💥 Archers thread #117: Welcome to the only C19-free area in the world! 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 think Phoebe is a genius, 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/3853783--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-5-Cant-wait-for-7-02pm-Join-us-here, 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.)

I put the BOOM! emoticon in the title as I thought it could transition into a vague likeness of a virus if we're still going by early May, when we expect some wild contortions from the production team to get Ambridge back in synch with the rest of the world. I think I would have preferred them to ignore it altogether but I suppose they couldn't.

There was far too much MeandEd and Pip in that episode.

I do get grumpy when Clarrie is a doormat but while she and Emma have made compromises, their relationships come across as very real and based on love.

Tonight was the last of the recordings wasn’t it? I am quite looking forward to the old episodes.

How come the DJ managed to secure a booking so quickly when the nation is in lockdown?

In the Ambridge alternative universe, no-one is in lockdown.

I wondered if Roy booked the DJ, hence had the number saved in his phone and the DJ accepting his cancellation.

De lurking just to say that actually I thought Roy and Kirsty sounded slightly off as if they'd been recorded separately. Maybe I'm just imagining it. What will I do now ...!?!!

I wondered if tonight’s episode had been re-edited to give us a straightforward, happy even (I know there are some disappointed listeners ) ending before we go into this new phase of life in Ambridge. I’m not saying the MeandEd thing was all an afterthought. I think we were going to get the Emma and Ed reconciliation anyway but they might have tidied it up a bit - so we got Kirsty and Roy sounding a bit tinny as if they might be in different rooms, and a lot more of Emma & Ed than we possibly needed.

I was hoping Roy was going to say he’d had a blood test that showed his drinks had been contaminated and that he suspected Gavin. Then Roy and Kirsty could have done their sleuthing thing. I don’t like how blind Kirsty is to the nastiness of Gavin. She’s totally taken in by the nice-guy image he’s now showing her. Yet a few short months ago he was utterly vile to her. And what was Gavin doing taking Roy’s phone and changing the DJ booking? Is he just gaslighting Roy for the hell of it? I don’t believe Gavin’s capable of complicated planning and I can’t see what he’s gained by doing this. Nobody suspects him, the wedding‘s still on, Blake is back in the Place he lives with the other two men. Philip doesn’t seem to suspect anything amiss. And Gavin does not wanton upset his father. I don’t think Gavin suspects that Harrison has smelled any rats. Philip might do. So what was the point of it?

• I didn’t mean Place but place. My keyboard must have been doing French addresses in secret - and now I’ve rumbled it!

• want to not wanton. I can’t blame the keyboard for that too.

Langsdestiny
He reminds me of those men who are wannabe musicians when they are old enough to know better.

Like his dad then?

I think the police are already on to Philip and Gavin and they are under surveillance. It seems unlikely Blake would have been able to lie convincingly under police questioning. Is it possible Harrison already knows? Philip said he'd driven him home to his family (in Norfolk?) so my guess is Kirsty or Roy will spot Blake somewhere and then everything will come crashing down.

I cannot believe Emma is suddenly happy to live in a mobile home. It's been discussed to death in previous threads but surely as a low income earner with 2 dependents she would be entitled to enough Housing Benefit, Working Credits etc that would enable her to rent a small property. I feel sad for her.

OK, that was 'sort of' a nice episode. If Emma really is a reformed character who no longer has unrealistic expectations of Ed, then that's fine.

I hope they have a lovely life in the new mobile home. A couple of weeks ago I would have been advising him to run for the hills, but now it somehow feels right for Ed and Emmur to get back together.

The pressure of worrying about making money is largely off. It's bound to make life easier for them.

Is she still working at the chicken factory?

I wondered if tonight’s episode had been re-edited to give us a straightforward, happy ending I definitely think the SWs have brought the story to a halt at a convenient point before they go into lockdown recording. What I'm not clear about is if, when we finally resume, we'll have missed a month in Ambridge. If so will we have missed the wedding? I'm still not clear about MeanEd's mobile home. I'd like to think it is a park home type structure (especially with its new house sign) and since Em referred to it as her forever home. But when Ed saw it he assumed travellers had pitched up which implies something smaller and more portable.

I’m puzzled about the mobile home too. Is it a second hand one? It has to be, no? They couldn’t afford a brand new one, surely. I do agree the police are onto Philip and Gavin but, whereas Philip is clearly concerned, I don’t think Gavin suspects yet. Well, he’s clearly nervous. I wonder if we’ll go back to Ambridge later and be presented with Mrs Moss the jailbird’s wife. It would be good if we didn’t have to hear the nuptials especially as we all know the truth. Oh well, what’ll be will be.

I think I Emma got it from a friend of Jolene’s, UnholyStramash. Interesting to read suggestions that there have been a few re-edits before Ambridge goes into lockdown. My worry is that I will have forgotten everything and have no idea what’s happening when the new episodes start!

That makes sense about Jolene’s involvement, @nettie434.

So what's going to happen now? It's midnight going into April 1st!

Is corona virus just going to decimate Ambridge - about six weeks later than the rest of us?

Hang on a minute ... Is Oliver still hiding out at Grange Farm or had he moved back to Grey Gables? Because of all the people who were in on Emma's secret he's surely the most important person she'd need to have spoken to.

I did note the SW's acknowledgement (in the script!) that they were so keen to get Ed n Emma back together they hadn't yet taken the time to establish whether or not the mobile home would be allowed to stay there.

Oh well. Lord knows where we'll be when they recommence.

I think the point of Gavin's action was to an extent punishing Roy for having the temerity to interfere in their affairs, and to reduce Kirsty's trust in him.

I wonder if they'll use coronavirus to get rid of some of the characters we never hear from? If so, bye bye Kathy and Jamie. I suspect Christine's for the chop, too.

Did you hear Ed ask the same question as me about whether planing permission was required?

Yes. I hope they'll be very happy.
What will I do with no TA?

I was a little disappointed that we had another day of tidying up the MeanEd story. I would have liked to tidy up the Snells story, too.

Meanwhile: extremely unimpressed with Lilian's "business advice" to Pip which seemed basically to encourage 'deceit and slipperiness' rather than 'open, adult discussions which result in consensus'. Ugh. no wonder she ends up with toads like Matt and Justin.

Planing permission sounds a bit drastic, MereDint

Did they need to trim bits off the mobile home before it would fit into its new location at Grange Farm?

Yes. I hope they'll be very happy.
What will I do with no TA?

My feelings exactly. I’ve been listening to TA for so long, it’s going to be very odd to just have re runs of classic episodes for a month.

I'm really upset that they're not going back into the twentieth century, as I understand it - episodes from the past 20 years don't count as "classics" for me. I'd want to hear the episode from the first night of ITV, amongst others. Are they doing John and the tractor? (I'm sorry, I can't find a list of the exact episodes they will be broadcasting but I think I remember seeing there was nothing earlier than the year 2000?)

I would really like to hear John and the tractor, if that's not too morbid. It's the basis for all the relationships and dynamics of the family.