💥 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!

@roysnewshirt thats a great view of the Alice situation she should leave Chris because she will break his heart in the end - as all he wants is children why wasn't she very straight with him from the start

I forgot Jenny popping in and trying not to actually say "tick tock" out loud, in-law stress over Emme/Ed and sibling rivalry with Kate.

and have always thought Alice was more like Debbie than Kate

She was, until the personality fairy stepped in.

I think Alice's story of young marriage, growing in different directions with different goals could have been a really realistic storyline. The way its been handled turning Alice into some kind of airhead (before the drinking) and yet another successful woman having to be turned into a disaster area is just irritating.

@Taswama

And did she actually get permission from Brian to pay Ed double?

I get the feeling that she hasn't mentioned Ed's pay to either Adam or Brian.

Meant to add, I think they're going to have a nasty shock when they pay Ed the normal rate, and he kicks up a stink about it.

Meant to add, I think they're going to have a nasty shock when they pay Ed the normal rate, and he kicks up a stink about it.

I don’t actually think paying Ed double-time was a bad move as an emergency measure to get the harvest in but then Adam started saying how great it was that he is back at Home Farm and that rang alarm bells...

There is now clearly going to be some crazy mix-up whereby Adam or Brian offers Ed more regular work and Ed thinks it’s at the new bonus rate and feels as if he has won the lottery. Then, after a long conversation at cross-purposes it will be revealed that Ed is now earning the equivalent to a city banker! And Emma’s dreams will come crashing down. Again!

I'm pretty sure Adam and Brian don't know about the bribe to Eddie. Wasn't one of them praising Alice for her wonderful diplomacy skills in persuading him to come back to work there?

I really hope Alice doesn't end up having any involvement in running the farm. Given her almost total lack of interest in it so far it would be massively out of character, and a seriously annoying waste of her degree and career experience.

I've been virtually ignoring TA since they went to monologues.

Now that lockdown has been largely eased, anyone know when they will go back to recording proper episodes?

Presumably it's not that hard to keep the actors 1m+ apart & disinfect the microphones?

(Apologies if this has already been asked & answered, but I've also stayed away from this thread, for obvious reasons)

It is far more complicated than keeping the actors 1m apart, and they can't even do that in the dead room where they record outdoor scenes (it is very small). It was a major logistical issue getting everyone home when the stopped recording. And June Spencer lives in Spain. Most of them aren't "local". And Birmingham is probably not somewhere people want to be going and will be at risk of a local lockdown especially in Autumn and Winter.
However they are starting dialogue and may be managing a "clean feed", which might even be something they continue longer term.
They had to buy Charles Collingwood a laptop.

They seem to be managing outdoor scenes with the monologues? But anyway that problem is easy enough to avoid simply by not writing outdoor scenes for the moment. When we are constantly seeing and hearing other TV and radio programmes which don't encounter these seemingly insuperable problems, it's difficult to understand.

The way that Adam has only just fully noticed his son exists now that he’s stuck at home injured is soooo irritating. Utter self-absorbed twat.

Adam has always seen his job as providing... possibly as a result of never knowing his father Paddy and having two quite problematic stepfathers in Roger and Brian. I liked his revelation of letting it all go for a moment to enjoy his baby now.

Thread's filling up nicely now! We might even need a new one before Christmas at this rate.

I didn't know June Spencer lives in Spain. Gosh. I wonder if she has family there. Brexit could be a big issue for her otherwise.

I listened again today and I still think AW is great as Adam.

It was a major logistical issue getting everyone home when the stopped recording.

What do you mean by that @MollyButton? Why was it difficult for actors/other staff to get home and why was it the BBC’s responsibility?

Thread's filling up nicely now! We might even need a new one before Christmas at this rate.

Wait till they catch up with Ben's assessed A' Levels ... Thread will hit 1000 in about four minutes flat.

(Anyone else had an exam grades weekend? )

Also if June Spencer lives in Spain presumably she is already used to recording her part remotely?

Or did she used to commute from Spain to Birmingham to make the episodes.

I do know that if they record stuff from home they have to hide under the duvet to deaden the noise.

Perdita yup on exams.

Is Natasha a nasty bit of work, or is she merely very stupid?

She has no idea on how normal people think.

I enjoyed Emma working out what to say to Fallon in her text.

Why can't Helen give Fallon an extension on the rent reduction: is someone else going to want to take over a tea room in the middle of a pandemic and recession? Surely reduced rent is better than no rent?

I'm sure Natasha feels she could run it better than Fallon ...

Natasha is one of those people who can dish it out but can’t take it. She knew exactly what she was doing when she was talking to Emma - and was then left utterly crestfallen when she herself was dropped, (though I suspect the irony was lost on her).

I really wish the SWs had revived the credit card storyline and we had seen Natasha spending her way through lockdown...

Strange we've heard nothing from the re-wilders - whose entire recent activity would have been zoom based (if not having socially distanced meetings).

I wonder if the Archers' creative team had any real interest in this story beyond the initial Peggy's Conservation Trust headline.