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.

predict how badly wrong Bridge Farm open Sunday will go?
I predict it will be memorable.

Actually, I think that it will be a roaring success from The Public's POV (who doesn't like a free fun-day-out) but Bridge Farm will discover that Natasha has landed them with a huge bill (the marquee? the cooking demo person?). Natasha will refer to this extravagance as "an investment".

Yes, I was wondering what the budget was too. Apart from the marquee and the demo woman, presumably Bert will want paying for the several days work he’s done?

Agree with R4. Everyone will be in awe of Gnasher and Tom will foot the bill. The OFS will be all about Fridge Fresh not Fridge Farm.

I agree that Tom will foot the bill. It's too early for Bridge Farm to rumble Natasha (?perhaps with an exception for Jonneh?)

Its entirely sensible to use OFS to launch/publicise Bridge Fresh - its beneficial to the whole farm after all. However the lack of a budget would suggest its going to be another story about "spendy Gnasher" which is getting a bit tedious.

BuckingFrolics - I know what you mean about the Casualty effect. I suspect the SWs can't win: if everything went off relatively unsurprisingly (as in real life), we'd find it too boring to listen to; so, it's inevitable that every time a character says "I'm really looking forward to X, I'm sure it will go well" we start thinking about what catastrophe will befall X.

Yes, when Alaisdair said that about wanting the party to go well, my heart sank.

My heart also sank with the Will/Ed confrontation and the plot that mirrors the previous Lily & Freddie one more or less exactly - 'I won't tell on you if you won't tell on me'.

It just makes things feel far too samey and also allows the SWs to drag plots out way beyond their natural lifespan with two characters keeping a secret that they can play with indefinitely (also see: a moment when a character's just about to blurt something out and then somebody else comes into the room and they shut up. Another trope used several times recently).

I think Jim did something dodgy in his academic career, stole someones work maybe, and that it will come out tonight.

There's something there. For somebody supposedly so secure in his academic prowess, Jim is very show-off-y.

The dynamic between Ed and Will is quite different (and more interesting) than that between Lily and Freddie., IMO.

I don't like the sense that I'm listening to Casualty sums it up perfectly. Also agree that the Ed/Will I won't tell if you don't is a bit contrived coming so soon after the Lily/Freddie thing (which has still not been satisfactorily resolved - Lizzie still thinks Lily is the golden twin).

ErrolTheDragon
The dynamic between Ed and Will is quite different (and more interesting) than that between Lily and Freddie., IMO.

So it should be! There is a real cause for Will's dislike of Ed, after all: Ed walked off with Will's wife and it was claimed that Will's son was Ed's son, making it seem to Will as if Emma had been having sex with Ed both before and during her marriage to Will. That would make most people a teeny bit resentful, I feel.

Yes, the dynamic's very different but to me this set-up feels too similar and too soon.

A man his wife had an affair with?

Academic rival?

Alistair’s real father?

Ed is such a numpty. All he had to say was "my brother found out and is going to blab unless I give it up" and Timotei would drop him. I'm also surprised that Ed didn't lamp Tim when he started threatening Em.

poor Jim. That would have been my reaction too.

But we don’t know why he ran away. Who was it he objected to? (Need to listen again to hear who was standing next to Kiki. But not sure I can be bothered ...)

I don't think I've posted before but here goes. Fiona spotted a man who was the son of a friend of their grandparents. My money says that he is Jim's illegitimate son!

But wouldn’t that make him the same generation as Jim?

Welcome, btw!

Jim's son can't be the same generation as Jim!

Sane generation but not necessarily the same age. I was picturing Jim in a 'Mrs Robinson' style relationship. Could just be my mucky mind!

In any other show one might assume that the words “I never really felt like his son” (Alistair To Fiona yesterday or day before, maybe not exact phrase) were written with purpose - but in TA people often say things that lead nowhere.

The 🔮 says bloke in wheelchair and Jim's wife had an affair.

So big question over Alistair's paternity.