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!

All 143 of them, @BerylBillings ?! Give that woman a prize!

I know I’m not the only one here who’s posted on every single one of those. (Actually, I may have missed one - something affronted me.) They are a rather wonderful archive.

How far have you got @BerylBillings ? I've not tried and am not sure how long I've been posting - I think I posted on the 3rd spoilers thread.

If you are new, have a look at the TA abbreviations thread in Radio Addicts.
TA characters are often referred to by their nicknames (e.g. Frilly,.JD, Brine, Widderbeth) and this might help.

@MetaDaughter
Well, the winter evenings are somewhat long...

Following earlier discussion about length of time as a listener, I just totted up it's 37ish years for me.

Sporadically from my mid-teens to early twenties; regularly thereafter.

Vague recollections of first being drawn in by Brian's affair with Caroline, and the fallout! (Weren't so many of us?)
And Elizabeth's social life interrupting her A Levels.

Very fond memories of chuckling over Ambridge round-ups from Nancy Banks-Smith in The Guardian.

@ILoveShula

'Our Lady of Perpetual Indignation' for Elizabeth is genius

Can I please claim 7 decades of Archers "listening"? My DGM started listening from the beginning and never missed an episode if she could help it, and my DM and I listened in the afternoon, when it was after Listen With Mother.

My early memories are of being annoyed by Aunt Laura's character and storylines! Hated Walter Gabriel. Hated small stupid storylines! Hated Friday's inevitable "cliff hangers" most of which were something trivial, and resolved immediately on the following Monday.

In my teens I remember listening to Jack Archer and his alcoholism. I was so very jealous of Lilian getting a pony for her birthday (or was it Christmas?)

So it seems I have spent my listening life being irritated by TA, while of course becoming overinfested...

*or maybe before LWM?

hen Peggy is written out, presumably quite soon. June Spencer said a while back that she'd recorded her final scene for broadcast at some later date.

Please let her go with the blinkin' flippin' window. And never hear of either of them again. She really is a viscious (can't spell that) old bag. She can take Jill with her. (sorry, but i really dislike both characters)

Was happy with Kirsty having a fling with Erik. Have now revised opinion of Erik as shaggable - he's horrible. Nasty, even. And as for Kate foisting Rex on him in someone else's home? Kate can push off with Peggy. Maybe a cottage explosion?

I also loathe Chelsea's sniffing, but loved Brad yesterday. (I listen 1 day in arrears due to having to listen on Spotify)

Was happy with Kirsty having a fling with Erik. Have now revised opinion of Erik as shaggable - he's horrible. Nasty, even.

He might still be great in bed though, if that's all you want. And she knows his name, so she's doing better than I have with some of mine in the past...

He might still be great in bed though, if that's all you want. And she knows his name, so she's doing better than I have with some of mine in the past...

oh yes, also true.

Presumably, Kirsty is going through an 'at her peak' phase, so if Erik is good in bed, why shouldn't she. So what if people talk, she's been married to a slave master, been jilted at the altar, and had a stillborn child by her ex-fiance then watch him marry someone else and father twins. Having a fling seems mild in comparison, and the residents of Ambridge don't tend to gossip much.

TeenDivided
I don't think we can get too caught up in logistics. Brad's at college in Borcester. Who knows what bus -> train links that may have.

We do know (from the maps) that there is no railway line passing through Borchester; the nearest railway station is at Hollerton Junction, about eight miles from Borchester. There's one at Felpersham, but that's a fair bit further away.

At one time Peggy announced that she intended to leave The Lodge to Helen and the rest of her wealth to Tom. This caused a certain amount of annoyance all round, except to Helen and Tom:

Lowfield, Sunday 19th January, 2014
Peggy assures the family that despite Jack leaving a lot to Hazel, he made sure she was well provided for, and in addition she has her own money. She tells her children how proud she is of them for having overcome adversity and making good; she even praises their choice of partner. But since they are all comfortably off, she has decided not to leave her money to them. The Lodge will go to Helen, to ensure that she and Henry always have a roof over their head, and her estate will go to Tom, who has most need and will make the best use of it. In the ensuing shocked silence Peggy asks if anyone would like a fondant fancy.

After Tony had his close encounter with Otto the Bull and she spent a few minutes talking to him while he was in a coma, she changed her mind, thus infuriating Rob and as far as we could tell pleasing everyone else:

Thursday 26th February, 2015
Tom and Peggy come to Blossom Hill Cottage, where Rob has decided to be in on the revelation about Peggy's will. It seems that Tom has Rob's measure, and he is quick to put Rob down by reminding him that just the family will be making any decisions about the shop tomorrow. Peggy explains that she realises she was wrong, so will now be leaving everything to her three children to do with as they please. Helen is remarkably understanding, but Rob is furious and queries the decision, asking about Helen and Henry's security. Serenely, Peggy points out that now Rob and Helen are to marry, Rob will be their security.

Many thanks, Asking, I knew you'd know! That was eight years ago?! Wow.

I’m sure the village shop needs a bit of vitality but I abhor the kind of manipulative selling displayed by Justin. I wonder if people will start to avoid the shop because every time Justin’s on duty they end up spending more than they can afford!

But the Park and Ride scheme is pretty good!

I'm with Jim. If there is one thing that is calculated to make me avoid a shop, it's some idiot trying out his or her salesmanship techniques on me.

Yes Justin's just a PITA isn't he? £32 on some vinegar, bicarbonate and bleach? I wonder how much the wine was...

Felt very sad for Brad. And pleased Chelsea was in nice older sister mode.

Yes poor Brad. You forget how tough affairs of the heart can be in those early heady teenage years. It would have been a bit tricky anyway with Paige living in Reading.

The Justin bit was obviously overdone / him making a point.

But the comment that they really need customers to up their weekly spend to keep the shop viable was fair. They need a compromise, a way to encourage extra sales without being too pushy.

Poor Brad . Nice to see Chelsea being so supportive.

Poor Brad indeed. I think Paige’s ‘mistake’ was deliberate as she couldn’t face telling him herself. Teens are pretty tech savvy so very unlikely she sent that message to him in error especially if she was communicating via WhatsApp. I don’t know anyone under the age of 40 who still sends text messages.

it was probably on snapchat, but I don't know how messaging works on that or how easy it is to send to the wrong person

All the texts I get these days are saying things like, your delivery will be arriving today, your prescription is ready to collect, your car is due for a service. And it must have been WhatsApp or similar, because he could see the message had been delivered and read.

I agree that Paige deliberately sent the message to Brad, pretending it was for a friend. It's a known technique.

I was disappointed with the ending yesterday, how Jim was wowed by Justin's wonderful pushiness. I would have liked him to reflect on how Rex isn't financially well off and it was kind of mean to push him into probably unnecessary purchases. After all, the shop isn't far away, he could always have tried the one cleaning product first and then come back for something different if that didn't work.

It would be good for the future of the shop if most customers would buy slightly more there, but not to the ridiculous extent that Justin was doing.

Nobody in their right mind buys wine from the corner shop.

I don't think the Ambridge village shop is going to have the usual selection of paint stripper, at least assuming that volunteers like Jim have some say in what's stocked, and given that some of the naice families in the village are known to shop there. I think it would have a small (given the size of the whole shop and the variety of products they have) but decent choice of alcohol. Nothing too expensive - I got the impression that Rex's purchase was amongst the most expensive, and he got everything, including all the cleaning products and tools, for £33.