💰 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 hate how poor old Kirsty is yet again bearing the brunt of a topical story, You phrase that as if TA is a sequence of stories looking for characters to hang them on, rather than a group of characters going through life and life events.

The 🔮 has predicted that Gav will hook up with Alice and they will leave Ambridge together.

I reckon Gavin and Alice have always fancied working in Canada!

I wasn't paying enough attention to tonight's episode, so I'm not 100% sure whether Lynda resisted the phrase 'Annus horribilis'

She resisted it.

I think it’s time to shove Ben back into the cereal cupboard. He gets way too much airtime for a second son.

David Archer is a second son. So is Tom. I would say they also get too much airtime. I don't mind Ben, though.

Poor Ruairi. That's a shock. He can't remember her voice, but I can. I wonder if we'll hear the message, and in that case did they plan this all those years ago when they killed Siobhan off and get the actress to record a message before they sent her on her way?

Will we even hear it? It might just be reported on by Ruairi.

David Archer is a second son.

Oh - is that why he favours Ben, because he sees him fighting for space against a scene-stealing elder brother?

Yes, it'll be interesting to see how they magic up Siobhan. The creative team have always said they make plans for decades ahead ... On the other hand they could just have sought out the actress recently and recorded her. Or they could bring in a new voice. Or, worst of all, as Captain suggests, we may only hear reports of her vocal resurrection.

Would you really just stick something like that in the post? If Siobhan trusted her sister with the CD I would have thought the sister might have at least made the effort to give it to him in person to prepare him for it. It could have got lost in the post! Or why not give it to Elizabeth for safe keeping who at least lives close by? This makes me think the dramatic effect is in the shock of the delivery rather than the actual content. Similarly with the perilous bell tower steps - I think they are a red herring. They were just a rather contrived way to get Kirsty alone with Shula so Kirsty could unburden herself and thus draw Shula in to the deception (the more people involved, the more likely it is to come out - especially someone like Shula who will be like a dog with a bone in her new trainee vicar role).

Would you really just stick something like that in the post? If Siobhan trusted her sister with the CD I would have thought the sister might have at least made the effort to give it to him in person to prepare him for it. It could have got lost in the post! Or why not give it to Elizabeth for safe keeping who at least lives close by?

I know the stories are a bit behind in terms of lockdown, but not that far behind. 'Effort' doesn't exactly cover a jaunt from Ireland to England at the moment, does it? But in normal times that would have been what would have happened so no, leaving with Lizzie wouldn't have been likely then.

If the sister was wise she'll have made a copy.

Well the sister might have mentioned to Brian and Jennifer what she was planning to do. We never hear anything of Ruari's Irish relatives - of him going to Ireland or them visiting Ambridge - until suddenly on his 18th there's a deluge of cards and greetings.

I've not been listening properly for ages now, after I gave up on the awkward monologues!

So, can someone please tell me about Lynda? I've always liked her, and it was awful when she was injured in the explosion at Grey Gables. I was sure she was at Death's Door!

So what's happened since then? Is she facially disfigured? Or disabled in any way by her burns?

I suppose what I'm asking for is a complete medical history!

Hello all. Archers Addict here . Listened since I was 5 with my dad (ironically a farmer ) who used to come home for lunch - as did we kids . Even when I lived abroad before the internet my mum used to send cassette tapes of the omnibus every month.. I'm a die hard fan .. and yet I seem to have missed a whole story line somewhere.. can anyone help me because its really irritating !...

It's the whole Home farm house sale saga .. I understood the farmhouse to be worth a fortune (£1-2m ?) .. and they were forced to sell because of possible huge fine for dumping the chemicals. (Or allowing to be dumped) .. Now Brian and JD have moved to the Bijou Willow cottage ..

The bits I seem to have missed are ..

How much was the fine ?
Are Brian and JD now broke ?
Do they rent or did they buy Willow ?
I understood it to be a temporary place but may have got that wrong.

I understand that the actual farm still belongs to the family.. so he must still receive an income ?

Can someone please put me out of my misery ! Many thanks ..

Welcome Pascal. Yes I think everybody except the SWs thought that the move to Willow Cottage was supposed to be a temporary (rent) move* whilst they looked for a cheaper place to buy. I guess they spent all the money on Aquaponics and booze.

Pascal
I seem to have missed a whole story line somewhere.. can anyone help me because its really irritating !...

It's the whole Home farm house sale saga .. I understood the farmhouse to be worth a fortune (£1-2m ?) .. and they were forced to sell because of possible huge fine for dumping the chemicals. (Or allowing to be dumped) .. Now Brian and JD have moved to the Bijou Willow cottage ..
The bits I seem to have missed are ..

How much was the fine ?

He was fined £120,000 on 5th February 2019, but that was the least part of the money he lost; what he had to pay for the clean-up had already meant the sale first of land and then of Home Farm, as well as all his shares in Hungarian ventures. By then the Aldridges were already renting and living in Willow Cottage.

Are Brian and JD now broke ?

Impossible to say; this information has never been aired in the programme.

Do they rent or did they buy Willow ?

They rented it for six months in December 2018, the owners having gone to work abroad for six months.

I understood it to be a temporary place but may have got that wrong.

They've been living in Willow Cottage since the New year opf 2019; I think at some point the lease was renewed for a further six months, and it hasn't been mentioned again.

I understand that the actual farm still belongs to the family.. so he must still receive an income ?

You'd think so, wouldn't you. Again, this is not mentioned.

Thank you both so much ! God knows how I missed all of that..

It makes little sense though ... surely the clean up didn't cost Home Farm , land and Hungarian shares?? .. all seems like they have just forgotten that story line .. ?

The clean-up costs were in the millions, not the hundreds of thousands, we were told. And his insurance refused to pay up. So yes, they might easily have cost him all his shares, land from his farm, and his house.

If someone dumps poison on your land you are liable for its removal, whosever fault it may have been and even if it was done before you owned the land.

Didn't they end up selling the house because Kate refused point blank to sell the Spiritual Home land? That can't be massive?

I wonder if we'll ever hear a word from the Gills.

I like CAS, it's where I got my user name, well, the tv show is.

Hopefully this is the clip. It might be Pisces by Jinjer, in which case I apologise.

@WheresThatCatGoneNow
Lynda had a fractured pelvis and what sounds like severe facial burns. She was pretty ill for a while and was very depressed for quite some time too.

She seems to have recovered her mobility and ebullience. It's unclear how severe the extent of her scarring is.

Anyone else in tears?

That was fab, loved Jenny.....

Very well done. Ruaruaruariii actor is very good.

And the Ambridge Housing Fairy is unfurling its wings - but will the law or ricketty wooden stairs put paid to Kirsty's dreams of her cottage?

@Augustbreeze

Anyone else in tears?

That was fab, loved Jenny.....

Yup. Me. A v good episode with Kirsty/ Helen too

Well done TA!

@Augustbreeze

Anyone else in tears?

That was fab, loved Jenny.....

I haven't listened since they started the monologues but caught the end tonight and yes, I was in tears.