🦈 Archers thread #137: See left - have they jumped it? Discuss The Caseys - sorry, 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 Steph Casey is a wonderful addition to the programme, or similar odd 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.)

Too dispirited to add much else. Have we reached a new low?

I suppose the Archer twins will be born before we need a new thread. 👶👶
Any thoughts on names? Patrick and Antonia were suggested before - inspired! Peggy has to be a strong contender.

Over to you!

The pizza van storyline is just bonkers and it's also bonkers that they would not have kept Ian on.

Saw this and thought of us...
www.mumsnet.com/talk/baby_names/4601797-ruairidh-spelling-variations

Dear God. Once again I find myself wondering why of all the addictions in all the brains in the world The Archers walks into mine.

I have come to the conclusion Adil is an android. He's far too flawless to be a real human. Anyone human would by now have said something nasty to Roy, Lynda and most of the other denizens of Ambridge, and they would have deserved it.

I wouldn't travel to a hotel purely for the bananas, but I'd be rather sad to find a genuinely local-grown menu in the depths of winter. No coffee, no tea, no chocolate of any kind, no citrus fruits, vegetables limited to cabbage and other brassicas plus root veg, fish limited to trout from Brian's lake (frozen). The meat, eggs and dairy produce would be good, although I suspect they won't be buying their chicken from Tracy's employer.

@HaveringWavering, apologies, I meant @BeardieWeirdie.
@TamzinGrey, both are correct but a gog would be unlikely to say mam-gû and tad-cû unless referring to hwntw grandparents.
@TheSummerySilveryPussycat , I've seen Ruairí written in many different ways on here, and said a few different ways on TA and IRL. I'd imagine that Ruairidh would get more.

Yes - there's also a thread asking for names for twin girls! I had to make a suggestion, of course.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-35131751

They grow bananas at Chatsworth house although, apparently, they are more like plaintains. Chatsworth is localish to me but in trying to find a link I discovered that the very future of bananas is uncertain.

@CaptainMyCaptain , is that the cavendish banana or is it the ensete or a different banana? not sure if ensete is a banana or a plantain

I started reading the link but was overwhelmed by the smell of banana so closed the tab quickly. Bleurgh!

Existential banana threat?!?!?!

It is the Cavendish banana from which most of the bananas we eat now have descended.

It is the Cavendish banana from which most of the bananas we eat now have descended.

No coffee, no tea, no chocolate of any kind, no citrus fruits, vegetables limited to cabbage and other brassicas plus root veg, fish limited to trout from Brian's lake

Interesting … You know, I don’t think Adil (or the SWs) had actually thought it through at a granola granular level. I’m sure they’re not intending to ban coffee - if they’re ambitious they might set up a relationship with a particular set of growers in Ethiopia or Indonesia (through the usual channels, don’t ask me) and have ‘artisan’ roasters on site at GG. Maybe quarterly roasting residencies? At the very least they would have a contract with a roaster / bean supplier / cafe in Borchester. Similar set ups for tea and chocolate - a relationship with local traders / suppliers, rather than grow-your-own. (Possibly in collaboration with Fallon’s Tea Room?)

Dunno about citrus fruit - I know we can grow lemons here, not sure which season. Vegetables … My inbox is weighed down with mail shots from newish country hotels surrounded by their own kitchen gardens, boasting of how all their produce is home grown and seasonal. It would probably be fine with a knowledgeable chef / food consultant.

Fish? Maybe they’d celebrate a Vegan Month whenever local fish was in short supply. Or make a feature of Helen’s cheese and locally grown seeds / pulses / grains. And they’d never run out of eggs. So varied non-meat protein wouldn’t be a problem.

( I’ll be invoicing the BBC for my consultancy services imminently.)

I have grown my own lemons. Just in time for Shrove Tuesday. I have mini lemons growing again just formed.

Not sure it would be a commercial opportunity, though maybe in large polytunnels it might work.

Does Ian make pizzas topped with bananas?

Been away but finally all caught up.

I've said it before, but I think Russ's snobbishness massively outweighs his sexual predator side. As in, I don't think he'd give up Lower Loxley for a Horrobin bunk up.

I was surprised to hear him suggesting moving out though. Really hope Lily can fly solo, he's a funny character but their relationship is a sad listen.

TBH if Ian is putting rhubarb on pizza and can't stick to using in season ingredients GG is probably better off without him. Man can't pit an olive.

Kirsty was so lovely with the twins I can hardly bear it. Really hoping they crack on with some Advil joy for her.

You can grow some exotic(-ish) fruit in a walled garden.

I don't think he'd give up Lower Loxley for a Horrobin bunk up.

Not whilst sober …

Kirsty was so lovely with the twins I can hardly bear it.

TBH I can hardly believe Tom would blatantly go and have children with someone else right in front of her. It’s beyond cruel.

He should have emigrated again.

'sourcing our food entirely from Grey Gables land and from farms nearby'

That's what he said. Ludicrous. If he meant 'and using Borsetshire suppliers with impeccable ethical and environmental credentials for imports' he should have said so.

Tom's perfectly entitled to his own happiness but Kirsty is handling this like a champ.

I wouldn't mind him emigrating however but that's unrelated.

@suzyscat , the unpitted olive was Adam's doing.
Tom blatantly got married to someone else right in front of Kirsty too.
I'd be quite happy to see Tom emigrate.

I'm puzzled as to why Caitlin and Pat would have been to both Tenby and Abersoch. It is quite a hike from one to the other. Probably about as far timewise as Great Yarmouth and Bournemouth.

Just came across this via Twitter, btw. The Facebook moderator bots would go into meltdown if forced to work on Mumsnet! Imagine that approach on AIBU ...

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/archers-fan-forum-shut-down-27617871

^Archers fans have been ticked off for threatening its fictional characters online.
Facebook shut one forum after ruling that lovers of Radio 4’s rural soap broke its “community standards”.^

The website is policed by software that cannot tell the difference between threats to real and fictional people. ... Sixth-former George Grundy was branded a “right little t”, with one member adding: “Hopefully he’ll fall in the combine harvester”. Another listener blasted: “A lot of slow-burn storylines at the moment. Bring on the napalm for fs sake.”

They were haymaking. No combine harvesters involved.
We're a tame bunch on here then.

Maybe Justin could come a cropper on the cross-country course.

He's lived in Ambridge all his life, his family are there, his business is there. Kirsty's decision to stay in Ambridge is the one that looks perverse, given she's the incomer and has mostly only had very humdrum jobs, so it's not as if she couldn't have done at least as well anywhere else. She stayed for Helen and Roy, I suppose, but the price of that was being near Tom as well, and he was never going to stay single for long.

I've long been waiting for another sinkhole to open up. The slurry pits have possibilities too. Farming is a dangerous occupation.

I don't think there's ever been a murder on TA. Apparently Helen was originally going to kill Rob when she stabbed him, but the powers that be at R4 vetoed that. We had a manslaughter back in the early years, but Tom Forrest was acquitted. The victim was Clarrie's uncle, I think, or possibly great-uncle.

Kursedy has a house in Ambridge, but given that it was her marital home, I'm surprised that she hasn't sold it.