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 came on to say exactly this. It has literally turned in EastEnders which I stopped watching years ago along with every other soap for this very reason. I used to love the subtlety and nuance of The Archers - the seasons passing, the agricultural details, like opening a window into an English village (so far from my own environment) and buzzing in to be a fly on the wall for 13 minutes. It never felt rushed - like there was all the time in the world for stories to develop - and it took a while to work out who was who and what had happened before but that was all part of the charm. Now it feels like a programme for people with very short attention spans - it no longer rewards the dedicated listener. It judders forward from drama to drama, casting off characters left right and centre once they've served their dramatic purpose (out with Toby and Rex, in with Steph and Beth) or reinventing history (Kenton's diary) as if nothing that happened before really counts.

I know she's gasp not real but I am not very pleased with The Archers for making a teenage girl with a difficult enough life the catalyst for other people's stories like this. It's a bit like when writers use the rape/murder of women in films as the "driver" for the obviously male main character's story, rather than as a story in itself.

Whether Ben and Beth break up DOESN'T MATTER.

I did find it funny everyone wishing Toby best of luck for the rest of his life etc as he is clearly leaving the programme, even though he's only moving a few miles down the road and plans to be back several times a week. Really very weird.

*even though in the plot of the show

Saw this www.woods4sale.co.uk/woodlands/northern-england/1985.htm and thought of you all. Any takers?

Be quick before Ruth snaps it up as a nice little present for her oldest grandchild.

Could not agree more with all the frustration expressed here, especially Lillian's. Gah.

Jill gets more weird, dislikeable and controlling by the day. Maybe Leonard and Joy will get together when she finally carks it.

Made me laugh, thank you.

What an alliance that would be.

Finally …

How long before Aunty Pip puts two and two together?

I suspect she already has.

About the Aunty bit?

Oh not that bit.

The hair chalk sounds fun.

How long before Ben starts asking Pip for advice for one of his nursing pals?

If Pip does keep Chelsea's secret, my estimation of her will improve, but where's the drama in that?

Hair chalk is great for kids. It rubs on and washes out easily.
Especially lighter coloured hair.

I do wish - sincerely - that I believed in the existence of Rosie as Pip‘s daughter. For some reason it’s just never found a place in my brain, so every time someone mentions her my ears sort of glide over it, waiting to get back to the real story.

Maybe it’s her hopelessly inconsequential name. Perhaps I was a bit over invested in the possibility of Toby’s daughter being named Juniper. Juno Fairbrother-Archer - there’s a proper name for a Brookfield heiress.

(My ears glide over the cricket team too, though in that case it’s just because I find cricket boring - I fully accept its existence in Ambridge.)

De-lurking to exclaim that Pip sounded like a human being for once!

I feel sorry for Josh. One minute he’s gaining the freedom of his own space, next minute he’s counselling the two dreariest twenty-somethings in Borsetshire. I wish Beth in particular would get a grip.

I wish Mardy Beth would do the decent thing and dump herself. Maybe she could head off to help St Smugula save the savage North.

I'd like Russ to come back, he'd become vaguely entertaining (which is impressive in Ambridge right now).

Mick seems to be getting very comfy at Horville Towers. Is he going to turn out to be a crook?

I would like to see Russ back too.

If this ridiculous story line bore any resemblance to reality instead of the wild accusations about Russ and Chelsea running off, she might even have confided in Russ weeks ago, who almost certainly would have been able to give advice.

There's a depressing inevitably to that.

No, but she obviously worked out Chelsea is pregnant. Pip handled that very nicely.

Helen really is a selfish creature. Didn’t Joy only first mention the hot tub earlier this week and now Helen is moaning about it as if it has been a fixture causing havoc to her boys’ sleeping pattern for months.

Poor Joy - being told off for enjoying her hot tub and new boyfriend at 7.30pm!! And daring to continue to enjoy herself after Henwee’s bedtime. I would have reminded H that local council guidance sets 11pm as the cut off time for noisy parties and suggested she remembers she lives on a housing estate and actually has neighbours.