Knob/Hellin skit today.

WH later and Brine too hopefully? Lots of catching up to do.

Merry Boxing Day.

I was really disappointed with yesterday, I was hoping for some progress on the H&R situation.

As an aside is anybody listening to Calendar Girls at 2.15? I'll be listening while preparing Christmas Dinner, yes a day late and probably a write-off as one person may not be able to get here because of the floods and DH is working - Firefighter - and may be stuck at work.

Dipank - I imagine it's pretty difficult to prepare sprouts with a broken arm!

Even more disappointed to find Calander Girls is on Monday not today

I'm afraid, for my Christmas dinner, I want something a bit better than "really not too bad"

Oh, it was good enough for a restaurant, all 3 ways we had it.

Oh, look - here's Peggy in The Telegraph talking about TA from the beginning.

The title sounds familiar.

Gruach - is that Maggie Thatcher in the photo = 2nd from right ??

Dipank - I imagine it's pretty difficult to prepare sprouts with a broken arm!

Oops. Forgot about that, it's a fair cop.

There's another interesting article linked to the one Gruach referred to, here.

This bit annoyed me:

Would the programme have let Ruth and David move out of Brookfield?

SO'C: "We were all really surprised that the audience thought that in any way we'd let them go. It would be like the ravens leaving the tower. We never for a minute thought about it."

What on earth is the point of deliberately running a storyline that none of your listeners are going to believe in? But, to be honest, I don't believe that this was SOC's thinking originally: I think he changed his stock answer after he met so many TA listeners who told him how bloody stupid that storyline was.

But maybe there's a glimmer of hope:

"Matt has gone away to Costa Rica. He may well return, he may not."

'scruff' is back - hurrah, hurrah - what a nice Christmas present for those of us who cared

Richard Griffiths played the bogroll King at Ruth & David's wedding?

SO'C: "We were all really surprised that the audience thought that in any way we'd let them go. It would be like the ravens leaving the tower. We never for a minute thought about it."
What on earth is the point of deliberately running a storyline that none of your listeners are going to believe in?

But he sounds as if he thought there were listeners who did believe it?
Is he really that unperceptive?

Sorry Ebear. I've just read back and it did sound snippy. I may have been suffering from the Christmas stress. Sorry. I'm sure it was delicious

Happy New Thread. I hope.

That unlikely sale of Brookfield and Roof moving to look after Hevverpet storyline was the reason I stopped listening for a very long time and I was not drawn back in by the floods, either. Now, thanks mostly to these threads, I seem to be listening quite frequently - to the extent that I keep trying to find yesterday's episode on Listen Again (am 4 hours ahead of the UK, in a country where the week-end starts on Thursday evening and Sunday is a working day, to add to my confusion!)

I'm not bothered by calendar girls. Won't be listening. Where does the scruff thing leave us in suggesting rob sabotaged the farm?

I don't think Scruff reappearing makes any difference to what Rob may have done. If he blocked the culvert, he contributed significantly to causing the floods and presumably the dog that caused the botulism was simply another unfortunate dog that drowned in the floods. Or I suppose it could have died by some other means, I doubt it's possible to tell.

I reckon he has a stash of dead dogs. He puts in tanks