💀 Archers thread #132: The Grim Reaper joined the cast; The Bard of Ambridge breathed his last. 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 will make an excellent vicar, 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.)

Thanks to many of you for title suggestions. @JanglyBeads said that this thread had to be a Bert tribute so needed a rhyming title. From an excellent field, I chose the suggestion from @BorsetshireBanality (who also has a cracking username).

Check out the last thread for the other suggestions and various poetic offerings inspired by Bert Fry's passing. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/4349822--Archers-thread-131-A-time-to-plant-a-time-to-reap-Discuss-The-Archers-here

So, who'll get the bungalow? Rex, Stella, Pip? If Rex has to move, will he doss down beside his pigs at Lower Loxley? Or will Rex be a resident at Her Majesty's pleasure, having bumped off Trevor for being the world's most boring man? Now Freddie's on the case, are Russ's days at LL numbered? Will we ever hear Jill again, or was Bert just the first of many older cast members to be dedded?

Over to you!

Shame the Doom music is no longer a thing.

[As an aside, I used to get the train to school, which involved a change at Tulse Hill. The day before term started, I would give a rendition of "24 hours from Tulse Hill".]

Thanks for the new thread!

Thanks Gasp0de and BorsetshireBanality

We live not a million miles from Tulse Hill and I also sing the song when I find myself in that area.

He sounded amazingly perky for a man who’d just lost his father.

A sad waste of the wonderful JRT. Trevor = the male Joy.

Goodness, Gasp0de, we might be neighbours.

< Gasp0de considers putting house on market >

I’m not 100% comfortable with Bert’s death being treated as a bit of a comic interlude. Trevor is a caricature. But it also makes me feel sad for Bert who deserved a dignified ending.

I think I'd get on okay with Trevor. I can do detailed conversation about train journeys. His postcard from Switzerland is the sort of thing I might write.

I've been single for about a million years... can't think why...

Well, since poor Bert was not accorded the honour of Doom Music, (was Freda?) a rhyming thread title is the next best thing.

Thanks Gasp0de and BorsetshireBanality! I have resolved to work on my Trevorella conversational skills from tomorrow morning. 🚇

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. Have to say I found the boredom of Trevor a pleasant relief from the hideous unpleasantness of CMR last night. Surely it can’t be much longer before Lily decides she’s had enough of him?

I am surprised that Russ slags off Lily’s twin to her face in that horrible way. Her going for him made sense when she was at school - but hasn’t she realised yet that as an adult woman there’s a whole world of pretentious twats out there for her to choose from?

Not immediate neighbours, TH, unless one of them is a secret Archers listener and has managed to hide that from me. Terraced houses, sound insulation not wonderful, Barwick Green (see below) frequently blasting out from this house and none of the others - I think I'm the only one afflicted here. Not moving, anyway. We've been here for over a quarter of a century and I want to be removed feet first.

Good point about poor Bert not meriting the full Doom Music treatment, and also suffering the indignity of having a not very comic character introduced as his son as a direct consequence of his demise. I too can do detailed conversations about train journeys but have not yet had somebody very obviously do a runner to get away.

Anybody else reminded of E. L. Wisty by the judge reference? The Judging exams/coalmining one. What a genius that man was.

Full Archers theme music here. Which bit would people classify as the doom music? As a fully paid up saddo, I enjoyed listening to this and I still feel cross that a previous editor (was it O'Connor?) decreed we couldn't have it any more on special occasions. Perhaps we could start a pre-emptive campaign to Feedback to say it must be used when Peggy and Jill go.

Of course, Lily had her night away at Nathaniel or whatever he was called’s a few months ago, didn’t she? CMR’s days at LL are definitely numbered - thank goodness. Please can we never hear from him again??

It did seem that Russ was on very dangerous ground, there …

(I’d like to think we heard the scales falling from Lily’s ears - but the SWs seem determined to torture us with this awful relationship.)

I'm looking forward to Freddie getting a bit more assertive over LL (when does he inherit?) and CMR being the eventual collateral damage.

It will be really interesting to see how CMR tries to cling on as he has his accommodation, job (is it a job really?) and meal ticket all hinging on not upsetting Frilly.

It is odd about Lily, but so often a youngish woman starts a thread on MN about some sort of deadbeat/hopeless partner, no children involved, and when people ask what she's getting out of the relationship her answer often seems to be that it's lasted a long time, as if that means you can only end a relationship early on. Sunk cost fallacy, perhaps. Russ has got his feet right under the table at LL (which I find most implausible, but the SWs have done it now) and he is not only living there with Lily, but he runs part of the business. Getting shot of him would not be straightforward. How long has he been there? Has he got employment rights yet?

Your’re welcome GaspÛde

I like sitting on the top deck of buses looking out the window, so I’d get on with Trevor too .

But where will CMR go? He’s got his stately home, a compliant and earning partner, a gallery to run and a whole raft of local characters to belittle. Lily seems to be nudging him to go back to teaching, so I think she knows she’s had enough

As for Barwick Green - they wouldn’t dare play less than ten minutes (each) - with the entire listening audience standing in silence - when Peggy and Jill die.

< Pre-emptive fury.

I think the judge probably just changed carriages at Wolverhampton. I have done that before to terminate an unwelcome conversation with a stranger on a train.

Having said that, it has to be quite bad for me to do it. I wouldn’t actually have minded Trevor’s level of chat as my boredom threshold is quite high and I enjoy hearing about the minutiae of other people’s lives (former journalist so it’s inevitable).

Tony does have a lot on at the moment so I could forgive him for wanting to get away. Rex should have sat it out though and offered his support to Trevor for funeral-planning, which will need to be addressed. I was surprised Trevor wasn’t onto the logistics immediately. He seems to be a practical man.

Thanks for the thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Why were Freddy's ideas immediately rubbished because an earlier one didn't work out so well? And it was a while ago. Surely it would have been an opportunity for him to show that he had learned from that experience? And if he is to take over LL you might have thought that Lizzie might be mentoring him for when the time comes.

The Book of the Week is about slime. CMR springs to mind.

I am actually quite surprised that Freddie doesn’t sometimes refer to the days when he is going to be in charge of LL. I can imagine him musing in a comical way about how great it will be when the day comes when he can fire CMR and throw him off his land. It is the kind of running gag that we would find quite funny in our family but may be it’s a bit close to the bone and he is demonstrating better manners and judgment than I possess.

Also unfair of CMR to rubbish Freddie’s ideas completely when iirc the ghost stories (?) in the attic with Jim performing a few years ago was a great success. Whereas a lecture from CMR on the merits of the Exorcist/Omen and then sitting in my cold car craning my neck to watch it sounds a lot less appealing than staying in and watching even the same film on the tele, frankly.

Actually I now don’t think it was ghost stories, was it the Christmas production? Anyway I’m sore Freddie helped organise it or was in charge, because it was the year Linda decided she was retiring, wasn’t it. Then CMR directed or something, maybe?

I’m sure. Not sore 🙄