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.

She was born in 1975 according to the BBC 'Who's Who?'

The following year he talked someone who taught dry-stone-walling into using the Lower Loxley Hall haha as a practising place But isn't the wall in a ha-ha effectively a retaining wall? since it's edging a ditch? So totally unsuitable for learners to practice on.

Maybe when we grumble about lack of research we're viewing the past with rose-tinted spectacles?

I remember having to make Lardy cakes at school (respite from the various pastry). It was a bit of a faff. That was In Sussex. Oh, it's when I lived in Sussex that I was introduced to lardy cake! I made it once - alarming that part way through the cooking it seemed to be swimming in a puddle of lard. Even more alarming that when it finished cooking it had reabsorbed the entire puddle.

Of course, Sussex also has its Pond Pudding - a whole lemon wrapped in brown sugar and butter and then in a suet pudding mix and cooked slowly, so that when you cut it open the lemon is completely soft, and this beautiful pool of rich sugary lemony fudge sauce spills out of the middle.

But I though the scrap cakes were rolled out and cooked - wouldn't they be more like biscuits?

I always thought Oliver was in his 70s, and Tracey in her 40s. That's quite an age gap.

Well! Caroline was born in 1955, so Tracey's 20 years younger than she was.

Ollie still rides to hounds so must be pretty fit. I would imagine that Tracey would be quite... invigorating

Oo - sorry about the stray '!'

Bore ... Now, are you absolutely certain you shipped Tracy and Oliver before one QuaterIntermittentlyMysticMiss?

But yes, all falling into place! They are going to make a wonderful couple. (Blimey - does this mean she’ll inherit GG? The BBC site mentions an ‘Eleanor’ as Oliver’s favourite daughter - so I guess she’ll be the one driving the litigation, if things get that far.)

Dunno which of us got there first, Quater, but it's a delicious idea, isn't it?

I so want Tracey to be elevated to the cream of Borsetshire society.

Soosan will be in transports of delight!

It's a bit weird but a world away from Call Me Russ and Lilly. If anything, I'm sure Tracey will be the one doing the exploiting!

While Oliver might, Tracey wouldn't.

And yet another stupid SL that's meant to be light hearted - Lynda the umpire. It's as though the story writers have had a new clause in their contracts that states each pair of episodes must contain a standalone "humorous " SL.

I like the Lynda as umpire story line. It’s in character for her, she always gets carried a away with new things.

I can imagine her doing the scoring, I’m surprised she never did when Robert was younger and playing.

Hmm ... I would have been happier if the SWs had given David and Oliver a more positive, less stereotypical reaction to Lynda’s sudden umpire aspirations. Surely she will (eventually) have all the necessary qualities - knowledge, interest, incorruptibility, authority ... And almost limitless time to devote to attending matches. Perhaps ideally she would have been a cricketer herself, but I doubt that village cricket teams can afford to be that choosy.

I think it’ll be great if it comes off. Given that she must surely be retiring from Grey Gables soon, cricket umpiring would place her at another nexus of village life. No chance of her being sidelined from any gossip or scandal. A new role and constituency in Ambridge is just what she needs.

And when Mungo finally comes ‘home’ she’ll be ready to introduce him to his team.

I rarely enjoy the cricketing scenes and I haven't laughed at the "comedy" for ages, but I must confess I loved Lynda's cricketing conversion last night. It is entirely in character that she would throw herself into her latest obsession with such enthusiasm and I can easily see how her new-found expertise will come to infuriate the existing cricket bores experts. The video evidence was a brilliant touch. It's a BOOP from me.

I liked the Lynda-as-umpire story because it is part of a story which has worked well in a low key way over the past few weeks.

"The Brainboxes" quiz team - believeable and character driven.
Lynda doing badly on sports questions? - believeable and character driven.
Lynda determined to improve her knowledge of sports - believeable and character driven.
Lynda being taught about cricket by Tracey - believable and character driven.

It's a BOOP from me. A wee plot twist which doesn't require either Lynda or Tracey to behave out-of-character.

Yes, it did seem "typical Lynda" last night.

Quater made a good point: Lynda is 72. If she is going to have Lexi living with her for the next month or two she should surely be able to afford to retire from GG.

I see that it is Joe's birthday on the 18th (same as David)- I wonder how they are going to deal with that?

I bet Jennifer ends up baking the Kate/Spiritual Home's vegan entry for the Flower and Produce with Kate claiming the credit. It's be something like, "oh mum, The Lodge's oven just isn't up to it, can I use yours?" Then she'll sit down and let Jennifer do it all.

How likely is it that Lynda would still be working at GG, I know it helps drive the plot but it is a little unusual.

Oh yeah, I can't see Kate getting her hands dirty baking anything.

Re Lynda still working at her age, I think, if it was a chain hotel, she wouldn't be, they'd want someone younger.

It is perhaps unusual for a hotel to have a Head Receptionist of her age - but I’m all for it! (Given where I am in life right now, I don’t expect to come into my own, in any sense, until I’m in my 60s or 70s ...)

Hard to tell whether her job retention has been a deliberate illustration of the aging workforce or simply a result of the Editors/SWs being occupied elsewhere. But I’m enjoying the changing of the guard now they’re on it. They withheld the name of Ian’s paternity leave chef - so, (presuming there will be a baby to attend to) it may be that this character is mostly in the background while the story concentrates on Tracy and Freddie pulling GG into the future.

Ian's paternity leave chef may end up not being needed.
Just sayin'...

Indeed, campion! That’s why I said ‘presuming’.

I hope it happens, (because the misery would be unbearable) but it’s clear the new Editorial regime isn’t squeamish about breaking characters’ hearts ...

I'm slightly puzzled as to why Lynda isn't learning about other sports. I suppose it's plausible that she would go off on a tangent though. Has she bought a copy of Wisden? And did Robert used to play cricket, or have I remembered wrongly?

I think Lynda and Jim should start watching The Chase together.

IIRC Robert Snell was a member ofthe MCC.