Archers thread #144: Window pains again! Light relief or dark times ahead for Ambridge in 2023? 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 volunteer in the shop with Susan, 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.)

New year, new thread. Many thanks to @LillianGish for the window pains pun! Hoping to hear a lot less from the Caseys this year and a good deal more about farming and how Ambridge is coping with Brexit, cost of living crisis, ageing population and all sorts of credible character-based storylines. Yes, I know, but one can only hope.

Over to you!

I'm sure there is an element of nostalgia in the backward look and you may well be right. I just don't recall being so indifference to a large number of the younger characters.

It isn't just the younger Brookfield Archers who at their best I find mildly irritating. Fallon and Harrison put me to sleep (the coat story was frankly ridiculous) and seem set to become the Cardboards of the future. Phoebe had potential to build something different but has gone. Johnny has become silent. Freddy veered from wanabe drug lord without a brain cell to some kind of waiter in charge with none of the idiotic charm and kindness of Nigel as a young man. George only needs the twirling moustaches to be completely one dimensional - plainly set up to be this generation's Bad Grundy-Horrobin. Amy has disappeared. Mere is tedious but I suspect mostly in a way that will age out - like Lucy Perks.

Chelsea - yes agree there is potential there. The Home Farm Archers have generally been much more interesting but their children are either too young or remote characters.

Where is the next Lynda, Jenny, Lilian, Elizabeth or Clarrie?

to go back to the Ruari sitch
just listening to the omnibus and I agree she is being very controlling, and what may be her deliberate isolation of him sounds like domestic abuse. But I find that an unlikely dynamic in such a transactional relationship.
I'm wondering now if her controlling and isolating him is because she is pimping him out.

I've listened to the omnibus today, which I rarely do. Anybody else?

The continuity announcer said at the end something like:

Hear, hear [to Jolene's toast to Jennifer]. This week's episodes of The Archers are dedicated to Angela Piper and her family. For six decades Angela has played Jennifer Aldridge but now she has decided to retire. Thanks, Angie! And thanks, Jennifer.

(The word irrepressible was in there, but whether he applied it to Angela or Jennifer, I can't now remember.)

The end was '..and thanks Jennifer. Darling'

ps. cramped.

It isn't just the younger Brookfield Archers who at their best I find mildly irritating. Fallon and Harrison put me to sleep (the coat story was frankly ridiculous) and seem set to become the Cardboards of the future. Phoebe had potential to build something different but has gone. Johnny has become silent. Freddy veered from wanabe drug lord without a brain cell to some kind of waiter in charge with none of the idiotic charm and kindness of Nigel as a young man. George only needs the twirling moustaches to be completely one dimensional - plainly set up to be this generation's Bad Grundy-Horrobin. Amy has disappeared. Mere is tedious but I suspect mostly in a way that will age out - like Lucy Perks.

I think Ben has potential to become OK. Josh will always be a pushy type but again could develop into an interesting character. Pip's sole value is in uniting everyone in loathing her.

I really hope they bring Johnny back to life. I can't see myself ever become invested in Tom and Helen, but they are bound to have some juicy SLs lined up around Henry and Jack, quite possibly with the reappearance of Knob. I suspect the idea is for a character change for Freddie to develop to be like Nigel, probably with Lily's support in running the business. I wish the SWs would decide on some sort of sensible path for Lily, the whole Russ SL was stupid. Last time I remember her being around she was sighing about how immature the other students on her course were, has she got over it?

I used to find Alice very tedious, but I do think since the alcoholism LS her character has really blossomed, helped by the fact that the actor is very good. I'm on the fence about Ruairi, but again I think he has potential to become a generally loved staple of TA: the problem is that it's inherently unlikely that he would actually choose to stay in Ambridge.

I've just realised that the title of this thread was very prescient!

It was as close as I dared go in case the spoiler thread devotees were right in our collective view that Jennifer might be about to head to the great Aga in the sky. It's vague enough to serve for the whole year anyway, but I knew if we were right this thread would fill up fast in exactly the way it has done, and I wanted the thread title to be reasonably appropriate. (New one in the next day or two, I expect.)

Very useful family tree I've nicked from Twitter. A few replies say there are minor errors, e.g. Peggy's year of birth (should be 1925), but as far as I can see the main relationships are right.

Had completely forgotten about Time Hathaway and Janet Fisher!

*Tim

I'm full of admiration for the design of this tree. As genealogies go, the Aldridges must represent more of a challenge than most!

Goodness, yes, that must have been hard to tabulate. For all their money the Aldridge clan really haven’t made life easy for themselves.

One wonders how Adam and Ian have so far avoided ‘div’ coming between them.

Although it ought to be some comfort to Ruairi - he can hardly blame himself for all their history of turbulence!

Three siblings with three different accents from the same upbringing really bothers me. I find it hard to get past!

Anyone else?

Which ones?

It used to be very noticeable that Tom Archer had a slight East Midlands accent, which was the natural accent of the actor at the time, but that's vanished of course since Tom was re-cast nepotistically.

They did well to find an actor who really did sound like he could be Tony's son.

Emmur does sound like Susan though. I still haven't got over Kursedy's mother's voice and accent... Don't get me started on Caitlin Thomas. Aaaargh!

I take it you're being sarcastic, @WhoppingBigBackside? Given that David Troughton who plays Tony is actually the father of William Troughton who plays Tom?

Well, I didn’t know that, interesting.

Not the first family connection in the cast. Will Grundy is the real life son of Mike Tucker (Philip and Terry Molloy). One of the juvenile actors to play Dan Hebden-Lloyd was Keri Davies's son. Miranda Elliot, Justin's ex-wife, was played by Lucy Fleming, his real life wife. There may be others.

I don't count Charles Collingwood (Brian) and Judy Bennett (Shula) being married, as that happened after they got to know each other during recording sessions.

@OverArmour - yes, there was a huge furore when Colin Skipp retired in 2013 and his place was taken by David Troughton. Not long afterwards, Tom Graham, who had played Tom Archer for 17 years, was inexplicably and unceremoniously replaced by William Troughton, with the spurious excuse that the then Editor had decided to only have actors who'd been to drama school playing characters (sorry if this sounds vague, I never quite understood it).

*for some value of "huge furore" depending on your fanship!

Such utter nonsense. I don't know about Tom Graham, who has so little on his IMDB account that I surmise he has left the acting profession. However, Helen Monks appears to have a reasonably successful career, in spite of her lack of drama school training. I hate it when the voices change for no good reason. It was one thing Colin Skipp choosing to retire (I assume that was genuine), quite another to boot out a perfectly satisfactory actor whose voice we all recognised and which was quite distinct from all the other male voices. It became harder to distinguish the men after William Troughton arrived.

I read an article where the Brian and Shula actors met before The Archers on another radio thing, a puppet show I think?

I didn’t know all that background, thanks!

Colin Skipp retired because he was ill - he had had several heart attacks by the time he left "The Archers". My apologies, I didn't make myself clear, the huge furore for me was the fact that Tom Graham was fired out of the blue to be replaced by William Troughton. Fortunately for him, Tom Graham has a second career, but his forced replacement as Tom Archer clearly came as a bitter shock to him at the time, as well as to many listeners. I hope he's over it now.

On actors retiring, this is a great interview with Sheila Hancock who says she'd hate to be stuck with other old people for company like most people her age are.

open.spotify.com/episode/73xYOkOxBFefIjL7OXGLNK?si=S0ASb0R2S7OXlCkJC34yBA