The Archers #96: Is that a rat I smell or the whiff of Snell? In Chaucer’s famous Tale of Two Torsos, Brian’s ‘still got it’ and Poldark is searching for scything opportunities in Susan’s kitchen.

[NotdeadyetBOING]

Welcome..... I'd concocted a longer title with all sorts of references to bitch stitching and pasta bakes, but was thwarted by the pesky character limit

18 here, one correct guess and 2 incorrect - but I can't be blamed for wrongly sourcing the bra as I haven't yet listened to that episode. Maybe it's time to stop worrying about increasing forgetfulness and impending dementia.

Oh dear only 13/20 here

I may have to leave this thread as I'm Clearly Not Paying Attention. 11 out of 20 - must try harder.

17/20- like Fink I have a total blank on Borchester land Board members and children’s category at the F&P- I suspect that the info about those was probably imparted in the last 5 mins or so of the programme as I do have a habit of listening on headphones in bed and falling asleep before the end!

Does anybody have a link to a cast list for the Canterbury Tales of which character is playing... er... which character?

I’m only up to the end of the first story but wasn’t sure who was playing Emily and thought a cast list with the archers characters might be useful but I ca only find the usual cast list for the actors. It’s all gone a bit Inception...

And which character is playing John?

Written by Geoffrey Chaucer
Dramatised by Nick Warburton

Director …. Kim Greengrass
Producer …. Alison Hindell

Tellers of the Tales:
Ruth Archer & Chaucer .... Felicity Finch
David Archer & the Host .... Timothy Bentinck
Kirsty Miller .... Annabelle Dowler
Eddie Grundy .... Trevor Harrison
Lilian Bellamy .... Sunny Ormonde
Jazzer McCreary .... Ryan Kelly

The Knight’s Tale:
Theseus .... Nick Barber
Woman of Thebes .... Sunny Ormonde
Jailer .... Trevor Harrison
Palamon .... Barry Farrimond
Arcite .... James Cartwright
Emily .... Emerald O’Hanrahan
Soldier & Jolly Theban .... Ryan Kelly
Gatekeeper .... Timothy Bentinck
Diana .... Felicity Finch

The Miller’s Tale:
John .... Timothy Bentinck
Alison .... Annabelle Dowler
Nicholas .... James Cartwright
Absolon .... Nick Barber

The Wife of Bath’s Tale:
Knight .... Barry Farrimond
King Arthur .... Trevor Harrison
Queen .... Annabelle Dowler
Crone .... Carole Boyd

The Sailor’s Tale:
Merchant .... James Cartwright
Monk .... Nick Barber
Wife .... Emerald O’Hanrahan

Other roles played by members of the company.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p06w8qvh

I enjoyed it. Took me a while to recognise Rex (Nick Barber).

Perfect! Thank you so much!

I got 13 too, Cheminotte, and at least one of those was a guess! I'm not entirely sure I was listening consistently at the beginning of the year, I go through phases of sporadic listening.

I had to compare the Canterbury Tales cast list with the Archers cast list given next Friday, both fromthe Christmas Radio Times. The Friday cast list omitted Rex (Theseus, Absolom and John the Monk), played by Nick Barber) but did at least give Archers character, Chaucer character and the corresponding cast member for some of the Dramatis Personae.

I so wanted the writing credit to be gi en as Lynda Snell and Nick Warburton.

That makes me feel better witch - I mostly listen the following morning while doing breakfast so definitely am not paying attention to board members names!

15 for me - I had no idea about the new Borchester Land board members, nor any recollection of the Flower and Produce Show or Lynda’s dogs.

So, of a group of people who are enough fans of the Archers to bother posting about it to strangers on the internet, no one had heard of the BL board members or the children's F&P category ... anyone think the quiz makers might have invented them just to mess with listeners and create conversation? What if they never existed in the show?!

19/20!

14/20. I'm in a mega sulk. That quiz wasn't FAIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

17/20. Think all my guesses were wrong -apart from the board members!

Canterbury Tales was beautifully done, aurally. The only thing missing was any sense of tension within the actual stories.

Last film of the year soon! They've set up all sorts of knotty problems for next year - if they can keep the same editor for more than a couple of weeks TA might settle down into a new golden age ...

14 out of 20 here.

I’m an occasional listener but I dropped in to express my confusion about Rory (or however it’s spelt).
I’m sure last time he was about he was about 7 years old. Also, even with having spent so much time at school he’d have better understanding of farm life than this.
I grew up in the countryside but not on a farm. My grandad was a dairy farmer and I’d go and stay for a week or two in the year. I knew how to get the cows in for milking etc just with my short time there.

Oops, meant Dramatis Personae was in Chaucer cast list, obviously.

Think i might give the quiz a miss, it sounds annoying.

I got 15 which I was pleased with. Failed on the flower and produce and board members but also couldnt remember peggys password, I remember being spectacularly bored by that storyline.

17/20! Fancy knowing Peggy’s password!

Do the scriptwriters not have Amazon?

www.amazon.co.uk/Novelty-Bottom-Rubber-Party-Night/dp/B001690I06**?tag=mumsnetforum-21

I'm similar, ChesterGrey, one set of grandparents were mixed farmers and we would spend a couple of weeks there every summer. The rest of the year we lived in the city. I could milk cows, get sheep or cattle through for dipping, collect eggs and gather assorted poultry if they scattered too far, do various bits and bobs around crop harvest (mainly hang off the back of a tractor but possibly something slightly more useful).

I think Ruairi's inability to do anything farm-related is probably meant to show his privileged upbringing rather than the amount of time he spends there. It's not as though his dad gets his hands dirty very often and he's on the land full-time.

Ben's turning out to be really lovely, I'm glad he's getting more air time at the moment.

Fancy knowing Peggy’s password!

I don't remember hearing it recently but listened long enough ago to remember Jack's dog Captain so it was an informed guess.

I think we are being lined up for an Adam and Ruari plot line around the future of Home Farm as Adam contemplates his lifetime of work on the farm and the future of his own child (I’m still optimistic!) versus Ruarie’s more privileged outlook.