💀 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!

Truly there is no accounting for tastes.

And as if the local press would still be drivelling on about a year-old story which would have been of only tangential interest to the majority of readers in the first place.

Local paper, 23; anything is possible.

Hazel is up to something again; she was doing very well until she invented all the "all my family" garbage. She was the only child of two people (now both dead) who were only children, later adopted by a third only child who is also dead. She has no family, in Ambridge or anywhere else, unless she's got unexpected children somewhere. I do hope that when Peggy has time to think it over she will remember this fact -- and that "my poor step-children" were used by Hazel last time she wanted to con someone out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I don't see anything particularly unbelievable about any newspaper doing a follow-up story; especially a follow-up story, which in the case of Jordan, has a good outcome. Plus a local newspaper might not necessarily have enough local news to fill a paper anyway so a positive update on a horrible story seems perfectly believable.

As for it only being of tangential interest. I'm not a particularly nice person but if I were still living in the village I grew up in and this had happened there (and I might have used PhilipMoss's services) I doubt I'd think it was only of "tangential" interest.

I enjoyed tonight too.

It's all stacking up nicely for the ex-Horses to be reunited and have the Best Christmas Evah!

if I were still living in the village I grew up in and this had happened there (and I might have used PhilipMoss's services) I doubt I'd think it was only of "tangential" interest

I suppose much depends on how convincing one found the collective mea maxima culpa in the first place.
And I do wish they would make up their minds how 'vulnerable'/learning impaired/whatever Blake is meant to be. Actually, I don't. I just want him to disappear and never be heard of again: missing, presumed Victoria-ed. Chelsea will be distraught for all of half an hour. The idiot Kirsty will moan until the crack of doom anyway, so makes little difference on that front.

Surely the best episode all year, so far? Laughter, intrigue and shock. Fabulous!

About 20 BOOPS.

(I’ve been planning various CBD/hemp related stocking gifts for my family - hadn’t thought of the cats …)

I had an idea Kate and Hilda got on? It seems I have mis-remembered.

@TheSilveryPussycat

I had an idea Kate and Hilda got on? It seems I have mis-remembered.

I think Kate was the only person apart from Peggy with whom Hilda did get on, at one point.

But that was when Kate was blandishing Peggy in order to get free board and lodging out of her.

Lowfield on Friday 15th March, 2019, offers
"Kate is thrilled about getting her things out of storage. Apparently, Kate and Hilda get along famously. Peggy points out that Kate has agreed to clean Hilda’s cat litter. There is also the matter of Kate’s rent. When Kate protests that Spiritual Home isn’t doing well, Peggy calmly agrees she can pay half the usual rent until Spiritual Home is making a profit. The first of the month would work well."

At a later date Hilda behaved badly (well, like Hilda, really) at the Laurels, so Kate locked her out into the garden.

I think it is probably a case of there not being room for two such completely self-absorbed creatures in one household.

Chelsea is going to be theperson Blake starts talking to, and once he starts there'll be no stopping him. She doesn't walk on eggshells around him, the others do and I think Blake appreciates that.

Well she’s his age. (How old is he, exactly?)

But I’d be glad to see a rapprochement with Kirsty, whose life must be crap at the moment.

@KimikosNightmare

I don't see anything particularly unbelievable about any newspaper doing a follow-up story; especially a follow-up story, which in the case of Jordan, has a good outcome. Plus a local newspaper might not necessarily have enough local news to fill a paper anyway so a positive update on a horrible story seems perfectly believable.

As for it only being of tangential interest. I'm not a particularly nice person but if I were still living in the village I grew up in and this had happened there (and I might have used PhilipMoss's services) I doubt I'd think it was only of "tangential" interest.

Completely agree with this. I have no interest in Hilda. I'm not sure what to make of Hazel's return - apart from her OTT cameo after Jack's death I don't remember much about her except that she was one of those characters mentioned (by Jick), but who never made an appearance. I fear this means the SW will feel free to make up whatever they like to suit the next plot twist. She already seems to be the token Covid victim - and a sufferer of long Covid at that.

Having worked in local newspapers for years, I can safely say that a follow-up story with one of the horses speaking out for the very first time would easily provide a front page lead. It would be written and saved for a slow day when there was no breaking news to fill the slot. It would also be picked up by the local news agency and make it into one of the nationals the following day.

I wonder if a romance between Chelsea and Blake is on the cards. We have already learnt of his film star good looks and he’s only a few years older than Chelsea. Further down the line, if it lasted, this could put Jazza in the position of a step-father-in-law which would mean his transformation would be complete.

In California, cats are given CBD oil almost as a matter of course. This was one of Kate’s more sensible initiatives though I hope she didn’t just give Hilda a few drops of her own supply. She should have got the pet version in order to get the dosage right.

Oh … Is Blake the new Jack Woolley?

Fascinating that cats in California get CBD oil.

It didn't work for me.

Maybe Hilda will become more evil than ever if Peggy is making her go cold turkey on the CBD oil, and Peggy will have to resort to the hard stuff. Peggy getting arrested for buying hash for her cat would make a novel storyline.

@Tulipomania

Fascinating that cats in California get CBD oil.

It didn't work for me.

How likely is CBD oil to be part of any cat's natural diet? If it is not, then giving it to a cat is pretty stupid as far as I am concerned; but then the American denaturing of cats (keeping them in herds, removing their claws, never letting them outside a flat, in extreme cases compelling them to a diet which would kill them) absolutely revolts me anyway.

platax

Interesting that the only character allowed so far to suffer in any way with covid is Hazel
Woolley. I’m not sure if I knew she grew up in Ambridge.

I thought Blake’s swift acceptance of the truth about Mr Moss in the light of a pretty and kind face was a bit unrealistic…

@JanglyBeads

platax

Interesting that the only character allowed so far to suffer in any way with covid is Hazel
Woolley. I’m not sure if I knew she grew up in Ambridge.

I thought Blake’s swift acceptance of the truth about Mr Moss in the light of a pretty and kind face was a bit unrealistic…

JanglyBeads Interesting that the only character allowed so far to suffer in any way with covid is Hazel

Debbie's estranged father Roger Travers-Macy had covid. Rather than getting in touch with Adam, who has maintained contact with Travers-Macy even from Africa, his new wife rang Debbie, who since she saw Travers-Macy last and had a serious row with him had moved country and changed phone number, so how the new wife who didn't know Debbie can have known the number to ring is a bit of a mystery. Debbie then rang Adam and pestered him about it.

Sorry, that quote was meant to be deleted.

How likely is CBD oil to be part of any cat's natural diet? If it is not, then giving it to a cat is pretty stupid as far as I am concerned

It was actually very calming for my cat which was suffering from advanced lung cancer at the time. Used with guidance from a vet, I don’t think it’s any different from any other kind of medication. I expect Jakob has read lots of journal articles on the subject - he seems very progressive. Giving a cat CBD oil is definitely not comparable to declawing…

I am sorry about your cat.

It seems to me that if Jakob had prescribed CBD oil for a cat, he would have told the cat's owner that he was doing so. He is after all a stickler for doing things right.

There is a considerable difference between a prescribed medication and someone like Kate casually dosing an animal for woo reasons, which was clearly what she was up to.

I wonder what Lillian's hair looks like

one of the horses speaking out for the very first time would easily provide a front page lead
A talking horse! Hold the front page! Mr Ed! Mr Ed.... ?

@ILoveShula

I wonder what Lillian's hair looks like

Very bad highlights - like a Zebra - were mentioned.

That is a pity: it decreases the possibility of her being eaten by lions.