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 never thought of Spike Milligan as "cute" and isn't he where "deading" originated?

Sorry to hark back a bit.
But Tracey and Emma did not go into the kitchen. They went into the staff room where food was being stored.
The kitchen has 3 doors, one to the restaurant (blocked for the building works), one to the staff room, which Lynda opened, and the fire door to outside.
Presumably the builder had used the external door to access the kitchen, and it must have been him who turned on the grill as he was working alone.
Hugh was using temporary hot plates in a corner of the dining room to cook breakfast. And Tracey was going to ask him to do her some when it got quiet as the smell was so tempting.
With a puddle of presumably contaminated water in the kitchen, no food would have been coming from there.

Can someone explain to me how a podcast is a cheaper option than a normal radio programme?

Maybe it might be daily a monologue by a different character each time, rather than a podcast (which would include a monologue), @Taswama?

It seems I will be heaped with opprobrium for saying this, but I stopped listening in protest when Nigel uttered his dying scream, and gently went back to listening later in the year after becoming quite interested in Ambridge Extra. Though I fully agree that "that" Alistair storyline was ghastly. But probably still prferable to Rob and Helen, which was another occasion when I stopped listening.

“We have enough episodes recorded to keep going for a number of weeks” and they’re thinking what to do next. “Considerable challenges”. TA Editor quoted on PM prog just now.

Jaichangecentfoisdenom
I never thought of Spike Milligan as "cute" and isn't he where "deading" originated?

Well, the Goons. Bluebottle was Peter Sellars, so it could probably be said to have been him; he created that character. "You dirty rotten swine you! You've deaded me again! I shan't play this rotten game no more!" and "Are you sure I won't be deaded?" for example. One one occasion he asked the announcer to tell the audience that he had not been deaded that week, since the dreaded deading generally happened in every episode.

On the BBC boards it was generally spelt with a double d, not an ea.

Apparently the Editor Jeremy Howe says

"For the time being we have enough episodes recorded to keep taking listeners to Ambridge as usual for the weeks ahead but like everyone else we are faced with an unprecedented situation.
"We’re working on plans for beyond this given there are significant challenges and the safety and wellbeing of our production team and cast are paramount. We’re sure listeners will understand this and we’ll update as plans become clearer."

I was the one being told off. I'll keep my trap shut from now on.

What door was Emma going on about when the explosion happened? She said her and Tracey had just gone through that door that collapsed. Roy also asked if they'd seen anyone else in the kitchen, and Emma said just the workman, so they must have gone in the kitchen for some reason.

If they'd have come out of the staffroom, they would have seen Freddie was in there.

Yes wasnt part of Emma's shock that she had just been in there a few minutes before, I am sure that Ed mentioned it as well but I may be dreaming.

Everything seems like a dream at the moment

Please don't, @5000FlapjacksofJillArcher! Your username is magnificent. I don't want to see anybody's trap shut.

@TeenPlusTwenties
I’m absolutely with you on wishing that they would just ignore the whole pandemic and carry with the everyday dramas (and explosions).

I don’t need to hear all that on the radio if it’s happening all around us.

We could all meet up again at sometime in the future when things are a bit more normal in rl

Did the fire report mention the grill being on? Was it Blake's bacon sarnie that Tracy smelt?

(Yes, I'm so desperate I'm even suggesting Ruth should have more air time.)

Good idea about Tony and Tom, Shula and Brian dialogues, Gasp0de. Actually Shula and Brian hardly ever talk to each other. The only conversations I really remember were over Shula representing Ruari in the trust or whatever it is. They may also had a clash over the IBR virus Pip spread (well ok then, it wasn’t Pip in person but it was her responsibility that the cows escaped). All seems so minor now.

Ruth could have one of her ‘Come on, girl’ soliloquies in the parlour with the cows. She could probably even do the mooing if she doesn’t have any mooing tapes to hand.

Re the question about podcasts (sorry, I can’t remember who asked this). I think they are cheaper because they just involve people talking so they are not expensive in terms of the time to collect interviews and edit them. There is no music unless the podcast is a previously broadcast or a curated playlist so there are no performing rights cost. Also, they are not broadcast live. This means they don’t need continuity. I think all this is why Radio 4 Extra is so much cheaper than a live station. All the programmes are prerecorded on a loop. Once something went wrong on Radio 4 Extra in the middle of the night and it was hours before anyone on the station actually noticed.

I reckon something is most definitely wrong with Roy (forgetting where he'd left his car and reporting it to the police). After the obsession with cups of tea yesterday.

Oh no! Who was first with the Roy thing? Well spotted.

Oh Lynda was a red herring, they are going to kill Roy.

But it doesn’t sound like the result of concussion (more than a week later) - more like a brain tumour? (Assuming they’re not giving him early onset dementia.)

I’m guessing he’ll be persuaded to go to the doctor in relation to his head injury, and then on further investigation be diagnosed with something else.

Scary ...

Bugger, I've not listened yet and am not happy to learn here that I apparently had the crystal ball vision correct for Roy

You lot! You made me think something spectacular had happened
,! And so did the BBC Sounds one liner. Bitterly disappointed

What school year is Ben? Is he meant to be doing GCSEs?

No - he was born on 15 March 2002 - so this should be his A’ level year. (We have teens this age at home - tough day for them!)

Why d’you ask?