🐠 Archers thread #135: An Everyday Story of Fishy Folk. 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 would be delighted to be given a goldfish named after your ex, 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.)

Apologies for ignoring the various title suggestions on the last thread. However, here they are, plus a couple of other pithy observations, to kickstart the new thread. I think it's fair to say nobody is looking on this as a Golden Era! Goldfish Era, though ...

@Roysnewshirt: Everyone wants more! Chris wants more Amy; Jazzer wants more Tracey; Alice wants more time with Martha and Amy wants more space… Very true. And now we know Kirsty wants more farming expertise in the rewilding project, but not Pip (thank the lord) so does that mean approaching Adam? Currently under-employed.

@LillianGish: I tune in to hear birdsong and bleating in the English countryside not hammy acting and suggestive grunting.

@stilldumdedumming: Archers is good at the dynamics of family, farming, what it means to have your job, your home and your inheritance so closely aligned etc etc not this nonsense!

@DoctorTwo: Like fuck would Pheobe buy her parents a goldfish each. The Ambridge character transplant fairy has been working overtime this past few weeks, it's been absolutely fucking appalling bar a couple of exceptions.

Can't disagree with any of that. I want to hear more about the pigs and any other effects of Brexit. A topical insert about the war in Ukraine must surely be on the way.

Any happy listeners out there? Any disgruntled listeners with even more grumbles? Over to you!

Kathy is being set up as the first point punching bag for the disgruntled employees.

Love the Advil.

I did notice - it would have been hard not to.

We don't know it's Hazel, do we? Maybe it's the mysterious Gills entering village life at long last.

Is it normal for a closing business's records to be archived? I wouldn't have said GG was really all that significant. If Kathy means the financial records should be kept for seven years or whatever HMRC require these days, surely all the key documents are in digital form?

This storyline is a bit close to home for me. My Dad was general manager for many years of a small family business. The elderly family members who had inherited it had retired from active involvement, and their children weren't interested in taking over, so they tried without success to sell the business as a going concern and then decided instead to wind the whole business up. My Dad was a few months off retirement and should have been preparing to go out in a blaze of glory, big party for all staff etc, speeches, presentation etc. Instead, the owners dumped the job of telling the staff they were all going to be made redundant on him and he had to deal with some very angry and upset employees. He then spent several months on the solitary and rather depressing task of selling off stock, premises and so on, and when he did finally retire he left without a backwards glance after quarter of a century of hard work. He was very stoical about it but I was sad for him.

Oh! Maybe one of the SWs is the child of one of those ex employees?!

I wasn’t pleased with that dreadful male giggling over Kathy’s fury. It felt horribly 1950’s: “Why, Miss Jones, you’re beautiful when you’re angry!”

Who writes this bilge in the 21st century?

But. Kathy and Pat. Talking to each other! I held my breath, fearful of a ‘New Pip’ phenomenon, with Pat sounding as if she were being presented to royalty, but I think they just about pulled it off. Their intonation didn’t sound as if they hadn’t spoken for a decade, but the script let them down. Far too much exposition of things that they’d each already know about the other’s life if they actually were best friends living in the same village with the benefit of phones and text messaging.

That's exactly what it was like. Yeurgh.

They were definitely writing it with people like me in mind but it was dreadful from my perspective too.

As someone who has only ever known Kathy as the silent sheetfolder with a son in his 20s, all I could think is why do we suddenly have to listen to this querulously voiced, over-familiar woman who has been unnecessarily crowbarred into all our lives. They gave all the back story to put newcomers in the picture but - as for long-standing listeners - it just felt like P and K were raking over old ground for the sake of it. Unfortunately, the sooner K leaves the better though now it seems she is not about to be pensioned off at all and might be hanging around for a bit…sigh…

Oliver deserves to lose all his friends. He seems to have had a total PT - may be he will move on to evicting Clarrie and Eddie…

No we don't know it's Hazel yet, but you just wait and see!

Meant to type Adil, but Advil kinda works.....

Yes I know, I needed a drumroll when Kathy and Pat had a conversation!

Sad for your dad and his "legacy", @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I agree about the weirdness of Kathy appearing now given her absence during Custardgate.

It's also weird that none of Helen, Johnny, Lee or Joy have made any comments about Gnasher's pregnancy, Gnasher and Sausage Boy's return to the parental home or Gnasher's diabetes.

Thanks, Jangly, but actually it was all a long time ago (he's not far off 90 now) and all water under the bridge. It may possibly have been a factor in my parents' snap decision not long after Dad retired to move back to Scotland, which has worked out very well for them both, so all good!

Or is Kathy going to take the redundancy to execute the grand plan, and Tracey is offered the role instead? (I dont really understand the role tbh)

Maybe Kathy might have Tracy appointed as her assistant?

All building projects should have a works co-ordinator/ project manager but Kathy isn't qualified to do it.

Another mammoth catch up of episodes and thread. Hello again, all.

I mostly remember Kathy as being a bit wet. Was she ‘feisty’ (oh how I loathe that word, never used to describe men!) before she went silent?

Feisty - no.

But she was brave when she gave evidence against her rapist in court.

Sorry to hear about your dad's end of career @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g Even if it was donkeys years ago. One might think the timing was intentional so they had the someone who knew the business inside out to dismantle it. So horrid not to have a last hurrah.

Surely a standard business closing drink the bar dry night isn't the glorious treat they're dressing it up as?

I too thought this job will go to Tracey, or an assistant role.

Didn't like hearing Kathy so instantly quelled. "I thought he was slick city operator type but he shmoosed me in 2 minutes whilst laughing at me. Offered me a job and now I think he's okay actually." Bit pathetic, but she can redeem herself by telling him to get stuffed and leave the way open for Tracey.

At least now we can confirm that Kathy was only brought back to take her leave officially.

Does anyone remember this joint road-trip dream she and Pat apparently had? I don’t.

I get that Pat has grandchildren on the way but having sold of quite a lot of land for the houses she & Tony must have enough so she could go on the road trip with Cathy ?

I think Ardil will offer job to Tracy and Roy will be left jobless ?

I am still trying to work out (in my head ) why sale had to go through quickly - not the end of the financial year , maybe before a competitor got wind Oliver was up for a sake - is Oliver still having a stake

Trying to imagine what 60 room hotel and spa could become ????

And the moral of the story is: don’t be a dick when your job comes to an end.

As much as I really want Tracey to get the job, it does seem that Roy would be the obvious second choice, having been there for so long. Tracey won't have the knowledge of managerial experience. Sun sure there's a job fairy knocking around the Am that could sort that minor detail though.

I can't believe Roy's golden handshake will only see him through a few months given to he frequency with which we are being reminded how generous the packages are.

They’re proposing to hire someone for Yokel Liaison - to sweet-talk the locals - not a building Project Manager, (I imagine they already have one of those) so I’m not really sure why they’d need managerial experience. They just need to be someone the community will trust to tell the truth when problems crop up, surely?

Oh - we now also have confirmation that Roy has been providing financially for his other daughter! (If not quite at the level Hayley would have liked.)

Was a bit confused by his rant about how much Phoebe has cost him. He did say “living expenses” didn’t he? Think I’d die of vicarious mortification if he’d payed her university fees up front.

When Advil said he wasn't going to take wrecking ball to GG, I immediately thought of this:

But Roy hasn't had as many continuous service years as you might think, because he went to Lower Loxley in the middle, and had to work his way up after crawling back following the affair.

Having said that, Kathy hasn't been manager all that long, she worked at the golf club belonging to Borchester Land, before getting into Grey Gavles via the health club.

Ah yes, the title was Liaison something or other. It was Kathy talking about her years of experience, with suppliers and the history of GG made me think they wanted to retain someone with operating knowledge, which wouldn't be the worst idea.