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?

When I first used a home pregnancy test, it was a test tube with a couple of little balls of the reactant that you peed into. That is going back over 30 years ago though. By the time I tested for number 3, it was a stick.

Do we know how far along Kate is?

My suspicion is 0 weeks.

I like the idea of a Ka-kub.

or is it a Yakid?

I enjoyed the scenes between Jill and Ben. He does sound like a nice sensible lad. He should definitely go to Newcastle though, not Felpersham.

So frustrating! They actually mentioned a university that isn’t in Felpersham - only to immediately dash it away as an irrelevance.

I could scream.

But it was sweet that they made an episode to mark the ten year anniversary of Phil’s death.

Is this a function of poor scriptwriting, or is it us - we've got into the habit of being cynical and condemnatory and can no longer get into the spirit of listening to them as people?

I’m still thinking about your question MereDint. It reminded me at first of the complaint from BitOutOfPractice years ago that prompted the launch of BOOP points.

But yours seems a touch more - I don’t know the word. You’re asking if being involved with the thread has destroyed our individual/collective suspension of disbelief?

I wonder if it might be that people drawn to this thread are those naturally inclined to turn things inside out?

What is the obsession with Newcastle? Are they planning to have Ben visit Joy's old house or something? Or bump into Rochelle? Will Ruth spot another farm for sale in Prudhoe?

I am going to give the SWs a house-point because Newcastle do at least run Agriculture-related courses. Reading or Cirencester would be easier to get to.

Adam went to Newcastle.

Cirencester is probably about as close as Felpersham.

I'm not quite sure we should be encouraging them to Reading, though.

(This post is brought to you from Reading.)

Ruth went to Harper Adams, David to Cirencester. Both nearer than Newcastle.

Do we know what subject Ben wants to study? I don't recall any discussion of it at all but I could have just forgotten.

Do we know what subject Ben wants to study?

Ha! I doubt the SWs have a single clue between them.

He’s a very ... thinking youth. I know he loves his dog but he doesn’t seem terribly connected to the farm otherwise. I can see him, in ten years time, having published a couple of deeply un-Ambridge-like novels, settling down to narrate the by then completely podcast saga of love and money ...

They actually mentioned a university that isn’t in Felpersham I just can't believe anyone could be in the situation of not having good enough grades for Felpersham (which in my mind is Worcester) and would have to go to Newcastle instead. If they're going to have a nearby aspirational uni, at least give us one we can believe in.

Surprise I'm touched! I thought everybody had thought my post completely uninteresting. Yes, I think that is what I'm asking - has this thread destroyed our suspension of disbelief? Can we blame it on poor scriptwriting, or is it,as you suggest, that this thread attracts the analysts amongst us. It seemed to me than Jill and Ben last night was a return to Archers as I remember it (or as I think I remember it) - 5 mins of not very much ... but very important in giving the first really clear exposition of Ben's character since his release from the cereal cupboard.

Felpersham (which in my mind is Worcester) - Ah, seen the discussion on agriculture courses. Maybe Felpersham is Pershore Agricultural College?

I wasnt ignoring that question either meredint, not sure what I think yet, is it them or us?

Perversely, I’m thinking the truth might be the opposite to my earlier suggestion ...

It’s not that we no longer believe - it’s that the story has been transformed into something that actually lives, primarily, within us. So scriptwriterly intervention seems, almost invariably, clumsy and tone deaf - they just don’t get TA the way we do.

in my case I was invested in TA until they threw Nigel off the roof because the editor said (I am quoting) "I have to make an impact".

This totally destroyed it for me as anything but manufactured drama, though I went on listening.

It doesn't seem to have done anything much since that would restore my belief in it, which makes me a bit sad.

In my case I was invested in TA until they threw Nigel off the roof because the editor said (I am quoting) "I have to make an impact".
That, in its turn, was fairly soon after Phil's death. I think TA has been going downhill since Norman Painting went. He believed in it, most of the rest of the BBC seem to see it as a mere step on their career.
But, yes, we may be spoiling it for ourselves by over-analysing it.

Rebar, I suggested Reading primarily because their MERL (Museum of English Rural Life) has an excellent Twitter feed (and an extensive selection of Ladybird books).

An old schoolfriend's sister did something agricultural there many decades ago.

That was supposed to be a reply to @EBearhug. Wretched phone!

David implied that the Brookfield kitchen was a bit messy. Surely not, I bet Jill keeps a well ordered kitchen

I’ve been enjoying John Rowe (Jim) as Joe in 24 Kildare Rd on R4 this week. (Formulaic storytelling notwithstanding.)