Thread 99 (yes, 99!): Join us for spirited discussions of The Archers and its Top Blokes, whether you're Team Elizabeth (low spirits), Team Kate (Spiritual Home) or Team Toby (spirits =gin)

[Bittermints]

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. Thanks also to all those who contributed to the thread title.

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!

So, to business. What a fantastic two-hander. Massive BOOP points to Alison Dowling, the scriptwriter and director (and the therapist). I had more than a small tear in my eye listening to that.

I'm another one with a vote of thanks to chemenger for all that information on the last thread about distilling. I should know some of that because I went on a tour of the whisky distillery near where my parents live but I've forgotten most of it except how delicious the end product is.

Dum tee Dum (extra) had an interview with the Mike Tucker actor recently and he basically said SOC got rid of them because he didn't want stories about a disabled child. It's possible SOC wanted to keep Mike but couldn't work out how to without the others.

We need to bring back Bethany!

Kathy's actress has been on, and would be willing to come back.

It's particularly ridiculous that Jamie is never mentioned as he part-owns The Bull, IIRC. He was Sid's son and when Sid died I dimly recall that something was to go to both Lucy and Jamie. I don't think it can all have gone to Jolene. Kenton acts as if The Bull belongs to him but if it does that's because Jolene has very generously made over part of her share in it to him.

I so it's not surprising that Kenton never mentions him, he doesnt show any particular interest in his own child.

Beka that's pretty sickening if it's the case (about the 'disabled child' SL, I mean)

Reverting to Mia for a moment, I agree completely with pps who thought her accent was off. There's definitely something very peculiar about it. But then I guess that's almost a prerequisite in Ambridge
Pip formerly Welsh Pat NuWestCountryChris ArchSloaneAlice Roooth

But also she sounds far too middle-aged to me.....for want of a better word, her voice is....somehow....wizened . When she and ClarrieLuv were putting away the shopping and Mia said she'd put the kettle on so they could have a cup of tea, they just sounded like two same-age contemporaries nattering away. Not good voice casting imho.

SOC got rid of them because he didn't want stories about a disabled child.

Urgh. So he did the dramatic equivalent of consigning an inconveniently disabled person to an institution?

The Ambridge Health Fairy usually works miracles before people (more the editors than the listeners, I suspect) get bored with any sort of medical problem.

ErrolTheDragon so agree about the Tuckers - they were good characters - I particularly miss Vicky.

And of course they should bring back Bethany! Why ever would they not?

Bittermints and Birdsdestiny I'd totally forgotten about Jamie owning part of the Bull. Yes that really does make Jamie's disappearance (and Kenton's lack of on-air interaction with him) even more ridiculous.

“I so it's not surprising that Kenton never mentions him, he doesnt show any particular interest in his own child”

Jamie isn’t Kenton’s- although he was quite an involved step father for a while.

When she and ClarrieLuv were putting away the shopping and Mia said she'd put the kettle on so they could have a cup of tea, they just sounded like two same-age contemporaries nattering away. Not good voice casting imho.
I thought the opposite! They actually sounded like they came from the same (step)family and the same part of the world. It was convincing and spot on.

I know Bert , I meant it's not surprising he doesn't mention his step child as he doesn't bother with his own daughter. In France? Have I dreamt this?

Isn't Kenton's daughter Meriel?

Kenton's daughter is Australian, isn't she? Or New Zealand, perhaps.

She must be mid-teens or so, so we could get a Noli-style visit in a few years.

Coo 5000FingersofDrT - wizened is a great word!

But in terms of characterisation, don't you think grief might do that to a child? I agree her voice may not have the lightness of the average 13 year old's tone - to me she sounds sweet but careworn and anxious.

I'm worried that if the story goes in the direction some have suggested she might be summarily removed from Ambridge. Which would be a shame.

Agree about Kathy, Jamie and Bethany, of course!

his own daughter. In France? Have I dreamt this?
Are you getting Kenton's DD, Meriel (in Oz), mixed up with the French twinning village, Meyruelle?

I'd have thought Meriel was late teens by now.

I think Meriel was born in 2001, so she'll be 18 this year. She lives in New Zealand.

Who knows, maybe she'll randomly decide that Felphersham Uni is the place to be and abandon Mel and Aidan to come and live with Kenton and Jolene. Unlikely.

Or with Méribel (French ski resort)?

Here we are

Surely the sole point of any Archer child's existence is to eventually turn up in Ambridge, directly or indirectly claiming a slice of their inheritance - whether in love, money or land?

(absent Archer child, obvs ..)

Meriel's in NZ.
Tom - Tom before the jilting at the aisle was lovely. I loved his voice and his boring character. Then he disappeared and was replaced by new Tom, an impostor. He sounded like so many of the new characters and his one redeeming talent is that he does sound like he could be Tony's son.
Kathy - another boring character, but boring in a normal way. Dedded by SOC.
Pip - old Pip had something about her. She was unlikeable but not as unlikeable as New Pip with her speakingallina rushwith wee urd pauses.
Kate - I think new Kate is ok, but it's a good job that Jenny doesn't watch telly or she'd see that her daughter is now running a pub.
Kristifur - what on earth happened there?
Clarrie - newClarrie was oldoldClarrie.

Isn't Meriel in Australia because Mel moved there from NZ? Lucy Perks is in NZ.

You're right.

I could have won a Nobel Prize if my memory had absorbed other things even a fraction as well as useless Archers trivia.

I thought Mel is an Australian, and there was some suggestion Kenton married her partly to get oz citizenship.

I thought it was the other way around, Bittermints, that Mel and Meriel were in Australia but moved to NZ. You're right, Errol, that Kenton married her for an Australian visa.

I could be wrong.

I have a nasty feeling you're right, Fink and Errol, in which case my memory is even more dysfunctional than I thought!