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.

David's so wet, wanting to put Pip back on her pedestal within a couple of days of her dropping them right in it. Is this a product of his own past in being able to get away with anything because Heir of Brookfield?

Pip is absolutely incredulous that her parents don't agree with her isn't she? The bloody arrogance is amazing, even for her. David is gross and I reluctantly find myself on Ruth's side.

I can't talk about the Grey Gables shite or Brian and Neil's two conversations. These actors deserve so much better!

I predict that the rewilding will win, partly because they've all scoffed at it (even Adam who I would have thought would be more balanced). This will leave Ruth to tell Pip to sling her hook on the farm as she must now lie in the bed the has made. This will leave an opportunity open for help with the cows, Ed will come to the rescue, maybe buy a house etc. Hopefully Ruth will continue to pursue her proposal anyway as I think the idea of farming with less environmental impact will be a good one for awareness.

Lexi's pregnancy was confirmed mid January. The transfer had happened a week earlier. So I think she is due late Sept/ early Oct.

She'll need a doctor's note to fly now, but she's getting close to the point where she will be too pregnant to fly.

If she gives birth in Bulgaria, the baby will need a passport to come to Britain, how will that work?

Surely she should be in Ambridge now, booked in to the nearest hospital?

The behbeh will be born in Bulgaria.

It was so typical of Pip to play the injured innocent on the basis that it was her parents who made her choose. God only knows how it didn't occur to her that the issue wouldn't have arisen if she hadn't gone for another option and kept quiet about it.

I have a nasty feeling it's going to end up as a tie between Brookfield and the rewilding project, with Piggoi leaning on Ruth and David to assign some land for rewilding. If that happens, I'm not sure my radio will survive.

The fact that Adam is so preoccupied with the silly competition/work that he literally never mentions Lexi or the baby isn't really surprising. I don't think he's ever been on board with fatherhood and just wanted to keep Ian happy after all the shit he's put him through. I'd be surprised if he remembers when the baby's due.

I foresee lots of arguments where he moans to Ian in his perpetually tired voice that he just can't look after baby or make that hospital appointment because of [insert work emergency]

I can't be bothered to remember, but was Lexi simply planning to have the baby and hand the poor child over to Ian and Adam? Where is/was she planning to live?

Ambridge is getting a bit short of bedrooms (presumably Phoebe is with Roy's spare room, Hannah is in a tent, Johnnie back at Bridge Farm....).

So if Lexi was only a week pregnant by mid January, she needs to be on a plane within the next fortnight.

I really hope the ghost storyline is over and done with; are all the SW going through some sort of mid-life crisis?

Oh dear ... I have to agree with everyone else - they probably had a Brexit/Surrogacy story all neatly timetabled in and are now sitting with their heads in their hands, moaning softly, rocking back and forth, too distraught even to cry.

If that’s the case it’s the only amusing thing to come out of the utter profligacy, vainglory and shame of the past three years of English politics.

Roy is in a 3-bed house. Feebs has her own bedroon.Kirsty was in the spare room, then so was Philip. Kirsty and Phillip are now living in the Beechwood estate.

The ghost apparently said "help"" to the hotel guest who 'felt' it. perhaps it's the ghost of one of the good script writers who have left the coffee boy to cover for them.
I'm off line from tomorrow it better have improved by the time I return.

Re :Adam - I can't remember exactly what it was but I thought there was some "foreshadowing" or "character realising some inner truth about themself" when Jenny was giving Kate advice on what to look for in a boyfriend. I can't remember the exact words (must do my homework more thoroughly) but it was definitely something that could be used as a criticism of Adam - and he made a comment which indicated that he had been overhearing.

These days the Archers is like one of those kids games where you write a sentence of the story then pass it on to the next person, and it gets increasingly daft as people try to make it difficult for the next person.

It doesn't make for good listening though, so many pointless forgotten storylines

And why given Tom and Natasha's agro-forrestry (and their orchard village bid) hasn't anyone remembered that Jamie was almost a qualified tree surgeon when he disappeared into the cupboard never to be heard from again?

My god this is excruciating.

Has anyone noticed that Clarrie and Emma have been referring to Will more directly as George’s dad? As if the SW have just remembered

If she gives birth in Bulgaria, the baby will need a passport to come to Britain, how will that work?

Since Adam is the father that should be quite straightforward. The baby is registered with Lexi as mother and Adam as father. It thus has dual citizenship ..and can get both a Bulgarian and a British passport from birth. Adam has joint parental responsibility with Lexi and could theoretically bring the baby to UK on his own provided Lexi consents. Although the goal posts on EU residents in UK are shifting, as things currently stand I think Lexi can claim she had settled status in UK and should also be able to return quite easily with the baby - with or without a Brexit deal.

Not sure where that leaves Ian. I suppose he would have to adopt the child in the UK. Surrogacy is illegal in Bulgaria so presumably Lexi will not be daft enough to mention the arrangement to the Bulgarian authorities. But who can tell.

What is astonishing is that nobody has mentioned the baby for weeks. Surely Ian would have been out there every weekend he could make it.

I've been on a listening ban for a few weeks to avoid the Grundy misery. Thought I would tiptoe back online tonight. What a mistake that was!

I’ve lived away from England for most of the last few decades, but I never heard the expression “keeping my nose to the ground” before - it was “keeping my ear to the ground” and “keeping my nose to the grindstone” back in my day!

Why do I listen?

Well at least the Will/Emmurrr issue has been kicked into touch.

Ridiculous agony aunt nonsense but I rather liked the compare and contrast iffy proposals re lamb slaughter.

Have we heard anything about Rhurari's GCSEs?
Or Phoebe's degree?Did I miss it?

I think Brian mentioned Ruairi’s good results yesterday. Was listening intermittently, with background noise, so I may be wrong.

Someone upthread mentioned the date Oxford PPE results were due.

Somebody (forget who) asked Brian about Ruairi's GCSEs and was told that he did quite well. It sounded to me like a ProudParent understatement.
Still no word on Phoebe's degree.

Well that was unnecessarily unpleasant