💥 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!

Oh that sounds worrying @MikeUniformMike. There's a helpline where you can report suspicions/concerns

www.modernslaveryhelpline.org/report

Also, I still get caught out every Friday too

A good few years ago my Dad had a brick driveway laid by some non-English speaking men and their very charming English boss. He brought them pizza every lunchtime. I was a little dubious at the time, they did a good job though.

Unfortunately modern slavery is very real.
I too am hoping that the number of episodes goes back up again.

@BoreOfWhabylon, it's my NDN who's having the building work done.

I also wonder about the people working in the nail bars in town.
The staff seem to be male and SE Asian in all of them.

Years ago I had acrylic nails done. This was late 1980s. The lady who did them said that the fumes from them meant that you couldn't do many in one day.

Back to the town where I live, I have noticed cafes where all the people sitting outside are men.

Roysnewshirt
Thread number #120: The clock is ticking in post-lockdown Ambridge. Magic time is running out for the Snells and time is nearly up for the slave-masters...Come and have a drink with us in Alice’s shed!
and you can get anything you want
In Alice's
um
shed

Thanks for the earworm. Maybe.

Actually caught up now. The Lillian/ Lynda exchange was indeed superb.

Lordy ...

How good would this episode be if they'd just stuck to Lynda and Robert?

The Bull stuff is beyond dire.

Bleurgh. I really don't listen to TA to hear about people's sex life.

I very much preferred Lynda and Robert having a sensible conversation to Lilian's bullying and bluster.

Why didn;t they talk with each other three months ago? Oh yes, I rememebr: because Plot.

It got better towards the end.

@Roysnewshirt

Not done a suggested thread title before but just a first attempt. I definitely don’t have *@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g*’s talent for this! It’s harder than it looks...

Thread number #120: The clock is ticking in post-lockdown Ambridge. Magic time is running out for the Snells and time is nearly up for the slave-masters...Come and have a drink with us in Alice’s shed!

I suspect Magic Time will be fully back in place by the time we get to a new thread.

I don't have a crystal ball but I think I'm safe in predicting that Magic Time is going to feature in some form or other in the next thread title.

Anybody else suspect that the SW(s) this week ran out of time and had to throw together this boring nonsense about the peacock at the last minute? It made so little impression on me I've already forgotten the peacock's name.

Can't help feeling a little sorry for Buffy Davis. When was the last time Jolene had a decent story? 1% running away to join the country music circus; 99% thinking up increasingly embarrassing publicity drives for The Bull. Surely she must have protested at this waste of time and talent?

I remember neither the animal's name nor the story from last night.

I really don’t listen to TA to hear about people’s sex life

Listening to Robert taking about his erectile disfunction was just a bridge too far. I know the SWs are probably patting themselves on the back for ticking off another ‘issue’ but some topics are simply best left untouched.

Joelene considering herself as a local celebrity was laughable. I have two suggested plot options for her - either she could go back on tour or she could contract Covid and be handed a one-way ticket to Borsetshire A+E.

I agree I think Jolene is wasted, she was one of the better ones during the monologues.
I think they are definitely trying to imply that Alice's drinking, is linked to Brians, the other day after a tricky day with the combine/Ed, he was heard saying I have earned this whilst pouring his drink.
I quite like Alice's storyline, they seem to be trying to explore imposter syndrome (is that the right phrase) and I think that affects women more than men. So perhaps it's not quite as sexist as we think.

I think the new peacock is called Prospero. What I cannot remember (nor bring myself to care about all that much) is why. I'm sure there must be something terribly comedic or meaningful about it, but I have no idea what.

Just hopping on as I do occasionally to say that the Lynda/Robert storyline has drawn me back in (I have loved Lynda ever since the days when she was nice to wayward Kate) and I am so pleased that they seem to be getting back on track. Like the Alice storyline too, and I did laugh at Tracey calling in to Susan's phone in.

Right. I've had enough.

Someone please just burn The Bull down. The writers have obviously given up on ever writing anything interesting about it, and the Kenton /Jolene dialogue is an insult to ears.

Has it gone back to normal yet?

Dipped back in and last night's sounded almost normal, although it seems they can only record 2 characters speaking at one time.

But tonight's seemed to be back to monologues & was so dire I had to switch off after a few minutes.

We almost had three people speaking to each other tonight, but unfortunately it was such a silly segment that I wasn't paying much attention (Jolene and Kenton appearing on Susan's radio programme).

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime I also cannot remember and even at the time remember thinking what? There was a competition for the name, some story about the special wood and the cage and then bam that was its name. To be fair it was hard to concentrate on the sub standard monologues.

Haven't listened for a while before today.

What did Gavin do at Grey Gables?

Surely Jazzer is a naughty milkman?

There've been many references made over the years about him keeping lonely housewives happy.

Or an I barking up the wrong tree?

WheresThatCatGoneNow
Haven't listened for a while before today.
What did Gavin do at Grey Gables?

On 8th March the floor of the kitchen at Grey Gables needed to be taken up so a sewerage pipe could be repaired, and Philip Moss's company agreed to do the job. Philip and Kirsty were going away for the weekend, so Gavin was left in charge. He left one rather stupid lad there with petrol to use as a solvent, and because he hadn't bothered to feed the lad at all on the previous day went off to try to find him some sandwiches. While he was away the hungry lad put on the grill to make himself some toast from bread he had found in the kitchen, and the result was an explosion which broke the lad's back, and broke Lynda's pelvis and burned her face and head badly, That this happened was Gavin's fault for leaving a hungry, unqualified lad alone on the job with a dangerous and explosive solvent to play with.

(We assume Gavin might have had the sense not to use petrol in an enclosed space with a naked flame in it, but I am not entirely sure about that: how bright is Gavin, really?)

On 8th March the floor of the kitchen at Grey Gables needed to be taken up so ...
You have to feel slightly sorry for the poor SW. The explosion was obviously going to be a huge storyline but then Covid hit and foiled their plans.
The "stupid lad" was one of a handful of modern-day-slavery victims (hencewhy it was Gavin's job to feed him). The Morrises refer to them as "the horses". This bit of the story - unmasking the Morrises as bad 'uns - has yet to unfold. Kirsty is oblivious.