🎭 Archers thread 125: Ambridge Mysteries! The Case Of The Missing Pandemic. Where Is Pat? What Is Lynda Snell's Kompromat? Follow the clues and 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’d love to be in the Mysteries, 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 for thread title ideas to @Roysnewshirt and @Witchwife. Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone else.

Do we think the Mysteries replace the usual fun storylines around giving things up for Lent? Light relief while we wait to see if the SWs go for realism and tragedy when Alice’s baby is born, or bottle out (as it were) and go for everything being fine? Will Jazzer and Tracy get back together again? (No bookie in the land would take money for that, of course they will.)

Over to you!

@R4

New thread title: The Archers: it's a Mystery why we are still listening

Well quite

The Archers - enough to drive you to drink.

Because we can't help it. We are hooked.

I'm a bit late to this, but feel I am duty bounden to say

H
Hilda Ogden

Only posting this for PPE & IloveShula to add to the post numbers.

I can't think of a Q or Z but Tristram Hawkshaw makes a nice addition to the Ts. Will also add that the meaning of Kate's son's Sipho's name is 'gift' in Xhosa.

Susan and Clarrie have been wonderful this week. I agree that the scriptwriters have sacrificed realism to ensure Chris and Alice are isolated from support that might help them. If Alice drank enough to experience hallucinations on withdrawal, then I think others apart from Emma (and Gavin of course) would have noticed.

I did think Alan had stepped over the mark with Chris but then I remembered he was awful with Rob. I'd like to see Amy come back. She was rather good until she had to be exiled with her awful boyfriend.

I like R4's new thread title - and there's another one for the total!

@StationView

Listened to the minibus after only following this thread for a while. Who the f*ck is writing this stuff? A doctor on SCBU telling Alice she 'deserves' to take Martha home? Doe that mean that if someone's baby dies they didn't 'deserve' the baby enough? Phoebe sounding like a sixth former rather than a supposedly intelligent young woman with a PPE degree from Oxford. And Chris being outraged that Alice told him she wanted a drink. Of course she does, you numpty! She'll struggle with alcoholism for the rest of her life.

There's no reason to assume she will definitely 'struggle with alcoholism for the rest of her life'.

Alcoholism isn't really used nowadays as a label. People can be varying degrees of alcohol-dependent, or of 'misusing' alcohol, all of which they can and do recover from. It's not like 'Alcoholic!' is stamped through a person like a stick of rock.

However, I agree a one-dimensional script probably is going to steer it that way and we can expect that Alice is in for a lot more 'struggling'.

@nettie434

Only posting this for PPE & IloveShula to add to the post numbers.

I can't think of a Q or Z but Tristram Hawkshaw makes a nice addition to the Ts. Will also add that the meaning of Kate's son's Sipho's name is 'gift' in Xhosa.

Susan and Clarrie have been wonderful this week. I agree that the scriptwriters have sacrificed realism to ensure Chris and Alice are isolated from support that might help them. If Alice drank enough to experience hallucinations on withdrawal, then I think others apart from Emma (and Gavin of course) would have noticed.

I did think Alan had stepped over the mark with Chris but then I remembered he was awful with Rob. I'd like to see Amy come back. She was rather good until she had to be exiled with her awful boyfriend.

Who was Tristam?

Taswama He is a drama critic for the Borchester Echo. He has criticised Lynda's productions in the past so all her efforts are aimed at countering anything she thinks he would see as a flaw. When Lynda did Blithe Spirit, he was more complimentary but irritated Lynda by thinking Susan was the best performer. I can't remember if he had a view on her Canterbury Tales which were as bad as the awful Mystery Play in my opinion!

Maybe we should do an A-Z of animals.

This afternoon's R4 drama is written by Lily. She also narrates.

Must say, several of the TA cast seem to be impressively multi-talented. Though I guess one shouldn't be surprised that they're living busy lives outside of intermittent Ambridge appearances.

It's on now. I might listen

Tbh I'm slightly resenting my 45 minutes. I really don't think an unknown writer would get this put on.

It's on but I'm not really listening. Seems OK.

Did you notice the reference to Trowell Services?

No I didn't. Poor Heatherpet.

Oh yes. Trowell services. I wound it back to the start. This thread is filling up nicely just like my jods

Hey, Apples, sorry if I offended you. I guess we all have our different sensitive areas. I once had a premature baby in a SCBU, so the doctor's crass words really annoyed me.

StationView, our premature first child spent ten days in the SCBU, and then it was discovered that the reason for his very low blood-sugar at birth was because they hadn't paid a blind bit of attention to being told when labour started that the mother was prone to hypoglycaemia. I'd been in labour unfed for forty-two hours so his having low blood-sugar wasn't exactly strange! When we were finally told that the blood-sugar was the reason they had him under such close observation (for which read when our own paediatrician came back on duty after being away giving evidence in a court case in another city) we were out of there two hours later and he was spitting feathers about the missing notes. We'd spent ten days being deliberately frightened by at least one of the nurses, presumably being kind and trying to prepare us for the worst -- I couldn't drive past the place without shaking for well over a year, which was awkward because it was on the way in to town from our house.

I can't seem to warm to the name Martha, somehow.

I keep wanting to call her Thelma...

Anyone listened to Greenborne? A new radio soap! (And Ifty is in it.) Guardian link.

I know a Marta so I think Marta Carter, or Martyr Carter.

Call Jackie Weaver

@PursuingProxemicExactitude

Tbh I'm slightly resenting my 45 minutes. I really don't think an unknown writer would get this put on.

Quite. Having a “name” gets you a long way in the creative industries. R4 was crawling with Imries last week. I’m not saying they were bad at their jobs, just that someone without the background would have found it very difficult to be in the same position.

That was my feeble attempt to up the total

I imagine that if you have been brought up by parents in the industry, you will have contacts. Your name will help you get noticed.