💥 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.

Does anybody remember whether David was the golden child with Phil 'n Jill? Is that where he gets the idea from? Ruth's an only isnt she, so didn't come ready trained in larger-family dynamics.

Isn't it obvs?

Sorry was in an arse of a mood yesterday after having to translate a document that seemed to be a string of English words but not sentences.

What happened to the fish?

The dolphins ate them, Mike. (This will only make any sense if you are a Douglas Adams fan.)

What a long time it is till Sunday evening.

Sorry, to complete that thought... Josh seems to have a touch of Uncle Kenton about him and I wonder whether Kenton had his varied, initially overseas and often impulsively entrepreneurial career, partly as a result of knowing he was not his parents' golden child. Or was it just that he wasn't interested in farming and David was?

I feel I know this to be true, from Kenton's point of view at least, from his consistent attitude of low-key resentment towards 'Dave'. But I don't know whether that derived intitially from their parents' attitudes, or from Kenton's own choices and behaviour.

I think the SW concentrated on Pip to make the point that not all farmers are men, and it doesn't automatically have to be the boy that inherits.

But generations of unfairness does not justify treating Josh so badly.

(Though I think he knew full well that some of his vehicle dealings were dodgy)

Langsdestiny
I have just noticed they seemed to have stopped all the smutty jokes thank goodness.

That's because this week's scripts were by Keri Davies. Last week's were by Daniel Thurman, his second week of scripts.

lottiegarbanzo, Kenton was the Golden Child and brilliant at school (he's been re-writing this ever since he first invented "David was always the favourite", but his version simply isn't true) but elected to run away to sea when he was sixteen rather than go to the trouble of staying to take his A-levels. That was in 1974, and it left David to do the boring farm stuff Kenton had never been in the least interested in.

When Kenton (probably having been sacked, certainly having left his ship very abruptly) deigned to come back to Ambridge and start to sponge off his parents in 1988, there was not a lot of need for him on the farm, and he was a useless and casual farmer anyway. Then he got ill with a thyroid problem, then he got into trouble with the law over a company he and a friend set up to sell shares, then he got into trouble because the antiques shop he had bought from Nelson went bust (on account of selling stolen goods, including some of his brother's wedding presents, among other irregularities and because Kenton was too idle to make a success of it) and had books which would certainly not have stood up to any scrutiny, and then he hoofed it for Australia to get away from his troubles, only coming back again in 2002.

The only interest he's ever shown in the farm has been as a source of money for Kenton that Kenton has not had to do any work for.

The farmers I know would not encourage their daughters to go into farming if there were sons.

The idea of the daughter taking over the family farm would probably mean a son-in-law running it (OK, I know I'm old fashioned). The daughter's children would probably have their father's surname.

Local people would say to each other things like ' he only married her for the farm'.

Oh, I remember Nelson's antique shop (and wine bar). I liked Nelson a lot, (in a 'good company but never lend him any money' sort of way). He, Nigel, Mrs Antrobus and, because he's a rounded charachter, Brian, have been some favourite charcters down the years.

Hadn't known or remembered Kenton buying the shop. Josh's story does seem to echo Kenton's deficiencies there somewhat.

What about Lynda's sniff, though?

Is it only me who heard that and thought, "She's on the mend now?"

lottiegarbanzo
Josh's story does seem to echo Kenton's deficiencies there somewhat.

It does rather! The differenceis that when I wrote that Kenton bought the antiques business, what actually happened was that Phil bought it for him, and Mark and Shula rented him the shop. And before that, Phil paid his fines over the illegal share-dealing in order to keep him out of prison. And when he went bust in Australia, phil paid his back-tax to keep him out of prison.

David has never as far as we know given Josh a bent 2p piece to help him with his business; instead, he has charged him rent.

I grew up in a rural area and all the farmers around me were women. However I dont know if they were only children, or had simply outlived their husbands. They all lived to a good age.

So that ties in with Kenton having been the childhood favourite, for whom his parents still clung on to higher hopes. (Or were just willing to do anything to keep him out of prison, which seems pretty natural, with any child, especially one who's foolish not evil).

It also ties in with David's particular prickliness about getting money loaned to Kenton back, given K had become used to being bailed out by the family.

I'm sure you're right about Lynda's sniff! (Might need to re-listen). Am very much looking forward to her, (as predicted by pp) Rear Window-esque sleuthing activities re Blake and the Mosses.

Thanks, lottiegarbanzo!

I'm sure it was significant.

< sigsnifficant? >

< sigsnifficant? >
v.g.
It was a definite, but subtle, sign to the over-infested that the Lynda we know is on her way back.

Oh, thanks, R4. I hope so.

I ❤ Lynda, you see.

Just a tiny bit more than I ❤ Freddie.

Can't stand Pip though

Isn't it obvs

Yes you are right MUM. I never seem to preview the posts where I have made typos, only the ok ones

Might listen again to hear the Lynda Sniff.

I hadn’t realised Kenton had quite such a ropey past so thanks for all that background AskingQuestionsAllTheTime. I do remember the wine bar (Jaxx) which I think he managed until it was sold. I think he is Jill’s favourite - she always seems to make allowances for him. However, all the Ambridge brothers make Cain and Abel look inseparably devoted to each other.

Jaxx (previously Daff's Caff) was bought by Jack Woolley, who was then blackmailed by Kenton into letting him continue to run it after a six-month trial during which he was thoroughly unsatisfactory. Jack was starting to show symptoms of Alzheimer's and forgot something to do with Kenton, and Kenton used this lapse shamelessly to make Jack miserable and cause him to give Kenton the benefit of a doubt that did not actually exist. It was a horrid little bit of behaviour.

Elizabeth, the youngest and weakly one, has always been Jill's favourite. Jill called her "brave and beautiful" when she had just broken up Hayley's marriage! (Yes, Roy was also to blame, but Elizabeth was absolved immediately by her mother.)

Oh good.

It's understandable that Lizzie was spoilt. Kenton was always a bit reckless, and Shula a lot more sensible, but she had her moments.

You are the Empress of Archers Detail AskingQuestionsAllTheTime. How do you manage? 👏👏👏👏

Had forgotten Jill & Elizabeth. I loved Hayley . Jill takes her role as a matriarch a bit too seriously. I found her conversation with Ben after he stayed out all night really uncomfortable.

Didn’t Ben start it? I’m not sure if I remember correctly but I thought he teased Jill about staying with Leonard a while ago.

nettie434, it's a knack. I have access to about twenty Archers books, plus the printed "Who's Who"s from 2003 to 2012, Lowfield from 1997, recorded episodes from November 2009 onwards, and a memory going back to the beginning about some things (and then I check it...)

Ben did start it by teasing her about Leonard. I think it's meant to be Heartwarming That they Are So At Ease Together -- a bit like Josh bonding with Jill over the beekeeping.

And once again ...

Have been trying to rush through putting grocery delivery away, so as to be free by 7pm ...