💥 Archers thread #119: Has the Bull reopened? Will Ambridge pull through? We’ve all dozed off and haven't a clue. Moan about the monologues 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 we should have monologues all the time from now on, 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.)

Thanks to PPE on the last thread for the title suggestion, which I tweaked a bit.

As for the current state of affairs: here's how it could have been done. www.youtube.com/channel/UCvRSVdfQWAjNhNu1AtABYjw Nigel Pargetter returns, albeit in spectral form. I loved these.

I don't love the current set up. Very, very hit and miss for me - but I am too much of an addict to give it up. Looking for a silver lining, maybe the rather clunky trot through the Aldridge family tree last night was helpful to newer listeners. It is rather convoluted. In 12.5 minutes they managed to explain that Adam and Debbie are Jennifer's children by different fathers, that Debbie's father Roger Travers-Macy adopted Adam, that after he and Jenny divorced she married Brian and that he (secretly) loves Adam and not nearly so secretly adores Debbie. I don't think they explicitly stated that Kate and Alice are Brian's children with Jenny, but they did manage to squeeze in a mention of Siobhan and Ruairi, and explain that Xander is Adam's son by a surrogate and has no genetic connection to either Brian or Xander's other father Ian. Phew!

I'm rather enjoying the Alice plot. I think it is well done although I have no personal experience of alcoholism. Jenny seems absent recently. Will she visit Alice in her office with a nice flask of coffee and some cake or does she only do that for the men?

Has the daily posting rate declined in line with the reduction in episodes?

Easy enough to check: the dates are on all the posts, and we have threads going back into the Mists Of Time.

I am not volunteering to do it, though!

@Taswama, yes, see DDD's post yesterday. Very low posting rate at present.

Daily posting rates going back to last year (I have more). Graph for those who prefer info that way.

thread start date ... posts per day
2019
03 Jan... 50
22 Jan... 44
14 Feb... 51
05 Mar... 56
23 Mar... 55
10 Apr... 46
01 May... 66
16 May... 59
01 Jun... 39
26 Jun... 34
24 Jul... 44
15 Aug... 49
04 Sep... 42
27 Sep... 37
23 Oct... 37
18 Nov... 40
13 Dec... 30

2020
13 Jan... 35
10 Feb... 34
10 Mar... 47
31 Mar... 28
05 May... 16
07 Jul... 11

Wow! Thanks, DDD.

Thanks @DadDadDad . So it looks like the posting rate was declining even before the frequency and format of episode changed but has worsened since. Maybe changes to listening habits have also changed posting habits. I used to listen over breakfast or while doing some leisurely laundry sorting in the evening. My days started earlier and finished later in March - July due to juggling work and home schooling so I often listen to two or three episodes in a row and then post (once I've found the thread again as I've invariably fallen off it.)

It might just be that there has been progresively less of interest in TA to comment on over the past two or three years, as well.

progressively, dammit!

It might just be that there has been progresively less of interest in TA to comment on over the past two or three years, as well

Also that the characters are less and less credible. Its a soap, personality fairies and absurdities with planning are par for the course but I'm really bored with characters having random changes, stories stopping and starting without going anywhere and the continuing TASWAMA portrayal of the women.

I've been simply forgetting to listen to the utterly forgettable lockdown wankery. This week I thought I'd try the omnibus to see if it worked better. Its actually worse, I lost the will to listen long before it was finished.

The Alice story is good because we have known her since she was a baby, and the story has been brewing for years.

the story has been brewing for years.
Given Alice's choice of tipple, that should probably read 'fermenting for years'.

I’ve not posted for ages, and only listen on and off these days.
What happened to the Philip the gang master storyline? Has it been abandoned?

Shelved. Harrison's actor has said that he will be catching them, which makes it very unlikely to happen: they hate it when the actors say anything in advance about storylines that are in progress. Two at least have not appeared again after they said in public how much more they were going to be in the programme, and in at least one case a recorded episode never got broadcast. (Matt's brother's ex-wife: I forget her name, but she was Known for being in something else. She said she had recorded six episodes, and only ever appeared in five after she had said so.)

Oh well. I was looking forward to Kirsty going apeshit.

Anita Dobson, Angie from Eastenders, married to Brian May from Queen. Perhaps she miscounted or misremembered or there was a bit of editorial rejigging. I never expected her to be in TA for very long.

I hoped she wouldn't be: it was a terrible part, with nothing but ranting temper in it.

Harrison's actor has said that he will be catching [Philip the gang master], which makes it very unlikely to happen: they hate it when the actors say anything in advance about storylines that are in progress. Two at least have not appeared again after they said in public how much more they were going to be in the programme
Does this mean the end of Harrison? The end of PC Plot, the most boring nonentity in Borsetshire? Hurrah!

I can never forgive him for what he did to Freddie. I'm surprised that the Archer clan hadn't run him out of town long before this.

Very good R4.

Gavin has got another job, isn't it?

www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-08-10/coronation-street-todd-grimshaw-actor-gareth-pierce/

Maybe his dad will bog off as well.

Does this mean the end of Harrison? The end of PC Plot, the most boring nonentity in Borsetshire? Hurrah!

I doubt it. He could well have been joking, but even if he wasn't all they need to do is a quick revamp of the projected storylines so someone else arrests Philip and Gavin.

someone else arrests Philip and Gavin.
Who might that 'someone' be - are we anticipating another sting operation by Joy Horville, PI?

Hang on, have I missed something?

It's 2:02pm on Monday afternoon. Where's The Archers?

Surely there should be one of those painfully awkward monologue episodes, shouldn't there?

Admittedly I haven't listened for a week or two, so what's going on?

It's 2:02pm on Monday afternoon. Where's The Archers?
Are you expecting a repeat of the Sunday episode, the non-existent Sunday episode? There's no Friday, either.
I used to miss them but nowadays I'm quite relieved that I only have to tune in at 7:02 for just four days of the week.

I might crack open a bottle tonight to celebrate the imminent disappearance of Gareth Moss from the storylines. Where is he supposed to be living these days? Did he move in with the workers?