Archers thread #116: Pandemic fears, markets crash but it's BOOM 💥 time for Ambridge. 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 employ Philip Moss & Son to fix your soil pipe, 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! (New thread likely to be replacing that one very soon, in the current circumstances.)

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 @SurpriseSparDay for the thread title idea, which I tweaked, and @springydaff for the 💥 emoticon, which I hope is in the title! (Can't preview the title). Welcome, lurkers and lapsed listeners, drawn out of the shadows by the current crisis in Ambridge. In the OP of the last thread I said I didn't think we'd get to Easter on that thread. We certainly didn't!

I am very worried indeed about Lynda and concerned about Oliver too. Don't care about Gavin unless it means Kirsty is cheated out of yet another wedding. Freddie's redemption is now assured, though, surely? Roll on the return of the Lower Loxley crew.

I’m afraid the deading of Lynda might be what leads to the reinstatement of the Bull. In her memory. I hope I’m wrong, but...

Agree with everyone about SO MUCH presaging going on in last night's episode. Also, I thought the oddness about Kirsty's cuppa was double strange when Roy repeated his question - he sounded to me as if he might be having some sort of problem with amnesia, though he then seemed quite compos mentis about the band and the DJ (or maybe he also repeated himself there, I CBA to LA?). Did he not get concussion in the explosion, or have I just made that bit up to suit my own story? Adam as an exceptionally "one of the men who always sound tired" definitely seemed a candidate to have caught the virus and I am very worried about Lindy, too, to be honest. Also, Oliver could succumb. I think I am happier leaving Ambridge as an alternative universe, rather than its being touch with the real world today. But it's very odd how there are already 3 candidates for COVID-19 in Ambridge after last night's script, which must have been written way before China declared what was happening.

EastEnders has ceased filming. And they’re reducing the number of broadcasts per week so they can keep going for longer.

Anticipating a cutting down of Archers broadcasts per week?

Not being a killjoy here (and I bet you're all going to have a go at me!) but I wish people would stop using the expression "deading" (and all variations thereof) on here.

It was possibly mildly cute and amusing for the first few times, but now it really isn't.

Not just in light of everything that is going on at the moment either - it just sounds ridiculous and a bit childish, don't you think?

< runs for cover 😲 >

The idea of no new Archers episodes is hard to take in, if it comes to that. Surely they could record a few monologues over the phone? If they need two-handers Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennett are presumably well placed to do that, since they live together. I wonder if the Troughton father and son combo are near each other. Felicity Finch is an accomplished broadcaster - perhaps she could record her own scenes and send them through. (Yes, I'm so desperate I'm even suggesting Ruth should have more air time.)

As for the idea of filling up the schedules with archive recordings, Keri Davies said on Twitter the other day that they don't have anything like all episodes. The BBC kept very little of what was recorded for the first few decades. I think they have everything since the mid-80s and odd episodes from earlier times. (Some might say they're all odd, but I have no truck with such as those.)

They do, however, have all the scripts.

Not optimistic about Lynda. If somebody had asked me to rank all the regular characters in order of loseability, she would have come near the bottom of the list. I can only assume Carole Boyd has asked to leave, if we're all right.

’m afraid the deading of Lynda might be what leads to the reinstatement of the Bull. The Snell Arms?

Did he not get concussion in the explosion, or have I just made that bit up to suit my own story? He got a head wound. Concussion wouldn't seem unlikely.

So perhaps a combination of going down to maybe two or three current episodes per week + some archive recordings?

However. Podcasts are a home-made thing aren’t they? And I’ve had the impression they’re pushing the Archers in that direction anyway. Someone who knows said in a R4 interview a few weeks ago that The Archers would not be possible without the licence fee (or alternative funding, presumably?) so they must have already been making plans.

I bet that’s what they’ll do. One character per podcast, narrating/stringing together recent and archive material. It would at least be a more nimble way of making the show - they’d be able to respond at will to new events.

Fear not (for the moment) Susan Carter has tweeted that she is heading off for a spot of shelf-stacking in the village shop!

She and Neil obviously caught the last plane out of Lanzarote.

I imagine there will be a lot of scenes set in the village shop for the next few weeks.

Hopefully, one day, somebody will come along and explain the whole contrived GG explosion, but it doesn't look good for Lynda.

If they decide to broadcast reruns, I'm not sure I can take the stress of the Helen/Rob saga all over again.

You're right: Helen and Rob would be what they chose, wouldn't it.

I think Roy said he'd been cut by a bit of broken glass; surely he'd have phrased it differently if he'd been hit by a large bit of wood or masonry?

Reruns would be great.
We could have 60 years (or whatever) of highlights:

• Grace Archer and the fire
• Jennifer being an unmarried single mum
• Walter Gabriel and his elephant
• Something from Nelson Gabriel and his antiques / wine bar
• Coming up with the names Shula & Kenton

etc

They could have 'theme weeks'

• village shows of yesteryear
• babies being born
• highs and lows of the Grundys

Maybe they’ll scrap all the now completely irrelevant yet to be broadcast recent recordings?

Put everything on hold and then just catch up whenever that becomes possible.

I wish people would stop using the expression "deading" (and all variations thereof) on here

Is 'I hope that the people predicting Lynda's demise are correct and that she WILL die' sufficiently uncutsey for you? As to questions of taste, death isn't a newfangled corona virus thing,- it's been going on for rather a long time, 100% take-up rate.

Getting back to La Snell: anyone else think that, medically speaking, they are getting it all rather wrong? And is anyone surprised by that?

Not being a killjoy here
Did you mean deadjoy?

it just sounds ridiculous and a bit childish, don't you think?
That's the point. Soap deaths are often ridiculous.

I find it odd that they were very specific about “full thickness burns” yet now seem to have her condition not reflect at all what the consequences of such burns would be.

"Dedding" has a long history, back to the glory days of Mustardland, maybe even the blue boards. I suspect it won't die out quickly.

Trying to ded it is futile, in fact?

Instead of reducing the number of episodes per week it would be better if they cut the length of each one by 20% ...

I guess it all depends how many they have stockpiled.

I don't think they can have many stockpiled if they are still running episodes written and recorded before cv19 was a factor they'd have to take into account.

Keri said recently it varies but roughly recordings are about a month ahead of broadcast time.

What about all the Ambridge Extra episodes? When Lilian and thingy went off to South America?

Oh lord - don’t make me listen to those again. Serious bilge.

I must confess I didn’t at the time.

I didn't listen to those either, but can do without hearing Alistair say 'so fresh'.

I didn't listen to AmX, and don't wish to.