Archers thread #145: The glue that held the Aldridges together is gone. Will they fall apart? 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, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it.

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.)

Lillian and I both made the glue observation, so I thought that would be as good a way as any to kick off this new thread. We raced through the last one, for obvious reasons. This one may last until the funeral. Will Tamsin Greig find time to attend? I do hope so.

The poem Jennifer quoted in her journal is here: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43775/rabbi-ben-ezra It's doubtful whether the last of Jennifer's life was the best, but she had plenty to contend with all the way through.

Over to you!

the other Aldridge children would each have had a long experience of being essentially an only child those were my thoughts exactly and it had never really occurred to me until then.

That’s quite some age-range.

I'm irritated by the affected way Tom pronounces Seren.

And everything else about him.

I'm irritated by everything about Tom! He sounds like a reluctant A level English student reading aloud to class.

Chelsea on the other hand is fab. If she doesn't end up a star like Felicity Jones (who I believed started out in The Archers) I'll be amazed. Mind you she has a big advantage over the Tom actor in that she has been given a great character to play.

OLD Tom made Tom seem like a great character to play - selfish, ambitious, wounded by the loss of his brother, caught between environmentalism and business nous. This one just makes me feel irritated. Whoever said they can see Helen and lee in matching wolf fleeces has also helped ruin Tom for me further as I think (as I said earlier) Helen and Tom are soooo alike that I'm picturing him and Natasha in matching... north face jackets?

Me too!

I really hope it is a scam - even though Natasha was good with Chelsea when she was pregnant, she married divvy Tom so that’s her done for.

potential storylines:

1. Twins first gig is advertising something they don’t approve of (shock - inorganic babyfood 😅 or headbands, or a not-recommended baby pillow etc)
2. the photos aren’t good enough. Pay for more. Lose more money. Etc
3. Realise baby modelling is a dead end when you live so far from London/easy transport so they all relocate to Manchester. Actually that would be brilliant. I hope they go for #3.

ILoveShula
I recall Brine, JD and Ruairi playing Cluedo, but can't remember when. I don't remember the Dopeys playing it.

Ruairi, Jennifer and Brian played Cluedo together on 4th August, 2021.

David and family only play it off-air; David told us in 2005 that he and his family had spent an evening playing Cluedo, and were reported by Leonard on 3rd November, 2022, as having played it the previous evening; that was what Leonard was being hilarious over when Vince came up to their table at The Bull and attacked Ben.

I'm very torn whenever there's a Tom and Natasha story, because I can't bear The Sausage King of Ambridge, but I find Natasha's voice intensely relaxing.

I really think that Ruatinsounds his age (i have a ds who's 20). It's all falling apart for him so i hope he ends up back in Ambridge full time.

or Ruairi even
Apols for typos

Fanks @TheUsualChaos . I'm taking bookings, if you'd like your hair done. Mates rates.
Sniff

Oh that's interesting. It felt like only recently I'd heard Jenny Brine and Ruari playing cluedo together but I suppose JD was absent for a long while.

Did Ruari come out as bisexual during a game of Cluedo? I thought there was a later one but it's all feeling a muddle now.

Thanks Asking.

I’m also barred from Scrabble through half the family being dyslexic. We used to play Touring England - little metal cars travelling England on the throw of a die on your own personalised route depending on the cards you drew, trying to avoid black spots like “Porlock Hill - miss a turn”. And its companion Round the World Trader where you picked up a pin with a flag and inserted it in a hole in your shop to show what commodity you were carrying”. No H&S nonsense about sharp edges, swallow size pieces etc in those days - anyone remember Bayko? - Id certainly think twice about allowing 7 year olds play with 6inch long thin metal rod’s unsupervised nowadays.

Eeeek rods! Kitten I hate you!!

Ooh do you have a kitten?

Cluedo was a big game in our house, the grown ups were too good at scrabble for it to be fun. Also a lot of backgammon, and a stock exchange game with a green hexagonal board, 221b Baler St. Lots of cards too, whist, gin rummy, sevens, and later shithead.

*Baker

Ooh do you have a kitten? only in the sense that they’re a younger generation than the mother, who also lives here (she rather wishes we’d left the kittens behind). She was found living rough on the city streets, and discovered to be pregnant; thought to be 11months old when she gave birth. The two “kittens” are now 4 years old.

the grown ups were too good at scrabble for it to be fun. One of the very few disadvantages of being an “only” is there are never enough people around for a good board game.

I knew I'd missed a game out.
We also play our 1970s London Game though DH complains if we send him to Drayton Park.

What awful thing is ruari now going to do?

Ruari seemed absolutely gutted. Has Julie Anne realised he likes her more than she likes him?

Tom n Tash and the rip off baby modelling is already boring.

@TeenDivided yes! I've never met anyone who has played this! It's a massive part of my child hood. Do you gang up on DH by sending him to Putney Bridge and then closing a station?

Ha ha that’s funny, Drayton Park is the stop that DH and I always text each other from to say we’ll be home within 10 minutes.