Archers thread #143: In the Bleak Midwinter, Ambridge Folk Make Moan. Best Christmas ever? Probably not! 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, 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'd love to be in Jolene's choir , 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.)

Well, we made it through Stir Up Sunday without bloodshed, but poor Ben is now in the grip of psychotic depression. Not going to be a happy Christmas at Brookfield, sadly. When will Jill swallow her pride and go and give him the abject apology he deserves? Would it be a good idea anyway for Ben to see his gran at the moment?

Will Jazzer say yes? I hope so. We could do with a Horrobin wedding to look forward to.

Will Emma and Ed end up in court if they go ahead with this idiotic scheme to nick the logs from Peggy's Folly?

Will the two choirs put on a joint concert at Christmas? I assume so, and also that the BBC will continue to fool nobody by using recordings of what is clearly a really good well-rehearsed established choir, not a scratch choir of half a dozen novices.

Over to you!

In my head, it's a long black or brown bobbly fleece type coat.

www.hellomagazine.com/fashion/news/20220830149589/stylish-leopard-print-puffers/?viewas=amp

found them!

Nylon outside, bobbly fleece inside?

I had actually imagined Fallon’s coat as a cheaper, shorter version of this leopard print and Emma’s as perhaps a more Vinted version. Though not really wipeable. But who knows?

Aha! Yes, @Chemenger - those look likely.

I imagined something like a longer darker version of one of these.
I have no idea why.

Me too @NewBootsAndRanty

I'm imagining a quilted down type coat. You could wipe one of them down - I do after dog walking.

Yes this is what I was imagining. Plus it’s a style of coat you can get for a range of prices. And I didn’t think they were exactly the same, just a similar style.

I think you can get ‘grey’ ones that are visible in the dark. Sorry can’t think of the word.

I saw a woman wearing a coat like Fallon’s the other day at the hospital. It was quite a stylish version of a long down coat. Black, of xourse, with gold trimmings eg zips on pockets etc. it looked rather nice but practical too and could be wiped down easily. She had nice leather boots and a handbag- it’s the kind of coat you can dress up or down…

I get my cheese from a seller of cheeses from small cheesemaking outfits, and I keep noticing cheeses using montbeliard milk. I wonder if the SW used montbeliards because one of them uses a niche cheese supplier? Or do cheesemakers highlight their montbeliard milk to appeal to their well off middle aged Archer listening clientele?

Does anyone have the time to go back to the meal episode and find out what the coat was actually like?

I don't think it was described at all, except in terms of being "the same as" Fallon's. I sort of assumed that Fallon had, say, a middle-of-the-range price version, whereas Emma had a knock-off, or something off the back of a lorry.

I do have time, now supper is over. The episode was on 7th December and is still available if anyone else wants to check me...

Emma saw Fallon's coat and wanted to know where she got it. Fallon said it was new and had been her Christmas present to herself. Ed asked if it was the same as Emma's, and Emma said it was similar and went to fetch hers. Ed reckoned they were virtually identical, and Emma said except for hers being second-hand; she got it online. Fallon was taken aback by the"weird coincidence", and Harrison said they both obviously have very good taste, and that Fallon must make sure she picked up the right one when they left.

I've listened to the rest of the episode (never say I do nothing for you! Harrison in particular talked with his mouth full) and the coats were not mentioned again.

I've listened to the rest of the episode (never say I do nothing for you! Harrison in particular talked with his mouth full)...

Now that was above and beyond anything we deserve. Thank you for doing that, so we don't have to.

Agree with every word, well said!

The most unbelievable part was that two men would notice what coat a woman was wearing at all. Before we get to the fact it was while watching a sex tape. In the Bull. Er, thanks scriptwriters, you’re spoiling us. We just needed Jazzer to come along and audibly rub his thighs. Although I suppose we got sleazy incel George leching over Fallon (is that going to be a thing too that poor Fallon is assumed of sleeping with half the village) as a side order, instead.

Mating season….bleugh!

Weird reaction from Rex. He seemed to forget all about the theft of the logs in his rush to defend his best mate Harrison’s honour…

Emma's was second hand online. Vinted?

I’m sure they intended listeners to assume EBay or Vinted.

Thinking about whether ‘off the back of a lorry’ exists for clothes for most people now led me to realising that Ambridge residents don’t seem to experience a weekly / daily market. Not the cattle market, not a fancy farmers’ market, just the ordinary, everyday sort with cheap veg and cheaper clothes piled high. (Like EastEnders!) Surely Borchester has one?

I assumed Fallon's coat was a fancy expensive one, and Emma's was a cheap imitation knock off.

But what does ‘knock off’ mean nowadays - when we can buy ‘genuine’ clothes, mass produced at speed to imitate designer originals, in any shopping centre or online shop? There would be no reason for Emma to buy actual “fake like the Louis Vuitton from China” goods when so many other options exist.

How much do we think they each paid?

Fallon wasn’t brought up to luxury, and a Harrison household would definitely practise frugality as a general thing. What figure would prompt him to say “Ah go on, you deserve it. Only the best for my wife.”? I’m struggling to imagine Fallon spending more than £200 on any garment … …

And I doubt Emma would spend £60 on a coat and wear it into a forest … (She could spend half that in Primark.)

Would be easier if the SWs just said.

Funny that I still think of Brookfield milking as Ruth with her head under a cow - they haven’t done that for yonks, have they?

Indeed. Thanks very much, @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime . I was considering searching but realised I just didn’t care enough

Tonight's episode is already available in my BBC sounds, I thought I'd got my days mixed up!

Is it there for anyone else?