#102: Fatted calf is off the menu - will the Easter Bunny save Lower Loxley's bacon, or will there be egg on Russ's face? Will Tom's sausage business get the chop? Join us here to discuss The Archers!

[GabrielleNelson]

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, principally Dumdedumdedum and MikeUniformMike on this occasion.

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 this thread, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

So, to business: will Helen's new cheese be a success? Will Kate succeed in keeping her visiting Brummies under control? Will Pip, Toby, Tom and Natasha fall into the slurry pit, leaving Rosie to be brought up by Anthony Head Robin Fairbrother? Will we ever hear Lee again, and will he casually drop in a mention of his fine collection of framed Bruce Lee posters?

Yes, that's what I meant when I commented upthread that scene transitions seem very clunky, Bertrand. We get Shula saying to Alan that she can't come back to church for a bit, then a moment's silence and suddenly two completely characters are talking, then we come back and find that there's been a whole important conversation about her losing her faith that we've missed. Similarly, there was a conversation between Jakob and Chris where Chris mentioned Tandy, Jakob says "Oh" and we gather that Tandy has some significance to him, silence, and we've moved to someone else.

If this is meant to be a new technique for future episodes, SWs, just stop it. Now.

There seems to be a lot happening “off mike” in a very clunky way at the moment. When did Leonard give Shula the picture? What about the church service where Jakob played? Very odd

Thank you. I was starting to think I was missing things/ not remembering. Are the SWs gaslighting the listeners? ("don't you remember the scene where Shula talked about Jakob's organ"?)

Why in the name of Eccles is Jill letting Leonard give Shula a paiting he didn't paint? Not like her at all. Effectively cheating her own daughter. Is it a symbol for a false God for Shula?

There seems to be a lot happening “off mike” in a very clunky way at the moment. When did Leonard give Shula the picture? What about the church service where Jakob played? Very odd

Oh thank goodness! For a while now I've been thinking I must be missing or forgetting huge chunks... Am very relieved to discover it's not me. Yes, dear SW, please stop it.

Tom's going to regret the Welsh tattoo...

Thanks Motoko. Considering the build up and length of the Helen & Lee storyline I suppose I was expecting more of an aftermath.

I checked back a couple of times to see if I’d missed an episode.....

And now leonard will be asked by others in the family to paint a picture for birthdays etc. I think a pp is right it will be lead to a comedy scene in the lower loxley gallery. Sigh.

For a while now I've been thinking I must be missing or forgetting huge chunks exactly! this is the danger. People listen to the archers while going about their business. If plots hang on crucial information dropped into scenes like this people will miss stuff. It’s annoying!

Phew, not just me, then! I found last night's episode most peculiar, but thought it might be because I listened in the wee small insomniac hours and had missed the point in my tiredness. Thank you all for the reassurance it's not me, it's the SWs

I'm not at home this week and can't listen with my full concentration. I keep thinking I've missed a crucial scene but maybe not.

I might be wrong but wasn't the scene when Jim called Shula "the worst type of hypocrite" (in relation to the divorce) the beginning of her crisis of faith, it continued when she broke down, and couldn't deliver the sermon she had prepared at Rosie Grace's Christening.

Allan is asking her what the problem is and she can't tell him it's him and his ilk.

Don't do it Ed!!!!! The reason the sw's had Emma sacked by Peggy was to reduce their income making it more likely that Ed will do an unlawful? dodgy driving pesticides job. It looks like I was wrong about nasty Tim, Ed should talk to Oliver about him.

The problem with the missing scenes is not so much the concept but the way the SW are doing it.
We should have more scenes of villagers talking about absent characters eg Neil reporting a convo with Moike about Bethany, JD mentioning Noli, etc.
What doesn't work is having a reported conversation about people who are on the current acting rota. Shula, Leonard, Jakob etc are on air at the moment so let them have their scene, not have it reported by someone else!

We should havemorescenes of villagers talking about absent characters eg Neil reporting a convo with Moike about Bethany, JD mentioning Noli, etc

Or characters who are still in the village but are now silent. Carole Gregorian or Dr. Locke for example.

Quick borrow of the 🔮?

Interesting case in The Times:
Gay man wins parental rights over surrogate child after split
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/5e895b0c-62e5-11e9-99ae-5ebf638762d3
First paragraph:
A gay man from London has been given parental rights over a child he had with his former partner through a surrogate birth despite not being the biological father. It is the first time anyone has been given the rights in such a case.

I guess this means Adam and Ian will be splitting up at some stage. (Though they may still want to concentrate on Brookfield inheritance disputation.)

Tom's going to regret the Welsh tattoo...

At least it says "hiraeth" not "Natasha", and he does have a Welsh mother. It could have been far more regrettable.

Ref. Carole, Jill was chatting to her on the phone fairly recently. I agree about hearing some news about Bethany and Moike and ? (I can't remember Mike's wife's name) Oh dear !

Vikkoi.

I think Tom's tattoo will be the least of his worries.

I think the dropping of the Bethany storyline was a disgraceful decision.They said on DumdeeDun that it was dropped because it wasn’t “sexy” enough.......

Agreed Bertrand. I thought it would have been a lovely storyline. There is very little on disabilities generally.

To be fair there are quite a few disabilities and chronic illness in TA, it's just that they are all magically cured or forgotten about.

I wonder what the flat or house she shared with Trevor was like?

Presumably the place she found for her and Tom to rent was a step up. Then Tom found out about the credit card debt, cancelled without discussing it with Natasha, losing their deposit in the process, and she's found herself in the flat above the shop. How much of a come down is this from her home with Trevor?

We know she was looking forward to entertaining at the cancelled house; does she think she can't have friends round to the flat?

Oh Ed - you absolute tool!

How much did Peggy pay Emma for cleaning?

Why does Shula keep saying St Stephen's instead of 'church'? How many churches are there in Ambridge? !