💰 Archers thread #121: Brookfield digs for treasure, Alice & Philip try to bury the truth. Dish the dirt here if you dig The Archers. PS Send nudes.

[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 long to hear Pip again, 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 @LillianGish and @PersephonePromotesEquanimity for the title suggestions.

Current events: as @Bailey0703 has astutely spotted, it's Anti-Slavery Day tomorrow - could this herald the beginning of the end of the horses storyline? I do hope so. Horrible stuff, but what a blow for Kirsty. They're laying on the dramatic irony with trowel at the moment.

What do we think will happen to Alice and Chris? I can't see this pregnancy going to term and ending well. I don't think the marriage will survive either, giving Brian a chance to revisit his classic line about having to treat this as Alice's starter marriage.

Will Elizabeth end up on a date with Vince Casey? That would put the cat among the pigeons at Lower Loxley.

Over to you ...

I hope the SW's aren't ripping up too many scripts with the impending lockdown.

Out of interest I just checked the NT's website (who are just closing houses and holiday cottages) and am pleased to report that LL will be able to keep The Orangery open for takeaways and let paying visitors walk in the parkland.

With that in mind, wouldn't be glorious if Radio Carter invited Elizabeth on for an interview about how they are coping and went gloriously off piste by talking about Russ.

Other than that the Trustee storyline is stupid and I find it very odd that all the cast seem to be so emotionally resilient these days.

Lady in Red, what a great song that was. Coming up, Hello! from Lionel Richie

Love it @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g! Are you sure you and Susan weren’t separated at birth? Though that would make you a Horriban...and Tracey’s sister as well!

The difference in David's attitude towards his sons is startling. Poor Josh.

David asked Ben if he had any work to do for university and Ben said he'd do it in the evening. But then David was happy to get Ben to patrol the fields in the evening.

Nice work Gasp0de!

The silly thing is that even Ben is accepting that it is "all his fault" and there is "nobody else to blame", and yet the treasure seekers are all homing in on Marneys -- and if there is one thing Ruth, David and Ben all know, it is that Ben did not mention that field on air with Susan.

My money would be on one of the students having said something about it.

Gasp0de

Eddie knew it was Marney's, he was there when the students were walking the field. Someone else might have seen that going on and put two and two together.

Anyway...it seems tonight's episode was so dull that MN TA has to resort to discussing the one which had been too dull to bother with?

Anyway...it seems tonight's episode was so dull that MN TA has to resort to discussing the one which had been too dull to bother with?

Whiny Dopies and StS Perhaps the editor thinks we will all be stressed to the eyeballs with the US election and need the audio version of mogadon this week.

Shula's back. I can't recall hearing her since the spring. I hope Judy Bennett's been OK. I thought it was very odd that we heard from Brian during the lockdown but not Shula, given that the actors are married.

Kirsty confiding in Shula is a good sign that the horses storyline is going somewhere, albeit rather slowly. Shula will talk to Alistair, inevitably. If Philip brings his crew to the church there's a good chance somebody will talk to one of them at some point.

I can’t bear it if the holy one gets the credit for breaking the slavery ring.

Gavin is the weak link here. He’s not happy with the gambling lie, which while it might have got Philip out of an immediate hole is difficult to sustain with Gavin forced to confide in Alistair (how much easier if he could just quietly slip off the gamblers anonymous - ANONYMOUSLY!) Gavin knows nothing about gambling while Alistair (and by extension Shula) are experts - he was already feeling uneasy about the slave labour having been forced to spend lockdown with them and now he is increasingly irritated by Philip forcing him to do all the lying and covering up. I think seeing Philip have the luxury of running away to start again in Wales while he is left holding the baby will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. There was lots of foreshadowing last night with Shula talking about how hard it is to learn that someone you love has been living a lie. My money is on Gavin spilling the beans.

I didn’t listen last night because I couldn’t face another discussion about the treasure trove but if the horses SL is back in play, then I might tune in. It’s been blissful not to have to hear Shula prepare for sainthood during lockdown. Shame she’s back in play I was hoping she might have been destined for ICU with Covid (the character obvs, not the actor...)

My money is on Gavin spilling the beans.

How do we get him on Susan's radio show?

If Philip brings his crew to the church there's a good chance somebody will talk to one of them at some point

But would he be that stupid? I thought after the GG fiasco he was keeping them away from Ambridge?

I can’t bear it if the holy one gets the credit for breaking the slavery ring

I can see it being set up that way. StS with added godliness as the saviour of the weak and poor (unless they are photographing the hunt in which case they are fair game for false witness).

Some of the stairs up that bell tower look well dodgy.

I haven't listened regularly for a while, so hearing this afternoon's episode got me wondering.

Has Gavin really got a gambling addiction, or is Kirsty still labouring under her misconception about 'The Horses'?

If she is, they aren't half dragging this storyline out!

@WheresThatCatGoneNow

I haven't listened regularly for a while, so hearing this afternoon's episode got me wondering.

Has Gavin really got a gambling addiction, or is Kirsty still labouring under her misconception about 'The Horses'?

If she is, they aren't half dragging this storyline out!

The 'gambling' is nothing but a cover for Susan overhearing 'horses'.

Gavin has no gambling problem; it was invented by Susan, passed on to Kirsty, and ratified by Philip.

Gavin's real problem is his father, with Kirsty a close second and Alistair coming gamely up the straight in third place.

I think it's more likely St Shula will put her sanctimonious feet right in it, and precipitate Gavin spilling the beans.

I can't see anything good for poor Kirsty coming out of this mess. Unless Philip drops dead and she's left the house and some cash to her so she can sell up, buy a cottage in ambridge and do some lovely wildlife stuff.

Gavin's real problem is his father, with Kirsty a close second and Alistair coming gamely up the straight in third place.

I'm pretty sure much of Gavin's real problem is Gavin, well ahead of Kirsty and Alistair. It's not their fault they're decent people who've been comprehensively mislead and so their efforts to help are misplaced.

Somebody on another forum posted a link to this recent modern slavery case: www.kent.police.uk/news/kent/news2/policing-news/2011/dover-father-and-son-to-pay-almost-80000-to-modern-slavery-victims/

Philip is sounding really stressed ATM. I wonder if he is going to have a heart attack and confess all on his deathbed?

I didn't initially understand why he was so antsy to find St Shula at the church, not Alan, but didn't Shula try to throw herself at him when they first met?

Gavin's already been on Susan's radio show.

I think the more people know bits of the story, the more likely they will talk to each other and realise it doesn't add up. It was good for Kirsty to have someone to talk to.

Gavin achieved the remarkable last night and made his soft Welsh accent sound really very sexy indeed as he sat in the car with Kirsty. She must surely have realised by now that she is in a relationship with the wrong Moss...