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?

Thinking about Lily's not going back to Manchester. At the time they picked up on LL's doorstep, they owed rent, but more to the point Lily felt out of the mix on her course and it was very clear that CMR was isolating her.

Bizarre timing of the Kirsty/Philip convo. It's also the first time I've heard of their age gap nailed to his being pushing 60. Surely this had crossed her mind beforehand? It's not as if he's Mick Jagger.

What a load of crap. I don't like it. It's not funny, it's not TA, and I don't want to listen any more.

Phoebe read PPE at Oriel.

Pitched, not picked.

Did I hear right? Basil is drunk because he ate cider apples? What do the SWs think cider apples are? Do they think hospital patients get drunk because of all the grapes that visitors bring in?

Fgs Kate and Roy are beaming with pride at Phoebe doing well in the pub quiz but no mention of her degree beyond that one throwaway remark by Lexi.

Joy is insufferable.

As is Lillian.

Animals do get drunk if they've been eating windfalls that have started fermenting.

I want Jolene to tell Lil to bugger off. She'll just ignore hints.

I must not have been paying attention either re the age gap
also, not credible that Kirsty would not have thought about it
and surely, unfair of Philip- did we already know he had kids? they must be a similar age to Kirsty? creepy I call that

We knew about Phillip's grown-up son. Kirsty has met him.

I don't think we knew how old Phillip was but presumably Kirsty did. It hardly takes a genius to work out that a man of his age, who already has a grown-up family, is very unlikely to want to have a baby. The Mick Jaggers and Rod Stewarts are exceptions- unlimited cash and the ability to hire excellent child care and domestic staff make a late baby not a big deal.

MikeUniformMike
Phoebe read PPE at Oriel.

Can you tell me where that comes from, MUM? Or who it was said to and by, and roughly when, and I could try to find it? because I listened quite hard to try to find out which college they were going to send her to, and I never did, but I have seen that stated a couple of times. I am not doubting it exactly, but it seems very unlike the SWs to send her to a named college.

She read PPE as a friends son applied the same year - unlike Phoebe he was very involved in politics, campaigning, held lots of offices at school, charity work etc. It was a very intense interview process. Phoebe did nothing but apparently got a place.

I don't recall them naming a college.

I know she read PPE: I remember her suddenly having to read the newspapers, and saying in one episode that she wanted to talk to Brian about them. It's just that like you, I don't remember them ever mentioning a college.

Phoebe did nothing but apparently got a place. It’s been an unrealistic story from start to finish - now the SW are trying to erase it from the collective memory (characters as well as audience). Jenny was as OTT about her getting a place as she has been over surrogacy - since she got back, nothing. We can come up with all the excuses we like to try and explain it, but we all know the reason is the SW’s have lost interest in following through. I’m waiting for Tom and Gnasher to get get back to find out if all the drama that had been stoked up between the pair of them has been erased. I think the SWs are counting on us having forgotten the details (having despatched with the archivist themselves).

*Dispensed with the architect - was going to say despatched, but changed my mind (except obviously I didn’t).

*archivist - I need an edit button (or to preview my posts )

Can I be the only one hoping for a Christmas murder story with Joy as the victim. Or even better Hallowe’en.

I am always irrationally infuriated by Archers time tabling. Lizzie is talking to Lynda about conceiving, writing, casting, rehearsing and presenting some form of Christmas event at LL. In mid October . Grrrrrrrrrr!

Feedback returns tomorrow. They usually devote some time to The Archers during each series. If I can find the time over the next few days I will email them with some of the concerns that come up time and again on this thread. I'm a hopeless addict so things would have to be absolutely dire before I stop listening but I suspect I'm unusual. The lack of continuity is, however, really starting to bug me. It has to be down to the frequent changes of Editor and the churn on the scriptwriting team.

Storylines started and left hanging or just thrown away:
Phoebe gets into Oxford to do PPE and does absolutely nothing interesting as a result
Lily gets stellar A level results, gets into Manchester to do English, drops out because of a controlling older boyfriend and so that she can sell double glazing, and nobody seems to care
Kathy, Pat's erstwhile best friend, never goes near Bridge Farm now - why not? She gets a mention once every few months in reference to her job at Grey Gables, but her involvement in the village otherwise has just been forgotten about
Jamie Perks, Kathy's son - speaking character years ago, also totally obliterated from the village, although he is Jolene's stepson and owns a share of the pub - which is more than Kenton does, legally, as far as we know
Bridge Farm was centre stage for months when Tom and Natasha first got involved - when did we last hear either of them? We have no clue how things are going there in reference to the business. What did they do with the money from selling land to Justin for the new houses?
Why aren't Brian and Jennifer looking for a permanent home?
Is Oliver going to camp at Grey Gables for the rest of his life?
What's happening at Home Farm? It's ridiculous that the Gills were mentioned and then totally forgotten about. There's no way that Jennifer would have just stopped mentioning her old home. The Aldridges are still farming all round the house. They surely must have some contact with whoever's living there.
Will giving up his job and home just like that and everybody saying 'It's for the best, I'm so relieved now' - what? Of course it's not! He'll be lucky to get a job at the chicken factory now. Huge drop in status and income for him, and that won't help his mental health one iota.
Peggy's ridiculous trust - can't even be bothered to go through all the idiocy of this.
I wonder how Jim is.
One storyline I don't want to hear any more of than the absolute minimum is Shula training to be a vicar. Spare us that, at least.

One storyline I don't want to hear any more of than the absolute minimum is Shula training to be a vicar. Spare us that, at least.

Gods yes. Agree with all the above and would add that too many stories are contorting the characters we have known for decades to fit badly written soap drahma.

A lot of my disenchantment is less about annoying storylines and more about the characters being ever less credible. Soaps need to be character driven.

“ Soaps need to be character driven.”

Oh this- 1000 times this.

And please- no more schoolboy innuendo. Just get the AI man in.

Gaspode thanks for doing that, if I get the time will do the same. Mentioning the endless cringeworthy jokes about bodily functions, and the patronising tone to the listeners. Whichever side of the surrogacy debate you are on I thought Lexis speech about ' the most difficult thing is the misconceptions' was like one of those public service announcements from the seventies, 'Charlie says you should never play on a frozen lake'. Sigh.

I will email them with some of the concerns that come up time and again on this thread.
The thing that differentiated TA from other soaps was that it was "an everyday story" so it was vaguely believable. Not a lot happened, a lot of what happened was small-fry and took forever in the telling - just like IRL. They took pride in their agricultural accuracy and had an Adviser to that effect.
Now it's just another "plane crash" of ridiculous OTT stories. Stories that start and don't finish. Stories that are plot-driven, not character-driven. Stories that seem to involve a lot of business that they get stupidly wrong (Peggy's ?charitable? Trust, the Hannah/Neil relationship, the finances at Bridge Farm, Philip surveying Jim's house in the dark at Alistair's say-so, is Justin a multi-business multi-millionaire or a small-time buffoon, etc, etc). I want a Business Adviser!