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?

That wasn't a Dreamies packet. I know cos I'm always rattling them
CharlieAlphaTango would not have been fooled.

My cat was nearby, and looked very interested when Peggy was shaking her Dreamies 😻

I might just be a terrible person here but I don't get all of the outpouring of grief and sorrow for a very elderly man who had a great life, surrounded by a family and good health, who died happy in his own bed after a lovely night. I would think, we'll miss you, you had a good innings and what a way to go - no dementia, suffering or loneliness. I'd raise a glass with a half-smile the old bugger. My granny really suffered from dementia in the end and while I was sad in an end of an era way, I was relieved that she was at peace. I wouldn't have expected endless casseroles and "just" steak pie from the neighbours (god I hate how ghastly JD is when she does her Lady Bountiful only-a-simple-venison-supper act).

NI - (on phone) Hello mum it’s me

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NI- I know it’s not Sunday and it’s a bit late...

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NI - no need to panic, I just need a bit of advice. Apparently there was a intern on the Archers before me and they’ve left me a weird note...

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NI - yes, I know it’s not what it used to be since Phil died, but somebody else got the countryflie place. Anyway the note says:

Dear Intern, sorry I don’t know your name, but you’ll get used to not having one. I was your predecessor in this job. I have a terrible confession to make. I thought could live with it but I can’t, it’s keeping me awake at night. I hope that telling you will perhaps release me from this awful burden.
As you will come to realise, being the intern in this team is a very frustrating experience. I am afraid that I let that frustration lead me astray and I have done a terrible thing. I invented a character, a hideous character, called Joy. She was meant to be so unutterably awful that the scriptwriters would see she was a joke, and in realising that I have a sense of humour they would recognise that I was a person. It all went horribly wrong, because they turned out to love Joy and even now all nine of them claim to have invented her. I beg you, kill her.
I have been telling my story anonymously on Mumsnet. Take my advice, go there for solace, they will keep you sane (there’s a note with the username attached). They will also supply plausible story lines, at times I have been able to feed these to the scriptwriters.
Good luck, the future of Ambridge is in your hands,
Sincerely,
A Friend

What do you think?

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NI - Yes, I think the last intern was called Alex Friend.

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NI - I’m not sure, Alex could be male or female, I think.

Pause

NI - So that’s what you do on your phone, I thought it was candy crush. So there’s a chat all about the Archers. Interesting...Anyway I’ll let you get back to question time, see you soon, bye.

Pause

NI - yes, plenty of sleep, eating properly, bye mum.

Hating - I agree.

Hating Joe had a roller coaster of a life in TA and we don't know how poverty stricken his early years were ( I would guess they were fairly grim) .

Oh and people help others in some small villages, if they know they have too much going on to cook etc.

Thanks chemenger. Luv it.

They DO need new people to live in the new houses , Joy cares for animals , but is an effin' bore. ( can't have everything I suppose) Corvids are extraordinarily intelligent.

Chemenger, you're a genius.

Maybe the SWs are building up for a Christmas whodunnit storyline, Midsomer style. Joy is found lifeless on the Village Green on Christmas morning. The day before she did the rounds of Ambridge ...

What I don't like about Joy is that she seems to be a stereotype down-to-earth annoying northener.
R4 has form for regional stereotypes.

Chemenger - I love it, especially the 'why are you phoning if it isn't a Sunday' bit (I thought that was just me).

I am beginning to feel sorry for Joy Horville. Imagine the excitement of being cast in the series for quite a few weeks and then discovering that everybody is going to hate you, not because you emerge as a cunning villain, but because you have to play an annoying Geordie 'proud mum' caricature.

I hope the corvid makes a speedy recovery and gets adopted by Jazzer. It is my favourite new character!

stereotype down-to-earth annoying northener.

I concur with the annoying Northern stereotype part, but Joy is not down-to-earth, her head is completely up her own backside, if I may be permitted such an inelegant turn of phrase on this thread.

I might have missed an episode or two, but has it been explained why Joy has come to live at Beechwood?

Does Rochelle live nearby, perhaps? That's the only reason I can think of.

And, if so, I've a feeling it won't be too long before she and the kids turn up, wanting to move in with Joy for some reason.

Could be a love-interest and ready made family for Jazzer maybe......

Rosh-L lives in Leeds.

Chemenger, that was brilliant

What Gaspode said. Brava!

I’ve been wondering what prompted Joy (aka the SW) to name her DD Rochelle. I googled the name but don’t recognise any of the apparently famous bearers of it.

As I’ve said before, new characters generally do arrive in a rather exaggerated form and are then assimilated. I’m not ready to get too interested in Joy yet, not after we built such castles in the air for ... was it Kaz(?) after Helen’s trial. To say nothing of Anna Tregorran. But they both had obvious roles - it’s hard to see what Joy is for.

I image chemenger’s NI will pretty soon be applying for the Agricultural Story Editor job?

NI has not a hope in hell. Obviously overqualified.

Chemanger- you are a genius and far better than TA.

Why would Peggy not speak up to Joy, in her rude indomitable way?

I did enjoy Eddie shoving the splinters and wood chips down to the bottom of the wood bag though.

Are there any Scrubs fans here? Joy reminds me of Molly Shannon's character - super duper annoying, talking about her son non-stop. Turned out that the son was dead! Maybe Rochelle is no more.

Or, maybe they're estranged and Joy keeps track of Rochelle and her life via Facebook

Or, maybe they're estranged and Joy keeps track of Rochelle and her life via Facebook

This wouldn't surprise me.

So, no Phoebe on Feedback hmm? Neither last week nor this. Justified outrage ignored.

There do seem to be hints that there may be more depth to Joy's character than we think. She seems essentially lonely, hence the fact that she's so desperate to intrude on people. We may find that Rochelle is NC with her or other side of the world or dead.

ppeatfruit
Joe had a roller coaster of a life in TA and we don't know how poverty stricken his early years were ( I would guess they were fairly grim)

I would guess that Joe's early years would have been pretty-much the same as those of Phil Archer, who was his near-contemporary; Brookfield and Grange Farm were the same size in the twenties and thirties, with Grange Farm having a larger farmhouse, and the Grundys and the Archers were both tenant farmers. If anything Grange Farm is better land and ought to have been more prosperous: it is down near the river on the flat and it doesn't include Lakey Hill, fit only for grazing sheep on.

It just does seem as if Dan Archer may have been a better farmer than Joe's father George Grundy. Phil was certainly a better farmer than Joe!

chemenger, I enjoy the interns saga more than I enjoy TA at the moment.

Oh look. The Mental Health Fairy has visited Elizabeth!