🧱 Archers thread #128: Alice lobs a brick, Emma hurls brickbats, Neil is a brick. Cement your relationship with 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 collect superhero figures, or other unusual things.

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.)

Apologies for not using any of the suggestions offered for this thread's title. I'll paste them in here instead to get us started.

I like the leeway pun here from @ThePawtriarchy: Bacon, Bores and Booze. Elizabeth needs convincing, Helen needs some leeway and Alice is in crisis.

@nettie434 gets to the nub of what's been happening recently: Beechwood, Batman and Booze: Rex's pigs and Helen and Lee have new homes but will Lee's collection of action figures plant the apple of discord in their sylvan idyll? Alice's alcohol problems continue to cause friction between the Aldridges and Carters. Has anyone warned Borsetshire Children's Services what awaits them?

Great one liner from @PseudoBadger - ‘Nobody puts Captain America in the corner’.

And a timely bit of advice from @JanFebAnyMonth: If this evening’s episode has raised any issues for you, please call the BBC Helpline post on this MN thread for details of organisations which might help you.

So, off we go again! We may get back to five episodes a week before the next thread. Here's hoping that it's Friday we get back, not Sunday.

How many bedrooms in Joy's house?

@PseudoBadger

I also said the Captain America line *@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g* so don't worry! Haven't bothered looking to see who said it first Thanks for the thread! 8 years indeed. My DD who was just a bump then is now sitting on the sofa scowling at me...

Sorry pseudo (and gasp)

I think I was the first person to reply to your first thread, under a different name. Was it about Lillian and wotsisname?

In my experience farmhouses (on working farms) don’t always amazing views and aren’t surrounded by songbirds. They’re usually surrounded by yards and tractors and barns rather than trees and lawns and gardens. Plus noisy machinery. So it’s more than possible that Suburbia on Am is actually more bucolic in that way.

Loving “Insufficiently Punctured Man”!!!

Yes @TherapistInATabard it was "Why is Lillian allowing this to happen"

Why would Kirsty need an office? Neither her towel folding or BWT job were home based.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

LizziesTwin I think Lee is decorating to help the boys feel cherished - I think it’s a kind thing for him to do, especially as it is so out of his comfort zone.

It would have been kinder if he hadn't taken them to choose the paint, promised to use the colours they chose, and then quite obviously used other colours instead.

If that had been done to me when I was ten I would have felt absolutely furious and betrayed, and put down the person who had so broken his promise as someone never to trust again; and I am amazed we didn't hear Jack's wails of disappointment all the way from Ambridge with no need for and radio intervention.

This thought crossed my mind...

But it did sound as though the colours didn't turn out true to what was on the tin... so I'll give the benefit of the doubt!

I seem to remember the house went to Kirsty after the flat paid off the proceeds of crime. Unlikely, unless the horses were staying in a flat in Knightsbridge.

But how did it go to Kirsty? Did Phil give it to her? It seems unlikely that she'd accept something that was bought using the profits gained from slave labour, even minimally.

@Zzelda

I seem to remember the house went to Kirsty after the flat paid off the proceeds of crime. Unlikely, unless the horses were staying in a flat in Knightsbridge.

But how did it go to Kirsty? Did Phil give it to her? It seems unlikely that she'd accept something that was bought using the profits gained from slave labour, even minimally.

She got a letter from a solicitor saying that it was hers. She asked no questions about this, and we were not meant to either.

8th April, 2021
Kirsty turns up to see Helen very early; she wants to tell Helen about the letter she's had from Philip's solicitor, and she wants to to talk to Lee and Helen together about the brilliant idea she's had.
and
Kirsty has led Lee and Helen to the Beechwood house, because she wants them to live there. Apparently Philip is going to pay back the proceeds of crime from his savings and the sale of the flat, so that the house can be Kirsty's, and she wants to let it to them.

Poppins2016
But it did sound as though the colours didn't turn out true to what was on the tin... so I'll give the benefit of the doubt!

Spiderman's colours were specifically mentioned, and here they are:
www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/spiderman-illustration-marvel-universe-ultimate-spiderman-iron-man-comic-book-spiderman-comics-heroes-sup-in-2021--474848354467165191/

They are fairly dark for a room, and that was mentioned as being Ian's objection to them, but there wasn't anything to suggest they were darker than what had been on the tin; only that Lee hadn't realised how dark they would look on at entire room. They would, but it was what Jack chose. Who was Ian to veto it, and why did Lee allow him to over-ride Jack's choice?

@Taswama

Why would Kirsty need an office? Neither her towel folding or BWT job were home based.

I don't even have a job, but I need an office.

I use it for family admin, admin connected with my voluntary activities, and my own interests. Kirsty may have similar needs. Why would you buy a 1-2 bedroom house and never be able to leave anything out because it's in the living room, when, assuming you could afford it, you could buy a 4 bed and have an office each?

Apparently Philip is going to pay back the proceeds of crime from his savings and the sale of the flat, so that the house can be Kirsty's, and she wants to let it to them. Does Kirsty have to sign the documentation if Philip passes the house over to her? I can't see any logical reason why she should need to. He wouldn't have to pay Capital Gains Tax because they were married - if they weren't married, he'd have had to pay CGT even though he hadn't got any money from the transfer.

why did Lee allow him to over-ride Jack's choice? Yeah, you just accept that the room isn't going to be decorated any way that looks remotely tasteful. It'll go through at least one more iteration of horror before they grow up.

There speaks someone else who painted their room black (with dark orange woodwork) in their teens!

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Poppins2016 But it did sound as though the colours didn't turn out true to what was on the tin... so I'll give the benefit of the doubt!

Spiderman's colours were specifically mentioned, and here they are:
www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/spiderman-illustration-marvel-universe-ultimate-spiderman-iron-man-comic-book-spiderman-comics-heroes-sup-in-2021--474848354467165191/

They are fairly dark for a room, and that was mentioned as being Ian's objection to them, but there wasn't anything to suggest they were darker than what had been on the tin; only that Lee hadn't realised how dark they would look on at entire room. They would, but it was what Jack chose. Who was Ian to veto it, and why did Lee allow him to over-ride Jack's choice?

Ah... I think I misinterpreted (Lee not expecting the colours to look so dark)... My interpretation was also skewed because I recalled 'spider man blue' being lighter than it actually is! Funny how the brain interprets things in different ways despite hearing the exact same words, due to preconceptions etc...

100% with you on thinking they should have stayed true to the children's choices...

I also liked that Adam/Ian (can't remember which, now!) also asked who had chosen the colours, given the theme... nice touch picking up on it.

I kept thinking that Spider Man wallpaper (possibly just on a ‘feature wall’) probably would have been a better choice.

She got a letter from a solicitor saying that it was hers. She asked no questions about this, and we were not meant to either.

Any conveyancers around? Is it possible to give someone a house without their having to sign or do anything? Apart from anything else, you're imposing a liability on them to pay council tax etc; and how about things like stamp duty and capital gains tax?

@Zzelda No CGT if you pass it to your spouse

So the Beechwood estate WhatsApp group has been bitching about Helen's arrival (and notorious past)?

Hmph! Hope they all realise they'll never progress beyond Nameless Silent Character unless they suck up to an Archer.

And George is doing a BTEC? I admit I know nothing about this qualification - so I will try not to draw any too rapid conclusions about writerly decisions in TA.

Why couldn't Phoebe have taken the BTEC and George gone to Oxford?

And George is doing a BTEC? I admit I know nothing about this qualification - so I will try not to draw any too rapid conclusions about writerly decisions in TA. Can be equivalent to 2 A levels, and is regarded as such by many universities, and not just by “former polytechnics”. But it’s generally available only in colleges, so to many people, the fact of doing one has already signalled you as a failure

I do rather want George to emerge as a prizewinning poet ...

@MayIDestroyYou

I do rather want George to emerge as a prizewinning poet ...

A William Barnes de nos jours?

Oh I thought Joy had maybe been receiving horrid /sexual?? comments after her nude modelling. I did get interrupted halfway through listening though, will listen again.

I want access to the Beechwppd WhatsApp group.

Probably not all that dissimilar to being on here!

I’ve lost track: where is Kirsty the Cheese Maid now living?

Controversial opinion: I really like Ian, I’m glad he’s back!

@DeusEx

I’ve lost track: where is Kirsty the Cheese Maid now living?

The spare room at Roy's gaff.