💥 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!

Four episodes a week just isn't enough!
I may well complain about the lockdown episodes but I still want more of them

Me too. I am starting to warm to Tracey, but that's probably because I'm not keen on Jerlene or Fagash.

Yeah, I still can't get used to no Friday episode, and find myself waiting for 7pm, until I remember it's not on.

Susan was pretty obnoxious to Kenton and Jolene, talking over them and making the Harrison/Prospero episode out to be scandalous. I also felt that she deliberately got the name of the Naughty Milkman campaign wrong, just to wind them up even more.

I did love it when Tracey rang in to Susan's agony aunt show. That was inspired! We've all seen posts on here from OPs who complain they've been lumped with all the care for an elderly relative, despite other siblings living close by, so I'm on Tracey's side in this.

I think the shoplifter could well be Gaving. If he went in and openly bought loads of packs of biscuits, (and lightbulbs) it would lead to questions and speculation.

Gavin drives around for his job. Surely he could pop into some unnamed supermarket off the Borchester bypass and say he was buying biscuits for his builders, and it wouldn't even look suspicious, just an employer giving his workers a small treat. It's not like custard creams are going to bankrupt them. As far as the rest of Borsetshire is currently concerned, the guys working for him would be all legit. Mind you, Gavin is the sort of person who panics and overreact and makes daft decisions as a result, which will be his downfall.

@MikeUniformMike

Me too. I am starting to warm to Tracey, but that's probably because I'm not keen on Jerlene or Fagash.

I think Tracy is becoming less of a caricature and more rounded. The accent and OTT stuff put me off at first but I'm now really enjoying the character

Tracy is far and away my favourite character

I think Tracy is becoming less of a caricature and more rounded. The accent and OTT stuff put me off at first but I'm now really enjoying the character
She's growing on me. She's the comedy element to take over from Joe.

I think if Gav is the thief he probably tells himself that the horses are lucky to get custard creams and not rich teas or those horrible NICE biscuits.

When I was a student I had a flatmate who used to buy cheap packs of broken biscuits. Do they still sell them? They would be perfect for Gav though I remember thinking they looked v unsatisfactory (too many crumbs) and always preferred a garibaldi.

New thread.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4022500--Archers-thread-120-Magic-time-Dialogue-Good-Fairy-Lilian-made-Lynda-s-wish-come-true-Will-Phil-vanish-in-a-puff-of-smoke-Join-the-Magic-Circle-in-Alice-s-shed-where-time-is-never-called?watched=1

I like Tracey too. I remember being pleased that her character got more airtime. Wrt to Philip's character, surely he is headed for psychopath territory as what comes out of his mouth bears no relation to what he's actually facilitating. Having said that I don't know how likely it is that the most representative perpetrators of modern day slavery would be a Welshman using Welsh men?

@JoanWilderbeast - we're on the new thread, linked in the post above yours.

See you there!