Archers thread #141: The nights are drawing in. Can we turn the clocks back to a time when The Archers was fun? Cackle or carp about 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, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you're hoping Ambridge has a pantomime again this year, 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.)

Many thanks to @TottersBlankly and @GoldenCupidon for the title suggestions.

Too much to hope, I suppose, that by the time we get to the end of this thread Chelsea's pregnancy is a distant memory and the Horrobins can gear up for a cheap and cheerful Christmas. I really, really hope she doesn't change her mind about the termination. It's a horrible and unrealistic storyline, as most of us have agreed over the past few weeks, but now I just want it to end and be forgotten about.

I do like the idea of Lilian taking on the role of witch in the woods. Much more fun to listen to than Mia sabotaging the Hunt Ball, which is surely bound to go horribly wrong, or the odd wrangling over the stained glass window which we know Peggy won't be contributing to on air , given June Spencer's retirement.

Not a peep out of anybody in Ambridge about all the recent political shenanigans, but that's hardly surprising. Nobody fretting about fuel bills or rampant inflation either.

Also, where's Jenny? I hope Angela Piper's OK.

Over to you!

I think we need a plot about vertical farming.

Or just a plot about anything that sounds believable.

Brad and Mia will do something unspeakable at the hunt ball (did kirsty and Tom do something back in the day?)

I am not sure why they had to bring Mia to the stables, I think her visit is more plot maneuvering again and Alice will be significantly impacted. They talked about all the posh people getting plastered, I wonder if they're going to spike some drinks, or do something that will make her turn to drink. I hope not.

You’re right of course - food ought to be a major and continuous focus on TA

I love the references to food - Jazzer’s beans on toast, Kate’s vegan stews, Jenny’s tagine, Pat’s cinnamon stew, Leonard’s take-away night, Ian’s honey and goats cheese pizza, Chels’ garlic mushrooms, etc etc…

The cheese thread was brilliant btw! Thanks @gasp

Grass and cheese would make for more interesting storylines than the EE-style misery of late.

That they would. I'm not even passing comment on the pregnancy SL at the moment...

Interesting about the milk and cheese changes! I feel I must read more.

Is there no Christmas production planned for this year? Hmm

Interesting about the milk and cheese changes! I feel I must read more.
It stands to reason that it changes. If you are breastfeeding, you can choose to avoid certain foods like things that create flatulence in the baby.

It stands to reason that it changes. If you are breastfeeding, you can choose to avoid certain foods like things that create flatulence in the baby.

Well, thank you... Unnecessarily snippy.

I must say that as someone who breastfed for over two years I only avoided potentially harmful foods, including alcohol. Potential flatulence wasn't particularly a consideration or concern.

@pezzn, it wasn't intended to be.
Years ago, I used to buy any eggs and they tasted a bit fishy.

It reminded me of when I was at friends' and we all got a takeaway, and the baby's mother wanted an indian takeaway.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but if Chelsea is 'further along than first thought' how does that tie in with the date of the ONS with Ben? Surely if the ONS was the only opportunity she had to conceive, then it would have been obvious how far along she is?

Also, why hasn't adoption been suggested as a third option? Is that what it's like in real life?

When my daughter was tiny and still exclusively breastfed, she became very colicky once and we concluded, with considerable regret on my part, that it might be because we were staying in a B&B which had bowls of home-grown raspberries at breakfast and I was partaking liberally. I stopped eating them and she settled down. A noble sacrifice.

Chelsea didn't know how to count dates, and apparently Tracey assumed she knew. She was counting from date of conception rather than last period, so 2 weeks further on.

@Plumpciousness, it is only because Chelsea didn't understand how the dates are calculated - from the LMP, not when they actually had sex.

Oh, and re adoption.
It seems to me that usually these days most unwanted pregnancies are terminated quickly. To carry a baby to full term and then to relinquish must be psychologically heartbreaking I think, and only done by women who are so anti abortion they wouldn't terminate even at only a few weeks (or those who bury their head in the sand / don't realise they are pregnant).

Fair enough, if you say so, Whopping.

Though I'd take the opportunity to say that there's a lot of low-level snipping and sniping on these Archers threads in recent months. Some of it has been dealt with, and others have moved on to pastures new, but it's not welcoming to newcomers. Not at all.

I'm not new, in case that's been missed. I posted by mistake under this name change a few days ago and decided to stick with it for a while.

I don't find bookmarks useful, when a new thread starts I post on it so I can find it on threads I'm on which is the function I use. I hope that's not an issue for you? Not at all. I’d just wondered why people posted placemarks when bookmarks seemed to do the same job, now you’ve explained. If bookmark doesn’t add the thread to “threads I’m on” I see why you don’t use it. Seems a failing in bookmark if it doesn’t work that way, though

@pezzn, it certainly wasn't intended to be snippy. I meant it in that the content of the milk depends on what the cow has been eating. Similarly, what a chicken eats affects the eggs. If you feed corn to chickens you get a noticeably brighter yolk. The tone of your replies to me seem rude, somewhat ironic given the content of the second one.

I do agree with you that the threads have lost some of their friendliness. Maybe it's the current miserable SL.

I'm guilty of bookmarking, although I try not to not include some text. The one time I will do it is if I feel that the OP needs a bit of traffic.

Ian should have been all over that already.

I also found the gourmet pizza van an incredible development.

The tone of your replies to me seem rude, somewhat ironic given the content of the second one.

I just found your initial response to me unnecessary, and when none was needed.
Though generally your own tone of replies, to others is often quite rude and abrupt.

I do agree with you that the threads have lost some of their friendliness. Maybe it's the current miserable SL.

That is true. The SLs have been dreadful for a while, but I'd say these threads have been like this for the past year or more. Negativity about the Archers is understandable at present, but that seems to provoke personal comments! The low-level bickering on the last thread was ridiculous.

I usually ignore it all, and perhaps that's part of the problem, but feeling braver under a name change and never having been on the receiving end under my usual name.

@Plumpciousness Adoption hasn’t been formally addressed within this story on TA - but the writers did tease us by having Jim reveal to Chelsea how grateful he was to have Dan (Shula’s son, adopted by Alistair when they got married) in his life. For a couple of days or so she appeared to be mulling this over. Then they dropped the subject. Two or three threads ago several posters stated unequivocally that baby-adoption was no longer a thing in the UK because other options are available and preferred.

Thanks @TeenDivided and @DysgwrCymraeg , I didn't know dates aren't calculated from conception.

As for adoption, having seen a few episode of 'Long Lost Family' and wondering how many of those people would exist if termination had been more easily available decades ago, I wondered if adoption is suggested as a third choice.

In terms of The Archers, there's a parallel with Ruairi - if Siobhan had terminated her pregnancy, Ruairi wouldn't exist now.

Oh Lordy I hope Alice’s drink isn’t spiked.

<worries>

You weren't on the receiving end of it earlier, @pezzn. Maybe it was my fault for thinking that it was obvious that nutrition affected milk content (and yield). I think it's been mentioned on TA more than once.
It's possible that it just never crossed your mind, the agricultural content of TA is minimal.
Apologies if you misread my reply as being snippy; as I pp, it wasn't intended to be so.