Fast falls the eventide for Joe Grundy, the darkness deepens for Ed - will he be fenced in or is there still time for acts of pennants? Abide with us and discuss The Archers, thread #104!

[GabrielleNelson]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads and @DadDadDad for being our resident statistician and keeping the ball rolling when Pseudo stepped back a bit and more recently when someone forgot they had promised to start the next thread, ahem.

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 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!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

Thanks also to LillianGish for the splendid thread title. As actor Edward Kelsey died last month, we have probably heard Joe Grundy for the last time, or will do very shortly. RIP Mr Kelsey; many thanks for creating a wonderfully vivid character, gnarly toenails and all.

As pointed out on the last thread, we're getting very close now to the 100th birthday of June Spencer, who plays Peggy Woolley. What an achievement! I hope the team manage to squeeze Peggy into that day's episode, come what may.

I don't want to be showy offy/ teaching grandma to suck eggs, but, did anyone not get the brilliant play on words in Bring me the voice of Anthony Head?“

I did- I thought I applauded it at the time!

Polka dot shoes

www.irregularchoice.com/womens.html

I used to have (may well still have, must check) a rather lovely pair of Russell and Bromley kitten- heeled,slingbacks which combined a floral print and navy and white polka dots.

It would be great if a new character were introduced who wasn't awful... Just for once.

Leonard isn't awful, he's rather nice.

Anthony Head was in a coffee advert in the 80s

The long-running 'gold blend couple' series which was (IIRC) better than a lot of the rest of what was on ITV then

I don't want to be showy offy/ teaching grandma to suck eggs, but, did anyone not get the brilliant play on words in Bring me the voice of Anthony Head?

I'm sorry, I haven't a clue...

I did- I thought I applauded it at the time!

I know you did!

I don't want to be showy offy/ teaching grandma to suck eggs, but, did anyone not get the brilliant play on words in Bring me the voice of Anthony Head?

It's joke about the film "Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia", a mangled version of which title, shoehorned into the Film Club round of "I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue" would bring the house down, e.g. bring me the treads of Alicia's Landseer.

Anthony Head was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and also a baddie in Dr Who, playing a headmaster, if I recall correctly.

Also brilliant as Herc in Cabin Pressure. If you haven't heard it, I'm envious of you, you have hours sheer listening pleasure ahead of you.

I don't want to be showy offy/ teaching grandma to suck eggs, but, did anyone not get the brilliant play on words in Bring me the voice of Anthony Head? This joke was first made on a previous thread and was duly applauded at the time.

Patricia Hodge also played the title role in "Jemima Shore Investigates", many moons ago. I preferred her as "the Portia of our Chambers" in Rumpole, though. I hadn't clicked/had forgotten that Anthony Head was Herc in Cabin Pressure. Must go and listen again

Going against the general grain here, I loved Camilla the pantomime villainess, particularly her polka dot shoes She's never had a voice before, has she, even whilst Julia and Nigel were alive? Although I do agree, not quite sure why she was brought in at this juncture, since the obvious aunt for Freddie to go to was Shula, not Camilla. I suppose it must have been to add weight to the mental health awareness story line.

On the other hand, I believe there is a Quentin Tarantino opus called "Kill Bill" and if we just changed the first letter of the name, I'd be all for it, as his character annoys me unduly. Although to be fair, Will is presumably another example of a sufferer from mental health problems. As Oscar once said, "To lose one gamekeeper, Mr Aldridge, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose one after the other to suicide looks like carelessness."

Anthony Head was in Buffy.....

He was also the very evil, scheming "Mr Gently Benevolent" in R4's comedy series "Bleak Expectations" (very loosely based on a combination of Bleak House and great Expectations).

Also on the topic of voices, I borrowed Hatton Garden Robbery audiobook this week without noticing that it was narrated by Tim Bentinck. Very odd to hear him attempt 'Estuary ganster" voices.

I thought your post was ingenious @BertrandRussell! (Bit outing though, did you realise? I realise we are among friends on TA thread!)

Whilst looking at the online Radio Times this morning (I couldn't place who played Camilla, there were shades of Annette Badland in there, I thought) I saw that Tim Bentinck is currently playing a barrister in "Eastenders". I think I'll probably leave watching it, snot wurf it.

Mr Gently Benevolent was magnificent! A real Victorian baddie complete with Evil Laugh.

I too am curious about the addition of Camilla. Apart from the sledgehammer mental health referencing I wondered if she was also a way of signalling Lily’s future status. At the moment Lily has been very much in charge at LL, instrumental in trying to save it’s fortunes and keep the wheels rolling. Once Freddie takes over and eventually marries she will be bumped down the chain of command and depending on the personality of his future wife could be very much sidelined. It must have been rather galling for Camilla to be given a guided tour by Bert - also rather unlikely I thought - but it did serve to stress how She has been demoted from resident at LL to visitor. I think to long-term listeners it felt a little contrived because we’ve never actually met Camilla before, if Lily were ever to be in that position it would resonate much more powerfully. I suspect that, much like Hazel Woolley, having made her presence felt she won’t be back. Food for thought for Lily though who should consider her position very carefully.

Should I now be feeling miffed that no-one acknowledged my response to lass's response to the Anthony Head pun?

Presumably there's a large overlap between Archers devotees and Clue listeners?

Yup!

So Freddie will at some point be allowed have an alcohol licence and go back to run Lower Loxley? Do we know any details on this? Is there a set term for him to be a good boy and not reoffend and then have his slate wiped clean? For some reason (probably because I think Lily would be better as châtelaine of LL than her brother would be as châtelain), I had convinced myself that Freddie wouldn't get a look in on running LL and that Lily could take over the whole kit and caboodle, eventually.

Should I now be feeling miffed that no-one acknowledged my response to lass's response to the Anthony Head pun?
Don't take the humph

I hope Lily is inspired to leave as well. Back to Manchester, sans CMR.

OK, everyone, we get it! You're all miffed that your particularly witty post didn't get a response. Me too!

(I'm not really angry - ).

I generally read every post that is made on these threads (yes, I'm a bit sad), and I am sure many others do, but it's just not always possible to comment on everything. (We really could do with a "like" option).

And I've no doubt many of us get the R4 references: we're the ones who laugh with anticipation as soon we hear Graeme Garden intone "Bring me..."; have enjoyed "Bleak Expectations"; revel in Geoffrey Whitehead's voice that seems to pop up in every comedy requiring a sardonic older voice; are already looking forward to the forthcoming John Finnemore's series (the pun in the trailer about the "opossu-clypse" is enough to have me hooked). I could go on.

By the way, Fink, you were raising the question of how some of us seem adept at recognising actors. Do you ever look at cast lists at the end of a programme or film? I'm forever using IMDB to cross-reference where I've seen an actor before, so I guess I actively learn names and take an interest. I'm often watching something on TV and as soon as an actor comes on, I'll name them while my wife (probably slightly irritated that I've interrupted the drama) will be wondering what else they've appeared in. So, it's a skill but like all skills it can be developed with conscious effort.

I did a massive TA catchup yesterday - about 5 hours, I got a lot of gardening and ironing done!

But all through, having foresworn the threads until I had caught up but knowing the title of this one, I was expecting Joe to expire. (I suppose we're expecting he'll do so before the Grundys have to move out of the farmhouse?)

Apologies if I've missed any discussion of this, but I'm stunned that there seems to have been no further mention of the bailiff incident, and in particular WTF Russ hasn't been asked to stump up his share of the debt. Instead, he still seems to be riding high in Lizzie's esteem.

Re why Freddy hasn't simply told Lily that he needs to move out to save LL - that might have prompted accusations that he loved the house more than he loved his mother. Which would be unfair, so I'm glad Shula's intervention has hopefully averted that.

Is it me being dense or not hearing properly or something? But I heard that when Lizzie dropped the broccolli soup she was making in shock at the visit of her darling aunt, it splashed all over the place marking\spotting Camilla's shoes! Therefore someone in TA , was it Lily? trying to make a weak joke about her 'polka dot' shoes.

Agree that the LoLo family need to rethink their approach to personal responsibility and disclosure. No reason Freddie shouldn't have explained everything to Lily - stuff he knows Lily already knows but has been keeping from him.

Thank you to those who saved me from myself. Not least because it gives me another opportunity to promote Natasha’s new business opportunity.......

ppeatfruit - Camilla (Lizzie's s-i-l, Lily's aunt) said to Lizzie: "Do I look like the type to wear polka dot shoes?"

Yes because she was making a joke ? (not a good one). I'll listen again this afternoon