💰 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 ...

@CaptainMyCaptain

Or could be born with FAS.

Seeing that the programme bottled it (sorry not sorry) with the Down Syndrome storyline and exiled the Tuckers to Brum once Peggy had been sufficiently chastised for not greeting the child as the Second Coming, I seriously doubt they would be able to sustain an FAS story. No, what I hope for is a termination, a scuppered marriage, recriminations all round and Alice and Emmur fighting in a vat of creamed corn.

I felt for both Alice and Chris. It's good that its out in the open now.

FAS would be too subtle and long a story. There is rarely an obvious set of symptoms to diagnose FASD at birth. They would botch it if they tried it.

@CodenameVillanelle

FAS would be too subtle and long a story. There is rarely an obvious set of symptoms to diagnose FASD at birth. They would botch it if they tried it.

True. I've taught children with it. It's not always that obvious at birth and not sure it can always be proven either way.

On forvo.com/word/rhys/, Emmzi is the best one. I think I must give up all plans of maybe learning Welsh. That sounds to me like, if anything "pea" and not in the least like saying R and H at exactly the same time. It's no wonder I'm no good at understanding spoken languages.

it rhymes with the word for peas (pys). Rhys Pys is like a jokey nn.
I speak a little of a few languages but if you don't have the sounds in your mother tongue it is difficult.
If you transcribe English into Welsh, we don't have sounds for many of the vowel sounds, and vice versa.

The y in Rhys is a bit like saying ee with your tongue in a horseshoe (U)shape. The y in Bryn is like the i in bit. The y in Rhydderch is like the uh in huh. All phonetic. I don't know what the rules are but the wiktionary ones look a bit dodgy.

Natbatsha's IRL DH was in a play on R4 this p.m. (shame it wasn't telly)

Well, I don't know about Chris, but I'd struggle to come back from a revelation like that. The lying over months and years would be difficult to forgive.

It's strange that he hadn't guessed though, although I think you can turn a blind eye when you are in a similar situation.

I don’t think being angry was a very good response. I would become an alcoholic if I was married to Chris.

I couldn't be married to Chris either, but I also couldn't be married to an alcoholic.

Well, that was a worse revelation than I thought, but better drama obviously. I honestly wondered whether Alice had been managing to stay dry and only fell off the wagon last night...but no. Her previous sickness may have been withdrawal symptoms when she was trying to keep off the booze.

I’m pretty sure the pregnancy won’t continue. Depressing storyline but well-acted.

I thought that episode was both well written and well acted. I can't really see a termination happening given that the scan hasn't revealed any problems (and I know it usually won't with FASD). I'm guessing it will be something along the lines of Chris policing Alice all the time to keep her off the booze and forcing her to AA, probably with fatal effects on the marriage.

Hmm, I thought she might lose the baby in the coming days and that will force her to face up to her addiction. But you could be right, Moon.

It’s certainly more gripping than Rex moaning on about his bloomin’ pigs and I’m NOT looking forward to Kirsty finding out what a fraud Philip is. Why can’t she find some real happiness, the writers seem to have it in for Kirsty?!

I would become an alcoholic if I was married to Chris

Me too. Recently he has tipped from generally annoying and small minded to an outright arsehole.

I'm guessing it will be something along the lines of Chris policing Alice all the time to keep her off the booze and forcing her to AA, probably with fatal effects on the marriage

And spilling the beans to Emma.

I wish Alice had told Jenny instead of Chris.

I’m hoping she tells Brian at some point, will be very interesting to see how he responds.

Jenny is a very tricky one, given her father. And Peggy too.

Anyone here in the gin industry?

How much would Toby have been offered for Scruff Gin?

Because. I'm thinking, prompted by Rex's howl of pain over the lost Fairbrethren landowning heritage, that Toby might be buying some acres soon. And by the time Rosie's an adult she might be set to inherit vast swathes of fertile soil from both sides of her family.

I can't really see a termination happening given that the scan hasn't revealed any problems

I wonder if we are still on track for a miscarriage though. We’ve had a false alarm but may be this week was just a precursor and things will develop further in the next week or so.

It was a surprise that Alice didn’t choose to confide in JD, but the trip to the nailbar has laid the foundations for Alice to turn to her in the immediate aftermath of the impending miscarriage. It’s unfortunate that she won’t be able to go and stay with J+B as there will be no room but perhaps the Property Fairy can sort that out.

By the way, are Pip and Toby friends-with-benefits or do they chastely bring up Rosie together like brother-and-sister? Hard to tell precisely what is going on there. The former is more believable, but that basically, means they are still in a relationship; if the latter then why don’t we hear about Toby chasing the ladies all over Borchester. It just doesn’t make sense.

I would have thought lockdown had led to an increase in gin consumption - not in pubs obviously, but in private homes. It seems to be the tipple of choice for many - even those who don't go to pubs and bars.

I wonder if we are still on track for a miscarriage though. We’ve had a false alarm but may be this week was just a precursor and things will develop further in the next week or so. I would agree. This way the SWs can do the whole public information thing on FAS without having to follow the story through.

Jenny is a very tricky one, given her father.

But Jenny, whatever her immediate reaction, will generally put her own feelings to one side and focus on what the other person needs. She is very practical in that sense.

Chris is so focused on himself and his own limited outlook that he has completely missed that Alice hasn't been particularly happy for years and has put her own opportunities and career aside to fit in with what he wants. Chris has never appreciated that and seems unable to conceive of any future for Alice other than being "his" wife and mother of "his" children.

He is very different from Neil in that respect. Neil is far more empathetic.

I think that Kristiffur and Alice will choose to terminate the Chrysalis.

Urgh. She’s quite far on for an abortion. But she seemed to be almost hoping the baby had died. I hope she doesn’t hurt herself.

I think that Kristiffur and Alice will choose to terminate the Chrysalis

Controversial!

She’s 16 weeks I think as she said her last scan was 4 weeks ago, and I’m fairly sure that was the 12 week one, which came around pretty quickly for them as she was unaware of being pregnant for so long.

When I said Jenny was tricky I just meant that her own history of alcoholics in the family will add an extra complication to how she reacts, but I would not expect her to be anything less than supportive. And of course now we know that Susan has an alcoholic brother too. Interestingly, both Jenny and Susan’s family members were unable to conquer it so they have no positive experience.

Can you imagine a scene between Peggy and Chris where she talks to him about being married to an alcoholic? That would be amazing.