💥 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.

Ha ha, the friends probably thought it was the ideal opportunity to save all of them from having to listen to either of you talk about it!

I see we only have about 80 posts left on this thread. Any suggestions for a title for the next thread? I wonder if we'll be back to the present by then.

But - won't we be talking over the archive period???

Oh yes, PPE, I for one will carry on wittering on about TA! I wouldn't be surprised to see the pace of posting continue a bit slow, though.

Hello

I can't believe I only just found this thread. Been listening to TA since I was a little kid as my mum always listened - she was a complete townie, no interest at all in farming but found it compelling. I'm old enough to remember Adam being bitten by a snake, Colonel Danby, Aunt Laura, Walter & Nelson Gabriel etc. Looking forward to new episodes as and when. I too would love to hear some much older ones again but maybe they only have access to the digital ones, a bit like TMS with old cricket matches.

Welcome, Malbec. I think many of us would have liked the opportunity to re-hear some of the pre-20th century episodes we vaguely recall from our childhoods!

Btw, if you're short of things to do, I daresay all 116 previous threads in this series are still available to view in the MN archives ...

They have been able to play much older episodes than ones from this century occasionally, and they put bits of them up on the BBC Archers website sometimes.

I have heard (via DumTeeDum, the podcast about the Archers). That the plan was for Kathy to come back and be written out properly. But of course the present situation has stopped that at least for the time being.

I wonder why they didnt just write her out properly when she disappeared.

I'd like to hear some of the older stories as well. And if we get reruns of the ghastly Rob or the Death of Nigel I won't bother listening anyway.

It's no good.

Just can't help it.

I really do love Ed. ❤️❤️❤️

I really do love Ed.
He was at his puppy-dog best. He's useless but he is luffly.

I think many of us would have liked the opportunity to re-hear some of the pre-20th century episodes we vaguely recall from our childhoods!

I think pre-20th century could be interesting. What was Ambridge like in Victorian times I wonder?

I'd like to hear

• death of Grace Archer
• Walter Gabriel & elephant
• Jenny being pregnant with Adam
• a montage of Brian's affairs
• some village flower & produce shows & Christmas productions
• Margery Antrobus
• Pip being born and Phil's reaction to her name

A Techie comments: "I think it's been cut for timing. This is 12:28; the original is 13:32." And then having put them side by side: "Just looking at the graphical presentation, I can see that large chunks are the same, but they increasingly don't line up with each other."

If I really cared I suppose I could listen to what was broadcast on 22nd May, 2015, and what was broadcast tonight to find out what got cut, but I do wonder why they had to cut it at all; are the broadcasts not in the same slot now as they were in 2015?

Was that OldTom or NewTom slipping Ed the honeymoon envelope ?

NewTom.

New thread title suggestion Back in time for The Archers - catch up with the catch up until the scriptwriters catch up

TeenPlusTwenties!

Some tiny section of my brain probably registered that it looked wrong, but I paid it no attention.

(Sometimes I feel quite old enough to have had a pre-20th century childhood ...)

Hello ticktackted. Meeting your husband through The Archers sounds very romantic. I had never really noticed that The Archers had gone down to 13 minutes so you could well right about that being the one reason why the older episodes aren’t being relayed. I do know that a lot of old TV and radio programmes were never preserved. You sometimes hear the clip of the flames in the stable and Phil shouting ‘Grace’ but I don’t know what else has actually been kept.

The possibility that the Grundys will inherit Grange Farm sounds ideal for a long and vigorous MN thread - should Oliver leave his money to the people who have supported him or his children and grandchildren?

She rides an Arab; I doubt she is particularly heavy.

Thanks AskingQuestionsAllTheTime. That makes sense. Sadly, it’s probably true that the scriptwriters don’t worry about equine accuracy. I didn’t like the plot where Jakob had to put Lilian’s horses on a diet. It seemed really implausible when Shula has run the stable for years and Lilian has always been a keen rider. I put it down to the appalling levels of sexism in Ambridge.

I enjoyed the wedding tonight, although Will was at his most sanctimonious.

Oh dear ...

I've just remembered Ed describing Nic as Will's "chav girlfriend". Maybe to Clarrie? He was under some pressure at the time (when is he not?) but I remember feeling rather shocked. (And feeling inclined to blame the SW but then acknowledging that Ed inherited his mythical aristocracy in relationship to the land from Joe.)

I’m not sure whether Oliver would leave the farmhouse to the Grundies. I always thought Marjorie Antrobus would leave Nightingale Farm to Hayley. It would be a fairytale ending for the Grundies, but I have always thought that the Grundies are not destined to have a fairytale ending they are destined to strive eternally and the only way they might get one was if The Archers was being wound up. They have already had more lucky breaks thanks to their benefactor than most people in their situation in real life might expect. If TA teaches us anything it is what a lifelong advantage it to be born into a landowning family.

I always thought that too, Lillian. I wanted Hayley and Roy to run a day nursery from Nightingale Farm. Missed opportunity to set up a plausible new rural business. Hayley was a good character and I miss her.

Neil Kinnock once suggested that The Archers should be re-named The Grundys and Their Oppressors. He had a point. The Grundys have consistently had better storylines than the Brookfield Archers for a long time now.

Kenton would have a lot to say if you included him among the oppressors, Gasp0de. As we all know, nobody has such a difficult life as Kenton.

I like Lillians idea for the thread title.
Lockdown birthday for my youngest yesterday so will have to catch up on yesterdays old episode today!

re timings.
They always used to be broadcast 13:40-13:55 (or something), and then in the omnibus edition they cut out a small amount to make it fit.
Then when they moved to 14:02 they just did the shorter episodes anyway.

I think. I could be completely wrong.

And the Sunday evening episode didn't used to exist either, but I think they just added 15mins to the omnibus when that started.

(Sorry, used timings for the afternoon. When I was little my DM used to listen to TA and then we phoned my DGM straight afterwards.)

This thread is ending at exactly the right time - the new thread will be quite a different beast. We won’t have to worry about spoilers for a start. I hope AskingQuestions is going to be available as I expect there will be a lot. I’m thinking of it a revision period - as apart from the major events being covered there will no doubt be hints of other stuff going on in the background.