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?

Oscar was an unnaturally quiet child.

Jonny has to tell either Lynda or Kirsty. I just hope Kirsty got through to him when she said Freddie could lose his job, and that the gossip hadn't died down.

Jazzer definitely wanted Jim to go to the police at the beginning, that's why he spoke to Harrison about his "friend".

Oh yes speaking about his “friend” was poor.

I meant the scene where Jim told Alastair and Jazzer that he wouldn’t be following the others who have already reported the historic abuse to the police.

What I find odd is that Jim is building an extension for Jazzer. As a tenant I’d find that a bit awkward.

I met a cat called Oscar on Saturday. He had mesmerising green eyes. I also know a human Oscar, or at least DD does.

I know a feline Oscar.

Do you know, MereDint, until you mentioned it last night, I had never heard of Tabitha Twitchit.

I had to google her to find out who she was.

I'm afraid I wasn't a Beatrix Potter kind of child!

There's something a bit creepy about animals wearing clothes.
I don't want podcasts, didn't listen to Ambridge Extra, and don't want 'drama'.

The Horobins will take s more prominent role in TA.

What upsets me about these strange podcasts is that they are presumably using up a chunk of the Archers' budget.

I didn't think it was possible to ruin the optimistic sound of Spring birdsong, but it all sounded a bit creepy.

The Horobins will take a more prominent role in TA.

Fascinating and inevitable. In The Archers Year Of Food and Farming: A celebration of Ambridge's most delicious produce, from the fields to the kitchens, with a side order of gossip (published last September) Keri Davies says TA has been centred on Brookfield, Home Farm, Bridge Farm and Grange Farm (iirc). That’s been a beautiful structure for decades. But, with the death of Joe, Grundys have lost their former role as counterweights to Archers; the younger generation are all completely intent on respectability. And they were always so deferential. Horrobins are perfectly placed to move into a comparable role - related to Archer/Aldridges and Grundys, ensconced at GG ... Alice doesn’t seem keen on doing her bit to join up the families, but once either Brad or Chelsea produces an Archer child ...

because she actually has a personality rather than being a blank canvas the SWs can project their latest pop psychology on to Thank you Chemenger - your analysis of Kate has helped me put my finger on why I like her as a character even though she is incredibly irritating as a person. Re. her and Yakult, I was wondering if all the detailed focus on AI with the testing of Hector etc was a foreshadowing of their having difficulty conceiving. Kate really doesn't need any more children (though if she did she would be very much following in the footsteps of her own mother).

Like her mother she would have 4 children by 3 different fathers.

Chelsea and Ben or Ruairi?

It sounds to me as though Ruby and Amir receive far more love and attention (and indulgence) from Lilian than James ever did. She's obviously feeling pangs of guilt now, though.

And did you notice how she was trying to slyly shift the blame onto Leonie (and therefore Lynda) when Jolene was gently suggesting that Golden Boy James might just be at fault?

Do you know, MereDint, until you mentioned it last night, I had never heard of Tabitha Twitchit. Yeah, I was wondering as I wrote it whether a younger age group would have a clue who she was (not assuming anything about you personally, just think I'm well above the MN average age).

Diminutive of Tabitha is Tabby, so a relatively obvious choice for an appropriate decor of cat.

The Dave Clarke Five had a hit with a song called Tabitha Twitchit in 1964

You didn't really want to know that...

The Grundys didn't actually exist until the 1970s. Joe first spoke in April and then in August 1970, in four weeks during 1971, and occasionally thereafter, and Eddie didn't make his appearance on air until a decade later.

My mum wanted to name me Tabitha, but Dad didn't, so I ended up with a different name. I like my name, but wouldn't have minded Tabitha.

I wish someone would point out to Lillian that, in order of priority, the people who should have told her about Mungo's visit were (1) James (2) Leonie and (3) Robert. Making Lynda the villain is just ridiculous.

It has all the makings of a classic Mumsnet thread posted by Leonie: DH and I went to the races on Saturday and asked my Dad and his partner to look after DS. DH could have asked his DM, but he is not particularly close to her and hardly has any contact, so it was just simpler to ask my Dad. Now MIL is kicking off at being left out and blaming Dad's partner for keeping her away from her grandson. AIBU in thinking it's DH job to maintain contact with his mum and find out whether she is around when we are visiting rather than relying on my dad's partner to do this? There is a bit of a backstory in that MIL and dad's partner are rather competitive grannies, but I don't think it's my job to sort that out when I was just looking forward to having a lovely day out.

I've just recently turned fifty, MereDint, although I feel about twelve in my head

I was obsessed with The Famous Five from about the age of four until my mid-teens! I was a very early reader. I had polished off the first few FF books before I started primary school, so if you want to know anything about them, I can give you chapter and verse.....

Beatrix Potter just never appeared on my infant horizon somehow

Sorry, MereDint, I mistakenly used italics rather than bold for your username in my previous post.

Bit distracted!

I read Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton, including all the Famous Five. I learnt the word soporific from the Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies.

Early reading and TA listener habits: what patterns do we see?

I can't help it, but I can't manage to say (or think) Jolene's name any other way than how Harrison pronounces it.

JAWLEEN!

It's really weird, but it makes me feel so good, and yet so bad, every time he says it.

And it's even odder still, because I'm a Northerner with pretty much the same accent as him

Thank goodness he doesn't say it that much.....

Lillian, that's exactly what it would look like on AIBU! And she'd be told by the majority that she's NBU.

I was also an early reader, but read Enid Blyton rather than Beatrix Potter. Mallory Towers were my faves.

I was just going to say the only BP I read as a child was the Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies from which I too gleaned the word soporific.

I'd have a thought a good proportion of TA listeners would be 50+ on MN, and for anyone even a few years older than this, of course we all read Enid Blyton. There wasn't much else around. Children's classics like WitW, Secret Garden, Alice were classics partly because it was either them or ghastly "improving" books, and we knew them so well because we read and re-read them so many times.

The great thing about Enid Blyton was that there were so many of them. I preferred Swallows and Amazons (Titty was intelligent and imaginative, and could do non-stereotypical stuff without having to cut her hair short and pretend to be a boy) but there weren't enough of them. Just to be clear, I wasn't consciously a feminist, but I could identify with Titty when I couldn't identify with George. Compared to the 1950s, TASWAnotsuchMA.

I missed out on Enid Blyton and as a consequence didn't read much of her to the DC either. I think my early reading was mostly Ladybird books and the Rev W Awdry.