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.

Why hasn't Alistair bought or rented a place of his own way before this? He's earning a lot as a vet. It's annoyed me for ages that he's still living in, if I remember correctly, a tiny room back with Dad.

[StS] has been like this since at least the hunt saboteurs. When was that? 5 years ago or more?

You mean the occasion when the devout, committed Christian lied on oath to protect Rob ('cos family) leaving his victim with no redress? Although that man wasn't a sabateur as such, he was photographing the hunt activities.

I can't remember a time when she wasn't smugtastic in reality.

Why hasn't Alistair bought or rented a place of his own way before this?

A 60 something with little capital might struggle to buy in Ambridge. How much did he have left affter buying out his partner and working out the divorce? From the Lovell James comments he didn't seem to have been wildly business like in his own practice so not sure how much he was earning.

I thought the money in vetinary these days was in niche work (specialist equine at the top end) or in owning urban small animal practices but IANAV!

Maybe Jim wasn't a professor

Surely his children would know what his job was? They were both adults with Fiona in the business when he retired.

My money is on some deep dark secret which will turn out to be not particularly deep or dark.

Also, plots in soaps revolve around characters being flung together in domestic and social situations that would not happen in real life!

C8 I had an idea that Jim's wife died in a bad accident, driving with her lover, wheelchair man.
The reason why that wouldn't work could be that he might be unlikely to attend Jim's gathering! Also I don't remember hearing what she died of.

Right crystal ball of my own time, I had an idea about Jim's reaction at his 'gathering' ; I reckon that the man in the wheelchair was his wife's lover, they were driving drunk and were involved in a fatal accident the fatality being Al and Fiona's Mum, he was badly injured. Notice that there has never been a mention of how she died (unless I missed it).

The only reason to go against the above, is to wonder why wheelchair man would attend a party where he'd be aware of not being welcomed!

Oh dear, sorry folks My laptop is playing up!

@MikeUniformMike, I also wondered whether Jim wasn’t a professor. If he went off “to the department” to work but was actually a lab technician or whatever the classicist equivalent would be. Kind of like that time the cleaner was mic-ed up for a news night interview.

PeppaPig is going to get stolen by that Bad Un Tim. And dopey Ed won't be able to shop him or Tim will shop Ed.

Now that's a thought AbGonk.

Well, I suggested dementia a few weeks ago and several people disagreed with me! I thought it again after Jim’s most recent outburst. (it reminds me of some people I’ve come across who were in the foothills of dementia). It’s certainly a possibility IMO but the reason I don’t expect it to be this is that TA has done Jeck Woolley’s dementia fairly recently and I think they’d find it difficult to do it again but differently. Even though there are several types of dementia I wouldn’t expect a soap like TA to want to demonstrate that.

I must say I do like the idea of Jim having been an Inspector Morse type. You know, classics education but dropped out and did something very different. It might explain the being at work all hours! However I really don’t expect it - basically I haven’t a clue.

Mianed's new house is going to go tits up, isn't it.

That man Harold ...

WTF did he do to Jim?

I'm welling up

Blimey.....

I so hope the house plan doesn’t go tits up.
So with Jim it could be sexual or professional jealousy? I can’t work it out, and await all the theories from others.

Medium term lurker - that was very hard to listen to. The actor who plays Jim, whichever way this storyline is going, I think is doing a great job

Sexual abuse? Something’s really upset him. I suppose Harold could be just a few years older. Did he say Harold was a neighbour?

So, it WAS wheelchair man who Jim got upset about! What the hell did he do?

But of course, Shula just had to go round to speak to Jim, despite Alistair telling her not to bother. And then skulking around in Jim's back garden, when he refused to answer the door. God, she really thinks she's some sort of saviour. I was pleased to hear Jim pointing out her utter hypocrisy, at complaining about how much he's hurt Al.

Still, I suppose it did shed some light on the mystery.

Have we heard Kiera before, or has she always been silent up until now? How old is she meant to be? I imagined her to be around 8. Wondering, because she sounded like Henry, with the very babyish way of speaking.

No, Shula said she thought he came with Jim's old neighbours, but he wasn't actually invited.

Henwee and Keewa are played by a wobot.

Think Harold may be Al's dad.
Or Mrs Jim's lover without that complication.
Definitely personal rather than professional.

Actually, I really think Shula was fantastic tonight. Someone had to do something and she had the bottle to do it.

I think it’s something to do with his wife’s death. Wife was having an affair. Car crash. Killed her, put Harold in a wheelchair.

Yes,that would make sense Bertrand

Agree about Shula tonight too