💥 Archers thread #118: Back in time for The Archers - catch up with the catch up until the scriptwriters catch up! 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 Philip Moss is in line for Employer of the Year, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: OK, there aren't likely to be many for the foreseeable future, but when we do have some, 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.)

Thanks to @LillianGish for the title! This thread starts at a very odd time for The Archers, longest-running soap opera in the world. No new episodes expected till late May , and when we do get them they're not going to sound like normal, as the actors are recording separately at home and the BBC is attempting to cobble it all together. Tough times for the sound effects team!

The BBC is filling the gap by repeating key episodes from the last 20 years. Some of us here will have heard them before, but not all, by any means, so if you want background on what you hear this is the place to ask.

Over to you! I must try to catch up with the repeats at some point today.

Yes. It would be interesting to get an internal monologue from Lily. Unedited. Getting fed up with Russ. Maybe doing a "calling from home" type of job.

Susan is the hands down winner of the new format. Perhaps we can rebadge it radio Borsetshire and she can intersperse it with snippets of her interrogations of other characters.

Borsetshire's Grounded with Susan Theroux

I must say the Horrobin sisters have been better served by the SWs than most, so far. Part of the ... awkwardness seems to be that the others simply haven't established exactly whom they're speaking to - and if it's themselves they haven't been able to pin down a specific and dramatic mood/tone.

By contrast Tracy had a rallying speech to deliver to potential voters, and Susan had, first, the radio show (which was perfect) and then, talking to herself, profound regret and embarrassment.

Wonder if the rest of the cast are .

I must say the Horrobin sisters have been better served by the SWs than most, so far

Oh yes, Tracey could be a regular guest.

Perhaps they are simply amongst the better actors. Monologues will tend to show up the better and the weaker performers I think - much harder to act well alone. ( I speak entirely from observation, my last venture onto the acting stage was at school)

amp.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/30/week-radio-podcasts-the-archers-lockdown-episodes-home-recording?__twitter_impression=true Miranda Sawyer far from impressed by the first two new format episodes.

Thanks for the link Gasp0 - I missed that over the weekend.

The Archers has made a non-drama out of a crisis. Nice!

No real outdoor atmosphere, no actual phone calls, no moving out of a studio. This seems to me to be Miranda Sawyers most interesting point. Why isn't more of TA produced as outside broadcasts?

Is it partly our fault? As listeners we're so fascinated with their studio set up and various sound effects - perhaps we forget that it's actually a show about a farming community. I would love to hear (normal) TA recorded in a less sterile environment.

@C8H10N4O2

I must say the Horrobin sisters have been better served by the SWs than most, so far

Oh yes, Tracey could be a regular guest.

Perhaps they are simply amongst the better actors. Monologues will tend to show up the better and the weaker performers I think - much harder to act well alone. ( I speak entirely from observation, my last venture onto the acting stage was at school)

I wondered that too. A few Christmases ago, Radio 4 broadcast Lynda's production of Blithe Spirit. Charlotte Martin was really excellent. The other day I was listening to an adaptation of Martin Beck and was astonished to hear Susie Riddell's name in the cast. I hadn't recognised her at all.

There's not much to disagree with there.

Why isn't more of TA produced as outside broadcasts?

I suspect that the answer to that, as with many "why don't they" questions, is "money". It costs more to do outside broadcasts than it does to do studio ones, because the studio is all there, known quantity, nine-to-five job; outside broadcasts require all sorts of extra expenses to make them work.

That and "habit": now that they have this wonderful state of the art studio they are so proud to show off, why venture outside it?

The contrast between the layered tarmac'n'cheese and the chilli con carnal.

Long time archers listener but stopped when Tony and Tom changed actors. I heard part of the David monologue and thought it was awful.

However someone suggested the 2 Soosan ones and I loved it. Well acted and well written really suited the character.

Perhaps they could approach Alan Bennett for what Clarrie REALLY thinks.

Today's was quite sweet.

Agree. Emma is really good at this - good acting and genuinely brings a bit of insight into her character, especially her comparing herself to Helen. BOOP!

They over-egged Susan’s sexual openness though.

Excellent, MikeUniformMike.

I was a little surprised that a school would suggest that a child of eight should ask someone who had been there what VE day was like; it was 75 years ago, so they'd need someone over 80, really, and not everyone would have available grandparents of that age. There would be the risk that like Keira, they would be made unhappy because the person they would have asked was now dead.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

I was a little surprised that a school would suggest that a child of eight should ask someone who had been there what VE day was like; it was 75 years ago, so they'd need someone over 80, really, and not everyone would have available grandparents of that age. There would be the risk that like Keira, they would be made unhappy because the person they would have asked was now dead.

I wouldn't have believed a word of what Joe Grundy claimed to remember about VE day. Seriously Asking, that's a good point. Joe was Keira's great grandfather - not everyone would have anyone to ask. Plus, there is more recognition now that not everyone's wartime memories are happy. I quite liked the Jill back story though.

Yes. I liked the episode but the idea of a school setting projects on the basis that most pupils would have someone in their family who was alive during the war was a bit ridiculous. It was clearly included just so they could mention Joe. Sweet but unrealistic.

“I don’t want to end up on Feedback now do I?” Ha ha ha.

I laughed at first.

But do we really believe Susan is a R4 listener?

Surely she was broadcasting from her station of choice?

I have a mild panic attack when I imagine having to listen to Pip's monologue. You might say I don't have to listen, but you'd be wrong. I do have to.

Emma is really good at this - good acting and genuinely brings a bit of insight into her character, especially her comparing herself to Helen

Her basic insecurity comes across very well. But so depressing that she spends the day fretting in case she has upset the feckless lump. It was equally irritating that he couldn't possibly "help" with home schooling or entertaining his own kids becaue he was too busy with his childish competition against Jazza.

Just waiting for Emma's AIBU in a few years - I do three jobs, raised a family sofa surfing and in a caravan, I do everything at home, DH is in and out of work and we can't rely on him but "he's a lovely dad".

I was a little surprised that a school would suggest that a child of eight should ask someone who had been there what VE day was like; it was 75 years ago, so they'd need someone over 80

Also assumes that they had grandparents in this country (or at least Western Europe). God forbid a village in the midlands acknowledge its wider community.

I strongly suspect that the VE project storyline is left over from the scripts that they binned after finally accepting they'd have to put Ambridge into lockdown with the rest of us. We should have been hearing this as one strand amongst many others in the week ending Friday 8th May. We might also have had Jill's wartime memories but probably directly from her. I wish we'd actually got Peggy's, as she was a young woman during the war, so that would have been another perspective. It will be ages before we can hear June Spencer again, though.

Half a week now before we get any more TA. Pah.

he was too busy with his childish competition against Jazza.
Sheep shearing is an actual job, though, and hard work at this time of year. They weren't doing it just for giggles.