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!

This sounds lovely. I used to work in Scotland and once came in with ceilidh related injury - bruising to my upper arm! My boss at the time tutted that I'd clearly not been dancing with "gentlemen".

I've had to remove kids from ceilidhs that were getting to fast and enthusiastic. I think Jolene has called at barn dances. But they'll need some proper Scottish reels. Stripper? Pffft (possibly more Traceys thing!)

I wondered if Rex's cold was going to be to do with being unable to afford to heat the houseboat properly. But it might just be a seasonal illness without being a major plot device, I suppose. We had a plot driven cold a while back which led to Lilian being present for the discovery of the message in a bottle that eventually resulted in Tony's Christmas guitar (gone but sadly probably not forgotten forever). May it's time for a cold to just be a cold!

Maybe Rex is just a bit nesh.

Am I misremembering btw or have Alistair/Jim got a Scottish connection themselves? I can imagine Jim training himself up as a caller. :)

Can someone explain the re-wilding to me?

At Christmas people were knocking their heads on the lower branches of trees. So these were obviously well-established trees which pre-dated their acquisition to be "re-wilded." Did we know that part of the rewilding area was established woodland? In what way have they "re-wilded" it? It sounds as though they have done quite the reverse - built a shelter with a "proper floor" large enough to shelter a group of adults lying stretched out on yoga mats. So not less than 20ft x 20ft, maybe more? And the groups of people trekking through, plus the lights strung up for the winter walk - surely that will be discouraging wildlife?

IIRC, Jim is said to have lectured at the University of Stirling and then he retired and lived in the Scottish Borders. He was an Ancient Historian originally, I think, but has morphed into a classicist with the passage of time. There is a big overlap between Classics and the Ancient History of Greece and Rome, admittedly, so it's very plausible that he has good Latin. It's less plausible that he was supposed to be at Stirling which doesn't appear to have a tradition of teaching Classics or Ancient History, in recent times, anyway.

Forgot to add, Jim is English and I'm pretty sure Alistair and Fiona grew up in England, going by their accents, anyway.

Jim as caller would be inspired! He would all the correct terms in an authentic dialect. Omg I do want to go now that this is on the table. I need a good night out clearly!

me too!

Thanks for reminding me, yes I had Stirling in my mind. Alistair and Fiona are IMO quite Scottish names (as a pair) so I wouldn't be surprised if they'd been born up there.

Trying to remember, what was the last Ambridge wedding (that went ahead)? Can't remember one since Ed n Emmur - ignoring the sputtered out nuptials of Lillian and Justin, and of Tom and Kirsty. Oh - Tom and Natasha? But did we hear that one?

I wondered if Rex's cold was going to be to do with being unable to afford to heat the houseboat properly. Weill’s disease? Living on a rat infested canal?

The Am may flow both ways, but it isn't a canal!

In the heart of the Edible Forest there was a clearing, in the centre of which stood a cottage completely made of gingerbread.

An apple-cheeked old woman stood smiling at the door.

"Come in, come in my dear" she called to Fat Rosie.

Fat Rosie approached eagerly ...

Heh!

They could ask Jill to bake the gingerbread.

Focusing on a teeny tiny thing; the customers who complain about the lack of colour in their veggie boxes are suffering from a disconnection with food. They need to get out and do some proper shopping.

Agreed. It must be 25 years ago or so I used to get a veg box from a very earnest deep green organic supplier. It didn't work for us as I was the only adventurous eater in the house at the time, so we didn't have it that long, but I do remember being very aware of how much the contents varied with the seasons. Lots and lots of roots, cabbage and leeks over the winter. Much brighter colours over the summer. There's really no way round that if you want to cut food miles in the UK, unless you go in for heated glasshouses or swathing the countryside with plastic polytunnels, is there?

I'm rather hoping that Jim listed change counting in the essential qualities for the shop assistant but perhaps that's a dying art these days?

Visitors tramping round Bridge Farm? Surely a huge amount more work, and risk, than Open Farm Sunday?

They used to do a misshapen veg box for about £3 at Morrisons I used to love to see what veg they sent it was like a miniHarvest festival every week.
I think Susan is the biggest snob in the Archers.

Adam didn't sound his usual weary self last night.

Completely unbelievable that he'd still be packing veg boxes whilst Ian flogs pizzas from a van.

Oh god i have never wanted to slap Soosan more. I really wanted an exasperated Jim to say that everything she moaned about in Joy is what she does and good luck with it because Joy's coming in.
(I still think the actor doing Joy really makes the accent and so on sound so fake as to be unbearable, i gather she is a real Geordie, but i've never experienced such rage at an accent as hers. And i love the Geordie accent)

Focusing on a teeny tiny thing; the customers who complain about the lack of colour in their veggie boxes are suffering from a disconnection with food. They need to get out and do some proper shopping.

gosh no. They need to be reminded why they are getting veg boxes. If they go shopping they'll be surrounded by bananas, oranges, strawberries and so on that have a billion unsustainable reasons for not being available right now.

I have the impression Adam and Ian are in a holding position at the moment. There’s every possibility they’ll return as a Prince of the Land and a King of the Kitchen soon-ish.

I enjoyed Susan and Jim chatting. The conversation was tightly-written and the actors developed a real rhythm in their delivery.

If you've got carrots, onions, cauliflower, brussels, kale, that would be fairly colourful. Perhaps they just need to sow rainbow carrots or something.

I used to get a veg box in 1997. The winter months were marred by endless swedes and turnips. Leeks would occasionally show up but I decided life was too short when I thought of 4 fat leeks, full of grit to show they were organic, as a cause for celebration! I am sure box schemes are better now- especially as you can pretty much choose what you have. Are you allowed to skip a delivery these days? It was always a race against time to finish the turnips before the next lot arrived.