Archers thread #140: Changing rooms at Brookfield with Leonard Llewellyn-Bowen, or saving souls with St Smugula in the heathen wastelands of the North? 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 a stained glass window marking the birth of newborn twins is just what Ambridge needs, 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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-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.)

Title composed in haste, making use of @Octothorpe's lovely coinage of Leonard Llewellyn-Bowen and @TheLassWiADelicateAir's terrific description of St. Smugula's mission to the heathen wasteland of far flung Sunderland, both from the last thread

I've abandoned the use of an emoji in the title, having been alerted by another thread recently to the fact that it makes it difficult for people with visual problems to use assistive software.

I won't say much more about The Archers, as I'm still feeling extremely jaundiced about the programme at the moment. Fingers crossed it takes a turn for the better over the next few days. It was good to hear Helen, Lee and Joy again tonight. Less delighted to hear the loathsome George. What a numpty not to recognise pheasant chicks! His Dad would be far from impressed.

Over to you!

I'll just repeat my comment on the other thread. It was nice to hear from Helen, Lee and Joy tonight.

I will be very cross if Mick turns out to be a bad 'un.

Has anyone ever been pleased to hear from Helen?

I'm torn re the George storyline. On the one hand, it's amusing that he's been conned (serves him right, too), but on the other hand it's highly unrealistic that he wouldn't know what a turkey/pheasant chick looks like, having experience both at Grange farm and a father who is a game keeper.

Thank you for the new thread, Gasp0de

The hot tub 'n' bar is straight out of MN with its capacity for neighbour-annoying. Possibly it's where the SWs get their "ideas".

Oooh, thanks for the quote in the thread title, Gasp0de! <quietly chuffed>

Agree it’s ridiculous that George would be fooled by pheasant chicks. Presumably the humiliation will simply heap coals of fire onto the the simmering core of unpleasantness in his soul and turn him into even more of a wrong'un.

I'm just hoping that Eddie's refusal to bail George out will be the beginning of a character transplant for him.

Yes me too.

George and Eddie really are well suited- both so unpleasant and devious.

Is Henry going to turn out like George, with all his grime music? I assume he's just started at Borchester Green.

I'm surprised George didn't recognise it was a scam (handover in a lay-by and all,) let alone the implausibility of being unable to distinguish turkeys and pheasants, with his upbringing. Though I suppose he thought it not totally legitimate, which he could let slide, rather than a complete con.

Thanks for the new thread - excellent title!

Eddie has plumbed new depths hasn’t he? And George is a thoroughly unpleasant chip off the old block

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0de

I was confused by Helen's talk of "settling in at a new school" - originally I assumed she meant the Henry had moved up to secondary but then I thought she mentioned both boys had moved. Can't be bothered to listen again though so will assume the former. Interesting that she was so worried he would be bullied - has that been a problem for Henry before?

Nice to hear from some other characters after a long break. Entirely don't believe that George would be fooled by pheasant poults - not only is his dad a gamekeeper (and I'm sure George used to help Will regularly) but he comes from a long line of poachers!

I’m so glad that George got a taste of his own medicine. He’s awful, isn’t he?
But I do completely agree that it’s pretty implausible he’d be fooled by pheasants.

I assumed Henry has gone to secondary school too, though I have no idea how old he is anymore.

So I assume he will be Henwee no more with the implausible baby voice. It did sound like Helen was saying he joined late so he must have had to move schools. Why didn't we get that storyline?

Where is Pat? What about the gruesome twosome"s twins.

Henry was born on the day Nigel fell from the roof, i.e. 2nd January 2011. This happened to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first broadcast to the nation from Ambridge - quite a coincidence!

Keira Grundy must also have just started Year 7 at Borchester Green. She was born on 6th April 2011. (Yes, I've googled. No, I have no life.)

I didn't hear any indication that he started late - what did I miss? He couldn't easily move schools as there isn't another state secondary anywhere near. The only other schools we ever hear of Ambridge kids attending are the private ones.

I think this still counts as 'settling in' time for secondary, they are only 4 or 5 weeks in.

Listening to grime isn't really a sign of anything.

My DS did and so did his friends and they are all now lovely young men.

Lee and Helen sound like they are from different generations. They are very ill-suited. The SWs made Helen sound about 88-years-old last night.

Meanwhile, lucky Joy, living the dream with Mick! I’m so glad she’s having some fun but it’s all too good to be true for a soap so bound to fall apart after she has been scammed out of her savings/he dies suddenly/she finds out he is a bigamist etc…

I've just read Richard Osman's first two Thursday Murder Club books, and can't now get rid of the association between Joyce in the books and Joy in TA.

Thank you Gasp0de! ⭐️

Accidentally caught the start of Fortunately last night. One or t’other of the presenters had bumped into (or, rather, accosted) Tamsin Greig on a London street - leading to speculation on whether any work she’s currently doing might leave time for the odd TA appearance. Fingers crossed!

No one in Ambridge older than the new starry twins would mistake pheasant chicks for little turkeys. Silly story.

Henry as mini grime artist? It’s too much to hope for, isn’t it?

Looking forward to seeing what Joy’s boyfriend brings to village life …

I agree it's still settling time for new secondary starters, but the way Helen and Lee were talking it was as if Henry had moved away from all his known friends. Helen was fretting about him being bullied, Lee was reassured that "at least he's got mates" - it just sounded to me as though he'd moved somewhere where he knew no one and as if there were a backstory that we haven't been party to. Even though Loxley Barrett (is that where he was before?) is presumably a small-ish school surely Henry wasn't the only one moving up. And actually LB may be quite sizeable in that a lot of other villages round about won't have their own schools so it could easily be two-form entry as is the way of most primaries around here.

Anyway, I'm clearly hearing/inferring too much from what was said - I was in education mode last night having been to a governors' meeting so that might be why!

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g on that basis maybe Joy and Mick could solve all the ignored tricky crimes of Ambridge - disappearing bunting, burning post boxes etc. Not quite Thursday Murder Club but would be fun

I loved those books and now aim to retire in that manner!

Thanks for the new thread Gasp, Not read the books, and probably won't.
Pat is probably with Pinky and Perky.

Well if Henry has started secondary at least we’ve been saved from the months of Helen fretting about school choices for him - she seems like the type to have explored every school in a 50 mile radius to find the one that suited her pfb. In fact I’m quite surprised we don’t get much more of that on the archers.

Back from holiday, just caught up on episodes and the thread (now threads!) Totally implausible that George wouldn't know what a pheasant poult looked like. Kenton's diary another ludicrous plot turn - I hate it when the SW make things up (I know it's all made up, but you know what I mean!) there's plenty of stuff from the past that could actually be raked up without resorting to this nonsense. Finally I must agree with Muddler (who seems to have name changed again as I can't find it on the drop-down menu) in that I like the way the Ben as father storyline is highlighting how an unexpected pregnancy for a prospective father is now potentially more devastating than for the mother since he has no say whatsoever in how it proceeds. This is something I've long been drumming home to my DS. Mercifully young women today have a choice and there's no longer any stigma involved in having a termination or going ahead with an unplanned pregnancy, but the choice is very much theirs. It's more important than ever that young men like Ben think about contraception and don't just leave it to the woman because they think pregnancy is not something that happens to them - it's very much (and indeed always should have been) something that happens to men because they won't have any choice in whether or not they become a father as Ben is now finding out. This is much more powerfully demonstrated by it happening to Ben who is in a serious relationship with all that implies than if the father had been Josh, Ruairi or Freddie who are single.

It's more important than ever that young men like Ben think about contraception and don't just leave it to the woman because they think pregnancy is not something that happens to them - it's very much (and indeed always should have been) something that happens to men because they won't have any choice in whether or not they become a father as Ben is now finding out.

I've a little more sympathy with Ben who was emotionally all over the place and very drunk, than I have with nearly every other man I've met in the last year, who stone cold sober, don't voluntarily mention contraception even while naked in a bedroom with a woman (me). And then behave like a condom is the biggest imposition in the world. But anyway, that's for a Tinder thread...