We never thought we’d feel sorry for Will. Although of course it should have been Pip! Discuss The Archers here (Titled edited by MNHQ)

[PseudoBadger]

Welcome all! I was really touched by the potential for Ed and Will to reconcile. But wonder if Will can accept Ed’s support.

As ever, no spoilers here (there’s a thread for that) - discussion permitted as soon as the pm episode is broadcast.

Alice is not light relief -she is part of the decline and fall of the Aldridges.

After that episode I think Alice was the one who hit Matt.
Nic's last words were "Matt's accident...all...my fault..." because when she was driving home, she passed Alice. Alice was swerving across the line, saw Nic and swerved back sharply (because she was under the influence), and mounted the verge. Nic realised afterwards that that was where Matt was hit, he was on the verge, and he was knocked in the ditch.
The road layout BTW has raised verges on either side, then a ditch and then a hedge.
That was why Nic was so concerned about Alice's drunk driving and drinking in general afterwards.
The car door we heard later BTW - was Justin who saw something in the ditch, got out, saw it was Matt and then got back in his car and drove home.

"fermented sausage"? bleugh. Stick to the fish, Larry.

Good theory, Bekabeech! I hope it's right.

I hope the BBC will be thanking you profusely for digging them out of their hole Bekabeech! Now they have a story I just pray they can wrap up that particular loose end before Ben’s grandchildren take up residence in the cereal cupboard.

I feel very uncomfortable at the moment, even if Brian doesn't go to prison, he is shelling out vast quantities of money on the assumption that the insurance will pay out and it is unlikely to do so for something that he allowed to be done on his own land. (Haven't heard the funeral episode so I can't comment on that yet sorry).

Recently have started listening to 2010 onwards to catch up....

woman is there Listen Again this far back? I'd like to do this too!

Can vegetable stew cause any unpleasant illnesses? And wtf with adding nuts and orange peel?

I thought we’d hear Alan doing Vicary things last night, sadly disappointed...

The essex plumber site has Archers episodes way back. I briefly considered to the 1970s ones to see if the filled n pond was mentioned - but life really isn't long enough.

As Judy Bennett and Charles Collingwood are married - I wondered if they wanted a sabbatical/long holiday... It would be interesting is Shula goes off to "find herself" about the same time that Brian goes to jail...

Naughty SW. The poem that Nic's brother read
"I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain."
was written by someone called Frye (first name not Bert).

I felt really sorry for poor George last night (although I still think Great Uncle Alf took the blame for his thieving from the church a while back): Poppy, Jake and Mia got to all sit together at the front of the church but he wasn't included in the party. I assume (since Emma mentioned a few days ago that he was intending to be there) that he was sitting with some other Grundys, but it's a bit unfair to be excluded from his siblings just because he isn't a blood relation of Nic's. She was his step-mother and he lived with her part-time, surely they could have put him up there (I'm imagining St. Stephen's as the sort of church which could easily fit 6 to a pew if one of them was Poppy on Will's lap, with the other side of Nic's family on the front pew facing, maybe I've put too much thought into this ...).

Also, although I thought drunk Alice was relatively well-written, presumably sober Alice when she first arrived was ridiculous. I work for a church, I got to A LOT of funerals: no way would someone who had missed the funeral and just turned up for the wake want to draw attention to this by finding people to offer condolences. You slip in quietly, don't mention it to anyone, and when you happen to come across one of the family (whether by deftly engineering your way across the room or by genuine accident, but you certainly make it look like an accident either way) you say your piece. ONLY if specifically asked why you missed the funeral (which already seemed unlikely given that 70% + of the village were in attendance) do you offer apologies. I know Emma did confront Alice about why she wasn't there, but there was no need to approach Will, who would almost certainly have had no real idea of whether she'd been there or not.

Okay Front right: Bev, Andrew, Nick's brother and Jake and Mia. Front Left: Will, Poppy, Eddie, Clarrie, Joe, George (with Ed and Emma just behind incase George needs them).

I think you’ve got it, bekabeach. Though you’ve been more diligent and thought about road layout, etc. l don’t think Nic saw the accident, but saw Alice driving a few mins before so has surmised. She was feeling guilty about not speaking up. She didn’t really know Matt so didn’t know to hate him, like almost everyone in the village.

I’ve been to few church funerals but all the main people would have fitted into the front 2 rows. Did we hear anything of Nic’s dad? Emma was at the end of the 2nd row so she could get out to speak. Ed was next and George on his other side. The other children were just in front. All one big happy family. Please nobody give George a reason to complain. After all he’s related to Emma and Will.

BTW we had veg stew last night, made by the patriarch rather than Pat. It was perfectly tasty and full of goodness.

Last week in Edinburgh l noticed the Miller and Carter steakhouse. It could be an omen of a future working relationship between Kirsty and Emma.

Bekabeech I love your theory of Nic swerving to miss Alice who swerved and hit Matt. This would explain why she thought it was her fault - I don’t think merely seeing the accident or seeing the aftermath would justify her deathbed reaction. It would also explain her efforts to stop Alice drinking and driving. Quite brilliant!

I love almost all vegetables (radishes being about the only exception), and I like a well-made vegetable stew. Ratatouille is lovely. Oven roasted vegetables of all types are great. However, I'm rather assuming that Pat's 'famous' vegetable stew is mostly root vegetables and maybe cauliflower, cooked on the hob until very soft and all starting to mush into each other, which is less appealing. I'm boggling at the idea of adding nuts and lemon or orange zest to a stew of that type.

I agree with everyone else that Helen and Pat are very smug. I confess, though, that I did like the reference to Pat's gooseberry jam, which everyone in the village tried and loathed, but nobody had the nerve to tell Pat. That, I think, is quite a good indicator of how touchy and needy Pat can be. She did have a major depressive episode after John died and the family have always tried to protect her ever since.

I miss Johnny too.

In case you want a bit of topical light amusement:
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/shortcuts/2018/mar/21/ambridge-analytica-the-spoof-account-thats-combine-harvesting-data

Is the editor job still going? If so, it's yours Bekkabeech

No, a new ed was appointed recently. Jeremy someone. Was it Lewis?

Oh God save me from the Sport Relief guff. It is so cringeworthy.

No one talks like that in real life, do they?

When I think of all the things they haven't told us-and they spend all this time on bloody Sport Relief.....

has Disclaimer: I'm too old for that shit.

No, he's in the army. He sent flowers on Mother's Day.

I wouldn't put it past Pat to put shredded cabbage in her stew. She probably uses everything that's left over in the packing shed, no matter how soft or wilted.