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.

Abra1de we'll be put out because Phoebe should be getting relevant work experience that she can rely on in interviews for graduate jobs next year.

Teenagers and young adults in country areas do often seem to take fruit picking or factory jobs during the holidays, because that's all that's available near home. Their counterparts in cities have a much wider choice.

I don't think we've heard anything about what Phoebe's plans are for after uni, have we? Did she mention travelling?

Ha! Literally just seen this. Watch out, Alice, they might be doing strawberries next. www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/may/26/world-first-fruit-picking-robot-set-to-work-artificial-intelligence-farming

In the winter months, I assume this robot is studying PPE at Oxford.

St Smugula is just so insufferably dull - oh the irony that she divorced Alistair because he was too boring. I’m not sure I can bear to listen to her drivelling on about ordination for weeks, months or - God forbid - seven years. God and cricket - what a dull episode.

I can't believe Tom didn't mention the new car... That costs more than her credit card!

And I want to know why we've heard nothing about Peggy's new housemate, that should've imploded spectacularly by now

Why does Shula get so much air time? She is so boring. We haven’t heard Lynda, Brian, Lillian, Kate or any other character capable of supplying a bit of amusement for ages. Yet we get Shula’s ridiculous art project, Shula’s eternal wrestling match with her ever fluctuating faith, Shula organising her ex-father-in-law’s birthday party, (despite the fact they don’t get on) and Shula seeing off the evil Aunt. Time to rest Shula, surely?

Took me half an episode to be certain of who was speaking - Alan or Leonard. They don’t just have similar voices - the SWs haven’t bothered to give them distinguishable delivery - they’re both so bland and measured and rarely say anything witty or exciting. Annoying.

Fans of Debbie may wish to know she has taken time off from the farm in Hungary to appear in series 7 of Elementary

If it's true, as posted upthread, that the actors get paid on a per episode basis, it makes sense that each episode features a lot of airtime for a small number of characters. What doesn't make sense is why the same few characters are being used episode after episode, unless maybe they're also paying travelling expenses.

Why does Shula get so much air time? She is so boring

I assume readily available.

I should add that the Guardian article I linked to a few hours ago has a lovely pun in the headline if that's more of an enticement. (I can't believe you want to discuss Shula and all ignoring my fruit-picking robot story! )

Hmmm... I am very much involved in my local church... and a close family member is currently a curate and due to be priested this Petertide, so ordination is quite close to my heart at the moment. I can’t quite decide what I think about Shula’s conversation with Alan - but I think he handled it quite well inasmuch as he was surprised by her “decision” and didn’t hold back with awkward questions for her. If nothing else, it’s not easy to be selected for ordination.... very different from deciding you want to train in other professions.

Tom's too scared to scruff a bad sign, as if we needed another.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Shula being brought back to reality by Alan. It would almost feel insulting for him to be listening to her moving onto this after her recent foray into passtimes. Imagine if he knew it was Freddie's idea? I'm still annoyed that she quit drawing after Alistair laughed at her work. It showed a lack of tenacity not dissimilar to the ending of her marriage.

ErrolTheDragon
Hasn't Adam moved into cherries now?
Has he? When did he put the trees in, I wouldn't have thought they'd crop for a year or two (or more).

Adam's had cherry trees for a while now; one of the plans for selling bits of Home Farm to pay for the clean-up in 2018 included the land with the cherry trees on it. I think he started to talk about them in about 2005, and actually planted them in 2010; Ian helped to pick cherries for him in 2012, and Phoebe and Alex were picking them for him in 2015.

Great headline DDD interesting ending (spoiler alert) about the rise of high skilled workers as I worry about the impact of automation on workers and wage as well as the environmental considerations.

A close family member worked for years in agricultural technology, building pest control robots as an alternative to pesticides.

Phoebe should be getting relevant work experience that she can rely on in interviews for graduate jobs next year.

Doesn't she graduate this year? ISTR her talking about revising for finals at Easter? If so, it really is very weird that the likes or Roy and JD haven't been heard talking about her finals and her future plans.

If so, it really is very weird that the likes or Roy and JD haven't been heard talking about her finals and her future plans.

As frequently commented recently, it's even weirder that we haven't heard from any of the Alridges and their clan at all. Roy very rarely talks about his kids (on air) in recent years so that's also weird but the new normal. And we haven't heard him talking to anyone with whom he might have such a conversation: Kirsty, Lexi, aforementioned Alridges ... he's only been around so we can hear what another character (Tom, Tracey, Harrison? IIRC) is thinking.

Maybe Phoebe applied and got a place in the civil service fast track scheme. Other Oxford soon to be grads have grad training scheme places with google, amazon etc. I don’t think she’d have a place with a consultancy, bank or law firm due to lack of experience last year. Dd is the same age.

I like the less 'drama' ridden eps. it reminds me of the 'old' times. It's not boring at all.

Ref. the robot strawberry pickers, as if there aren't enough people who need temporary work; think of the environmentally negative impact that the manufacture of totally unnecessary machines creates.

I'm off line for a couple of weeks now

I like the less 'drama' ridden eps. it reminds me of the 'old' times. I agree - I love a episode full of agricultural detail or the flower and produce show, but Shula's existential crisis does not fall into this category for me.

Phoebe will be heading for an MA at Felpersham Uni ...

She started PPE at Oxford with an interest in the economy of post apartheid South Africa - so no doubt (following her mother’s example) Felpersham will meet all her research needs.

I don't mind her, at least she's fairly normal ! She'd be quite a good vicar.

Maybe Phoebe applied and got a place in the civil service fast track scheme.

Nah, she'll be interning in Westminster like all the other bright young PPEers. Then she'll turn up on the telly as a SPAD.

OR, she's been recruited by MI5.

I believe they record four episodes at a time. Hence the "bulk buying" effect of hearing the same characters for a few days in a row.

There is much that is being left dangling. I have feelings akin to those I have listening to the news, listening to TA at the moment - a sense of dreary familiarity, and frustration that the important matters are not being properly surfaced. It's all glister.

Shula's pretence at consulting Alan was a nonsense, wasn't it? What she ended up with was a statement that she was passionate about ordination and she really needed him to talk her through the process. i.e. "I don't want to hear anything negative, I just need you to tell me how to get what I want"