Thread 98 - Discuss The Archers here! If you don’t give a ha’porthfor Pip come and add your two penn’orth - we do enjoy a bit of change counting (especially if it’s in old money)

[Bittermints]

Many thanks to @LilianGish for the title (again - she has real gift for this!). Further thanks due to @PseudoBadger for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads and to @DadDadDad for being our resident statistician and keeping the ball rolling when Pseudo stepped back a bit.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed. We don't all agree on all points and most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to be Susan's best friend or other odd unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please. We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

(Change counting references arose specifically out of a nostalgic discussion on the previous thread, if anyone is intrigued.)

Yes, but not Tom's brand new girlfriend!

Oh ok. But still where's Helen in all of this. Tom seems to think he's in charge, although obviously not in charge enough to not have to run everything by Natasha. Helen being co manager seems like an inconvenience to him.

I would love Pat and Tony to leave the farm to Johnny in their will and not tell Tom.

I reckon Natasha's absence was tactical on her part. Do we think she fancies Tom more than the farm?

Re the KDS deciding to keep their worries secret, they all know Lily missed lots of uni to stay with her recently, why is no one checking in on her? Even if they won't tell her.

I think Natasha is muscling via the lovestruck Tom. The impact when the inevitable clash with Helen occurs should be considerable.

Also, finding it entirely unconvincing that seasoned farmers would take seriously the business of a seller of what, exactly?

At least we know what all the OTT presents were about. I reckon Natasha will play them like a Stradivarius..

That should be business advice, my mouse keeps eating whole chunks of text.

Tom sounds like Alok from Fags, Mags and Bags. He’ll be trying to get Bridge Farm to stock the Lembit Opik Pitta Heater next.

I know we go on about pip and her parents but to be honest pat and Tony are just as hopeless with Tom. I know I know it's because of johns death. But Tom is really really crap at business and someone anyone needs to tell him this.

Loving the fact that KDS, and especially Deeavid "NFU mental health expert" all know better than a doctor about sleeping pills.

Its exactly that kind of patronising ignorance that stops the Lizzies of this world getting proper help. And if Shula was going to break Lizzie's confidence she could at least have told the whole story that the doctor had given a short term supply as an intervention.

Good for Peggy shutting down gossip about Lexie but odd that it was Pat as she doesn't have form for malicious gossip, unlike Susan. Does Peggy know about the surrogacy plan? I can't remember.

Brian continues to be an arse.

I'm plainly slacking here as I've scarcely posted on the last thread or two but large parts of the "plots" are very tedious just now.

I found the acting by Alison Dowling fantastic last night

I think she is one of the best actors in TA. She is one of the few whom I see and hear in other productions without their TA character overlaying the part they are playing.

Julia/Mary Wimbush was another.

Also, finding it entirely unconvincing that seasoned farmers would take seriously the business of a seller of what, exactly?

I struggle with the invitation of Natasha to a partner's meeting taking priority over Helen who is actually a partner.

However they became seasoned farmers by tuning into business trends and having to be innovative in organics so I don't find it odd that they would consider ideas from someone with a track record in marketing and sales of farm products. Younger customers with money, ordering on line and wanting a bigger range or "ready to cook" recipes is where most box schemes have gone.

Setting it up as a separate entity could make sense - would depend on what each side was putting into it and how much each stands to benefit.

I would love Pat and Tony to leave the farm to Johnny in their will and not tell Tom

Me too.

I now hate Natasha more than Pip. Why are they all falling over themselves about her?

Setting it up as a separate entity could make sense
It could. Bridge Farm could just treat it as A.N.Other customer, like Underwoods in the old days. Meanwhile the separate entity bears all the not-inconsiderable start-up costs of website, app, online retail system, etc as well as ongoing staffing and delivery costs. They take the reward but they also take the risk.

I'm with you on this Marguerita. It's baffling. I keep thinking Pat is a Natasha sceptic then she just rolls over or does something bizarre like the bracelet incident.

And good point R4 about the set-up costs but where's the money coming from? If it's Bridge Farm money from the land sale (another of Tom's genius moments, as mentioned up-thread) then should it not be a Bridge Farm enterprise? Unless the Sainted Natasha is going to stump up some of her organic juice (or whatever it is she produces) millions.

if we set up a thread farm I wonder how it would do? With our amazing expertise an all.
PS I’d be the one running Spiritual Home

I'd be right there with Ben, forging a way to the emergence of a post-capitalist state - via an art installation in a broken down caravan on the edge of a forgotten field ...

God, the grimness of Natasha......

Bloody hell I hate Natasha. Came here just to say this tbh.

And she wasn't even in it yesterday!

If we set up a thread farm...
As Jazzer might say, "you're on your own there, pal." I don't think that I could do farming: the relentlessness of it, the thought that at any minute a disease could wipe out your animals/crops, the poor financial reward, all that Government interference and paperwork.
If forced into it, I think that I would turn the entire farm over to woodland.

Farms back to woodland, we'd all breathe a much healthier air.
The sympathetic 'we're worried about you' doesn't work, does work? re Kenton last night. Makes one feel more alone and Lizzie's very proud.

Interesting if Lizzie takes her own life (which I hope she does not as she's a wonderful actor). That would be A Result for CallMeRuss - trying to get lily to challenge the will, trying to get Freddie (oh how I miss that lad!!) to sell drugs again so that he goes directly to jail.

But they have done a lot of bad men story lines and I guess the focus will be on Natasha leading the moronic Tom by the nose. That man is pompous and second-rate, and utterly utterly blind to his own character. Making "an important call" mid meeting.., why not just say "I'm going to ask Natasha's views on this" straight up. Everything he does is self aggrandising.

Yes, a million times yes, to Jonny inheriting.

What is there to inherit though if Helen and Tom own the farming business??

It seems that Nat. is a cuckoo in the nest , the quicker she goes the better.