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.

I think they'll let him off with an informal warning.
Josh will realise his near miss and with guidance from David & Ruth become an organised trader.

Won't Tosh have his own company, and be trading through that,or is he doing it cash in hand with no paperwork? Naughty.

I'm glad they gave me the idea of young Johnny's ripped body to imagine
I'm still free if Al is reading.

Please don’t let this be that story. Distressed young man. Can’t see a way out

But that could be highly enjoyable (no one is very attached to Josh here, are they?). Dopey Dayveed would blame Ruth. Jill would probably drop dead of a stroke on the spot, which can only be a good thing... and let's face it, out of Ruth by David, the lad just hasn't got the brains to be a criminal mastermind, so he might as well do something useful.
Hanging or shotgun?

Harsh ...

(Like Ruth.)

which apparently predates any of the archer clan being at Brookfield - its hardly like they were farming the land in Victorian times, let alone before

Must have been. Dan Archer was born at Brookfield in 1896, and Victoria died in 1901. He inherited the tenancy from his father at the age of twenty-one, far sooner than he had expected: John Archer died suddenly when he was only in his fifties.

Dan occasionally spoke of his grandfather having farmed Brookfield (and how changes that Phil wanted to make would have had him spinning in his grave).

But the non-existent Mediaeval barn that was invented at Brookfield for the Canterbury Tales to be in would have predated the Archers and the Squires of Ambridge too -- if only it hadn't been burnt down by Frank Meads in the late sixties, and then again in 2012 by Keith Horrobin.

if only it hadn't been burnt down by Frank Meads in the late sixties, and then again in 2012 by Keith Horrobin

Maybe it's a bit like stubble-burning - makes room for a strong new growth of barns the following season.

Wouldn't Johnny be in pretty good shape already from being a farmer?

Didn't the Dopeys have some machinery go AWOL a few years ago?

This surely isn't another instance of where the family fails to pass on any farming-related/business nous to their children. Both businesses would surely have asset registers because we must be due another barn fire.

Which reminds me, why aren't any of the characters moaning about doing their tax returns?

Hmmmmmn..... I dislike Josh but I dislike Perfect Pip & the favouritism of Pip more. Ruth didn't wait to hear any of the details before sticking the knife in whereas Pip is always forgiven everything.

I really wanted Josh's business venture to be a success & for him not to be beholden to Ruth & David & just be able to leave the farm & be a success in his own right.

They've done the young man in prison & supposedly learning his lesson story with Freddy so I assume this story line will go a different way.

So Lee is gong to get Johnny into steroid abuse.

Every young farmer I know has a pretty well developed upper body.

Wouldn't Johnny be in pretty good shape already from being a farmer? That's what I thought. I do voluntary work alongside several outdoorsy farmery types, and it can be quite hard to concentrate sometimes.

On the other hand, a farmer friend is almost spherical - but he does spend most of his time in tractors.

I really loved David and Ruth's discomfiture during the arrest. But perhaps if they had been a bit more supportive of Josh's business, he'd have been amenable to taking advice on record keeping? Would any normal parent really allow one of their offspring to run a business from the family home, one where there could be repercussions if somethings went wrong, without reassuring themselves that the paperwork was OK?

Maybe it's a bit like stubble-burning - makes room for a strong new growth of barns the following season.

Thanks for that, @theThreeofWeevils , that made me chuckle.

@JennyWoodentop - there's another user I'm sure who has mentioned that they don't like Pip. If only I could remember who, because I'm sure they've mentioned it a few times...

[Dan] inherited the tenancy from his father at the age of twenty-one, far sooner than he had expected: John Archer died suddenly when he was only in his fifties

I thought that was a relatively small patch of land used for sheep though?

Most of the land belonging to Brookfield was bought by Dan and then Phil over time, mostly in the 40s/50s according to DM. She could be wrong and its before my time but I thought David was the first generation not to add to the farm which was created by his grandfather. I've certainly seen Dan described as the "original farmer" of Brookfield.

I've always found it odd that they had a large family sized farmhouse dating back aeons for a farm which was a creation of the 20th century. I figured it came with one of the land acquisitions in Dan's time.

I really loved David and Ruth's discomfiture during the arrest. But perhaps if they had been a bit more supportive of Josh's business, he'd have been amenable to taking advice on record keeping?

Yes I agree. They were not exact supportive of his efforts and both Pip and David were regularly sceptical that he could ever run a business.

If it is just screwing up the paperwork and no asking enough questions then he has made the same mistake a lot of people with a skill or aptitude make in underestimating the business side.

Ruth should remember what a pig's ear Ed made out of running a business, despite help from Oliver as she helped him get it straight and teach him about the business.

If he has traded in stolen vehicles I'd guess it was that type of stupidity rather than being willing to put people at risk for sheer greed, but either way can he still trade with a conviction?

Why are the SWs doing another prison/arreststory line again?

Why are the SWs doing another prison/arreststory line again?

Because they've run out of ideas?

How much would Helen’s Christmas gift to Lee have cost? (Not that they gave any details - once a week for three months / weekend use for six months, unlimited for a year? Who knows.)

And what did he give her?

I too found myself wondering why Johnny, of all people, would want or need hours staring at himself in a gym. But on the other hand it’s Johnny who finds himself in need of a new obsession to replace Bella.

BOOP for Josh calling Toby to pick him up. Really interesting familial relationship evolution. (Unless it’s a Silas Marner thing.)

stubble burning Excellent!

First of all, please congratulate me on predicting that Fiona was going to come out as a lesbian. Ignore the fact I predicted she was going to fall in love with Shula.

In the script meeting room. The intern is passionately making a point;:

Intern - ... an archive is like a record of all the things that have happened in the past on the show. Maybe in a filing system of some kind with someone to maintain it and research the background of possible story lines to make sure they make sense. If you did that then you wouldn’t tie yourselves in knots trying to resolve plot holes so often (muttering) or just abandoning things when they get too outlandish.

SW1 - but don’t you feel continuity is just a little bit (makes quotes sign in the air) East Enders? In the post modern Ambridge we’re creating a series of vignettes which are relevant to their time and place, not an old fashioned saga of domesticity.

Intern - so like a countryside Dr Who where nobody has a clue what’s going on except a few fans who argue about it online.

SW1 - which would make me Russell T Davies. Not bad....

I reckon Johnny, as revenge for Josh stealing Bella, has set him up. Bank razing tractors, stolen farm equipment, the whole lot.
Maybe he snuck in and messed all his bills up in the living room?

2 months he was in love with Bella and now he's over it? Pffh.

Maybe it's a bit like stubble-burning - makes room for a strong new growth of barns the following season.

I think I heard a reference to barns when one of the Caseys was being shown around. I know nothing about farms, so I have no idea if it's normal for a farm of Brookfield's size to have many barns. If so, I suppose it is just plausible that a newer barn was burned down, but in that case why was it only ever referred to as 'the barn' rather than 'the new barn' or similar?

Re land - as far as I can recall from my Archers books, the Archers were tenant farmers for generations until Dan and Phil got the money together to buy the farm from Squire Lawson-Hope or whoever owned the land in the 50s or 60s.

Lilian's first husband Ralph Bellamy bought most of the Lawson-Hope estate and eventually Brian arrived and bought Home Farm - from Bellamy? Before my time, but I know it happened in the 70s.

The Bridge Farm Archers and the Grundys continued to rent their farms from the estate. The Grundys never got the money together to buy and were eventually evicted from Grange Farm for falling behind with the rent. The BFAs took out a mortgage and managed to buy BF - 15-20 years ago?

There have been references over the years to rivalry between the Grundys and the Archers going back centuries. Oddly, none of this was mentioned until the Grundys began speaking, which I believe was some time in the 70s.

Wasn’t Lilian’s first husband Lester Nicholson? Can’t check - on my way out of the door!

what's the difference between a barn and a shed?

I would imagine a farm would have several. for tools and machinery, hay&straw, animals, quarantine, lambing...

How much would Helen’s Christmas gift to Lee have cost? I was wondering the same. Membership of health club at a smart hotel would cost hundreds surely - at the very least.

You're right, of course, second husband.