🎄Archers thread #122: Deck the Hall with Eddie, Freddie 🎵 'Tis the Season to be jolly (but orange juice for you, Alice)

[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 love Bert Fry’s poetry (as I do), 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 @C8H10N4O2 for requesting an annoyingly cheerful thread title which might take us up to Christmas and to @Prestissimo for the title suggestion. I was strongly tempted by @LillianGish’s suggestion: Eddie’s turkeys, Freddie’s show, village green with lights aglow, Stir Up Sunday, Deck the Hall, Merry Christmas one and all - with apologies to Bert Fry and @R4’s suggestion Wassail to the Ambridge Not-A-Panto where Freddie gets nine LESSONS in directing from CAROLe Lynda. Top work, all!

Three days to go until we can return to Ambridge.

My list for Father Christmas

In the next few weeks I’d like:

• Freddie’s show to be a huge success

• Philip and Gavin to be driven out of the village with pitchforks into the waiting arms of the police, and the three ‘horses’ rescued and taken in by kind people who will help them turn their lives around

• Pip to take a perpetual vow of silence and leave for a nunnery

• a terrific Grundy Christmas (although the travails of Alice and Chris will overshadow things)

• Alice to lose the baby, as this seems the least grim option for us listeners; she leaves Chris and makes a fresh start of some kind

What do you all want for Christmas from The Archers?

Hurrah! So lovely to hear the reassuringly calm voice of Roy...always so good in a crisis
I'm not sure whether that was meant to be sarcastic or not. Roy was useless and just dismissed the idea that there was anything wrong, he didn't take her seriously at all.

To be fair to Roy, he doesn't know much about Gavin but none of what he does know would suggest to him that Gavin is being more honest and open with Kirsty than Philip. I wonder if Philip is going to invent a story about himself on the spot as he did for Gavin? I hope not. I still think it's likely that Blake will run away and make his way back to GG or somewhere like that. That would bring the house of cards down.

Poor Kirsty! The worst she can possibly imagine is Philip having an AFFAIR...Do we think she’ll find out tonight she’s married to a slave trader?

Nice bit of Christmas Eve cheer from Ambridge if so...

Roy was useless and just dismissed the idea that there was anything wrong, he didn't take her seriously at all

He was realistic. That is exactly why abusers and people like Philip get away with it for so long - they are able to make people believe in them.

Just lik Rob convinced her own family that he was actually the stable one and Helen was a fruitcake, Roy believes the image of Philip and that was reinforced by the fact that someone he likes and knows to be honest has put her trust in Philip.

But I very strongly object to Freddie taking sole possession of LL by reason of his own appendage

Me too. His contribution to the running and success of LL has been precisely zero. Elizabeth on the other hand built up the business from scratch, with Nigel's support (and his mother's vigorous opposition) and Lily has been working in the business for years.

Surely Gavin blurting out that the gambling was all a lie should make Kirsty think it's more complicated than an affair.

Surely Gavin blurting out that the gambling was all a lie should make Kirsty think it's more complicated than an affair.

Hopefully but didn't Philip make a bit of a thing about Gavin being embarrassed about having a problem or am I misremembering? The logical short term assumption for Kirsty, who has been hoodwinked by Philip is that poor Gavin has relapsed and is too ashamed to admit it so has resorted to denial.

Hopefully when she thinks on it more other inconsistencies will appear in the story - presumably when she talks it over with Helen or Alastair and pieces different bits together.

Roy was useless and just dismissed the idea that there was anything wrong

Why would Roy do anything else? He has no idea about what’s going on. But he is a good and reliable friend who Kirsty can and will inevitably turn to. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to remember anything about the night he was beaten up (was it Kirsty’s first hen night or a joint hen/stag event?) when he appeared to be starting to slowly piece things together...

Roy is rather dense, and has always failed to see anything beyond the end of his nose. He never has any idea what's going on.

He may be the only person in Ambridge who had not noticed Rob could be a bit of a shit, for instance. They didn't talk about it, because if they had the plot couldn't have continued in the way ordained by the editor, but practically everyone even William had spotted Rob as a bad 'un by the time Helen finally stabbed the man -- Roy hadn't, though.

Can someone remind me about Roy getting beaten up please? I can't remember it.

@Taswama

Can someone remind me about Roy getting beaten up please? I can't remember it.

It was on Philip's stag do. I don't think he (or we) really knew what had happened.

I still don't think telling Kirsty not to worry because everything's fine is a helpful response as Gavin was clearly upset and convinced her there is something wrong. They just don't know what it is... yet.

I think it was because he was asking too many questions about the fire and Nice Guy Gavin arranged it.

What Gavin did to Roy on the stag night (26th April) was steal his phone and place it in his sports-bag the following day, for no apparent reason except possibly to make Roy think he was losing his marbles by using it to cancel the DJ for the engagement party (wedding really). On 26th Gavin kept Roy drinking, and was last heard leading the drunken Roy down a dark alley looking for a taxi, but Roy turned up the following day with a whisky-hangover but otherwise perfectly ok.

Is anyone else getting the feeling that Jazzer and Tracey are going to get together?

There was signposting galore in the episode this afternoon!

In TA the difference between their ages is as nothing, after all; David is nine years older than Ruth, Nigel was eight years older than Elizabeth. The only slightly unusual thing is that Tracy is Jazzer's elder by nine years, rather than it being the other way round.

@WheresThatCatGoneNow it was noted upthread that Jazzer and Tracey went a bit romcom when she was having a go at him for selling home brew to Brad. Agree yesterday’s episode was full of further hints in that direction.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime I’m forever stunned by your Archers knowledge. I can barely remember the ages of my own siblings let alone random people on a radio show (albeit one I’ve listened to all my life). I know who’s about my age and that’s it

The Archers' Character list is often helpful Prestissimo. If dates of birth aren't entered I've been known to Google the actor and use their age as an approximation. Not infallible, (particularly for younger characters) but passes the time!

Prestissimo, it's not exactly knowledge; I had a look in the 2010 "Who's Who in The Archers" where the ages of the characters are given and Nigel was not yet dead, and for Tracy I looked in the website who's who at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3VLG6MxxfQpKXF2Chky4Fmh/characters

I knew Jazzer is the same age as Ed because they were in the same year at school, so he was easy.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

What Gavin did to Roy on the stag night (26th April) was steal his phone and place it in his sports-bag the following day, for no apparent reason except possibly to make Roy think he was losing his marbles by using it to cancel the DJ for the engagement party (wedding really). On 26th Gavin kept Roy drinking, and was last heard leading the drunken Roy down a dark alley looking for a taxi, but Roy turned up the following day with a whisky-hangover but otherwise perfectly ok.

It's coming back to me now. The phone thing was also to make him think he was still suffering from concussion and couldn't remember the circumstances of the explosion. He was found in the alley worse for wear but not necessarily beaten up and didn't know what had happened.

@WheresThatCatGoneNow

Is anyone else getting the feeling that Jazzer and Tracey are going to get together?

There was signposting galore in the episode this afternoon!

Definitely!

Last words in the episode of 26th April were Gavin saying "Don't worry mate, you follow me. I'll sort you out" as he led Roy away from the club down a road with poor street-lighting.

When Roy appeared on 27th Susan told him he looked like something the cat dragged in, while he was trying to buy sandwiches before going to nets, and the only thing he mentioned as being wrong was that he had mislaid his new phone. And since Tracy then came in and said that was all she'd heard about all day, he had presumably been into work too. I don't think he had been beaten up on 26th. Nor did anyone mention that he had been found in an alley.

We were supposed to think Roy was about to be beaten up. T'was the SWs messing with our minds.

Nor did anyone mention that he had been found in an alley. that was my imagination then.

I hope I'm never required to go to court as a witness.