Archers thread #112: Quelle beau de lollox! And yet we stick with it. 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 Alf to stay around, 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 @DoctorTwo for the thread title! I was strongly tempted by R4's suggestion of Wildlife on Four: Jonneh is wild at Lily, Phoebe rewilds by Occam, Joy is in the wilderness and David is bewildered by a marriage proposal.

So we did make it past Joe's funeral at last. Are we heading for a Christmas octogenarian wedding now?

I hope Justin tells Pheobe, Pip and Rex to get lost but suspect the personality transplant fairy will wave her wand.

Why does no-one tell Phoebe to get a job?

Well done Brian. Good splat!

Thanks Gasp0de

Thanks Gasp0de (I'm always tempted to say 'good boy!')

Continuing my speculation re Joy, I reckon the simplest explanation (with a nod to Ockham) is that she's an overinvested proud parent whose child now is too busy with her own life to have much time for her mother, probably married to a bloke who doesn't like his MIL. Ok, so that scenario may seem hugely improbable on MN... anyway, Joy has moved away because it's easier for her to deal with this if she's not living nearby.

Another one here who was getting seriously worried they were drafting Alf in as replacement comedy yokel, especially when Eddie started talking about Joe always wanting him to come back to live there. Massive relief that he's slung his hook.

I reckon that was a bit of a mean trick by the SWs. I did like the '3 little words' thing a few days ago though.

Just checking in. Joy was seeming more reasonable today.

Thanks for the thread!

Thanks Gaspode for the thread.

Errol (are you friends with Gaspode IRL?), I agree that the three words bit was genuinely funny, as opposed to all the fake attempts at humour we're getting recently. BOOP for that bit. But I do hope Alf has just made a clean break and not stolen anything or caused any other trouble.

I wonder if the Joy SL might turn out to be about Pat getting needlessly jealous. That would be realistic, at least. I'm surrounded by women who get very twitchy if I talk to their husbands, purely on the grounds that, as a divorced woman of little fortune, I must be on the prowl looking to steal any man who happens to stumble across my path. Because clearly nothing screams seductive temptress like a middle-aged single parent with a constant cold (actually allergies) who doesn't use make-up and wears old jeans and boots almost as a uniform!

I'm actually very happy with my life, and that wasn't at all a plea for pity. I'm voluntarily single and intend to stay that way, I just can't see why so many other women perceive me as a threat! And it's not just me, I do hear it frequently from other divorced women. So I'm just idly speculating if that's what's going on with Joy - Tony - Pat. The less we hear of Joy, the better though.

Thank you Gasp0! ⭐️ And DoctorTwo. ⭐️

Wonder if this thread will see the Ambridge Conservation Trust money given to the runners up ...

And Johnny turning bad.

And Pat coming home to boiled goat ...

Jus caught up. For inexplicable reason I suddenly wondered if Joy is trans. I haven’t thought this through and we might know for sure she isn’t but it was a strong premonition.

Would certainly be very modish, Heron - but how would it affect anyone else in the village? Why would anyone care - unless she starts a relationship with another Ambridge resident and it becomes a huge revelation?

But I’m still staggered that no one else seems to have heard what I heard last night. Something about the silences. She is not as harmless as she appears to be ...

Fink, I don't know Errol IRL as far as I know (spooky thought that for all I know I might have met some of you - should we have a special handshake?) - but both our usernames are Pratchett-inspired. I changed mine on the day he died. Gaspode the Wonder Dog is my favourite Pratchett character (from a crowded field). Gaspode is cleverer and more cynical than me, though.

Spar, Joy the stalker? Hmm. When a new character is introduced, it's always a bit like watching a portrait painter at work. Sketchy outline at first, then little by little the details get filled in and eventually you see the complete picture and decide whether it's a masterpiece, workmanlike effort, rubbish etc etc. We know so little about Joy at present that this could go any way. Stalker is as likely as any.

I hope you're all wrong about Lynda fading away. FWIW, I have some experience of working with/knowing actors and they mostly seem determined to carry on working until they drop, not least because of the lack of pension provision. Carole Boyd is marvellous. TA would be much poorer without her and that wonderful sniff.

Thanks for the thread Gasp0de

Something about the silences ...
Wha'. Are we now onto the silence of the lambs!?
They can't do Tony and Joy as "we're just good friends" because they've recently done that with Oliver and Tracey. Which, btw, involved Lynda so it's not that since we've heard her. I think Carole Boyd will hand around for as long as she can because she has a nice little side hustle ( I loathe that phrase) doing talks and events about TA.

Thank you for the new thread, Gasp0de. Am just off back to read the tail-end of the last one. Has anyone already remarked that Alf sounded more like Joe than Joe himself, or is it just me who jumps in shock every time he speaks, thinking Joe's been resurrected?

not that long since we've heard her.

I hope I'm wrong about Lynda too!

I really really really hope that Borchester Land doesn't simply give the trio their land.

Pip and Toby seem to put zero effort in. Not that Phoebe seems to have done much, either. It can't take sooo long to buy a couple of OS maps and spend a bit of time on the Land Registry website to ascertain who owns what (as if their (grand)parents couldn't tell them).

Maybe she could disappear for a while and get a job and Pip and David could sulk around Brookfield and learn to cook.

Hopefully Lynda has simply gone on a long holiday and will be returning. The 'no panto' announcement did give her the opportunity to keep out of the cast lists for a couple of months.

Joy will remain a mystery for many more months, I fear. She just needs to give Kirsty and Helen a wide berth and I am sure we'll grow to like her.

Thanks for the new thread.

I found myself shouting “noooo” at the radio when Eddie suggested Alf stay for Christmas. So relieved he’s gone!

I'm glad that Alf has gone too. Could he take Joyless with him please.

Gaspode is a good character. I especially like the way he says 'woof'. I'm currently working through the Discworld series (not for the first time, I'm a long-standing fan) as bedtime listening on Libby because of my disillusion with BBC Sounds.

I'm not sure who my favourite recurring character would be. Possibly Leonard of Quirm or Lady Sybil. There are loads of good characters who're only in one book.

I don’t think the arrival of Joy has anything to do with the disappearance of Lynda. I did hope Pat was going to find out why Joy chose to move to Ambridge in particular during their moving to the country discussion since her antecedents are more northern than midlands. If she’s going to be a new Bridge Farm friend it does rather beg the question why is Cathy still stuck in the GG cereal cupboard?

I LIKE Lily , she's ok for a 19\20 year old , typical IME and O. I also am suspicious about the precipitous disappearance of Alf . Poor Eddie , he's so naive.

Oh and thank you for the new thread Gasp Soon the titles will be as long as the threads

I DO hope that Johnny's unpleasant, but truthful, reaction to Lily's rash interference doesn't trigger more drahma in LL. I'm thinking of her ending the relationship with CMR resulting with him crying in Lizzie's arms an etc etc...

Surely if you live in a village and you see a friend’s girlfriend snogging another man in the village pub you have to tell him before he finds out? Because he will find out.....