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?

Lee wouldn’t have to have met Freddie to be, by now, fully informed of every branch of the wider Archer clan.

I can’t recall if Helen took Lee to any Christmas/New Year events at LL - but even if not, the ubiquity of Archers/Aldridges/Pargetters in a relatively small community must surely have provided a source of wonderment and conversation as Helen and Lee grew closer. Surely?

Hi all, checking in. Thanks for the new thread and fab title.

I predicted a Jonny on steroids in the last thread. Haven't caught up today yet as did the dishes before 7pm for once.

Thanks Gasp0de

I agree that the SWs appear to be going down a 'Roid Rage storyline for Johnny, which would be a crying shame.

Still, it will no doubt soon be speedily resolved after man to man chats with various Ambridge mans (possibly Lee).

Let us hope that Johnny is not left with severe acne, premature balding and testicular atrophy - although no challenge has ever proved too great for the Ambridge Health Fairy.

I would have preferred an Oliver abusing Viagra in an attempt to keep up with Tracey s/l, but there you go.

Thanks for the new thread Gasp0detheW0nderD0g and for the great title LilianGish*. This is the second thread I’ll have been on from the start so am very excited.

I think Lee would have heard about Freddie - after all, he ran the karate classes as well as going to The Laurels care home but I could be wrong about the timing of this and Freddie’s conviction.

I think the steroids plot does sound likely. After all, Johnny should already be fairly fit as he is the Drudge of Bridge Farm. I hope he will be ok as he is a nice character.

Anyway, as preferred to all the lovely posters here. I look forward to seeing what happens between now and an indeterminate date during Lent.

to you too Nettie - so glad you are feeling at home on here. They are a lovely lot (DH calls them my imaginary friends and I have to point out that they are all in fact real people - just like all the characters in The Archers )

Seemed to be pretty heavily signposted last night This is the sort of thing I meant in my post up above - we don't talk about what a character might do, we talk about SW intentions. Like I agree that the SWs appear to be going down a 'Roid Rage storyline for Johnny.

Is it just us? Or is it the SWs' fault that we no longer believe in the characters?

I just thought that Johnny was fed up with Freddie the ex drug dealer ex convict and didn’t want to be associated with him. Freddie is rather slow on the uptake and wouldn’t leave him alone. Ben shouldn’t be getting caught up with Freddie who really doesn’t seem to have learned anything from his experiences to date ( eg spying for Ian).

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve checked in, but I still really appreciate being tagged in the titles
So... can anyone give me a run down of major events in the last few months?!

Major events in the last three months..............

No sorry cannot think of one - it is bad, really bad and I just keep listening and hoping for improvement.

Seemed to be pretty heavily signposted last night it’s the signposting that is most irritating. Why can’t they just let the drama unfold - let us ask the question “I wonder what’s wrong with Johnny?” rather than last night’s sledgehammer sign-off - “I don’t know - I’ve never seen him like that before” in case you hadn’t noticed, hint hint, sound an alarm - new storyline alert. Note to SW - we are capable of following the plot and getting to know the characters, it doesn’t need spelling out to us. Compare and contrast to the Knob storyline where we spent months analysing tiny incidents without there being any need for one the characters to say “He seems very controlling” or “Helen’s doesn’t seem to be behaving in her usual doggedly independent way” If the signposts are there in the script the listener should pick up on them - they shouldn’t need to be pointed out with flashing lights.

Hello, Pseudo! Lillian's title gives you a good heads up for a few recent things.

Joe Grundy died late last year.

The Grundy clan are ensconced at Grange Farm for the rest of their lives thanks to Oliver's unbelievable generosity in guaranteeing them an affordable rent and a lifetime tenancy. Oliver isn't having a fling with Tracy Horrobin, rather disappointingly.

Josh was arrested because one of his diggers was used in an ATM robbery and it turns out that some of his equipment was stolen. Ruth and David were furious, and so was Rex.

Ruth and David are trying to start a wedding business in their barn. The Matt-a-like Vince Casey of Casey Meats is their only client to date - his daughter wants to have a cute country wedding there, with gambolling lambs in the yard for the photos. Ruth and David are having a toilet block built for the weddings. David has ignored expert advice from Elizabeth and Kenton about events management, quelle surprise.

Lilian and Jolene have taken leave of their senses and have changed the name of The Bull to The B @ Ambridge. Lynda is leading a boycott until it's changed back and she's attempting to sabotage all their theme nights. Silly SL, hope it stops asap.

Kate has announced to Alice she's pregnant but not yet to the putative father, Jakob the new vet. Alice has told Chris so it's only a matter of hours before Susan finds out. Very taken with the idea someone here had that Susan will be the one to tell Jakob in the shop.

Helen is now very loved up with Lee the physio/karate teacher but he has admitted to being very hard up. Where will this lead?

Kirsty and Phil are planning to get married in secret. Philip's son Gavin is currently staying with them because his fiancee chucked him out and scrubbed their expensive wedding plans.

Ben is currently out of the cereal cupboard. Ruairi, however, has clearly got locked in the under stairs cupboard at Willow Cottage, as we haven't heard him (or Jennie or Brian) for a looooooong time.

The idiotic re-wilding SL is still limping along. Pip and Rex are cross with Phoebe for not telling them Brian thought the contract was a mistake.

I expect I've forgotten lots there, but that's a start.

Why can’t they just let the drama unfold
It's like the Kate & Jacob story. It seems to have gone from zero to fully-blown in no time at all. The slow-burn used to be one of the defining characteristics of TA, that differentiated it from other soaps.

Welcome back PseudoBadger! I seem to recall you were last here shortly after the wrenching of her dream home from Poor Emma’s eager hands?

Contrary to FiveShelties (sorry!) I’d say one major thing has happened - a discernible shift in focus towards the next generation of Ambridge power-players and their fraught inter-relationships.

Pip, Rex and Phoebe won Peggy’s half a million pounds Conservation Trust funding. But find themselves financially in bed with Justin.

Toby and Rex are really coming into their own. They’re now ridiculously intertwined and well connected - but set to form two separate (or possibly even warring) factions - one pro-Josh, one anti.

Josh himself, if he recovers from his current legal difficulties, seems poised to rebuild his empire with the help of his dad’s worst enemy.

So, lots of groundwork being laid for the future ...

@Madcats Yakult!!

What else?

Ian and Adam have baby Alexander and Lexi has gone back to Bulgaria (probably because we all pointed out she didn't have the right accent). They need to sort out their parental responsibility order pronto. Counter-intuitively Adam doesn't sound as tired as he used to (but that's because he only sees the baby when they've not managed to sort out a baby-sitter).

Kate is going to have a baby too (allegedly), but Alice doesn't want one yet. It is as if the Editor took a look at the cast list and realised that most of them were pensioners and they needed to plan ahead. Henwree has a new voice so there is hope for the children of Ambridge.

Jim had to deal with a horrid child abuse storyline, which upset a lot of us. On the plus side it reinforced our opinion that Jazzer is now a lovely man, not a wrong-un, and Jim is a fabulous actor. To make up for things we had the joy of listening to 3 ghost stories narrated by Jim over Christmas (in lieu of the panto). Alistair's sister, Fiona, keeps popping in and out of the storyline. I have no idea whether she used to be a crazy cat lady, but she has just announced she is a lesbian. I hope she gets introduced to Anna in a contrived storyline.

Shula is still trying to become a vicar. Freddie lives with her and there seem to be no plans to move him back to Lower Loxley. Rather than send him off to learn about estate management, or make him take the slightest interest in the estate, he seems happy pot-washing at Grey Gables. Lily abandoned plans to return to Uni because we can't be having any females with ambition and drive in Ambridge. Perhaps she hasn't ever seen the Pargetter will.

Joy is still here (but nobody knows why she is in Ambridge). Kirsty, Philip and Helen are still being unbelievably rude about her. Tom threw his toys out of the pram when he thought she was having an affair with Tony, but Gnasher sorted him out.

Jill and Leonard are a "couple" and both besotted, much to Daveed's horror. Jill rarely turns up at Bridge Farm these days, which has to be a good thing.

Hunting and shooting have been banned in Ambridge (primarily because none of the writers know about country pursuits, but also because they wanted a reason for Will to move back to Grange Farm).

Back in the Autumn(?) they finally remembered that Phoeble had her PPE degree, but decided she should remain jobless. Presumably she lives with Roy, next to her grandparents, who seem to have forgotten that they were just staying in that cottage for a few months.

Thanks for the new thread, Gasp0de. Nice to see our founding mother, Pseudo, dropping in. We never did hear back from HQ about getting a badger smiley in honour of our 100th thread....

Lovely thread title thank you - yams Yakut :) and the plot summaries ... you lot are so clever.

Dum de dum de dum is about my level.

He has been treated as a fifteen-year-old by his parents ever since they didn't seem to care what subjects he might be going to do for A-level

Wasn't it Josh whose GCSEs or A levels the Dopeys were perfectly happy to disrupt for Great Move North? I always felt it was a pretty horrible way to show how little they cared about his future.

And ISTR that it was really satisfying when Pip was put out because he did unexpectedly well.

Josh certainly did do better at A-level than Pip did, and yes, his parents had been perfectly ok with disrupting his A-levels and Ben's GCSEs so that they could sell the farm that has been in David's family for generations and move their whole family to be near Heather instead of Heather moving to them.

and the plot summaries ... you lot are so clever.

Yes! Buckingfrolics is right. 5 summaries Madcats Gasp0de and SurpriseSparDay. Would only add that Creepy Russ is still ensconced in Lower Loxley and, to add to the intergenerational theme, Johnny, Freddy and Lily haven’t really moved on in career terms but that Toby is still managing to convince Kenton and Pip that he is not a waste of space. I’ve found the humour a bit forced but thought the Three Musketeers of Jim, Jazzer and Alistair has been well done.

Oh please please please don’t let’s have a “Johnny’s on steroids” storyline...
...especially if it goes down the “Did Freddie supply them illegally?” road..
And Kate...oh my Lordy..

I don’t know what universe you’ve all been listening in. In my parallel world, Kathy has been running Grey Gables very successfully, and regularly drops into Bridge Farm to have chats with Pat whilst supporting Jamie, who is making great progress with his tree surgery career. He’s had lots of work following storms Brendan and Ciara. Pat keeps Kathy up to date on Tom and Natasha’s Bridge Fresh enterprise, which is going well. Though Pat worries a bit about whether they live too lavish a lifestyle for their income.

In the meantime, Kirsty and Philip are very happy together and never see any members of their families. Kirsty’s delighted to be away from Willow Cottages as she didn’t enjoy living next to Jenny and Brian, having found out they have quite enjoyed downsizing and now have no plans to move. Jenny is being super-supportive as a granny to Xander, there’s been lots of nice bonding there and she’s helping to take the pressure off Ian.

The Gills have launched themselves into village life. They love chatting to Bert Fry, and Usha and Alan, eat at the tearoom and support the Bull, which goes from strength to strength, probably because Jolene has given up singing. Lily has dumped Russ and having stalked his ex Lara has now become friends with her. They routinely laugh over Russ’s ineptitude in bed and his lousy taste in art. Lizzie met Ifty again and they are dating and very happy.

Ed and Emma moved into their house and Emma is having the time of her life making it lovely. She doesn’t forget to be kind to Will and Poppy though and invites them over regularly.

Brookfield fell into the sinkhole. Fortunately Jill was at Leonard’s at the time and no-one cares about the fate of the rest of them. Shula has started an online business selling cream/ecru/beige cardigans and is thrilled with her new adventurous life post-divorce.

It’s been a great 3 months. I’m surprised more of you haven’t enjoyed it as much as I have.

That's fabulous! Can you get a job as a scriptwriter on the series I'm having to listen to! I've listened to the Archers since Sheila dumped Mark Hebdon, stubbornly listening to it whilst at uni and forcing my children to listen in the car. I don't contribute to threads because I have a lousy memory for names, but I always read and enjoy them.

I hope we get to hear Phoebe's reaction to Kate's pregnancy.

So wish your summary was true HelloYouToo. A small comfort that Jakob is back to being Mr Nasty. Could we be in for an Interesting Conversation between him and Kate?