🏘️ Archers thread #129: Casey, Macy, Lily, Alice – Decent types or full of malice? Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads, which has now passed 125,000 posts! (See below for further details.)

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 lust after Russ, 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.)

For the thread title I was very tempted to go with @R4's title suggestion of Come follow the exploits of Brine, Lily, Elizabeth, Usha, Ruari, George and Helen. Know collectively as bleurgh. because on the last thread @DadDadDad, our invaluable statistician, identified a post from @ILoveShula as the 125,000th. Many of us felt it was fitting that the post simply said Bleurgh!.

However, feeling that was a bit niche for the casual listener, I adapted @MayIDestroyYou's title suggestion in the end. Thanks, MIDY!

Back to Ambridge this week, after our enjoyable sojourn at Lower Loxley last week! Will we go with Alice to rehab? (Hope not.) Will the petulant Adam make good his threat to leave Home Farm? (Hope so.) What will Jennifer say? (Lots, I hope, and preferably to Brian.) Will the fete be a triumph? (Of course it will.) Will we ever return to Brookfield, or have they all fallen unnoticed into the slurry pit? (Let's hope Pip did, anyway.) WHERE IS PAT? (Can't answer this one.)

Over to you!

Thanks, @RandomCatGenerator, it's nice to be remembered!

Unfortunately, working from home since you-know-what has meant my main casual exposure to TA (driving home around 7) has vanished, and it's dropped out of my routine. I caught some of the omnibus today, and that's all it takes for me to feel able to comment on this thread. I do miss the community spirit of these threads.

You should start going out for a little drive in the evenings DDD!

(I'm also pleased to see you again )

Well done to whoever guessed!

Too soon to suggest No, no no ... in the next title, huh?

Kyle seems nice...

Has any situation ever been improved with the use of the words "calm down"? Particularly from Adam?

How long befor Koyle gets barred from The Bull?

Well, well, well. Not sure what to make of tonight's episode.

@AlexCabot

Has any situation ever been improved with the use of the words "calm down"? Particularly from Adam?

Poor Brian. I worry when he gets stressed. If Alice gives him a heart attack I will seek her down ...

@KimikosNightmare

Well, well, well. Not sure what to make of tonight's episode.

A dig at listeners villagers with long memories, too long memories.

Poor JD. Debbie gone; Adam, Alice and Ruari going; only Kate left (for the time being).

Adam won't go.

Where's Ruairi going? The very distant, internationally renowned Felpersham Uni? (Or have I missed a conversation?)

It would seem cruel if Alice also abandoned her baby. But it would be a delicious irony if Ruairi is the only one of the offspring to stick around and see Jenny into old age (after Brian goes to the Great Shoot in the Sky).

Helen needs to draft Usha in. A well-crafted letter warning of the consequences of defamation should be enough to get Kyle kicked out of the local WhatsApp group permanently.

@Edmontine

Where's Ruairi going? The very distant, internationally renowned Felpersham Uni? (Or have I missed a conversation?)

It would seem cruel if Alice also abandoned her baby. But it would be a delicious irony if Ruairi is the only one of the offspring to stick around and see Jenny into old age (after Brian goes to the Great Shoot in the Sky).

How far into her old age does Jenny need to be seen? She’s already over seventy.

However, her mother is still alive and, to coin a phrase, kicking.

While the story needs to go somewhere, I'm amazed Helen didn't just take back the goods from Kyle, and refuse to serve him.

@Edmontine

Too soon to suggest No, no no ... in the next title, huh?

Kyle - belligerent Brummie or yobbish Yam Yam? R4 will have been able to place the accent, I can't.

Will Alice actually leave? She's right, of course, that nobody in the village will ever forget her drink troubles. Kyle seems to have been brought in to give us a long overdue reminder that small villages can be claustrophobic and full of gossip.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Kyle - belligerent Brummie or yobbish Yam Yam? R4 will have been able to place the accent, I can't.

Will Alice actually leave? She's right, of course, that nobody in the village will ever forget her drink troubles. Kyle seems to have been brought in to give us a long overdue reminder that small villages can be claustrophobic and full of gossip.

I mean, there was more than a hint of scouse in there too…

Kyle - belligerent Brummie or yobbish Yam Yam? R4 will have been able to place the accent, I can't.
Ha! This is the woman who has trouble differentiating between Harrison and Alan.
Brummies are usually more high-pitched than YamYams (compare Joe Lycett and Ozzy with Lenny Henry). Brummies speak English with an accent; YamYams add in dialect.

I'm amazed Helen didn't just take back the goods from Kyle, and refuse to serve him.
I'm always amazed when people do a Pretty Woman style "I'm going to shop in your shop to spite you" as if there is some moral victory in your money ending up in the other person's pocket.

Will Alice actually leave? She's right, of course, that nobody in the village will ever forget her drink troubles

I don't see how she can. What would she live on? Realistically she would struggle to get a job. Even though Brine and JD presumably wouldn't leave her in the gutter, I can't see them financing her alcohol consumption.

Tbf in Pretty Woman she didn’t shop to spite the mean assistant - Roberts flounced in laden with bags from elsewhere to show how much business the harpy had lost out on (shows embarrassing level of knowledge of nowadays questionable film plot, so slinks off).

@Edmontine

Where's Ruairi going? The very distant, internationally renowned Felpersham Uni? (Or have I missed a conversation?)

It would seem cruel if Alice also abandoned her baby. But it would be a delicious irony if Ruairi is the only one of the offspring to stick around and see Jenny into old age (after Brian goes to the Great Shoot in the Sky).

Of all the Aldridge children, Ruairi is the nicest to JD.

I was uncomfortable with the Pretty Woman story when the film came out. I thought it was creepy.

I would have told Koyle to sling 'is 'ook and that he'd probably find something to eat in the budget supermarket off the bypass.

Realistically she would struggle to get a job.

Keeping a job might be more problematic. It's really hard to imagine Brian cutting off her salary / allowance (whichever she's getting at the moment). Not sure what effect Jenny's conversation with Ed might have on their decision making.

So, will it be: Chris left holding baby + frazzled senior Carters = inevitable Neil & Shula affair? Or are the SWs doing some other sums?