🌟 ⭐ Archers thread #138: Two new stars on the Ambridge firmament, but will Peggy’s retirement leave a black hole? 🕳️ Join us here for a window on The Archers.

[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 commissioning a stained glass window for two of your great-grandchildren and nothing for all the others is a sensible thing to do, 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 @LillianGish and @MuddlerInLaw for title ideas, which I have played around with a bit. I'm sad to have heard the last of Peggy. An era starts to draw to a close.

What a relief to be out of the Steph Casey phase, which I hope was an unfortunate blip, not to be repeated. [Triumph of hope over experience there ... ]

@BoreofWhabylon has asked the 🔮 about Adil and it predicts that he is actually the Mysterious New Owner of Grey Gables but won't be revealed as such until he has won Kirsty's heart (or some similar Mills & Boon level tosh - apols to the 🔮 but it does seem to have a mushy side). I still cling to the idea that the mysterious silent and invisible Gills who now own Home Farm may have some role at GG, but why not name them?

No mention of the heatwave in Ambridge, but budget constraints probably severely limit their scope for topical inserts these days. IRL I believe this has been a tricky time for farmers. Perhaps the SWs will catch up with this over the winter and start putting in some farming chat about diversification away from oats to olives, or similar. We already have at least one vineyard in the Ambridge area, at LL. (I understand there was another, in the heart of the village, decades ago, but the SWs have now forgotten all about it, sadly.)

Over to you!

Thanks for the tip off that last night's episode was on Sounds. In the end I didn't get round to listening until 2pm and then it went out on R4, which was a surprise.

Soft play was very new when my children were little and I loathed it. We didn't have one that close and I was able to keep it as a once-every-holiday-at--most thing, when we were paying (some people had birthday parties there too). 😱I'm with Alistair on this one.

Thanks also for the links to the interviews with this week's writer, Sarah Hehir, and Madeleine Leslay. Very interesting in both cases. Ms Leslay is not quite as I picture Chelsea. I realised this week that I have a very clear mental image of her and it's based on Gordon Ramsay's daughter Tilly who was in Strictly last year.

Odds on the topical insert being in tonight's episode?

I think it might be - given that the CA almost apologised for last night’s episode having been recorded before the royal events.

I’ve always imagined Chelsea as skinny and sharp featured! And somehow in my head she has mousey blonde hair, even though I know that isn’t in accord with her character.

It would be unreasonable, wouldn’t it, to wonder if the bit in the interview about how she’d fare on a farm had anything to do with the Brookfield brothers?

Ms Leslay sounded delightful, so I hope she’ll be around for decades.

Thank you!

I don't think Blake is a contender.

My image of C is closer to @MuddlerInLaw 's than a Tilly Ramsey type

She's been sneaking round to Jim's recently hasn't she. Maybe she and Jim got a bit jiggy one evening...

Oh heavens - Jim has been maundering on about what a crap father he was to Alistair! And he was so thrilled with the soft play place. I think you’ve got it, UrsulaTitchener!

Had to search for Tilly Ramsay. The clue is in the surname.

Ooh i bet she's with Denise!

Perhaps she has a hitherto never mentioned friendship with Jamie Perks (just turned 27, perhaps back to check on Kathy's house) or a junior Gill? Nobody ever mentions the Home Farm house these days....

The soft play visit was just weird

If I were Chelsea I wouldn't come back. What a circus.

I think she's with Blake.

I don't think there is the slightest possibility that Russ or Blake is the father, but if Blake is now in a flat rather than a hostel, she might go there.

Blake has been as low as it's possible to be. Blake would also likely still have a support worker who could give advice (Marie Stopes is that way)

I'm beginning to get a bit bored. It's turning into such a pantomime.

As for the idea Chelsea went away because she didn't want the village talking, she might as well have saved the bus fare and asked Radio Carter to put a poster in the shop window.

Denise is a sensible, motherly older woman she's had dealings with, who would sort out the termination if she wanted one. She'd also insist that Chelsea told her mother she was ok. More importantly- for the plot- it will bring Alistair back into her orbit, brimming with gratitude, and the Jim connection will just reinforce the new bond.

Hmm, I'm not convinced the one dealing re the dress would be enough for Chelsea to go to Denise. Also wouldn't Denise be likely to insist that Chelsea at least lets her mother know she's safe?

Out there guess but is she with Uncle Clive ? Black sheep of family ...

I also think she's with Blake, who is definitely not the father.

Whether or not Chelsea continues with the pregnancy, I don't think we are going to find out who the father is, although it may be revealed many years hence.

I’ve been thinking again, and I suspect it will be Russ, but he doesn’t recall it due to being drugged that night.

I think it's odd that Chelsea doesn't want to be with her mum. Most young people would want their mum. Even my dd was very clingy! And Chelsea and Tracey are pretty good.

She's obviously with someone. It has to be someone we know.

Just listened to tonight's. I'm convinced she's with Blake but really hope you're right Lass, and he isn't the father. Now that would have me raging.

The thing that convinced me the pause when Jim asked if she'd had food, shelter and was safe, and she replied "she was safe." I'm not saying that means she doesn't have food but did make me think of Blake instantly.

Really glad you said that doesn't mean he's the father has cheered me up Lass.

I'm beginning to get a bit bored. It's turning into such a pantomime

Me too.

And Chelsea putting her mum through so much upset is unforgivable.

I've convinced myself she's with Blake He's been down himself, as down as anyone could be. He'd understand. He's kind and would be sympathetic and unjudgemental. He's also, in some ways, a stranger, he's not from the village so it would be easier to confide in him.

I don't think we will find out who the father is. It has turned into a pantomime. 10 people now definitely know and those 10 will tell others. The likes of Jolene, Lillian, Ruth, Lynda and Kirsty will have guessed. I don't think Chelsea will come back- whether she has a termination or keeps it, the whole village will be talking.

That's also making me more convinced she's safe with Blake. Blake will still be in the care system and can point her towards someone who can help.

There's still the mystery of the pinging phone on Sunday and why she can't tell Tracey who the father is.

I don't think it's likely but the explanation that makes the most sense of refusing to tell and running away, in the real world, not Ambridge, would be the father is her mother's boyfriend.

I don't think it's likely but the explanation that makes the most sense of refusing to tell and running away, in the real world, not Ambridge, would be the father is her mother's boyfriend.

I really, really don't think it's Jazzer.

her mother's boyfriend

If any portion of the audience were thinking this, the creative team would have failed spectacularly. Particularly as we remember one of the horses ran away from home because of the man who lived with his mother.

The SWs have been clever though. It’s true, as Madeleine Leslay says of Chelsea - since she was given a voice she’s interacted with so many people. (I mean, when was the last time Pip had any meaningful contact with any non-Brookfield person apart from Stella?) So we have strong arguments for her having sought refuge with both Denise and Blake.

Although … I do recall a person not very far from me, decades ago in a tight spot, spending two or three nights holed up in the upper part of a barn used to store household junk on a farm. There are lots of outbuildings in Ambridge. Plus shepherd huts and yurts … She can’t have travelled far, unless she hitched or was given a lift - as far as we know she was skint.

I was wondering if she might be in the cricket pavilion - a favourite bolthole of Tracy and Jazzer back in the day. I also think she may turn out not to be pregnant after all - there was some line about her having taken the morning after pill, but it didn't work. She didn't actually do another test with her mum did she? The point of this storyline is the bomb it has exploded at LL - whether Chelsea is pregnant or not is a side issue.

I’m now so ancient that when Chelsea said she saw one line on the pregnancy test I had to google to check if that was actually positive or negative. (Came away confused.) Because it did occur to me that she might have made a mistake - she’s quite a panicky person and prone to react first, think later.

Although, the MAP can fail. Vomiting isn’t helpful. Or you may have dragged your feet about getting it in time - counting hours on your fingers and making an optimistic assessment of time. Or maybe just bad luck.

But yes, absolutely … Just imagine how things must be at LL this morning …

But the story line doesn't make any sense. Why is she hiding out in a farm outbuilding just because she's pregnant?

The supposed explanation- that she didn't want the village talking about her - makes absolutely no sense. The entire village is talking about her. That was 100 % foreseeable. If the point of the story line is just Russ' downfall she has been turned into a pawn.