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.

Lynda becoming a cricket umpire on zero knowledge of cricket.

Has the pantomime started early this year?

on zero knowledge of cricket I think the point is that as a result of all her research she now has an encyclopaedic knowledge - even greater than many of those Ambridge men who profess themselves to be cricket enthusiasts. It would be unbelievable if it were anyone but Lynda - I can definitely imagine this is something she might do.

Jim could go on The Chase, that might be a good episode.

FFS Eddy, what are you doing? Tell Brian to sack Will? So he'll be kept away from guns. Does he forget there are multiple ways of killing yourself? What an arse of a father. So he makes his son jobless, homeless, lose custody of his child because he is homeless.

Eddy is a total half wit

AIUI the suicide rate is higher among farmers because they tend to use shotguns to do it. Quick and effective

Eddie is trying to do his best. He's certainly not an arse of a father. His main 'fault' is that he's not one for wider consequences so all he can think about is stopping William from shooting himself. Fairly reasonable in the circs.

Could Eddie not just tip off the police so that William would have his gun licence removed?

Eddie will never willingly speak to the police, unless Harrison is buying a round in the Bull.

I didn’t find Eddie talking to Brian particularly realistic. I feel that had Edward Kelsey still been alive Eddie would have talked to Joe. The SW need to resolve this somehow, but I can see they are in a bit of a quandary. I just feel that with all the angst being piled on the various Grundies, Joe’s continued absence seems all the more awkward. Joe’s death is only going to make things worse for all the Grundies, but I don’t see how the SWs can avoid this having backed the family into a corner of abject misery at every turn. It’s all gone a bit too EE for me

I wanted to disagree (!) with Lil’G on Eddie confiding in Brian - because I seemed to remember Eddie pleading for help from Brian when Borchester Land were evicting the Grundys from Grange Farm. It’s a relationship of trust that goes back a long way.

Not trusting my own memory I thought I’d better Google - and found this blog post on the Grundys and Grange Farm. Wonderfully it also deals with the youthful years of Caroline, Shula and Clarrie (which I would have heard but don’t remember in reliable detail).

But I agree that last night’s confidences from Eddie would have been shared first with Joe - things do seem odd at the moment.

So the quinoa is causing lots of problems for Brian as it needs to be "juggled" because it can't be put through the dryer because there's no gas supply to dry it properly, but it won't go mouldy if left overnight whilst Brian goes off to the pub? Could a more knowledgeable person than I explain, please?

Oh Quater - I've not seen that before....Some more Archers stuff to distract me from work and housekeeping.

Admittedly in the pre-smartphone days I probably missed a large number of Archers episodes, but I really don't remember Brian ever selling Greenwood Cottage and Home Farm's bit of the now vast shoot land. So presumably Will COULD stay put and just go around chopping down a few trees and clearing undergrowth. It really is a bit grim for the Grundys - and it was to be Joe's birthday tomorrow.

Presumably Brian went to the pub so that the SW can have Adam shout at him tonight (exit Brian in a huff and a tractor driving job up for grabs). It seems obligatory to have a shouting scene at least once a week.

I must say that Home Farm seems to have very versatile land - cherry trees, quinoa, pasture, strawberries, polytunnels. I expect they'll be growing soya beans soon!

Not much info on the new owners of Home Farm house. In my village we knew all about them before they even moved in! And what we didn’t know was creatively inferred.

I must say that Home Farm seems to have very versatile land - cherry trees, quinoa, pasture, strawberries, polytunnels. I expect they'll be growing soya beans soon

Couldn't agree more, How would quinoa not have been talking point? Hang on...it's a plot device to allow Brine to piss and moan about Adam. Again.

So the quinoa is causing lots of problems for Brian as it needs to be "juggled" because it can't be put through the dryer because there's no gas supply to dry it properly, but itwon'tgo mouldy if left overnight whilst Brian goes off to the pub?

I assumed Adam would be taking over after the midwife's visit was done.

Doh, EBearhug - of course - but didn't Brian say he was working with someone else (Josh?) on juggling the quinoa? Adam will have every excuse to be one of Ambridge's very tired sounding men if he is his own with the quinoa for 24 hours till the Gas Man cometh!
Any excuse for that John Finnemore sketch again

I think that the whole episode was worth it just to hear Charles Collingwood deliver the line about juggling quinoa.

Sorry - but my ribs are aching!

(I’m easily pleased ...)

OMG noooooo!
This isn’t The Archers.
Pass the brain bleach.

Lily's being a bit evasive when anyone mentions uni. What's she up to?

Is Peggy going to set Joy straight, regarding her need to be cared for? Jakob's going to have to be told sooner or later. Also, it really wasn't his place to arrange for someone to go round and take over Kate's "caring duties", especially without speaking to Peggy first. That's really annoyed me.

Please can someone make Joy go away.
And can she take Pip and the platemeter with her.

Lily isn’t going anywhere ... (Who is Hugh, btw?)

It’s true the Kate/Jakob thing makes no sense at all; of course he wouldn’t be arranging grandmother-sitters - but I did find the Peggy/Kate conversation stupidly hilarious.

can someone remind me please- what's the sitch with Lily and creepy too old boyfriend? or don't we know?

Hugh is the Lower Loxley chef who said that a soufflé Ian had made "was like lead", and then beat Ian in the ChefOff at the fête.

I don't think Brian has ever been a friend of Eddie or Ed Grundy; he has generally refused to employ either of them until Adam was in charge and gave Ed the job. William and Clarrie are the two Grundys Brian has any time for at all, and Clarrie only in that he doesn't actively dislike her.

When is Jakob meant to have met Joy? Does she have a pet that she took to the vet? Or does anyone else think Kate was simply telling a porky about it being anything to do with him, and Kate herself had arranged for Joy to come round?