🐴 Archers thread 124: And they're off! Pip on a high horse, Kirsty champing at the bit to find the lost ‘horses’, Alice on the wagon (or is she riding for a fall?). Discuss The Archers 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 Shula would make a brilliant vicar, 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 @PoulePouletteEternellement for the equine theme to the new thread title. I wanted to work in Rex being a dark horse and lots of others too, but (you may feel fortunately) there's a character limit for the title.

I wonder if this thread will see us through to the end of February. The last one filled up in under a month, which was like old times. All depends on what delights are in store for us in the coming weeks, I suppose. I'm hoping that Gavin has spilled the beans on Victoria, she's also arrested, and the lads are found. Having said that, I'm not confident that in the real world they would get the support and care they need to turn their lives around and get proper jobs. It was good to hear on the last thread from @Trickyboy, who has professional experience of investigating this vile crime. Any comments on how things turn out in the long run for those rescued?

Kirsty wants to buy them back? She has completely lost the plot!

The Covid Assault Course ...

Why ever not?

I was really hoping Kirsty would share a few home truths in return!

I can't help blaming myself, mainly because it was entirely my fault

Wonderful, @MadameButterface. PMSL.

"Even Kirsty thinks that her WHAT ABOUT MEEEE is so important"
It appears that I am Shula!

Agree with TheThreeofWeevils. That Shula dialogue was excellent, MadameButterface.

Even when Shula is trying to be 'good' - like when she was helping Darrell - there is always a holier than thou aspect to her actions. I don't find Elizabeth, David or Kenton very likeable either. Nearly all my favourite characters (Roy, Clarrie and Johnny) are non-Archers. Tony and Johnny are the best of the Archer clan in my view.

I enjoyed Emma and Peggy tiptoeing around why Chris needs support.

Aw shucks you guys i do try (hard) 😁 everyone on this thread is so funny, i wanted a piece of the action.

Shula is always at her most unbearable when she is Being Charitable To The Less Fortunate, to the point where i had to break up with TA during the Darrell, Darrell he lives in a barrel fiasco. If she could somehow use the bedside manner she has when she’s dealing with Freddie, where she’s actually nice! and talks to him like a human! and listens to what he says! for her charitable endeavours, rather than steaming in and being mrs fix it but with this weird put upon air like she’s being strong armed into it against her will by jesus himself, she’d be almost likeable.

I also enjoyed peggy poirot and emma marple sizing each other up. It was the polar opposite of my least favourite soap trope, where people talk at cross purposes with hilarious consequences. So great hearing that conveyed, especially on the radio, it was so well done, you could almost see the narrowed eyes and awkward body language. Great writing and acting.

It annoys me though that in Archers land, as well as covid not existing, Al Anon isn’t a thing? I am fortunate enough not to have close firsthand experience of serious addiction, but even i’m aware that such a thing exists.

I'm happy enough for Covid to have passed Ambridge by; it's not as if any of it is realistic.

I thought Shula was quite good tonight. Kirsty is barking mad.

nettie434 - Johnny is very much an Archer! His deceased biological father John was Pat and Tony's eldest child. Tony is the son of Peggy and the long dead Jack Archer (ie not her second husband, Jack Woolley).

(Apols if you know all this and just mis-spoke. May be helpful for someone else.)

Feck. There I go. In such a hurry to be officious that I failed to read your post properly.

Please ignore and forgive.

Shula was rubbish again tonight. Yes she made the right point but not very kindly.

Will someone PLEASE tell Kirsty that she cannot go after the horses.

Er - didn't Shula do just that?

Kirsty’s going to visit Phillip isn’t she?

I loved Emma and Alice together.
Can just hear Emma singing/ roaring 'I am woman' when giving birth. You go girl!

I am so impressed (yet again) by what a rounded character Emma is. And fabulously brought to life by the actor.

Nothing to apologise for PursuingProxemicExactitude! I put Johnny's decency partly down to having spent the first 16 years or so of his life away from Ambridge. One of the things I would like to know is whether Pat and Tony have included him in their will and what is his exact status compared to Tom and Helen.

I thought Shula did quite well with Kirsty in terms of being clear that she wouldn't abuse her position to get information from him & that Kirsty risked jeopardizing the case against him & putting herself & others at risk. Someone needed to say it & Shula said it pretty well. it wasn't kind but kindness wouldn't have helped here. Kirsty not being able or ready to take it on board was about Kirsty, not a fault of Shula. I don't like Shula but I am ready to accept an honorary cream cardigan now.

I thought Shula did quite a good job in the face of Kirsty sounding increasingly unhinged. The bit that confused me though was “I love you Kirsty but...” Why would Shula love her? I’m trying to think if I’ve ever heard them speak to each other before - their worlds don’t really overlap in my mind. Was this Shula channeling God’s love (still seems like a strange thing for her to say) or have I forgotten some lifelong friendship between the two women?

I liked the bit between Alice and Emma - good to hear some family reparations even if it does just make it feel increasingly likely that disaster is on its way for Chris and Alice.

And agree assault course sounds like a crazy idea. I wouldn’t like to be the person doing the risk assessment for that even without COVID.

Yes, I think Kirsty will go and see Philip, but why on earth would he tell here where the lads are? If Gavin's co-operating with the police, won't he have told them about Victoria? What's he got to lose now by holding that back?

Kirsty's utterly lost the plot. Oh dear.

More than ever convinced now that Alice's baby will not be unharmed. I thought getting Emma to talk about the days her children were born were the best days of her life etc etc was definitely setting us up for a day of utter tragedy when Alice gives birth.

@nettie434

Nothing to apologise for PursuingProxemicExactitude! I put Johnny's decency partly down to having spent the first 16 years or so of his life away from Ambridge. One of the things I would like to know is whether Pat and Tony have included him in their will and what is his exact status compared to Tom and Helen.

He's not their son but he should have equal status with Henry and Jack as a grandchild.

I think Shula was spot on in that conversation. A sentence I never expected to write. I think the SWs have a plan for both her and Alice. I’ll ask the intern.

I am so impressed (yet again) by what a rounded character Emma is

I agree. Even when she is being unlikeable she is understandable. I feel the same about Susan, Lynda and Brian. I want to shake them all at times but their actions do at least seem in character and credible.

setting us up for a day of utter tragedy when Alice gives birth.

Yes. Whilst the health fairy has magicked away a number of life long conditions in Ambridge I think the current " quick-fix recovery" for alcoholism would attract a lot of stick. They can't leave it there so presumably we are being set up for a stillbirth and relapse into drinking. I'd be surprised if its a live baby with severe damage as they have wimped out of disability stories in the past.

I think Shula was spot on in that conversation

She was, but not before she had made the conversation about her again. I still don't get why its ok for her to talk to all and sundry about a confidential discussion held in her capacity as would-be priest.

He's not their son but he should have equal status with Henry and Jack as a grandchild.

It's not quite as simple as that. If John had lived, it's likely that Tony and Pat would have left the farm to be divided between all three of their children, and then in due course each child would have left their share to their own children, or not, as they chose. Johnnie would have stood a good chance of inheriting one third of the farm, albeit decades hence.

I am not a lawyer, but it's normal practice as far as I understand it to make a will that stipulates that if one of your children predeceases you, their descendants, if any, inherit their share. Obviously Tony and Pat have had many years to re-make their wills since John died and for most of that time they didn't know Johnnie existed, so they may have written John out explicitly, but I'd be very surprised if they haven't re-written wills since he came back into their lives. We may well have been told this, actually, in which case I've forgotten.