🧦 Archers thread #133: Woolley socks it to them! Discuss The Archers and its Woolley thinking and plotting 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 would love to take part in the Mysteries, or other unusual views.

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 @ButtonSister and @BorsetshireBanality for title suggestions. I went with their idea in the interests of keeping the title fairly short.

@LillianGish and @FoxgloveSummers made cracking but longer suggestions, which (mashed up) will do a great job of kicking off our new thread.

Evictions (Tom and Tash), depictions (Bridge Farm Christmas card), conniptions (entire cast and crew of the Mysteries), convictions (Philip) and addictions (Alice) - what are our predictions for 2022 in Ambridge? All sure to make this the Best Ambridge Christmas Evah!

This thread should take us through to early January unless something very exciting happens (ha ha, fat chance). My predictions: this is a bit left field, but I wonder if Peggy will offer to buy the shop and flat so Tom and Gnasher (great coinage, whose was it?) can stay put. I don't believe Hazel is sincere about wanting to live in/regularly visit Ambridge. She's always been utterly two-faced and rotten to the core, why would she change now?

The Mysteries will, of course be a triumph and briefly borrowing the🔮 (sorry, Bore!) I expect we are going to hear them at some point over the New Year period.

Over to you!

Unmerited
Until Amy arrived back I didn’t know he had a daughter.

Amy didn't speak between early 2013 and August this year, so not knowing she existed isn't really a lack in you; more in the editorial team.

Alan is in it quite a lot, Usha is mentioned whenever legal advice is missing. But them mentioned as a couple - I honestly think not in many years?

It's usually fairly oblique; I think we had Ruth turning up at the vicarage wanting to see Usha earlier this year, and Alan saying she wasn't home yet, for instance. Before this year, I think the last time they were in a scene together was in December 2017, when Usha was annoyed because Alan had a panto rehearsal at the Vicarage and disturbed her when she was working in the evening.

Oh, and Amy is a vegetarian, so I do hope one of the pies in the fridge was meat-free, or she will whinge. Usha isn't; she just doesn't eat beef. Let's hope the pies were not both steak and kidney!

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Unmerited Until Amy arrived back I didn’t know he had a daughter.

Amy didn't speak between early 2013 and August this year, so not knowing she existed isn't really a lack in you; more in the editorial team.

Alan is in it quite a lot, Usha is mentioned whenever legal advice is missing. But them mentioned as a couple - I honestly think not in many years?

It's usually fairly oblique; I think we had Ruth turning up at the vicarage wanting to see Usha earlier this year, and Alan saying she wasn't home yet, for instance. Before this year, I think the last time they were in a scene together was in December 2017, when Usha was annoyed because Alan had a panto rehearsal at the Vicarage and disturbed her when she was working in the evening.

Ah thank you! Amy not speaking since 2013 - maybe was for the best

I’m somewhat worried about what happens if further restrictions or even lockdown is announced in a few days - TA won’t disappear from the air will it, like in March 2020??

Come to think of it, what was the timeline, did they just scrap six weeks of episodes that they’d recorded but were suddenly completely unrelated to UK realities? (Well even more so than usual….)

I know it was sometime in the May when the ether sad pandemic style programmes returned and there were only 4 a week.

@WhoppingBigBackside

When people complain about the 11+ (I passed at age 9), they say that children are written off as failures at age 11.

Is that worse than writing them off at 17/18?

Oops, 9 am. Rant over. Time to start my Big Important Job

I think it’s worse, because at least those written off at 17/18 have had a chance at GCSEs and A levels

jangly No, they continued with the recorded programmes, and Ambridge was a strange covid-free zone. Then they went off the air completely I think, and then there was that sequence of monologues.

Thanks

They went over from six-day weeks to five in the week of Sunday 29th March 2020, used up all their recorded programmes which took them to Sunday 3rd May 2020, then had repeats of episodes from previous years until Thursday 21st May 2020; after that they had four-day weeks with two writers per week fro m Monday 25th May 2020 until week ending Thursday 12th August 2021.

Since then it has been one writer a week, and five day weeks.

It was quite strange, Ambridge just carrying on normally with various village events which would have been massively unlawful in RL.

On another topic, have we been told what Amy is doing these days, as I assume she went ahead with packing in midwifery?

Indeed it was for the best @Unmerited!

22nd’s episode was utterly dire - ending on “it’s cold out there” or whatever. Just pointless. God knows what frolics Susan is planning in terms of Molly Button’s costume. Yaaaaawn.

This week's offerings have been predictable and boring. With the exception of Clarrie, who no jury would've convicted had she smothered Susan.

I had no sympathy for Lily if she deliberately chose the glamorous outfit. It's highly unlikely she would have been unaware that its cold outside in December. Actually, I've seen how people dress to go out at night round here so maybe not.

Are they just rerunning scripts from previous years? This all seems very familiar (and tedious). I’m on the edge of my seat about the donkey issue. In real life nobody would put up with Lynda, the cast would just gradually disappear with every unreasonable rant.

The most ridiculous bit this year is that people were clamouring to be extras and mustn’t be disappointed, when we all know every year people have to be forced into roles practically at gunpoint.

What busy farmers etc would volunteer for something that entails rehearsals up to Christmas Eve and a performance on Boxing Day?

Finally got back up to date. Not a vintage week, was it?

That’s true Foxglove it’s especially surprising when you consider it involved trudging around outside in December wearing old curtains. I’m sure it will turn out to be a beautiful frosty day in Ambridge rather than a miserable, drizzly one, which should mean frostbite and hypothermia for the elderly but won’t.

There was a fair bit of coughing at the end of that dress rehearsal ........

Yes I noticed that too but can’t believe they want everyone to get covid and leave 2 empty hours in the radio 4 schedule

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Finally got back up to date. Not a vintage week, was it?

In this house the spirit of Christmas Cheer is greatly enhanced by there being no episode of The Archers until Boxing Day.

Last night at seven the DH was condoling with me about it being time to turn on the radio.

Anyone else think Usha has had a personality transplant? She sounded uncharacteristically nasty in the leaving scene and a bit when she came back and was gloating about the pies and keeping her return a secret.

Utterly sick of the mystery plays. Why everyone hasn't told Lynda to do one is the biggest mystery of all, bit I had wondered who was going to be around to watch given how many are involved.

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

What busy farmers etc would volunteer for something that entails rehearsals up to Christmas Eve and a performance on Boxing Day?

It's as believable as a vicar's wife getting in a huff because her husband’s quite busy this time of year.

Usha has raced to the top of loathsome characters this week.

Oh and btw , if Usha really is a solicitor then she must be the only solicitor in the country who isn't facing the traditional "let's get this finished before Christmas" nonsense (why? It's been happily going nowhere all year - what's the rush now?)

@GoodPrincessWenceslas

I do hope Clarrie is going to tell Kirsty and Lynda to fuck off with their demand that she magic up another batch of costumes for all the extras.

Clarrie Luv needs a Mumsnet intervention, she needs to learn to say no!

She deserves to be sainted for not strangling Susan, but I guess she's had lots of practice living with Eddie.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon
Anyone else think Usha has had a personality transplant? She sounded uncharacteristically nasty in the leaving scene and a bit when she came back and was gloating about the pies and keeping her return a secret.

No, I think she was perfectly in character; she has been nasty and vindictive, as well as irrational, for years. Remember the "I can't play cricket and have no interest in it, but I shall pretend I want to be in the team and then accuse you of ageism" (or was it sexism, or racism? I forget, and it didn't really matter anyway because it was completely fictitious) "for not immediately giving me a place, and call out the actual team on strike". She was absolutely vile to Harrison, and in a totally wild and mad way for no actual reason.