Thread #105: Curtains for Emma, Hilda - Joe? Red carpet for June Spencer on her 100th birthday, we hope! Discuss the rich tapestry of Ambridge life here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

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.

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 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3439443-keep-it-to-yourself-the-archers-spoilers-thread-4, 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 to LillianGish and BuckingFrolics for ideas for this thread title. I went with the less Rabelaisian of LG's ideas!

On 14th June it will be the 100th birthday of June Spencer, who has played Peggy Woolley since 1951. I hope the BBC has a lot of special tributes lined up to celebrate this remarkable achievement.

“Hate to be nitpicky, but it's Lynda not Linda.”

Do we actually know that? Because if it is, it’s a miss from a social class point of view......

Yes, I've just checked the list of characters on the Beeb's TA page, and it is Lynda with a "Y".

My misspelling was a typo. I automatically spell it the traditional way, even though I know it has a Y. My brain just won't let me type it her way!

Oh thanks Fink We're not keen on the self important fellow (whose ego seems to be propped up by the beeb for some reason).

Because if it is, it’s a miss from a social class point of view......

I'd have said it was spot on for her age and what I'm guessing her background was (naice but rather banal suburbia, without her cultural aspirations?)

It's definitely Lynda. She wrote a column under the pseudonym Dylan Nells, an anagram of Lynda Snell.
Only nitpicking, because I have probably misspelt Ruairi's name before now, and Alastair's.
Quite a few of the name could have alternative spellings: Bryan, Jenni, Cate, Alys, Debi, Iain, Allen, Neal, Hana, Lennard...

And Shula could have been spelled however the bricks fell. Given that it's a letter shorter than 'kenton', it probably has a silent J in it...

She could have been called Hulas.
I forgot Thom, Lilly, Kris, Freddy, Jak, Benn, Eddy and Jo.

What if [Peggy]is the Gills?

Unlikely I'd have thought. Not just for the wild party there but I don't think she would do it to Jenny unless she has only just bought it from the mythic Gill.

Plus what would that have to do with DNR, P&T or A&I? The only reason I could think of for her excluding Lilian was planning something for Lilian herself, but then the D&R were added. I can't think of why she would want that particular collection.

If it was Ruari would not need P&T or Deeavid. Adam's child would be nothing to do with D&R. She has previously changed her will back to equal division between her three children (MN would obviously approve).

So I'm stumped.

The Silver Fox is Peggy's love child?
Poor Alastair.

Why in hell's name would Peggy's children jump to the conclusion that the visitor was her "new squeeze"? And staking her out - just weird.

I hope the SW let us know what's causing Jim's nasty behaviour, and don't stretch it out for months (or years, like in the case of the bunting). I can't stand the way he's behaving, he's become thoroughly nasty, and blaming it on other people.
I'd rather not hear from him, than have to put up with this for long.

The world is becoming a nasty place, and I want to enjoy a few minutes daily, of a mostly nice, fictional village, not have more nastiness broadcast into my home.

Why in hell's name would Peggy's children jump to the conclusion that the visitor was her "new squeeze"? And staking her out - just weird.

Lack of imagination? Mind you, we're not doing much better either!

I feel the same Motoko and switched the radio off halfway into the episode because of Jim but being an addict listened again on iplayer! (after giving the dog a quick walk round the block.)

@Motoko, I was just thinking that. I like TA as a break from my own life, I don’t really need an episode full of other people’s problems.

Meanwhile in TA, I did wonder a few days ago if Jim’s tantrum/flounce is something to do with Kiki. Tonight hearing he was unpleasant to her too reminded me. Is he in love, but she loves the man in the wheelchair? Since they’re all adults there shouldn’t have been a professorial tantrum, and anyway what he said tonight suggests it was the party that annoyed him.

I like the way Alistair’s being portrayed these days - for years he was much more ‘just’ Shula’s husband or the vet. Now he’s got his own opinions and even a good relationship with his sister and that feels quite special for Ambridge these days.

BTW what do we think of JD deciding she’s ignoring the summons from Peggy? I quite like it. Peggy is a bit of a pain the way she expects everyone to jump when she says so. I wonder how her absence will change things.

Yes, I liked JD deciding she's not going. It just seems so pointless, all this mystery of Peggy's summons. Why not just talk to Lillian, to explain why she hasn't been invited? Does she think that nobody would have mentioned it to Lil? Guess we'll find out tomorrow.

I don't think Jim was nasty to Kiki because it's her that's caused this. He was nasty to Lynda too and made her cry, and he's let other people down (the parish council and his shift at the shop) without bothering to let them know, so I think everyone is liable to be lashed by him if they have the temerity to speak to him.

Haha, spoken like a true Archers fan Escapinginthecar! I have to listen, even if it's making me angry!

I haven't heard the last couple of episodes, but I assumed that Jim saw someone he had an issue with at the party, and that is was the neighbours that had just been mentioned before his entrance. If he's being nasty, presumably something has massively unnerved him.

Teen - the thread consensus was that one of the guests at the party, probably a man in a wheelchair who sat near Kiki, is actually connected to some past scandal in Jim’s life. He was said to be the son of friends of Alistair and Fiona’s grandparents - therefore the same generation as Jim. People have wondered if Jim’s wife had an affair with him; if he’s actually Alistair’s bio-dad ... That sort of thing. It was immediately on seeing him that Jim stormed out.

When we first met Jim he had a broken leg. I am sure that there is a link between that broken leg and the man in the wheelchair.

Car crash? Jim's fault?

Looking forward to finding out what Jim's problem is, did he do something bad or was it done to him? Somebody at the party triggered off self-hatred?Is that why he didn't want the birthday book or to be around people?
Had a laugh at Lillian offering Tony stuffed olives when he's been moving silage all day. Enjoyed the scene with them spying on Peggy, odd though it was, and good for Jenny!

I wonder if that scene was written purely to remind us that those three are siblings (I find it hard to remember when they are so unalike). So as far-fetched as the scene was, having them sitting in the car and having little digs at each other was quite entertaining.

I've just remembered, TA intersected with work earlier this week. New head of HR wanted to meet some actuaries (yes, I know, doesn't everybody? ). I was happily answering her questions, when she touched on the topic of longevity and mentioned she'd heard an interview with "that actress on The Archers" who's just reached 100. I was momentarily so unnerved to hear that reference in the office, that I couldn't remember June Spencer's name or give a sensible reply...

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow night’s episode.
How amazing to have been working as an actress for 97 years.

Agree as to the annoying drawing out of Jim's unpleasantness, though it did give newer listeners a massive catch-up on the fraught nature of Alistair's upbringing.

I wasn’t suggesting Kiki’s done anything wrong - she can spend time with/love whoever she wants, etcetera. It’s merely another theory on what might be ailing oor Jim. He’s clearly feeling dreadful for some reason and he has expressed ‘admiration’ (in a Jane Austen way) for Kiki in the past. I’m not convinced by the man being Alistair’s or Fiona's father. Weren’t they talking last week of how much Alistair resembles Jim? (though IME men of a certain age don’t like being told they look like their dad!) I do think the idea of a life changing accident caused by Jim is plausible though.

I was surprised to learn Jim’s wife died when the children were still growing up - was that told to us when Jim first appeared? It’s certainly possible I wasn’t paying due attention!
Roll on tomorrow- I should maybe get some sleep.

Of course another possibility with Jim's personality change is a depressive illness or the onset of dementia. Most people in Ambridge probably regard him as a bit extra-grumpy as he’s always been cantankerous - but it quite a notable change we are hearing.