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?

He may yet crash and realise that getting rid of Jenny's clothes and the house they last lived in together was too soon.

Yes, marathon not a sprint etc etc. I did wonder about Lavinia’s name being introduced as a possible precursor to romance but it was probably only so he could make the point about people avoiding the bereaved. I would really enjoy listening to Brian courting/flirting again. Siobhan, Caroline and Betty (?) were all before my time.

I think that Willow cottage probably reminds Brian of how much he let Jenny down by getting to the point that the Home Farm house had to be sold. Moving out lets him put that to the back of his mind.

Does anyone know if Adam ever called Brian "Dad" when he was a child? I don't think I had ever heard Brian describe Adam as his "son" to anyone before the last episode.

I wonder where Brian will go? He didn't sound like he was planning to leave Ambridge. He didn't really need to downsize, given that Willow cottage was already too small for the two of them.

I can't imagine we are looking at "an executive flat on the bypass" here. Wonder if the SW are going to lump him in with another character a la Jim and Alistair/Jazzer or Jill back at Brookfield, just to allow them to script scenes? There's no need, Brian would always be in the Bull or buying stuff from the shop or Bridge Farm (can't see him doing a weekly shop with a supermarket trolley).

I also enjoyed the races outing and thought it was quite refreshing to hear them getting along well and having a more cheerful day. I don’t think that one day means B is •over• JennyDarling by any stretch.

I’ve never heard Adam refer to Brian as “Dad” before but can see how hard he was working not to alienate him with the potentially delicate Paddy situation.

NeverApologiseNeverExplain
Does anyone know if Adam ever called Brian "Dad" when he was a child?

I don't think I remember Adam speaking as a child, though I suppose he must have done. (Probably voiced by Judy Bennett.) Things certainly did happen to him, such as being kidnapped, and being bitten by a venomous snake and having his life saved by a special serum flown from Birmingham, and the like.

I thought I heard Brian say something like "you were about to call me Dad again there, it's a long time since you said that" or something along those lines.

Ooh, yes. I think you’re right.

Maybe Brian's putting himself into a luxury flat in a luxury retirement complex, å la Thursday Murder Club.

Things certainly did happen to him, such as being kidnapped, and being bitten by a venomous snake and having his life saved by a special serum flown from Birmingham, and the like.

I assume the kidnappers sent a letter begging them to take him back? And what a shameful waste of special serum!

I'd love Adam to regale his much younger siblings and Ruairi with tales of his kidnapping and snake bites, with humorous detachment borne of the passage of time, and a wry comment of "I know, it's crazy all these things that happened, you couldn't make it up, could you?"

Ho ho.

My memory is that the nitwitted kidnappers were people known to Sid Perks, who saw them do it and was able to put the police on to them in about five minutes flat. They sent a ransom note but he was back with Jennifer and Roger before that arrived.

Yes, a shameful waste of the special serum, but I suppose they couldn't have known what a serious suckjoy he would grow up to be.

MysticBore™️ predicts

The 🔮 is of the opinion that after an extended spring/summer sojourn with Debbie in Hungary Brine will return and start 'keeping company' with...

Joy.

It will do him the world of good too.

Brine in the hot tub? That might damage it.

I found this thread to see if anyone else thought Brian and Joy might have a thing. I must say, bereavement is making Brian a much more likeable character.

Has anyone mentioned how insufferable Freddie is being at the moment?

I've always loved Brine as a character, even when his behaviour has been reprehensible. He's very believable and very well acted.

Joy has a great sense of fun and a high degree of emotional intelligence. Just what he needs imo.

Joy is currently with Mick, though. Not that that would put Brian off, on past performance, but I think it would give Joy pause.

What age is Stella? With all due respect to the 🔮 I think she's a much likelier contender than Joy.

Nah. I really liked that they have Joy a nice boyfriend that she met in an an entirely realistic way, at a social event outside Ambridge. So much better than them randomly pairing up cast members like Jolene and Kenton or Lilian and Justin.

I can't recall Brian ever really trying to get off with a woman who was with someone else or was not entirely enthusiastic. Siobhán made it very clear she was no longer interested in her husband and in fact flung herself into Brian's bed at a hotel, Caroline was unattached, we never actually heard on air that he had any sort of sexual relations with Mandy Beesborough, and the woman from Meyruelle seems to have regarded him as a holiday romance and nothing more and to have made all the running during the week the delegation were in Ambridge.

The only exception to "willing participants only" was him suggesting to Betty that she might want to go swimming in the Aldridge pool, and when she said she hadn't got a costume asking her what was wrong with skinny-dipping; I had a definite feeling about the incident that he was not particularly serious, just trying to get her to stop being so po-faced whenever he was in the room, but I feel obliged to mention her because she was the only much-married woman he's ever shown interest in, and that only fleeting and absolutely not consummated in any way.

He indulges in a fair amount of fnarr fnarr talking, but doesn't seem to have done much about it over the forty-six years of his marriage.

Agree with all of this!

Ooh sorry pressed send too soon.

New thread title time is upon us!

There’s no need to be nasty.

I get bored with being repeatedly contradicted and nadged at.

@Dillydallydilly , Caffeine's post seemed a bit bizarre if you'd heard the previous episode. I didn't detect nastiness in Asking's post unlike yours.

Perhaps Brian will not want another woman as Jenny was so wonderful, but even if he does find someone else it wont be for a while as he is still grieving. Or he could go on holiday and meet some young dolly bird and bring her back to Ambridge and upset all his kids because they will think she is after his money and they all warn him but he wont listern and Justin will be Jealous and Lil will be furious.

I’ve remembered why I stopped looking at these threads.

😟