💀 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!

DoctorTwo
I enjoyed the interaction beteen Chelsea and Blake. As others have said, she might be the first Horrobin to be deemed socially acceptable.

Susan is shocked by that comment. Seriously unhappy about it, in fact. She was born to Ivy Horrobin, and her father is Bert Horrobin.

[quote GraceFairbrother]@LiterallyKnowsBest, I really can't think of anything to ask.

The fact that it is an all-woman panel, was the first thing that struck me.
The last time I attended it was an all-male panel. Times are changing.

It's held in a multicultural town that has a Labour MP.

The issues I would like to raise, but probably won't., are more local issues. One being that the town library isn't fully open - you can order books but not browse, and I think you can book computer time. (internet poverty)
The second issue is probably too tricky - the issue of safety especially for women.
The third issue is the gig economy. Many of the vacancies are temporary or on an as needs basis - hard to balance your life, your budget, childcare etc, and is it just hiding true employment figures.

Any suggestions, please?[/quote]
How about: now that the BBC has withdrawn from Stonewall, is the tide turning towards protecting women’s rights to safe places as default?

@lomaamina, thanks for the suggestion but I was on my way to the venue when it arrived.

I made an idiot of myself - said to him when I saw him in the corridor 'Oh my goodness it's Chris Mason!'. Talk about embarrassing. He is great though.

It was mean to be an all women panel but Emily Thornberry was unwell so Lord Falconer was on it instead.

I submitted several questions as there were not many in the audience.

It was recorded at an academy, and its motto is 'Work Hard, Be Kind, No Excuses'.

Aha! Listening to it now. Not a very inspiring motto is it ?

The breastfeeding question is up now. I was thinking it's a good Mumsnet question (no need to comment @GraceFairbrother ).

I liked the motto. Simple and to the point. I got it slightly wrong - 'Work hard, Be nice, No excuses' The school is in a multicultural area. Not the best neighbourhood.

'Slough Comp' is only just over a mile and away, and its motto is Floreat Etona. I like that one too

I think that the questioner had a point. I'm not sure how I'd feel if my colleagues were breastfeeding in a meeting. Not from a 'eek, gross' way, far from it, but I've noticed when I am in a meeting and there is someone also looking after children, they seem distracted.

How old would a baby be? Would it be acceptable at 3 months old but not at 11 months?

Even a pet in the room is distracting. Quite a few cat owners where I work. One of my colleagues has a kitten

The panel's responses were good. Regardless of how I vote, I think that the answer is to have decent maternity leave and childcare, and MPs are not in the same position as say a single mother working on a zero hours contract.

Yes, that changed my opinion in fact.

Anyway, I feel we've derailed the thread. Back to The Archers, I was very taken with the scenes with Chelsea. A real breath of fresh air: a believable character.

I find Chelsea’s habit of singing / humming while she works just adorable. BOOP to the SW who came up with that! (Or did the actor insert it herself?)

I'm still a couple of days behind but I too am enjoy Chelsea, especially her confidence in her hairdressing skils.

Apologies for derailing. I'll revert to my regular username.

Hard to believe that Chelsea has acquired such skills so quickly.

@GraceFairbrother

Apologies for derailing. I'll revert to my regular username.

Hard to believe that Chelsea has acquired such skills so quickly.

She hasn't, of course. She's been cutting people's hair for years, by her own account.

Ah … On second listening I’ve worked it out. It’s not that Eddie and Clarrie don’t have their own laptop - he did the search on Mia’s so Clarrie wouldn’t see the hotels in the search history.

Relief!

(The limo trip to London still ridiculous though.)

But how can even the tip for the hairdressing be in coins? Thought we’d done slavery in Ambridge?

Been AWOL from the thread a lot recently, for no very good reason. Back now! I see we have 235 posts left, so I'm hoping we can get through this week, unless something extremely eventful happens. I'm heading north tomorrow (weather, trains and ferry permitting) but taking my laptop so may be more in touch up there than I have been of late. Weather forecast looks dire so I expect to be stuck inside most of the time.

I like Chelsea. Better written than many of the other characters, and definitely better acted than some of the newer arrivals.

Also, they managed to get the weather right! I love it when Ambridge has heavy rain and the rest of the UK is fretting about drought, but I also enjoy it when by chance they mention the weather we're actually having, i.e. extreme cold at the moment.

Helen Archer missed a trick by not giving the Fairbrother her whey. I am listening to Food & Drink on R4, where Black Cow vodka (made from dairy waste) has just won a Food & Farming Award.

Yup! Also listened.

Don’t make me explain why Toby is incapable of making gin from whey again.

Ah - go on!

It was discussed on TA. Can't remember the reason

This is what I said in October 2019 -

To make whey gin or vodka you have to ferment the whey to produce alcohol, in a process similar to making beer. Once you have done that the alcohol is distilled out of the resulting mixture. the alcohol produced doesn’t really have much of the whey material left in it, it’s effectively just water and alcohol, there may be some other volatile material as well but not much. It’s a much larger scale process than what Toby does now; he’s just redistilling alcohol, basically flavouring a base spirit. there was no way Toby had the space, capital or expertise to make whey gin. He (or the SWs) obviously just heard the words whey gin and went for it with no thought of what the process entails.

Memory tells me that Toby was unable to collect or indeed use the whey he'd assumed Helen would give him free. The reason he couldn't use it was that doing so would require equipment he didn't have.

My personal explanation was always that one scriptwriter (Tim Stimpson) liked the idea, or at least had heard of it, and subsequent writers (Keri Davies, Nick Warburton, Paul Brodrick) didn't or hadn't.

Well that's a bizarre turn up.

On the other hand Chelsea continues to be worth listening to. Definitely a BOOP tonight.

@Chemenger

This is what I said in October 2019 -

To make whey gin or vodka you have to ferment the whey to produce alcohol, in a process similar to making beer. Once you have done that the alcohol is distilled out of the resulting mixture. the alcohol produced doesn’t really have much of the whey material left in it, it’s effectively just water and alcohol, there may be some other volatile material as well but not much. It’s a much larger scale process than what Toby does now; he’s just redistilling alcohol, basically flavouring a base spirit. there was no way Toby had the space, capital or expertise to make whey gin. He (or the SWs) obviously just heard the words whey gin and went for it with no thought of what the process entails.

Great summary there, Chemenger

We'd all assumed that Scruff Gin was an artisan enterprise (but then the Fairbrother seemed to be able to sell the enterprise for a substantial sum).

I suppose that the enterprise expands and contracts to suit the scripties, a bit like the Bridge Farm's bedroom numbers do.

I quite enjoyed that tonight, Blake and Chelsea. And Peggy's call.

I wonder if Jakob knew Kate was "treating" Hilda; I can't imagine him approving.