🐷 Archers thread #127: Discuss the boars and sows of Ambridge here - or should that be bores and soused? You decide.

[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 live opposite Joy, 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/4197199--The-Archers-spoilers-thread-6-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.)

These threads normally last around a month. When I started the last one, we were bracing ourselves for the Mystery Play, but that storyline, which had never exactly set the airwaves on fire, fizzled out and has (I hope) gone away, never to return.

@LillianGish proposed a new thread title which I'll use instead as a scene-setter for this thread. What a carry on - Nurse (Ben), Sergeant (Harrison), Camping (Kate), Jack (either one of them), Regardless (all of us for continuing to tune tune in)

What a carry on, indeed! Other storylines sputtering away:

• Alice, Chris, Martha - Have they split up, and if so where is Alice living? Will there be a christening and who will be godparents? When will the Aldridges and Carters find out about Alice's drinking? Too much to hope that Alice will get blind drunk at the christening party in full view of the entire village, I suppose. I'm still clinging to my hope that she lamps Alan after a suggestion that they pray together.

• Will Rex find a new home for his pigs? If Elizabeth weakens, will the pigs escape and disrupt the Lower Loxley life drawing event on Monday? Might they stampede, knock Ross out and devour him?

• Will Jazzer go to work for Neil? (This isn't exactly a cliffhanger. Of course he will.)

• Will Justin bury Lilian under the patio? Not a jury in the land would convict him, I feel, if they were played a recording of that appalling cackle and her gloating about the daffodil photograph.

• Will the life drawing event on Monday be a brilliantly amusing interlude, exemplifying how to write character-driven drama, with both comic and more serious moments? Answer: No, obviously. I may have to listen from behind a cushion.

There are more. I find myself struggling to care.

Oh, and one final mention - I've proposed a webchat with the Archers editor. @MayIDestroyYou's idea. You'll find it here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/4231475-Webchat-idea-The-Editor-of-The-Archers-Or-another-Archers-production-team-representative

Over to you!

I for one am pleased that don’t give us chapter and verse on every conversation. It does mean that you have to listen pretty carefully though.

It might not be everybody's taste but, just in case some of you would like to hear from "Philip", here is a link to something that happened a couple of weeks ago:
dumteedum.com/dtd-383-andy-hockley-aka-philip-moss-does-zoom/

Thanks, Madcats. I don't have enough patience for podcasts but did get sidetracked by the Chronology. (Always a bad idea - I once lost an entire weekend to a detailed Archers chronology.) But it was slightly charming to realise that the first event I remember being fully interested in was Dan Archer retiring and Phil and Jill moving into Brookfield. Though nowadays it becomes conflated, in my mind, with Phil's hip trouble and that generational power shift.

Back when the BBC website was worth having, there was a chronology there that was actually useful. Unfortunately I failed to grab a copy before they did away with it in favour if the (horribly inaccurate) "interactive" timeline, and then did away with that because people complained about it so much.

If Roifield and co are actually interested in making their chronology cover the programme from the start, have they come across Hesky's page at umra.fandom.com/wiki/Peter_Hesketh's_Chronology_of_The_Archers
?

Was Emma enjoying that just a bit too much? Alice made a premeditated decision to drink alcohol, and Martha deserves to be kept safe, but I still felt so sad for Alice. She does love Martha and she is addicted to alcohol. I hope that we hear her getting the help she needs. I think Susan, Jennifer, Brian and Lillian could all show the kind and compassionate aspects of their personalities and be a real support to her.

@theThreeofWeevils

When Brian turns up for the christening party with a crate of champagne it's all going to be a bit awkward

Since it appears Brian & JD are footing the bill for the event, he is entitled to provide whatever he sees fit in the way of drinks for their guests.

At some point he is going to be mortified to discover that he has enabled her alcoholism because he didn't know it existed

No reason why he should. He hasn't been buying the booze for her all this time, after all. How was he to know? Chris supposedly was oblivious, and it was happening under his nose.
And no, I don't see that Alice is under any obligation whatsoever to crawl round confessing to all and sundry to ensure their 'support '. I do wonder a bit whether those so keen on this course of action are motivated by concern for her welfare or a desire to see her humiliated.

Jennifer helping Susan with the biscuits and getting over her initial snobby reaction

The biscuits, like the bow, sound tacky beyond belief and if it were in me to sympathise with JD, I would. But it isn't, so I don't. That does not make me 'snobby'. Snobbish, certainly

Totally agree about the biscuits, only caught up this morning, it isn't snobby to have a modicum of good taste! Someone once called me a snob because I didn't like something vile and I replied Thank you, you're very kind. Took her ages to find the jaw she'd dropped.

@Jacksonsmusic

Was Emma enjoying that just a bit too much? Alice made a premeditated decision to drink alcohol, and Martha deserves to be kept safe, but I still felt so sad for Alice. She does love Martha and she is addicted to alcohol. I hope that we hear her getting the help she needs. I think Susan, Jennifer, Brian and Lillian could all show the kind and compassionate aspects of their personalities and be a real support to her.

The person most likely to be a real help, and level-headed with it, is probably Neil. (And he is compassionate mostly rather than it only being a side of his personality.)

I've just caught up with the Christening episode.

I feel they have made an absolute mess of this storyline.

The dragged it out way too long through the pregnancy, and then ridiculous simpering between Chris & Alice, rather than getting proper help, and now that car crash Christening scene which I found really hard to listen too.

Emma was a complete pain in the arse throughout.

Oo have just remembered, tonight should be interesting (as long as they don’t do a “comedy contrast” episode. Although I imagine the whole village would be talking about a cancelled christening and public admissions of alcoholism.

At least Kirsty being joilted at the altar was a cliche, this is unique.

I still don't see the point of cancelling the christening. It was, after all, meant for Martha, not her parents. Everyone was there for her - and God knows, she's going to need the support of everyone inclined to love her in the days, weeks, months to come.

Only Alice was drunk, and Chris and Emma could have kept her in order. I hate to think of all the time, effort, food, and money spent on new outfits going to waste. (Though apparently no travel costs as they have no outside friends. )

Don't you sort of need to have the parents there for a church christening, if the baby has two parents? I think it had become clear that Alice wasn't going to be, and enough people had seen her for it to be a bit difficult at that point to pretend she had a migraine and couldn't come.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting that the parents should absent themselves! The way I heard it, Alice was drunk but still capable of sitting (relatively) quietly in church. She could probably have managed to stand at the relevant moment, while her husband held the baby.

It just seemed that Christopher (aided and abetted by his sibling) stopped the christening to punish Alice, rather than to effect any significant improvement in Martha's immediate wellbeing.

To be fair, having the baby's mother stagger up the aisle and very pointedly not be allowed to hold the baby would have put a bit of a damper on the occasion.

I'd have loved to hear Eddie's reaction to that!

Emma was utterly vile. I'm glad because it's helped me move on from the trauma of her losing out on her house.

How much denial from Brian and Jenny?

This is awful ... She'll drink herself to death.

BOOP for the Aldridge blindness though.

Yes. My mother ended up in hospital a few days after Dad's funeral, because of alcohol - and we were there to keep an eye.

Brian determined to believe Alice is s chip off the old block.

She'll drink herself to death

Maybe, maybe not. Up to her. Takes more sustained effort than I believe her capable of.

Effing Cristyffur, though. Alice messed up her routine. Useless manchild. Oi'm rescuing moi dorter. Oh, it needs feeding at noight. Whouda thunk it.
Being set up nicely for the poisonous harpy Emmur to get her talons (freshly gelled at Schrödinger's Slavery Nail Bar) into the baby, though. No doubt with much performative martyrdom. Ugh.

He seems to have taken from Thursday until the following Monday actually to make the decision to leave, doesn't he. If he had been at Ambridge View all along Susan would have known already that he hadn't been sleeping because he'd been up all night with Martha.

Or is it meant to be Friday in Ambridge? No, it can't be because Jennifer was talking about having been to church yesterday, so presumably on Sunday....

No, I think he's supposed to have been at PigArk View all the time and just went to pick up all Marth Vader's more inessential crap today.

Or di you actually expect internal consistency in the TA scripts? Oh, you poor soul.

I'm struggling to understand the lack of communication with the Aldridges. Are the Carters deliberately avoiding any possible confrontation, or has it just escaped their minds that Alice has been left alone and needs looking after?

@MayIDestroyYou

I'm struggling to understand the lack of communication with the Aldridges. Are the Carters deliberately avoiding any possible confrontation, or has it just escaped their minds that Alice has been left alone and needs looking after?

I would expect the Carters could reasonably assume the Aldridges would make their own effort to check on their ghastly daughter.

Looks like the SWs have thoughtfully deferred any Carter/Aldridge communication until we can listen along.