Archers thread #115: Johnny's in the gym, Josh is in a jam, Rex is riled, Kate's with child - 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 to share a camomile tea with Kate, 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 @LillianGish for the excellent Bert Fry tribute title!

I don't think this thread will get us to Easter, but we should be well into Lent before we need a new title. I wonder if St Stephen's will have a new oh-so-interesting Lent initiative this year. When did we last hear from Alan?

The database is only any use if the writer knows that he or she needs to consult it; and by definition if they really need to, they won't know it.

If I don't know what I am getting wrong I won't know that I need to ask.

He might have been right/prudent, but there was no fun in it. Whereas there would have been in Kate being reminded she is past her use-by date.

Maybe Alice will be the one to do that, tact isn't exactly one of her strong points.

Asking, thanks for digging up the actor ages. Angus will be 26 before the end of August, I assume, as he was in the same school year as my son, who's 26 already. How time flies! (My son knew Angus to say hello to, but that was all. No party invitations to the Imrie household, sadly.)

I think this is the first time one of my predictions has been almost completely right. I said this in the last thread -
There is no way Kate has done a pregnancy test. Someone who is as in tune with their body as her doesn’t need a test to confirm what she already knows, surely? Only people whose chakra enlightenment has been distorted by modern life need tests.

Tonight I was sorely disappointed that Jakob didn't suggest that it was probably Kate's age that was the problem, with all the bluntness at his disposal

Ironically enough, had the boot been on the other foot I suspect Kate might not have held back. She's not exactly known for her tact, is she?

Accidental near x-post with Judy

What ought to happen now is that Alice gets unexpectedly upduffed. There's been a resurgence of baby talk between her and Chris recently (mostly horror on her part, as ever).

Thanks for the tips will check thread and crack on with boning up tomorrow
Atta girl! That's the kind of overinfestation™ that we like.

I think this is the first time one of my predictions has been almost completely right

Chemenger

Was very impressed listening to the episode last night

Loving the ™, R4!!

Best laugh I've had for ages.... 😁😁😁

Graphista. Sorry to hear you have more time on your hands at home than you would have planned.

I am not brilliant with tech, but just looked on my iPhone.

If I go into settings-General-IPhone storage-podcasts

I can see what I have downloaded and have the option to delete those episodes.

When I borrow books and audiobooks from my library, "returning" them deletes them.

His Wikipedia entry starts "Angus William Jake Imrie (born 2 August 1994)", Gasp0de.

I seem to remember Kate celebrated her 40th birthday fairly recently, so is probably 41 or 42?

I reckon we are in for some good Menopause storylines. This is something that should be part of the Archers' public interest remit as it's not discussed nearly enough.

No doubt Kate will try a cocktail of useless herbs to treat her symptoms when really she should be on proper HRT. A good opportunity to get the facts out there, so many people wrongly think HRT is bad for you.

Kate was born on 30/9/1977.

I don't think the BBC would dare come down in favour of HRT; they have listeners convinced it will give you cancer/kill you, and they really are not allowed to be anything so sensible as definite about a good in case a lunatic fringe starts kicking up a fuss.

We have had no debate at all about vaccination, even though I'm sure Kate would be opposed to it.

We did have a menopause story with Kathy; Pat baked her a special menopause cake using herbal remedies and soy, and Joe Grundy stole and ate it. Oh how we laughed.

I could see them doing an 'On the one hand, on the other hand' storyline about HRT. I have no doubt Lilian has been on it since the first menopausal symptoms. Jennifer probably looked into it very carefully and took advice from her doctor. Lynda more likely to rely on the power of positive thinking, perhaps. Ruth must have had to think hard about it because of her breast cancer history. Debbie might be in perimenopause. I'd love to hear Tamsin Grieg again, but I wonder if we ever will.

I know very little about HRT as I have a bad history of breast cancer in my family so have always assumed it isn't for me. I've also been very lucky. The menopause has been a walk in the park compared to 40+ years of endometriosis. Hot flushes, not much more than that.

So Kate is 42?
Were she & Jakob using contraception, or have we not had access to that aspect of their love life?

I would really like to see a balanced discussion of menopause. It really isn't discussed enough publicly.

Have I said that already?

If Kate is going through menopause it is premature and she would very definitely need HRT to avoid osteoporosis later on.

She could be going through perimenopause and finding her cycle is going a bit haywire.

I actually found that quite a moving episode and I don’t usually find Kate a moving character at all. As for J... What a change in empathy levels!

well, she is vegan, possibly very slim.
that can have an effect too, can't it?

42 not too early for perimenopause symptoms.

Mine were bad enough that I ended up losing a job due to them.

Isn't Debbie 50?

The Beeb (well, Radio 4) don't have a problem discussing menopause or HRT. Both have been discussed many times, especially on Women's Hour. Just recently about the problems women are having with shortages of some types of HRT.

I only had hot flushes for about 3 years, which was better than the painful periods I'd been suffering for several years before they stopped, as well as at the beginning, up until I had my first baby. I missed school every month because of that.

MikeUniformMike please stop mentioning you hate Pip, it's got very boring- no offence!
For anyone who does like her or doesn't and is a masochist, the actor who plays her, Daisy Badger, is in Shakespeare and Hathaway dectective drama BBC iplayer (episode 7 or might be 8).

As far as I can remember, Kate's discussion with Alice was very vague on dates (so I assumed she was about 6 or 7 weeks).* * The consensus on DTD was that there was NO WAY that Yakut would have unprotected sex with Kate.

I quite like Mike's regular reminders about Pip. I would worry if it didn't get mentioned at least a couple of times a month. Then again, I like looking through the cast list each week to see who doesn't feature.

I too like Mike’s reminders of her mixed feelings about Pip, in a very uncertain world it’s good to know that some things are immutable. And, by the way, I don’t like Shula.

I’m waiting on a phone call at the moment, had a bad night so only just awake. (Suffer badly with insomnia).

I’m 47 and also an endo sufferer I’m desperate to get menopause over and done with. Think I’m peri with a few symptoms but it’s hard to tell with endo & other conditions having similar symptoms plus I’m on noriday for the endo.

Here’s a question...how old were you when you started listening to archers? Was it a family thing, your parents listened so you grew up with it, or did you come to it another way and if so what prompted you?