Archers thread #146: They did fall apart. Can they put themselves together again? 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. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd like to donate your time as a guide at Lower Loxley to save the Pargetters paying someone else a living wage, 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.)

Thanks to @Impostersyndrome for the thread title suggestion Buses and trains are sorely lacking, canals might be nearby, but all roads lead to Ambridge, picking up on transport discussions in the last thread. In the end I didn't use it, having in mind the character limit. @TottersBlankly contributed an early draft title Wreathes, wrath, writhing (Jennifer, Lilian, Ruairi). Both good starting points for the new thread, which I hope will last till Jennifer's funeral, surely not too far off now. So, over to you - whither the Aldridges? Also, does anyone care if Lee goes to the US? Is anyone even slightly interested in the Brookfield B&B venture?

Children/teens sharing the reading of a poem (no doubt lovely) is different from pensioner siblings alternating phrases of their reminiscences though?

In what way? Apart from the age? Is it the reminiscences that’s cringe? Would pensioner siblings alternating lines of a poem be ok? Or is it the age? And at what age does it become inappropriate?

I liked it. After their falling out it made sense to me that L and T have drawn closer together again.

Me too! Though it was odd, as that would not have happened.

She's "grieving in her own way"!

It felt like a recitation so more appropriate for children?

I feel awful, saying this, but for some reason, I am just not enjoying The Archers at the moment. There have been times I’ve definitely been less interested than others, but I’ve always wanted to listen to it anyway, and nearly always listen to the podcast the same day it comes out and noticed on the days it’s not there.

But recently, I’ve been letting a few build up at a time and I’m not sure why. I think maybe it’s because there’s no really big storyline going on, no mild intrigue, nothing that’s a slow burner that might turn into something exciting. Even obvious things, like Kate thinking of selling Spiritual Home after making Jenny and Brian move out of their home, and it’s just not even mentioned as being outrageous behavior, by anyone?! It’s just a lot of sadness because of Jenny’s dying, and then the knowledge that there are more to come, references to people we know you have already retired or actually potentially died. And then just nothing else really. I don’t know. Anyway, I know I’ll carry on listening, so I’m just having a little bit of moan.

I forgot to say when I caught up with Thursday's episode. Chelsea was brilliant - first for telling that story and then for turning the unpaid 'job' down.

I know what you mean, @OverArmour - there's a sort of feeling of general going-through-the-motions. They've exiled Shula (and Peggy), and now killed Jennifer. I assume Brian will be off soon. And Robert isn't coming back - or at least not as we know him. Everything now seems to revolve around stuff I'm not interested in, like Lee and his girls, Ben being dull and Alice/Kate rewriting themselves.

Now if Ruth could be trampled by a cow, or the barn fell in on Dayveed, that would liven things up and I wouldn't mess them!

I wouldn't miss them, I meant to say.

I wish we heard more about farming. It's the programme's USP, after all. In ordinary life most of us spend a lot of time at work and talking about what's happening there, new developments, how things are being affected by political changes, etc etc. I'd like to hear a lot more about that kind of thing in TA.

Yes @Gonners that’s kind of it I think, too. It’s definitely like they’re going through the motions, like we’re sitting watching them do one of those dances in the theatre, while the scene changes happen behind them. Only it’s a sad dance, so even less something that I want to watch.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g I wish we heard more about farming.

I suspect that may happen in the case of Home Farm, though probably not in a good way. It looks set to turn into internecine sniping, with nobody actually in charge, Adam throwing his weight about and Alice piping "Leave 'im, Kate, 'e ain't worth it!"

I'd love more farming. More Tony and David please.

I agree with @JanglyBeads the funeral double act was a bit strange, especially considering they wrote it the day before. I did like the Brian bit. It's exactly how I'd imagine my dad to be.

Peggy described as frail, that's her gone soon.

I was at our agricultural college open day today. They mentioned in passing they are going to get a rotary milker in the autumn. I said to myself 'oh, like in The Archers'. I like a bit of farming content in the programme.

Peggy - Mothers Day? Easter Sunday? This week? By the end of April anyway.

If they have a week of content each time it’s going to be a depressing listen.

A delicious pork, prune and apricot casserole, you say? Tell us more ...

One family birthday when I was about 12 we went to a really lovely restaurant where I had a pork and plum casserole. It was delicious. That was in the early 1970s.

Were going out next weekend in a large group and have to pre-order. I'm having rabbit and prune stifado.

I have just had a big catch up on sounds while packing for our house move. Apologies for harking back in the story lines a little.

I think the conversation between Noli and Freddie when she was being a bit pushy when trying to pair him off with a young woman was hinting at him being asexual. Noli even alluded to his lack of previous girlfriends, and Freddie obviously did not enjoy being encouraged to cop off.

I thought Lynda was fab with Ben when giving her feedback on the B and B. She was truthful, attempting to be helpful and not patronising, all while being kind and encouraging to a young man who needs a boost right now.

I loved Brian at the funeral. He is well written and acted. As others have often commented on here, he is a very believable character.

Here you go Xol

Pork casserole that works very well with those excessively lean chops that can taste like cardboard. Not sure where it came from - my mother got it out of a newspaper ca 30 years ago.

1lb/454 grammes lean pork, cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

16 dried apricots

8 stoned prunes

2 cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick

Salt and pepper

Glass of white wine

Some chicken stock

Put everything in a covered pan and cook together for an hour or a little longer. Stir if you feel the need, no other intervention necessary - if you want to thicken the sauce, a little cornflour mixed with water and cooked in at the end will be fine.

I like to eat that with green beans and either rice or mashed potato. Anyone I've given it to has liked it - the spices don't dominate the flavour, and the fruit vanishes into a rich gravy. Now that I'm living alone I tend to cook a double or triple batch and then freeze single portions in bags - it's a good lazy day meal

Apricots are the devil's testicles, and I'm not a fan of prunes. Figs are very good indeed in a pork stew, though.

all the more for the rest of us Gonners!

Arf @DeanVolecapeAKAelderberry

But I do seriously recommend fresh figs (not the dried ones) with pork. Just quarter them, skin on, and chuck them in.

I noticed ‘frail’ too and it brought to mind an image of the Queen when she met our short lived PM.