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 assume everyone else thinks tonight's storyline with the Snells was more beau-de-lollox
It was more than that. I'm really not enjoying all this talking about Jim behind this back.

And how cloth eared and rhino- hided are Pip and Rex? How could they not see she wasn't happy about the decision?

And how cloth eared and rhino- hided are Pip and Rex? How could they not see she wasn't happy about the decision?
No sympathy. She was all gung-ho previously so, if her feelings had changed, then she should have told the other two and explained her reasons for changing her mind. Especially after Rex's speech about the trio being able to talk to each other openly and honestly.
Does Phoeble ever listen and take on board anything anyone says to her?

Poor Jim. Being demonised for simply wanting to do a decent job and be left alone. A bit of supposedly festive comic relief at his expense, just after his childhood trauma storyline. Cheap and nasty.

WheresThatCatGoneNow, OK, apologies then. Sorry

Very late BOOP for Clarrie acting with a cold. And I do enjoy Leonard.

But Phoebe aka Feeble? What an turgid, pointless, irritating, juvenile clot she is since graduating from the toughest course in the UK. God knows there are a zillion things to criticise the likes of George Osborne for, but blind stupidity and sheer naivety are not within that list.

turgid, pointless, irritating, juvenile clot she is since graduating from the toughest course in the UK.
She was always thus. I never understood how she got accepted into Oxford.

Does Phoeble ever listen and take on board anything anyone says to her?

To be fair that's not a trait of the ordinary Ambridgeonian.

No sympathy to be clear I wasn't being sympathetic to Phoeble - it was a comment about how lacking in perception the other 2 are.

And of course Rex did that Ambridge thing of talking right over Phoeble when she was about to say something. It's so annoying.

Three years in the Oxford tutorial system and she can’t put forward an argument.

Having listened to the episode whilst driving this morning - it is obviously a build up to:
Phoebe frets a bit - maybe a chat with Roy (or even Kate) depending on whose available
Phoebe then comes clean to the others just before meeting with Justin to sign (probably in the Bull on Friday)/or she blurts out and asks the tricky questions when they are all about to sign...

All bollocksy drama stuff - and really shouldn't be happening but...

Why is Robert not in every episode.

“ Why is Robert not in every episode.”
I think because he is a GP somewhere in the West Country!

Selfish of him

Thankyou, that's very kind, MereDint, but, really, no apology was necessary

I believe the GP/actor who plays Robert has retired from his practice - so he really has no excuse not to be in every episode......!!

Interesting article here:

Not at all how I've been visualising Robert!

Yeah, he's not how I envisaged him. I guess none of his patients were TA listeners, because surely they'd have recognised his voice?

That's exactly what I wondered too, Motoko!

Do the scriptwriters seriously expect us to care two hoots about this rewilding business, with those three idiots at the helm?

Ye Gods! Lynda's llamas would make a better job of it.

I guess none of his patients were TA listeners, because surely they'd have recognised his voice?

We had a conversation about this a few threads back. Several people (including me) wouldn't recognise a voice out of context. E.g. I recognise the name Eleanor Bron from these threads as a voice on TA, and she's been on R4 for the past couple of weeks as the reader of Grandmothers. Her voice is not at all familiar to me, I can't even remember who she is/was in TA. Similarly, people on here said that the actor who plays Robin Fairbrother is also Herc from Cabin Pressure. I still find it hard to believe they're the same person (I get easily confused by someone who puts on a voice to do a character that is not their normal speaking voice).

If my GP were on TA there's 0% chance I'd realise, and I often listen to it twice a day.

Well, everyone's different, but Robert does have quite a recognisable voice. I heard the actor who plays Alistair on one of the dramas a few weeks ago, and even though he had a different accent, I recognised him.

There's another actor who is in a lot of Radio 4's dramas (not TA though), and she's got a very distinctive voice and delivery (and nearly always seems to play the same character, whatever the story's about, it does annoy me) and I always groan when I hear her voice.

Robin Fairbrother is Anthony Head isn't it? He was famous on TV in the 80s as playing the suave Gold Blend man, in a series of adverts where he and his new neighbour end up falling in love. He also went on to play a main character in the TV series, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. His voice is very distinctive.

So, if "Robert" had been my GP, I certainly would have recognised him.

I'm not bad at recognising voices but as I have mentioned many a few times before I was amazed when I realised that Andrew Winnicott, who plays Adam, is also in Clare in the Community, which I hear every so often because it's on so often. He's Clare's husband's friend - Simon? Sounds completely different.

which I hear every so often because it's on so often.
Not no more. The last series was the final one. However, I presume it will recycle forever on R4Extra.

I had a chuckle when Lynda said "When I say no i mean no, Robert. As you well know" (or something close to that). Sounded like Robert had experienced a few chilly moments, as opposed to chilli moments.

I hope they're going to broadcast Jim's storytelling

Clare's husband is Brian. Simon was Brian's friend, and was acted by Andrew Wincott