🐴 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?

*about it

This is a good point, why are Ed and Emma not interested in the council farm?

Because Ed likes living with his mum and dad and fiesty Emma has had all her gumption removed by living too long with the Grundys.

BOOP for the sibling affection between Tony and Lillian.

Goodness! Was holding my breath there. First listening out for Rob, lurking in the undergrowth. Then for Lee to make a rather more definite declaration thank he did. But I daresay they'll get there in the end.

I didn't know it was Gen Zee either.
It is fairly usual (I think) for teens to announce they are now, suddenly, vegetarian. It's only recently that vegan has come to the fore.

(I have to admit that I was vegetarian for over 10 years. Then I hit a difficult patch in my life, and found myself turning to bacon-and-tomato sandwiches. I returned to an omnivore diet almost immediately.)

Well I and one of my daughters both have "light voices" and it was only in my 30s sometime people on the phone stopped asking for my mum. I also found Mia both reminiscent of conversations at home but with less angst or danger of a row. (And I'm so pleased she didn't call anyone a Karen or a Boomer.)

I agree that Pat's disappearance is really noticeable and distinctly strange. Surely she's the first person Tony would have been talking through the Peggy situation with, yet we didn't even hear whether she'd expressed an opinion about it to Tony.

I came on to see what everyone thought about the Gavin-Kirsty conversation. Would Kirsty be allowed to see Gavin?

Heart sank when Henry went missing - couldn't face another high drama storyline. Very relieved that he returned. How old is he now? And how old are Lee's girls? And is it the norm to punish children in this situation, as both Lee and Helen said they would have done?

Good point about the prison visit. Not sure if HMP would have a list of disallowed visitors except in very big cases, but when the whole thing goes to court, it will surely come up to complicate the plot.

Will Kirsty start putting all her zeal into supporting a reformed Gavin?

He sounded ripe to have Shula sicked on to him.

Kirsty and Gavin did have a hint of a Christian moral, the repentant sinner. Which could link into the mystery play Ambridge is going to do.
Wasn't Chris Jesus last time?

I'm curious about whether Gavin told the police that the slaves had been sold. I'd have thought he might, in the interests of being fully co-operative.

I really want to hear the conversation between Philip and his lawyer about that. Because, no matter how much he tries to convince himself that he was being incredibly nice to them, the fact is that anyone who genuinely had their welfare at heart would have sorted them out with benefits and/or helped with applications for new jobs, not aimed to make a personal profit out of them. And I want someone to spell out to him not only does that make his defence untenable, it means he's exactly the sort of utter shit that the charges demonstrate him to be.

I thought the acting by Gavin was very good in that scene.

I'm curious about whether Gavin told the police that the slaves had been sold. I'd have thought he might, in the interests of being fully co-operative.

Shoulda listened to last night's episode, really, before posting that one

I still want to know what Philip's lawyers are doing. With Gavin giving evidence against him, defending really is utterly hopeless, and will count against him in sentencing.

I have a boring question re social distancing and The Archers? Disclaimer: I have recently started listening properly again after a 9 month break.

How are they all meeting up and having birthday parties? Have the script writers just decided to ignore covid as they can never be 'up to date'? Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere. I had a scan of the thread.

There is usually an announcement before it starts that this episode was recorded before current restrictions. I think they have decided to more or less ignore covid restrictions as the monologues they did last year weren't particularly popular. A drama needs to move on.

I know they’ve decided to stick with events like parties written and recorded pre-lockdown, but I was pretty incredulous when Lynda announced her foot washing idea to Alan. They really should have scrapped that bit of dialogue and shoehorned something else in. There have been a few 🤔 moments but that was a needle-scratch-on-the-record moment where it was impossible to suspend your disbelief.

It's kind of ironic that the policy of having no resident living alone, (purely to increase the potential for drama) now means they can't write stories centred on who single people might bubble with.

Except Joy ...

I thought the acting by Gavin was very good in that scene

I agree. Very believable. He’s a good actor (with the astonishing ability to make a Welsh accent sound sexy) so inevitably set to move on.

Gavin is facing a lengthy sentence but may be there’s potential for him to return further down the line I suppose if Corrie doesn’t work out. His flimsy links to real Archers may limit this though or just cause the SWs to drop him. Unless, of course, Kirsty transfers her affections from father to son and we have a prison romance...but Roy wouldn’t really approve of that...

Thank you. I listen on the sounds app so don't get the announcements before. I'm enjoying it again after falling out with the ridiculous monologues.

Re Lee, Henwee and Helen - I can't remember if Knob adopted Henwee? (AskingQuestions I know you will know) I'm thinking Henwee must be about to have some issues - no father until Knob came on the scene, enthusiastically embraced Knob as the father he never had, forced to live with Knob's vile parents while his mother was in jail and now expected to accept Lee as his new father figure. I'm not saying lee wouldn't make a lovely Dad, just that Henry must have some reservations that it will all work out for the best.

@Roysnewshirt
Very believable. He’s a good actor (with the astonishing ability to make a Welsh accent sound sexy) so inevitably set to move on.

I agree that he's a good actor, but not with the comment about the accent.
Welsh accents vary a lot, and there was at least a hint of xenophobia about that comment.

@LillianGish

Re Lee, Henwee and Helen - I can't remember if Knob adopted Henwee? (AskingQuestions I know you will know) I'm thinking Henwee must be about to have some issues - no father until Knob came on the scene, enthusiastically embraced Knob as the father he never had, forced to live with Knob's vile parents while his mother was in jail and now expected to accept Lee as his new father figure. I'm not saying lee wouldn't make a lovely Dad, just that Henry must have some reservations that it will all work out for the best.

Rob managed to talk Helen into giving him Parental Responsibility for Henry after discovering the amount of paperwork and "prying" that happens when you adopt a child. So no, he didn't adopt him.

I'd suggest that Henry has every right to be a fucked up headcase, even if he didn't have the obligation always to love his mother which Helen though the act of giving birth to him conveyed to her. That was her stated reason for wanting to have a baby, that it would never be able to leave her and would always love her -- she having also just admitted that she was "no good at relationships" as if you don't need to have any sort of relationship with your child. Her selfishness is really quite remarkable, surpassed only by that of Kate.

I'm just popping on here to express my surprise that Henry had cultivated some friendships with other children. I always imagined that he was going to be forever portrayed as a somewhat emotionally damaged child.

I think he was with George Grundy (aged 15), so I doubt that was actually his friendship-group that he was with.

Am I the only one whose heart sank at the prospect of another of Linda's productions? Her affected tones get on my nerves.