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.

Oo I missed that about the car. More debt?

A flashy , new, white sports car

That was weird. Gnasher sounded quite scary by the end.

Who said it's a new car?

Might be the one she's had all along.

You took the very words out of my mouth, DDD!!

In the context of the discussion I couldn't help but be amused at Tom doesn't know which way is up

Who said it's a new car?

Might be the one she's had all along

Tom had never seen it before.

Delurking to rant.....god its boring lately but next weeks plot lines ( no
spoilers) are completely different. characters mentioned who haven’t featured for a while.Hate it when they just switch focus so leave you dangling for ages ( eg Adam and Ian visit Lexie and then we never hear anything ) Also has anyone else noticed on the BBC Radio 4 app that the plot synopsis for future episodes are very similar ..eg “ Xxx looks to the future “? And I’ve had enough of Will and Mia..... Sorry but I feel so much better now

Where do we start?

Natasha has "has time on her hands" at her parents' house in Wales? I thought she had a business to run. How did running away from Tom mean she could run away from business?

Tony rang Natasha - when did that happen? And was Natasha thinking about returning (after all, she had been researching a honeymoon) or did Tony really persuade her? She had run away from the claustrophobia of having the Archer family run her life and yet she answered the phone to Tony (but not Tom)?

Does any of this make sense?

DadDadDad
Does any of this make sense?

Not to me.

Apart from "she's mad", can anyone suggest what the frod is going on in this storyline?

Tony has been doing lots of dramatic 'oh if there was only something I could do' so it's no surprise he rang. It looks as if they are heading towards a storyline where both of pat and tonys children have been in controlling relationships. Tom wont put a foot wrong now he knows that when things don't go natashas way she leaves. How likely is it that both siblings experience this type of relationship, and in both cases pat and Tony have facilitated it.

AND .... exactly what are all these sacrifices Emma and Ed have made?!

I’m completely aware I’m having a conversation with myself here by the way

MrsGrindah Ed and Em live with Ed's parents and work all hours without many treats. I can't imagine the nocturnal chicken factory work is much fun for Emma.

Nothing in that episode made sense. Gnasher was verging on hysteria by the end. Cuba's nice but it's not the earthly paradise she was making out.

Cuba? Really? There's very little shopping which we know she loves. The food is awful. I'm so confused.

Cuba is incredible, but for that pair? Really?

Presumably Natasha didn’t recognise Tony’s number so answered it.
I was also waiting for them to jump into bed rather than go for a drive somewhere?!

I agree that nothing made sense. If Natasha was feeling so suffocated and overwhelmed by Ambridge and the whole Archer family ishoo, why would Tony ringing her help?? Surely it would just confirm for her that she’s married into a clan of people who are over-invested in one another’s business and who can’t help but stick their oar in at every given opportunity. And yes, she did sound hysterical by the end. Perhaps she’d already realised what a mistake she’d made marrying Tom.

It was just as mad as the Camilla episode.

I know we complained about SOC but it's been really really weird recently. This feels as bad if not worse.

AskingQuestions - I don't know why, but "frod" made me laugh. I'm going to frod the life out of that word talking about this storyline until I'm frodding sick of it!

Not to mention, "let's be honest with each other about we feel" - "OK", says Tom apparently choosing to completely suppressing the distress, anger, doubt, bewilderment etc that he's gone through while Natasha has been gone and barely communicated. This is not frodding healthy.

So weird. And why has Natasha got airmiles?

completely suppressing the distress, anger, doubt, bewilderment etc that he's gone through while Natasha has been gone This. Natasha’s return is completely on her terms - the way I see it is that she’s treated herself to a new sports car and is about to splash out on a big holiday - neither of which Tom would have agreed to had she stayed. She’s dressing it up with I’m so sorry and it’s all my fault and I’ll be making it up to you for the rest of my life, but basically she’s steamrollering Tom into getting her own way and avoiding answering any questions about what she’s up to. I wonder if she’s been back to Trev and given him exactly the same schtik and will just ricochet back and forth between the two. Tom won’t challenge her for fear she’ll disappear again, but I don’t doubt for a moment that she’ll manufacture a reason to take umbrage and be off before long (after the trip to Cuba).

*And why has Natasha got She probably gets them with her credit cards.

@ErrolTheDragon you can get The Archers in the Outer Hebrides. And the news. Daily papers. Fresh milk. Electricity. All the modren convenience your heart would desire.