Call #111 for Archers advice: Is Hilda breathing? Should Joy be breathing? Could Nelson Gabriel be in cryogenic suspension? Discuss The 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 Joy'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 for all the input on title suggestions. I'd missed the significance of 111, but @R4 and DDD, our resident numerologist, were right on to it. Strongly tempted by Bore's suggestion but couldn't resist the chance to mention my favourite ever Archers character, Nelson Gabriel. Have not managed to incorporate a cricket reference, so you'll have to read up on that for yourselves. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_(cricket)

I wonder if this thread will last till Joe's funeral.

This toime next year we could be millionoires!

What a load of old toot TA is at the moment. FGS, Jakob, you should be running for the hills and thanking your lucky stars you've dodged a bullet*, not going grovelling to the monster Kate!

As for that baloney with Toby hiding under the bar, what was all that about? Is he going to end up with Helen? Or is it all about Toby slowly growing up? I find I don't care, which is a pity.

I grew up with TA on in the background when my mum was in the kitchen. I started listening to R4 when I left home because I liked it, and inevitably from time to time TA came on. I didn't switch it off, and eventually made the vital step to noting the transmission times and switching the radio on so as not to miss an episode. That was the very early 80s, and I've scarcely missed an episode since - I haven't missed a single one since i player was introduced.

I'm increasingly thinking that if I were in the same position now I'd be actively switching it off. It sounds more and more like the John Finnemore version. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04py4pm

*Many, many more cliches are available on request

moike indeed. Bit worried there was no further mention and there will be long hunt the ticket story line or find who Snaffled them.

I follow the Archers tweet along on Twitter and the consensus is that Kate must be very good in bed, which seems surprising as she’s so self absorbed it would be out of character for her to even notice she was having sex with someone.

Oh yes, a hunt the lottery ticket SL.
Hiding under the bar - Helen and Toby? God forbid.
I hope Jakob stays around. I have a secret crush on him.

As for that baloney with Toby hiding under the bar, what was all that about? Is he going to end up with Helen? Or is it all about Toby slowly growing up? I find I don't care, which is a pity.
I took it to be NewEd killing off one of OldEd's plotlines. Although I must admit that "stupid mistake with calculations, missed a zero off" is almost as good as "with one bound he was free".

I struggled to understand the Toby / Helen exchange and wondered if I’d missed an episode.

It does look as if there’s been an editorial swerve. Though perhaps Helen’s laid back reaction was intended to illustrate that she’s now over Lee and has morphed into World’s Most Chilled Human.

I'm not surprised it's not a goer. The thought of distilled whey sounds worse than kéfir.

What a load of old toot TA is at the moment

I'm struggling to remember when I was less interested and less engaged. Its all hanging threads, half arsed stories which go nowhere and nothing character driven sufficiently that I give a monkeys about them.

These people are in their late 30s and 40s ffs.

The milk gin thing was months ago, mentioned in passing then never raised again until now. I wrote a long essay on why it wouldn’t work at the time. Obviously the new intern has finally passed on my comments from the time and the SWs have realised how impractical it was. (I think I might be slightly losing my grip on what is real and what I’ve made up here). It does seem like there is a push to clear up loose ends at the moment, which is good, but it is producing some very odd scenes.

has morphed into World’s Most Chilled Human.
Yeah, and Ton's decided to start keeping flying pigs.

It’s not just distilled whey, it’s much more complicated and way beyond Toby’s capabilities.

I’d be very surprised if it was just one zero missing from Toby’s initial “calculation”.

These people are in their late 30s and 40s ffs

Yes that is a point I frequently find myself forgetting. Perhaps the local water has caused delayed maturing amongst most of the 30/40 somethings in the show.

@ chemenger - what does milk gin taste like?
And is it remotely possible that Toby is making any money from Scruff Gin?

When I hear ‘milk gin’ I think ‘curdled’.

How old is Toby now? The website doesn’t say. I know Rex is over 30 because I remember him moaning about it. I know there are a few years between them.

Very funny looking at their TA website photos. The Rex actor looks exactly like my mental picture of Toby - and vice versa!

Sophie, David's ex-fiance, was acted by the same actor as Janet the Vicar.

Don't know about milk gin, but I'm quite a big fan of Black Cow vodka, which also has something to do with milk.

To make whey gin or vodka you have to ferment the whey to produce alcohol, in a process similar to making beer. Once you have done that the alcohol is distilled out of the resulting mixture. the alcohol produced doesn’t really have much of the whey material left in it, it’s effectively just water and alcohol, there may be some other volatile material as well but not much. It’s a much larger scale process than what Toby does now; he’s just redistilling alcohol, basically flavouring a base spirit. there was no way Toby had the space, capital or expertise to make whey gin. He (or the SWs) obviously just heard the words whey gin and went for it with no thought of what the process entails.

SurpriseSparDay
How old is Toby now? The website doesn’t say.

On 13th July, 2015, Rex Fairbrother told Elizabeth that he was 28 on 11th July and Toby was 23. So Rex is now 32 and Toby is either 27 or 28 depending when his birthday is (I don't know).

Kate s**gged someone 15 younger than her.

Thank you Asking, that’s pretty much what I’d assumed.

Aren’t we allowed to write ‘shagged’? Though I guess it could also have been snogged?

She definitely shagged him. You can't burst a bouncy castle just by snogging.
Reflects that chemengers knowledge of whey gin may be more impressive than my bouncy castle expertise.