The Archers #109: Pulp Fiction! Hammer Horror (Tracy), Carry On (Brian & Neil), Call the Midwife (Adam, Ian, Lexi) - but no political thrillers, Ambridge remains Brexit-free. Nitpick here!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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. grin

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 Bucking Frolics and LillianGish for the title ideas, which I had to edit down a bit to get under the character limit.

I wonder if Lily will have gone back to Manchester by the time we've filled this thread.

Was there a bit of subtle signposting going on, when Lexi made that joke about flying off home with Kirstie's rug in her suitcase, I wonder?

Is she going to have the baby, and then change her mind about giving him/her away? Thereby necessitating a dramatic escape bid.

She and the baby would probably be driven to the airport by a sympathetic Lynda in the dead of night, but somehow PsychoGran ^^JennyDarling would get wind of it, and dash off in hot pursuit.

Then a heart-rendingly emotional scene at the departure gate, ending in a cliff-hanger (so it'll probably be a Friday episode)

Just my flight of fancy - but I bet something dramatic will happen. She won't just hand over the baby and disappear. Will she?

Sorry I haven’t posted on a TA thread under this username before I don’t think but I just need to express how excited I am that whilst watching Postman Pat just now (🙄) I realised that Lynda Snell plays several characters!

I did enjoy this exchange between Jim and Philip.

Philip: You don't take pictures then?
Jim: No. I watch, I see, I remember.

Jim: The point of history is not simply to see where we went wrong but to preserve what is worth preserving.

Philip gleefully snaps a jogger as though he's never seen someone running before.

Philip: it's David Archer, I think.
Jim: I do believe it is. Trying to preserve what's worth preserving, I imagine.

Stupid episode. Since when has David been a jogger? As if one of the tired men of Ambridge has the time or energy to go running.

They have introduced David jogging as a lead up to his 60th. Perhaps he is going to have a heart attack or run off with a younger woman. It's hard to summon the will to care.

I'm trying to encourage DH to take p jogging in the run-up to his 60th. It's not going to happen.

grumio you do realise “run up” doesn’t have to be taken literally, he will get to 60 at a leisurely saunter!

Have the SW forgotten that they 'did' jogging with Alistair and Jazzer? I would have thought that David would be quite fit already, what with running the farm (and sharing Pip's workload).
It would have been nicer to have seen Will pounding the pavements as part of his recovery or maybe Shula as respite from her autobiography.

In any event, I hate the way that many characters are so condescending about their fellow villagers.

American Beth was Ed's girlfriend.
Joe had a canadian friend.
Jerlene is not Aussie.
How many nearly 60 year old farmers just start jogging out of the blue?

I’ve enjoyed the trip down memory lane recalling every accent used by characters in TA over the years - one thing the exercise has illustrated perfectly is that every new character (and accent) has had good reason to be in Ambridge. Unlike Joy. OTOH I love what the SWs are doing with Tracey.

Yes Lillian. I hope Tracey will continue to be part of the main cast.

I want her to pair up with Ollie - it will cheer him up immeasurably in his twilight years!

Ooooh, please miss, I've got another TA accent. A silent accent, no less.
Jean-Paul, the French chef at GG. The joke being that the silent J-P was forever kicking up Ramsay-style ruckus in the kitchen. Mild-mannered Ian was a breath of fresh air after him.

Does anyone remember Simon, Debbie’s older boyfriend? Was he Canadian? A uni lecturer? I don’t think he wanted to get married, and turned into a bit of a knob.

Wasn't Simon Gerrard Canadian? Ugh! He was sleazy.

Ok sprogwatch was good, very good. Currently Tracey is holding TA's head above water. But OMG the tide of rubbish is rising - I've never liked Kirsty's squeeze but him being painted as a philistine is not a good look. End of.

When Jim and Philip met at the hide, I thought "Ooh, that's handy, I wonder if Jim knows Philip's a builder? He could do the extension."

But the rest of the episode was just peculiar!

Didn't make any sense at all

@R4 Jean-Paul was not silent. He spoke a lot in the 80s, I remember it well because my Dad used to do a really funny impression of him.

@Herocomplex I am pretty sure Debbie and Simon did get married. He then had an affair with a student I think (as he had with Debbie when she was a student).

That was in the days when Debbie was studying French literature and had shown no interest whatsoever in farming as a child/young woman. They then hastily reinvented her as a farming genius and expected nobody to notice. I can let it slide because I think that they had a sudden epiphany (possibly prompted by the introduction of Ruth) that female children of farmers could be farmers too.

I doubt very much that Lexi will try to keep the baby. Surely the SW are trying to write a positive story about gay parenting and surrogacy and would not stoop to such cliche? It could fuel homophobia.

I am more interested to know whether Lexi will be asked to breastfeed at all, even if just for the heath benefits of the initial colostrum. Or whether Ian and Adam realise that the baby is supposed to sleep in their room for 6 months to reduce the risk of SIDS, so that cloud-bedecked nursery is not going to be needed any time soon.

EBearhug
I don't think Jamie has ever met his half sister.

He must have done, that time when Kathy forced him to go to Sid's funeral in New Zealand, having booked airline tickets for herself, him and Kenton without consulting either of them first. He didn't want to go, and Kenton point-blank refused to. I'm not sure why Kathy thought that his acrimonious ex-wife would be welcome to his widow and daughter: it would have made more sense for Fallon and Jamie to go, and Kathy to butt out.

Of course, Argumentative he was awful after they got married.
And I was sure JP had suddenly begun speaking, after years of silence.

The nursery chat made me so sad - babies don't need animal stencils and matching vases - they need their mum.

Hero I think you are correct. My memory too is of JP being silent for years before finding his voice.

Whilst we are tripping down memory lane, is the defunct telephone box that used to be looked after by Martha Woodford still around?

Jack Woolly had quite a strong accent. (Brummie?)

Yes, Jack was a Brummie, and so was Sid Perks, and so was Jason the builder, who was a lovely occasional character many years ago.