The Archers No. 94: Freddie’s doing porridge, Tom gets his oats, but will Home Farm be toast? We’ll have to wheat and see ... Serial production is in full swing in Ambridge

[witchmountain]

Thanks to LilG for the title, and DDD for starting the last thread and the tradition of the thread starter nominating the next thread starter

Lurkers are always welcome to unlurk and join in, including asking questions of the many very knowledgeable posters with a long Archers-listening history.

Don't post spoilers based on forthcoming plot synopses that you've read, there's another thread for that (and we'd love to see you over there). Once an episode has aired then it's fair game.

Tom and Hannah definitely haven’t done anything wrong - I think Jazzer’s being more than a tad unreasonable there. I just don’t like Hannah as a character. Chippy, snidey and - yep - divisive.

Massive boop for the David / Lynda scene... "I, erm, can't" 😂

(Catching up from half term away, private school nearby is still off, picking up on that thread!)

I predict that Hannah will deflower Johnny before she's finished.

Not because she particularly likes him - but just because she can. And, of course, another notch to add to the bedpost.

I can't weigh her up. Maybe she's just bored...

I'd assumed Johnny had already worked his way through half the college ...

Johnny is his father's son.

Good heavens, no! I would stake money on Johnny still being a virgin.

And it wouldn't surprise me if he turned out to be gay (or at least bi)

Just a feeling I get.

Thanks, witch, I ought to, really! I usually wait for the film and am happy to do that but just recently it's been a bit exciting and I hate missing the action

I did like Hannah comparing herself to ‘a dropped lottery ticket‘

And Lass yeuch is all I can say to that image.

So, we have gay Adam, gay Ian, gay Ben (so everyone is saying), possibly gay Rhur-rhee AND now gay Johnny. There was, of course, all too briefly, gay Charlie. And gay (albeit rather heartbroken) Anna. Seems to me that there are an unlikely number of gays in this village, but maybe Dad3 and other stats-minded posters can give us the d-to-the-emo to the g-to-the-raphics? (Sorry, that was my Vicki Pollard impression).

How old is Johnny? I'd wager some experience. Isn't average age for first sexual experience for boys 16 years and 7 months?

Early 20s?

Johnny turned 20 in August.

Did I miss the party?

He may well be 20, but he is very shy, inexperienced and, well, awkward.

That's how he comes across to me anyway.

I thought both Johnny and Freddy had a lot of fun at the IoW festival last year - with drugs and women?

Did I miss the party?

We were invited to Alice’s 30th either, I don’t think, despite the ideal opportunity to do something with the alcohol problem storyline.

I was also under the impression Jonny had had a few girlfriends at college, in fact wasn’t he very popular at one point? And he was the one with all the mates who kept Freddie company.

Weren’t

He may well be 20, but he is very shy, inexperienced and, well, awkward

That's how he comes across to me anyway

Me too. I think he has inherited his parents' looks (I don't think Natasha was letching but just noticing) but not their confidence. Something did happen at IofW but I think it was Freddy not Johnny.

Oh please don't set him up with Hannah.

Did I miss the party?
We were too occupied having our Head turned by Daddy FairBro.

Ahh ...

Titcombe? Seriously? is this an episode of Are You Being Served?

Edgar Titcombe has been tending the gardens at Lower Loxley for decades.

Do the scriptwriters know that Hannah is a nasty baggage? It worries me that they don't and she's going to end up married to Tom and be with us until either she or we die. Years and years of conflict with Emma and with Neil. Probably Hannah and Tom will have a wee girl and then the future there can be a Romeo and Juliet style romance with George.

Oh man alive. I'm just depressing myself.

@BoreOfWhabylon Say what you see.

The 🔮 says the fates have decreed that Hannah will work her way through several Ambridge menfolk but is destined to end up with... Crissyfer Carter!

It also says that the new Editor may not yet be aware of this, so may banish her. If so, she will return...

aaand I'm back in the room!
Whaddi say? Whaddi say??

Popping in to comment on the Brookfield 'crisis meeting'.

What a totally unproductive pointless waste of time! Every idea Pip and Josh came up with was shot down. It gave the impression that it was for show and David and Ruth are still calling the shots.

Pip probably had the best idea, to dry off early, which will improve cow condition and reduce feed demand. The season is tailing off and the most important thing is not to allot this drought to cause problems next season.

I think it's highly unlikely that there would be a financial penalty from the parlour company for delaying, though it would definitely be easier to do while the cows are dry.

What I wanted to hear was that it will cost X, or save X, to do Y. That is the only way to make proper decisions. Not 'have you seen the cost of feed?' but 'how much do we need and how much will it cost?'

I wonder if Josh has disappeared to come up with an amazing solution?

My choice would probably be to drop to once a day milking to improve cow condition which would reduce yield slightly but still retain an amount of income. Make sure all cows that should be culled have been, this is not the winter to carry passengers. Keep measuring grass to decide when to house and open the silage clamp. Do a feed budget to work out how much forage will be needed over winter and start looking at where any extra can be sourced and for how much, to build it into the cashflow budget. See if there really is a penalty for delaying work on the parlour and if not, seriously look at putting it off. And pray for a mild winter and early spring!