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.

Gavin would be ideal for Pip.
or Hannah. Preferably Hannah and for them to disappear together, neither of them add anything useful.

Yikes, Stephanie's Brummie accent was all over the shop - sounded quite Australian at times. Mama Miller was a bit more convincing, but not very Wirral IMO. Have we ever heard her speak before?

Gavin would be perfect for Hannah.

Why do they not speak to each other in Welsh? I've already wondered if Natasha's new office boy (when she finally recruits one) will be a Welsh speaker so Tom won't know what's being said between them and will suspect the worst. I still don't know where Natasha's fruit trees are or her office for that matter - is it a matter of record? I'm thinking somewhere in the direction of Wales - Shropshire way - if not actually over the border (to support my theory).

@MikeUniformMike - I thought Kirsty’s accent had softened from living in Borsetshire so long, whereas her mum maybe still lives in Merseyside / Wirral. I’m not sure we heard her either at the time of the wedding or the miscarriage.

Just popping on to say that i’ve followed these threads for a while and they often make me laugh out loud They’re bloody brilliant.

I’m a few days behind, last night I listened to Kirsty and Gavin’s argument and found it somewhat implausible. It’ll be interesting to see where it all leads I suppose...

Just a heads up that I can’t stand Tom, Natasha, Gavin and occasionally Harrison. If I can think of anyone else I cannot stand I shall let you know. Washing beckons...

Hannah. I cannot stand Hannah. Washing still beckons, but just a quick question - How do I find, and listen to, other radio 4 dramas besides the Archers? I listen to the Archers on BBC sounds. I’m clearly a technophobe, but I can’t seem to locate any of the other radio plays on there?

8And of course the Dopey's first booking is to the daughter of their nemesis. David is correct that Vince will screw them over, Ruth's deluded if she thinks he won't. He's already started, by telling his daughter she'll get a good deal.*

More unnecessary drama. This will drag on for ages. Surely it should be as easy as:
Vince - we'll pay X
Dopeys - the price is Y.
Vince continues to try to negotiate a different price
Dopeys make it clear that he either pays the price stated on the brochure or doesn't get the service

That way, they either get to walk away from having to host that wedding or at least get properly paid for it. But no, sigh, it's going to be all so much more difficult and take up valuable air time.

I don't remember Mama Miller speaking before, but there's nothing unconvincing in Kirsty having grown up on the Wirral and her mum still having a Liverpool accent. My parents grew up in Scotland, moved to England in their 30s and moved back to God's own country in their 60s without a trace of an English accent. Meanwhile my brother's accent went from Scottish to English more or less overnight, and now that he's also back up North he has gone back to Scottish again, but can switch accents at the drop of a hat.

(I know there is no one Scottish or English accent, btw. I'm just keeping it vague to retain some shreds of anonymity.)

Hello, VillageFete! What will your theme be next year, I wonder?

Re Sounds - I almost always use it on my laptop, so it might be different if you're using an app on a phone or tablet. On my laptop I just navigated to Radio 4 and as you scroll down the home page there is eventually a section on drama. Or you might find the schedule useful.

VillageFete, are you on the BBC Sounds app or the website?

On the app, click 'search' (with the magnifying glass icon) and a list will come up. At the top it will say 'Browse all Music', if you scroll down past this you'll get to another section entitled 'Browse all Speech'. In that section, there's a category called 'Drama'. Click on that and then it's subdivided into soaps, crime, etc. Then at the very bottom there's a section 'All Drama' and you can click on 'View all' and see if there's one you like the look of.

On the website, you go down to the bottom of the Sounds homepage and find the bit that says 'Categories', then on the right, click the 'View all Categories' button and then proceed as for the app.

The app is useless, I hate it. But it is, techincally, possible to find dramas to listen to. The alternative, if you know a particular drama that you want to listen to, is to find it on the schedule (e.g. if you only partly heard the afternoon play from 2 days ago).

@VillageFete are you on Sounds on your phone or on a computer? If on your phone just press the “search” button bottom right til you get a load of greyish rectangles and scroll down to “Drama”.

I think kirsty relationship with her family is believable, she mentions them, goes to visit at xmas, etc unlike some other characters who never ever mention their families unless they live in ambridge.

I’m on my phone, but on the web page, not the app. Will have a go. Thanks a bunch!

Villagefete are you UK based? I always find it easiest to start with the website:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/categories
or, if you re starting afresh maybe look at the Radio Times' listing for the week:
www.radiotimes.com/radio/radio-listings/

I dread to think how the "team bonding in the rain" will go tomorrow. I know the SW's like to shock us on a Friday, but would a country house hotel really think it a good idea to run on a skeleton staff at the start of the weekend?

I'm still annoyed with the stupidity of the "Brookfield barn that Keith Horrobin torched" becoming a wedding venue managed by the Dopeys. Where are the calves and lambs going to go - the grain store? Wouldn't they need planning permission for change of use etc?

The Miller accents were too different. Both Merseyside but Kirsty's softened. The mother's accident was working class Liverpudlian, whereas Kirsty's is middle class merseyside scouse.

Not that Kirsty's mother couldn't be a working class scouser, but I'd have expected a Wirral accent or Jane Garvey, Winifred Robertson or Alison Steadman maybe with their accent less softened.

Agreed puddock about the Brummie accent. Excruciating. Since they record all the episodes in the middle of Birmingham perhaps they should go outside and kidnap a passer by for half an hour.

One speaking authentic Brummie,obviously!

My husband is from South Wales but sounds English. His dad also had an English accent, but his mum and sister both have Welsh accents. So I don't think having a different accent to your parents is unusual.

@Madcats Yes. I hail from Liverpool but am yet to hear Kirsty’s mother’s accent! I’m looking for some afternoon dramas to listen to, nothing historic/documentary based, just some light listening. I recall on another thread someone had been listening to a Christmas themed afternoon drama a few weeks ago and highly recommended it, but i’ve never been able to find it - or anything similar!

The accents are usually hammed up even if the actor has a regional accent. We recently had Pirate Alf. We have Ruth, Joy and various other characters.

I can understand that parents don't always have the same accent as their children, but it was like if they were trying to pass off Joy and Ruth as sisters.

Some of you won't understand it, especially if you struggle to distinguish between Harrison and Alan, but regional accents can be very specific to a town or village.

I sound very similar to my mother but we have different accents, and the way I say some words would give away where I grew up. I have once met a complete stranger and asked if they came from a certain town in Lancashire - they did.

I said this on the last thread and it still holds true. Why all the random characters brought in for a few lines in the odd episode?! So we now have Kirsty’s mum and Stephane the unconvincing Brummie being parachuted in.

Also: there is no. way. on. earth. that Vince Casey would book Brookfield Barn for his daughter’s wedding. It would be the golf club or the Masonic hall all the way.

The most unbelievable scene on TA ever; Ruth dashing into the village shop for an emergency packet of biscuits. The woman lives with Jill Archer for pete's sake - Brookfield might be short on common sense but never biscuits!

Shame on Jill, I say, surely she should have made flapjacks or a lemon drizzle cake.

I don’t recall being offered biscuits when looking at wedding venues. Impractical given it’s usually a tour on foot. And of course (sadly) many brides to be will be on diets! Ruth hasn’t a clue.

Kirsty's mum's accent isn't all that Scouse, really. But then, not everyone who lives on the Wirral talks like Hyacinth Bucket/Bouquet, although they might aspire to it (no doubt Patricia Routledge channelled her Birkenhead origins at their most posh). And Mama Kirsty might not have grown up there, just moved there. Kirsty presumably did live there from infancy (although the actress is from Formby, up the coast a little way).