The Archers #110: Game(keeping)'s up for Will. Game on for Lillian & Vince, Tracy & Oliver? Game over for Joe? Stay ahead of the game with all things Archers 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.

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 LillianGish for the title idea. Very tempted to go with MrsGrindah's suggestion of It’s all a bit crap and boring at the moment but let's be positive, maybe things will look up in the coming days ... Also very taken with Lexi's Midnight Runners - Burpers, maybe? - from Madcats.

Not at all happy about Lily not going to university. Yet another bright Ambridge woman not fulfilling her potential. Why do they do this?

God, Ian’s a proper mumsnetter, isn’t he? “No one must touch my baby”........

If Hannah was frustrated because Neil didn't rush out and clear the gutters the moment she told him to, she could have called in a contractor to do it. She is the second in command, and it should be as much her job as it is Neil's; possibly even more so.

She would have looked all nohow if he'd told her that she had not only risked her neck and broken the law, losing both of them half a day at work, it was also unnecessary because he'd rung their contractors and they would be doing it that afternoon.

He just comes across as a peevish idiot with no clue

To be fair to Justin there is strong competition to be the answer to the question

which Archers character is a peevish idiot with no clue?

To be fair, Bert, Kate was being rather possessive of Xander.

How old is Xander? Two weeks? TBH I’d be annoyed if someone disappeared with my baby at that age - it’s one thing taking him into another room for a quiet cuddle, but Ian had to literally track them down. Was the scene intended to indicate Kate’s broodiness more than anything. I wanted to tell her to spend some time with her own children instead of appropriating other people’s.

I think kate was incidental in the scene, I think it was to underline Ian's worries and to contrast with Adam. Not entirely sure why.

What's happened to Adam: He didn't sound in the least bit tired yesterday!

Has he been buying uppers from the Grey Gables kitchen staff, or maybe Phoebe gave him a stash of Pro Plus (not that I am sure she actually sat her finals)?

The prospect of Kate feeling broody terrifies me (didn't she volunteer to be Adam & Ian's surrogate at one point).

Mike -

As for TA, so many personality transplants, so little time.

Neil is clearly struggling with the paperwork side of being a manager, which I do find realistic, but after all these years of running a pig business and building his own house he'd never leave a simple basic maintenance job for months and months. He'd prioritise that at the expense of getting on with the accounts.

Hannah was a breath of fresh air when first introduced donkey's years ago for a brief stint at Bridge Farm, but had changed out of all recognition when she was reintroduced. Why bother doing that? Why not bring in a new character and start from scratch? Or better still, why not think of ways of using existing, established characters and keep the new ones to a minimum?

Justin's character seems to be whatever the SWs need at the time of writing. No consistency at all around what kind of business he runs and how good he is at it.

Too disheartened to carry on, but there are so many more.

The prospect of Kate feeling broody terrifies me (didn't she volunteer to be Adam & Ian's surrogate at one point). Good point - maybe the point of the scene was to illustrate why it would have been such a terrible idea to have her be surrogate (thus justifying the SW’s use of Lexi instead).

Indeed Gaspode - it rather begs the question are there any storyline’s at the moment that don’t involve (and work without) a personality transplant?

Yes where is Helen, she and Ian are besy mates. No word of her popping in to see Zarcher

Helen did visit, didn’t she, she was talking to Ian about Jenny (maybe) when she appeared and they had to change the subject rapidly. Again I could be imagining this.

Helen did go to see Ian and Zander last week, Mini - did you miss an episode? She was being very reassuring to Ian that he would be a good Dad.

The idea of Kate having another baby fills me with such dread that I'm going to pretend no one has said such a terrible thing. La la la, not listening ....

SW1 - so, for next week Intern person, we’d like you to...
Intern - I won’t be here.
SW2 - why on Earth not?
Intern - just won’t be, what’s it to you?
SW1 - you certainly won’t, not with that attitude, young persons are queuing up for opportunities like this, young man or woman.
Intern- don’t care and you can’t make me.
SW2 -why are you acting like a sulky child?
Intern- to illustrate how confusing it is when people’s characters change overnight for no reason.
SW1 - (confused expression) and your point is?

Where is Hannah supposed to be from?

She sounds Northern to me.

I suspect when they were casting they said to all the prospective actors 'Hannah is from The North, can you do that accent?'

Heard an ad on LBC last night, reminding everyone to renew their passports in time for Brexit.

I'm positive it was Harrison Burns doing the voiceover!

Listen out for it - I'm sure it will be on many other (probably all) commercial radio stations.

I got confused by that script, chem. I thought that the intern was channelling Hannah to see how far down the obnoxious route she had to go in order to get fired.

PS everyone: baby Macey-Craig is spelled Xander, not Zander.

A baby Kakob! Just what we need.
Trying for a baby in your 40s or late 30s - move to Ambridge. A ONS will do it.
Don't worry about not being around when the baby reaches 18, in Ambridge you'll be as fit as a fiddle in your 80s and 90s.

,you'll be as fit as a fiddle in your 80s and 90s
So much so that people were expressing how nice it was for Jill to have her dinner cooked for her on her birthday, because no-one would think of doing this otherwise.

I thought the scene with Kate and Xander was to illustrate how Ian is being a proper parent and Adam is being all cavalier and slack about it.

“I thought the scene with Kate and Xander was to illustrate how Ian is being a proper parent and Adam is being all cavalier and slack about it.”
I thought the other way round-it was showing Ian to be anxious and controlling!

Ambiguity in the scripts is good, I think, (the actual TA, not mine) because that is like real life, its hard to know what people are thinking when you only see snapshots of their lives. However in a drama there does need, eventually, to be resolution, and that's what seems to be missing in TA right now, there is never a reveal to tie up loose ends.

I was definitely and Adam parent not an Ian, he would drive me insane with his martyred anxiety.

Oh god, the idea of Kate being broody - bleurgh

I find the whole idea of the abattoir sale ridiculous. Justin didn't need David's backing for the bid, in an administration sale the administrator had to raise as much as possible to put into the pot for creditors whilst still keeping options open for a going concern. An existing abattoir operator bid at the highest or high enough price to make it a win win for VC against Justin's scheme - what the rest if Borsetshire thinks about it is totally irrelevant.

Also, Justin was introduced to us as a multi multi millionaire why would he need to get cross with the bank for not lending him some more money? Just doesn't wash.

Ed's going to end up house sharing with Hannah isn't he after his conversation with Clarrie, we're going down the Tom FWB route again aren't we. Mind, they'll have to magic a new house in the village for them to live in. Maybe they'll wave a wand and the buildings will part and form a new house like in Harry Potter.

Has Gnasher paid off her credit card bills yet or just run up more in Cuba?