💥 Archers thread #118: Back in time for The Archers - catch up with the catch up until the scriptwriters catch up! Discuss The Archers here.

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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.

Was the writing better then too? We're hearing the best episodes from about 20 years of 6 episodes a week - that leaves scope for a lot of dross to be left out. But I do think that with the turnover of editors since Vanessa Whitburn has left has made things less consistent in style, with a focus more on drama than character at times. (Mind you, she did kill off Nigel for the 6th anniversary, so far from innocent.) Some of the Archers scriptwriters have been around for years, so it's probably all still there.

Having seen when Siobhan and Brian had their affair, it was a time when I was travelling, moving jobs and house a lot, father dieing, so I probably missed quite a few episodes, possibly whole chunks. Perhaps that's why I wasn't so gripped.

The Brookfield lockdown episode was so boring I think I wandered off half way through.

Jennifer not divorcing Brian made financial success for her at the time, because what she wanted in the long term was to force Brian to leave his farm to her two children by other men. If she got as much as half the farm, it still wouldn't have been as good for her ultimate aim.

Great episode. Especially liked Jennifer saying - she's given him a son! Because 4 daughters are not as good as one son.

Brian was desperate for a son. His thought when they talked about Jennifer having a baby at the end of her fertile years,was that it would be a boy. He missed Alice's birth by minutes and bumbled in saying 'let me see my son' or words to that effect.
I think it was Peggy who disabused him!

So,of course, Siobhan's baby had to be a boy to add an extra level of tension. I think this will play out further down the line in terms of inheritance (in Brian's eyes). He hasn't shown any obvious favouritism to Ruari over Kate and Alice so far, but I'm sure the scriptwriters will come up with something ridiculous.

The one who favoured her other children over Kate and Alice was Jennifer: when she was blackmailing him with the "I can't love Ruairi if you don;t obey me" stuff, what she wanted was the farm to be divided 50/50 between Adam and Debbie on Brian's death, with no share for Ruairi -- or for Kate and Alice. Those two were each to get a two-bedroomed holiday cottage on the farm, and Jennifer seemed to see nothing in the least inequitable about that.

Brian insisting that the farm must be divided three ways, Adam/Debbie/Ruairi also left the two children of his actual marriage out in the cold, but Jennifer never mentioning them at all shocked me at the time, and I still find it thoroughly strange behaviour.

Oh my! I'm back in the Mustardland days!

The affairs of Brian's that I can remember are:

Caroline Bone/Pemberton/Sterling - this one didn't last that long, but created a rift between Caroline and Peggy, who both worked at Grey Gables at the time, and obviously also between Caroline and Jennifer.

Mandy Beesborough (silent character, used to run the Pony Club) - he was with her at the races while Jennifer was in labour with Alice, I think.

A totally out of character episode where he made advances to Roy's mother, Betty Tucker (then the cleaner at Home Farm) - in fact, he came close to sexual assault, IIRC, chasing her round the swimming pool. Jill Archer gave Betty advice on how to manage this tricky situation.

Siobhan.

Ah yes, Bandy Kneesborough.

l always thought that Brian and Jenny were well suited to each other.

Didn't Peggy threaten to horsewhip him at one stage?

Yes, that was a glorious moment!

I always assumed (or, no, I came to assume in retrospect) that the SWs gave Jenny the affair with her ex-husband because listeners would otherwise have found her too much of a doormat to be worthy of our affection/sympathy/respect. (But at the same time it didn't seem unlikely.)

It's frustratingly difficult to tell in advance which characters and situations will become iconic. In my memory Betty was magnificent - but I may well not have felt that until she died.

I remember Brian confessing to Jenny SO clearly! I texted my boyfriend who was driving to work!

I also remember being shocked he didn’t leave Jenny, I was sure he would. Was a relatively new listener at that point and didn’t have any Brian backstory.

My son was born about 2 weeks after the birth of Ruairi, so I remember this story line very well indeed. Excellent episode.

Goodness - certainly don't remember Tony being so posh!

Where did Tess eventually end up? 😪

Did the Grundy's somehow manage to keep her with them?

Oh, I do hope so.

A bit like Jennifer having her affair and sex with her ex-husband in 1991 did. She's not blameless either.

Its hardly comparable to Brian's serial philandering. When Travers-Macy turned up he was pursuing her not the other way around and Brian had been off philandering. It was never made explicit that Jenny did more than socialise with Roger - there was a comment about her tights being inside out or some such from which we were invited to assume a one off shag in the afternoon but that was it.

Brian on the other hand jumped anything female and mobile - he even had a crack at Betty.

what she wanted was the farm to be divided 50/50 between Adam and Debbie on Brian's death, with no share for Ruairi -- or for Kate and Alice. Those two were each to get a two-bedroomed holiday cottage on the farm, and Jennifer seeme

That was as much to do with Brian as Jennifer and was a better deal than the non farming Archer siblings received.

The two children interested in farming took control of the farm, the two children with no interest in farming received a package each of which a cottage each was just a part.

I'm going to sound like Jenny's cheer leader but as Brian's wife (and company wife) for 50 odd years she has been a key part of the success of both the farm and Brian having a family life. She has stood by him through philandering, illness and his criminal failings as well as running not just the family but also parts of the business and for a year or two the farm itself when Brian was ill.

There is no reason why she shouldn't be an equal shareholder in the farm.

Oh and I completely agree - I'm far more interested in the Aldridges than the Brookfield yawners.

Me three. I love Jennifer and all the Aldridges, even Kate in a way. Angela Piper is a pretty good actress actually, as the Brine confession scene demonstrated. She has never acted any other part and has done the Archers for so long, I wonder if she somehow feels she inhabits Jennifer.

Far be it For me to differ from anyone, as I’m a lurker and don’t have anything like the TA knowledge which most posters here do. But Jennifer’s brief encounter with her ex, Roger, was during one of the periods I was listening regularly and I could swear we heard some sort of bed-creaking going on during their tryst. But perhaps my febrile imagination!

Or perhaps sheet rustling ...

That's how I remember it, Polyhymnia - just the one occasion but no doubt about it. I remember being a bit shocked.

The Brian's confession scene was good, but the scene I remember best was the one before it with Debbie realising that he was Ruari's father and confronting him in absolute fury. I'd have loved to hear that one again.

Annoyingly the BBC offers a clip of the start of Debbie's inquisition but not the rest.

I'd have liked to hear the full episode, too.

Yesterday’s episode doesn’t seem to be on Sounds. Which is particularly annoying because I almost heard it last night but turned it off so I could have my normal routine this morning (coffee, archers, Guardian crossword). Now I have to do the crossword in silence.