💥 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.

At the end of this (assuming there is an end) it'd be really nice if someone, somewhere, could post a plot summary, for those of us who have lost the will to switch on the radio at 7pm.

Kirsty’s situation is turning into another Rob and Helen type thing for me. I stopped listening then because the need to get the issue on the air seemed to overwhelm the normal behaviour of the characters. Why did Pat the feminist take Rob’s side at every possible juncture etc. Kirsty isn’t a misty eyed fool so why is she being turned in to one?

it'd be really nice if someone, somewhere, could post a plot summary
Couldn't say, really. There seems to be a lot of treading water and people having bitchy inner-thoughts.
I got quite excited by the mention of "A man who is in charge of a criminal operation leaving his unlocked phone lying around" because I read it as "criminal investigation" but it was Philip's phone, not Harrison's. Long story short: Kirsty's virtual hen night was an excuse for the SW to get her to use P's phone so she had another eggshells conversation (off air, of course, because we can't have a two-hander) and she still doesn't realise that he's a bad 'un.
I didn't listen at 7:02 either. I preferred to be out in RL countryside drinking in a thousand different shades of green in the dappled sunshine, discovering the most recent flowers in bloom, listening to all the birds of Borsetshire and foraging wild cherries.

I didn't enjoy last night's episode.

I don't understand why Kirsty was having a virtual hen night - I thought the plan was to marry in secret, have an engagement party and announce they were married. Even if I have missed the wedding announcement, why would you have a hen night if your wedding was not imminent (which I'm assuming it can't be due to lockdown). Why am I finding it so hard to follow when so little is happening Also why haven't we had any scenes with Philip and Gavin explaining what's happening to their charges during lockdown. Are we to assume they have just abandoned them? I'm not at all clear where they are living and how P and G stop them going out and about in normal circumstances. They don't live in an outbuilding or caravan on premises belonging to P and G (which is how I understand perpetrators usually get away with this sort of thing). Can someone remind me where Gavin is living at the moment.

Kirsty said (thought?) that Gavin is at his mums.

Can anyone explain why 20-something junior doctor whatsername is encouraging (for want of a better word) lovesick teenager Ben?

Chloe?

I think it's sweet! About time we had a Dr Archer. (Yes, I know she'd probably keep her own name.)

Can anyone explain why 20-something junior doctor whatsername is encouraging (for want of a better word) lovesick teenager Ben?
Chloe is v v busy at the moment, obvs. She is grooming Ben to be her own personal Deliveroo service, preferably of his grandma's famed-throughout-Borsetshire cooking. And honey, known for its medicinal properties, will be an added bonus. She doesn't have to actually put up with him in person - due to social distancing - and can bin him when lockdown is over.

How old is ben?

Ben Archer.

I just watched the clip of the cast singing Berwick Green and on there, large as life, was Kathy. Is she coming back after her long silence?

@PerditaProvokesEnmity

Chloe?

I think it's sweet! About time we had a Dr Archer. (Yes, I know she'd probably keep her own name.)

I bet she wouldn't PPE. Poor Chloe would be banished to the Brookfield kitchen to learn how to make lemon drizzle cake and whip up a few curtains for the wedding white elephant barn. There is something in the River Am that affects women's brains - eg Jolene and Fallon, two perfectly independent women when they appeared. More realistically, TASAMA - I can't remember if I have got the abbreviation right. Misogynistic scriptwriters anyway!

Thanks Pereira- not creepy then

Perdita rather.

It's unlikely - but I know at least two happily married middle-aged couples who first got together as sixth formers or during their gap years ...

Oh, it's TASWAMA - The Archers Script Writers Are Misogynist Arseholes. (Credit to BertrandRussell .)

My sibling and sibling-in-law got together at school - met in a local pub.
They've been married for over 30 years.

Chloe is about 7 years older than Ben.

Ruth avoided the River Am, and on here we have the nerve to criticise her cooking.

Dr Chloe Archer would be a part time GP and would be a whizz at all things domesticated.

Ruth criticises her own cooking, so I don't see why we shouldn't as well: I don't think anything she has cooked has ever been mentioned on air by her or anyone else as tasting good.

Which makes me wonder why the hell David has not learned how to cook, which would be a sensible response to living with someone who turns ingredients into inedible instead of into food.

I preferred to be out in RL countryside drinking in a thousand different shades of green in the dappled sunshine, discovering the most recent flowers in bloom, listening to all the birds of Borsetshire and foraging wild cherries. No contest. I'm stupid to even think of listening to TA. I'm not even cooking tea at the moment - the last two nights we have dined on strawberries and greek yogurt..

Kirsty said (thought?) that Gavin is at his mums. Doesn't that just mean he is living where he can keep an eye on the "workers"? For whom, I presume Philip is getting full furlough assistance from the Government.

@PerditaProvokesEnmity

Oh, it's TASWAMA - The Archers Script Writers Are Misogynist Arseholes. (Credit to BertrandRussell .)

Ah yes - I assumed it was scriptwriters. Anyway, sentiments are 100% right. Thanks PPE & BertrandRussell.

But surely they won't be on the books?

I doubt that Phil has furloughed the 'horses'. They are probably not on any payroll.

It has been a good year for strawberries. I have many as they have been rampaging through the garden. I'm not keen on them. Maybe I could pass them on to Adam, or maybe Jill could make some jam.

Listening to Susan and Tracey talking is a superb way of getting to sleep for an afternoon nap.
And not minding that I missed it on waking

@LillianGish :
Why am I finding it so hard to follow when so little is happening 

• so true!

So Philip wriggles out of it again and lives to lie another day. When will this story line end?