Archers thread #114: Bull banished, Bali beaches beckon, bickering bullshitters burgeon

[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 Gavin 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 for all thread title suggestions! I've gone with a B theme which with a bit of luck will seem odd and irrelevant by the end of this thread. Here's hoping, anyway.

Haven't caught up with tonight's episode yet, so off to do that shortly.

Well, I have to report that the crossed fingers and positive vibes appear to have worked: DS has an offer from Oxford! I'm feeling a little bit excited and very relieved. It's a subject far from maths and science, so he's definitely more than a mini-DDD...

Well, some of us missed the new thread because it got tucked up at the top of the page, so here's the "extra' comments from the previous thread (Thanks to Dad**3 for rescuing us)

R4 Mon 13-Jan-20 21:55:07

And it may well not be a large new build: it was bought by Philip for two people, and with no expectation of children.
Tom mentioned that it was palatial compared to the flat over the shop. I suppose that 'Joy popping round the back door' implies that they aren't huge detached houses but I would have expected Justin to build premium-price places.
It's weird that the only people we have heard about on the Beechwood estate are (1) a couple who may remain sprogless and (2) a singleton with no visiting family.
Where are the families?confused don't mention MeandEd

Minimammoth Mon 13-Jan-20 22:07:59

Neither Kirsty or Tom sound as if they are over each other.
Am not convinced, Tom is trying to convince himself by lavishing attention on Tash

Equanimitas Mon 13-Jan-20 23:31:25

She must be the only female with a bag whom I know who doesn't keep her car keys in her bag. If I am jeans it will be in my pocket, but in that case I won't be carrying a bag

I virtually always carry my keys separately from my bag. It's a pain having to firk around in my bag to find them, particularly if my hands are full with other things or it's dark.

nettie434 Mon 13-Jan-20 23:54:55

What a strange house with the only bath in the master en-suite.

Have been doing a bit of house hunting Choccyp1g and I agree. In a lot of new builds the ‘family’ bathroom has a bath and shower but the en suite might just be a shower. It reminds me of when Helen and Rob were living in Blossom Hill Cottage (Usha’s place if I have got name wrong) where there were only 2 beds. Mysteriously Ursula ended up staying even though it was a 2 bed house and Henry was in the 2nd bedroom so there was clearly a magicsl spare bedroom needed for the plot. I guess the SWs wanted Gavin to find Alistair in Kirsty & Phillip’s bathroom to maximise embarrassment.

echt Tue 14-Jan-20 01:24:59

Something I realise annoys me. Just been listening to Friday's episode and hear Jim say "I suppose" (rather than "I suppose so". Not the first time that the phrase has been used by older Ambridge members. It's not something I've ever heard any of my older friends and colleagues use, although we recognise it normal younger people's usage

I agree and was pleased that Jim couldn't bring himself to use the word "closure".

Gavin is ludicrously, leeringly unpleasant. Presumably he sees Kirsty as competition for his eventual inheritance.

EBearhug Tue 14-Jan-20 01:54:02

^It's weird that the only people we have heard about on the Beechwood estate are (1) a couple who may remain sprogless and (2) a singleton with no visiting family.
Where are the families?^

Weren't they blamed for the Chinese lantern that one of the Montbéliards ate?

Madcats Tue 14-Jan-20 07:23:16

Is it normal to keep your work laptop in your bedroom wardrobe?

Mind you, we don't give family members keys to our house... and would certainly phone to warn each other if somebody was about to let themselves in.

echt Tue 14-Jan-20 07:27:03

Mind you, we don't give family members keys to our house... and would certainly phone to warn each other if somebody was about to let themselves in

Quite.

Gavin's being Philip's son does not give him open access to the house he shares with Kirsty.

LizziesTwin Tue 14-Jan-20 07:37:30

The children from Beechwood were trick or treating at Halloween weren’t they?

NewName73 Tue 14-Jan-20 08:04:53

I never keep my keys in my handbag when I go out, always in my coat or jacket pocket.

This is after having my bag stolen many years ago, and then having to get all the locks changed.

EBearhug Tue 14-Jan-20 08:13:21

The children from Beechwood were trick or treating at Halloween weren’t they?

Yes.

MereDintofPandiculation Tue 14-Jan-20 09:21:24

Gavin is ludicrously, leeringly unpleasant. He's just a bully, isn't he?

Mind, I'd be having second thoughts about a partner if they'd brought up a child who ended up like that. Especially if they didn't seem to see anything wrong in them.
Bookmark

Yay! Well done to DDD's DS. Just need to get those grades now ...

Bravo, @DadDadDad's SSS!
🤣 @R4

Well done SonSonSon !

Well done DDD's son!

Thanks, everyone. He's just got to get three As now.

Anyway, feel free to discuss The Archers...

the poor actor playing Philip must greet each new script where he doesn't die, with a huge sigh of relief

That puts him in a rather small minority.

I don't want Philip to die! I don't mind him, he's innocuous, unlike so many of the other characters.

Do we know Philip's back story? When and why did he and his first wife get divorced?

Has TA reached a new low. Yet another cartoon baddie.
New house with the en-suite having the only bath in the house.

I suggested Joy for Natasha's vacancy a while ago.

Bravo to the son of DDD!

Does he have a preferred college? Or do you not have to makeup your mind about that until you have the results they have asked for?

These executive houses at Beechwood: eighteen houses were built in the three-and-a-half acres Justin bought from Bridge Farm, so they can't be all that luxurious with extensive grounds.

Well done to your DS, DDD .
Why has he gone for the opposition?

Well "executive" is really just a name used to justify a higher price, although they do tend to be the bigger houses, and will have a nicer looking exterior, en-suites, and chimneys (for the ubiquitous woodfired stove).

Asking - the offer comes from a college - in his case the one he applied to (he had an interview with another college). I'm not going to name it to avoid being too identifying (for his sake), especially as it's one of the smaller ones.

Has TA reached a new low. Yet another cartoon baddie

I think I commented in the tail of the other thread my theory that the LSWs received a box of twirling moustaches before Xmas.

They seem set not just on regular personality transplants but two dimensional personalities.

I’d far rather hear how Chris’s potential move to Newmarket is going and how Ruardih (sp) is getting on at college

The move to Newmarket seems to be another story spun up for nothing when it could be quite interesting.

So DDD when he's done with his degree will he be fully qualified to doss around at home and invent a rewilding project with no clue how to read contracts etc?

Congratulations from me too! (I don’t remember much from more than three decades ago, but I do remember that wonderful phone call. Though I guess he had an email?)

Offers come from a particular college Asking.

I’m rather hoping Gavin meets a gruesome end during his wedding and never comes back. But TA would never do that, would they?

*Well done to your DS, DDD .
Why has he gone for the opposition? *

Oops, you've got a little spelling mistake there, TeenPlusTwenties. Here, let me fix it for you:

(Sorry, slow typing!)

'Well done to your DS, DDD.
Congratulations on choosing the clearly superior university.'

Well, obviously, @TeenPlusTwenties and @Fink, you hear about "gender disappointment" which vanishes after the baby is born and you start to bond, so naturally my savage disappointment that he didn't choose Cambridge has been dispelled by the relief that after a gruelling labour application process he has an offer for a world-class course.

The truth is, as we live so close to ambridge by the C, it's a less attractive option - too familiar (and to be fair, he preferred the look of the Oxford course for his subject).

I guess I have a lifetime of O v C banter ahead of me. (He's already made some jibe about me not managing to get into Oxford!)

Anyway, I've taken far too much of your time...

Have we had much discussion of Jim going to Jayston's funeral? I can see some sense of it bringing some sort of closure, but equally it's a tough thing to do.

Going to the funeral is what Jim wants to do. It is his decision, and he knows a lot more about how he feels (and has felt for over seventy years) than people who have known about the abuse for less than seven months and are not him can possibly do.

Neither Alistair nor Jazzer has any right to second-guess him about it.

I expect they will send for his daughter to pile pressure on him as well. I just hope Shula keeps her nose out.

Must say I’m also becoming thoroughly bored by Alistair and Jazzer’s crowding of Jim. The words ‘emotional’ and ‘vampire’ spring to mind. I daresay the SWs are intending a serious and detailed portrayal - but it’s as if Jim’s son and lodger have no other interests in life. The poor man can barely blow his nose without them rushing towards him doing concerned face. It would be incredibly annoying.