Discuss The Archers #108: Has Ed & Emma’s ship sailed? Will Alice stick her oar into Kate's love life? Can Shula walk on water? Come and discuss whatever floats your boat in The Archers.

[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 @QuaterMiss for the title of this thread. For reasons of space had to cut out the bit speculating about Oliver and Tracy pairing off. Surely not!

Off now to give blood, something nobody in Ambridge ever does. See you all later.

(way less than 500k involved though)

All of us, AppleOrchard - every, single one ...

You, too, presumably?

Not me. I went to Felpersham College

Mrs G!

Re grammar: the great John Finnemore wrote some wonderful dialogue for his hapless character Arthur in Cabin Pressure. I think it went something like 'Good morning, sir, and how can myself assist yourself today, in any way possible?'

I went to the godless institution in Gower Street, fwiw. Good standards of grammar were expected there too.

It's a good point about Phoebe. As Roy's daughter and Hayley's stepdaughter, attending local state schools, she grew up amongst people from a wide range of backgrounds and may have fallen into an automatic way of adapting her speech patterns, accent and so forth to her company. Peggy would rather cut her own tongue out than say 'Me and Jennifer' so I'm rather surprised that Phoebe didn't change register with her. I wouldn't blink if Roy said 'Me and Phoebe', on the other hand. I might wince.

(I do spend an inordinate amount of time during Masterchef shouting at the screen every time I hear 'You've given John and I a very difficult judging decision to make!')

Ah, glad that me and Gasp0de agree on this one . Thank you for being as helpful as the very helpful Arthur Shappey!

Gasp0de that Masterchef grammar makes me wince to. it's surprisingly common on TV. Kevin McCloud does it too, he should know better.

I could be way off the mark but I get the feeling that Emma and Will are going to rekindle their relationship.

It's weird how the SWs don't imagine that doing PPE at 'bridge would change Phoebe in some way.

Love Chemanger's eavesdroppery and please can I have some more .

I can't believe that Ed n Emma won't reunite.

I could be way off the mark but I get the feeling that Emma and Will are going to rekindle their relationship

I hope neither happen. Like her or loathe her Emma deserves better than the choice of a feckless misogynist or a miserable misogynist with both varieties expecting her to be a glorified skivvy.

Its a pity there is no equivalent of Neil in that generation - someone matching her willingness to work and wanting to improve their lot for the kids without assuming that she should be tied to the kitchen sink.

There will be a pause in SW dialogue, due to having just staggered off a transatlantic flight. For the first time in nearly a year I will be listening at the same time as all of you.

As to the choosing not to punctuate, it’s really more that I find it too fiddly to proofread and correct on a phone, so unless something is incomprehensible I just leave it.

As to the choosing not to punctuate, it’s really more that I find it too fiddly to proofread and correct on a phone, so unless something is incomprehensible I just leave it.
There's a difference between not-editing and not even attempting to get it right in the first place. It sounded like you meant the latter.

Love the scriptwriting. We could do with some more (after recovery from jetlag!) as it's much better than the BBC's atm.

When I say I don’t punctuate I mean I don’t punctuate to my own preferred standard (not oxbridge). I made that comment after reading back my previous poorly punctuated post, to preempt anyone else picking up the sloppiness. I leave comma splices from time to time, for example. You may, however feel free to shoot me if I mix up it’s and its.

There will be a pause in SW dialogue, due to having just staggered off a transatlantic flight. For the first time in nearly a year I will be listening at the same time as all of you

I live in NZ and listen to the episode about 14 hours after they have been aired - it is really difficult not to look at The Archers threads first to see what happens. It feels really strange when I am in the UK and listen live.

Can I just point out that last nights episode had a “ I’ve really got to get this” when David’s mobile rings? I said a few posts ago that any Ambridge resident always has to answer their phone immediately!

Blimey you lot this thread is getting more esoteric than usual!

I LOVE the summer intern chemenger If I knew how to, I'd change my user name to hers

I live in NZ and listen to the episode about 14 hours after they have been aired - it is really difficult not to look at The Archers threads first to see what happens. It feels really strange when I am in the UK and listen live.

I'm in Melbourne and pick it up an hour or so after transmission. I'm sure you can do the same. For me it's more to do with my getting up in the morning than anything else. I listen to it as I'm having my morning cuppa and before walking the dog. I'm sure you can do the same. The only awkward time is when Melbourne moves to daylight savings. Now I think of it, I do get up at 5.45..

I'm not sure why Oxbridge is being connected to grammar standards. My Cambridge degree was in Maths and taught me very little about writing English (nor did they care). If I'm writing a report for work then I have high standards, and am well-versed in the rules as well as the pseudo-rules (the nonsense stuff about split infinitives or ending with a preposition).

But if you're writing on an internet forum, I'm not going to judge, as long as it's clear what you mean. Comma splice away!

Anyway, back to TA. Who do we think will win Peggy's prize?

echt yes I could listen to it in the morning, but I usually listen later in the day. I think Melbourne is a couple of hours behind NZ, so I could listen at around 8 am if I was up that is.

Who do we think will win Peggy's prize?
Does anyone care?
I would be really pleased if she said, "Actually, there is no prize. If you lot are so keen about green issues then why don't you crack on regardless because your 'passion' shouldn't be dependent on my money."
Ruth can find money for cow schemes when it suits her. It's not that long since she did the herringbone thing so another change, so soon after, doesn't make sense to me. There gain, I tend to mentally switch off when Ruth starts droning on about cows.

I don't care much about the prize itself because it is nonsense, but there will be have the fallout from the result. I guess it will come down to the two teams that Pip has supported and whichever of those wins will create some drama.

I agree with Quater that the BBC have been mentioning re-wilding a lot recently and therefore it seems a foregone conclusion.

I feel sorry for Josh (can't believe that I typed that!) His mum knew that his entry was substandard but let him submit it as it was.
With supportive parents like that, who needs enemies?

Ruth can find money for cow schemes when it suits her

As does Home Farm.

This touches on what annoys me about the whole scheme. Its a grandiose lady bountiful performance which is really only interested in keeping money in the family.

The only Archer who has consistently worked environmentally and prioritised that over straight profit is Tony. The others could have implemented these schemes before but are only wanting to be "green" now there is some money on offer.

I hope that either an outside group wins or Phoebe's bid wihtout Pip wins as they seem to be the only bid so far which is more interested in the scheme than the 500k.