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?

Never mind. Just wanted to chat about the Archers. It isn’t nasty to ask someone else not to be nasty. I just want a nice place to talk to people about something no one I know listens to.

😟

With the greatest respect, this thread is far, far more polite and respectful than most of Mumsnet. It's inevitable that from time to time people disagree, or someone makes a throwaway remark that gets taken the wrong way, or gets picked up on an obvious mistake. What we need to avoid is personal attacks.

Will start the new thread tomorrow, I expect.

do you have a title already?

He was really horrible with Betty, the nastiest workplace sexual harassment we had in Ambridge until the time Kathy was raped.

It was oddly out of character for Brian even at the time, but hard to forget. Jenny was also v nasty to Betty - there was stuff with cutlery that didn't survive the dishwasher that she was expected to pay for (can't remember whether that was what got Brian trying it on). All round feudal nastiness.

Any ideas? I'm just thinking about it now. Needs to carry us through about a month, i.e. to Easter and beyond.

Fish knives? @DeanVolecapeAKAelderberry

Good grief.

• in my timeline your post which mentioned neither character names nor "from tonight's episode" (which I hadn't heard at that point) reads as a follow on from the discussion on Lily and Freddie.
• It seemed and odd comment in that context hence my qualifier "If you mean Lily and Freddie" in my post in case I'd misunderstood you - C8H10N4O2 · Today 08:10
• @TeenDivided responded shortly after (TeenDivided Today 08:23) and pointed out that the post was probably about Eddie.
• I responded (C8H10N4O2 · Today 08:34) saying "Oh right - in which case my comments were completely irrelevant.😅"

Not sure how that constitutes your being "repeatedly contradicted and nadged at" by me, but as you wish.

Betty put the bone handled fishknives in the dishwasher when they were not dishwasher proof causing the handles to come unglued - Jenny did go OTT about them leading to much debate as to the social status of fish knives in the modern era and Betty (who was only cleaning there as she badly needed the money) worrying about the cost of replacing them and having to stay in the job where she was being harassed. It was Jill Archer who went over to Bridge Farm and marked Brian's card telling him to leave Betty alone.

My post was yesterday at 19:26, shortly after the programme in which Clarrie had every reason to be utterly fed up with Eddie. And it was not the single strange post that you made in reply to it the following day and after others had replied to it clearly understanding exactly what it was about that constituted repeatedly having a go at me and nadging.

You and Dillydallydilly have reminded me why I decided this thread (or possibly the one before it, or the one before that) was more trouble than it was worth. Perhaps when the new one is opened you might leave me (or at least my posts) alone for a while?

I find that’s the nature of being on these threads 🤣

I remain bemused.
I posted the next morning because that was when I saw your post - I'm not on here all the time. At that point it read like a direct follow on and as I stated I hadn't heard the episode, hand therefore not connected the subsequent posts which did mention Eddie with yours. I did caveat in case I misunderstood, I correct my post within 20 minutes when someone pointed out it was referring to Eddie at which point the intermediate posts made sense.

I'm still not sure how this simple confusion in a post and rapid acknowledgement constitutes my repeatedly having a go at you and nadging at you.

It is somewhat difficult to have a discussion on the characters and storyline of a drama if confusing a post or disagreeing with an opinion is "having a go" and followed by threats of flouncing. But hey, no accounting for folks.

I rather liked tonight's episode. Nice to hear Clarrie letting her hair down for once. Also, Jill and Sykesy!

Yes, I wish he'd been in the programme before this year; unfortunately we always did hear the people who worked at Brookfield, or at least hear about them, and he wasn't ever named as one of them.

Jill sounded really very old and quavery. Wonder how much longer they can keep her on?

Perhaps she and Jasper Carrot could elope and disappear that way.

Title suggestions, (mine are never any good, I'm not literary enough):

Something to do with a
'window on the world of cheesemaking'
'how long until the intercom is fatal'
'will Brian settle in new pastures'

'Springing towards Easter with Widowers, Windows, and wails'

to Easter and beyond

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g that actually sounds like a good title!

Was it me or did Jill hint/intimate that she definitely knew more about the Italian POW than she was letting on. Hints of scandal to come.

Is Sykesy actually Paddy?

Perhaps the timelines don’t add up.

What does nadging mean?

I don't want Jill to retire, and I don't want Leonard to not become a fixture.
Sykesy can stay though.

is Sykesy actually Paddy?

I must admit that thought also crossed my mind. Do we know his first name?

William/Bill

No first name in the cast list. And I’ve just seen that he is played by Jasper Carrot which is why I recognised his voice!

New thread here: www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4764418-archers-thread-147-spring-is-sprung-the-grass-is-riz-i-wonder-how-old-ambridge-is-discuss-the-archers-here

But she didn't come to Ambridge until 1957; wouldn't the PoWs all hav gone home by then?

Yes; his name is William, since that is what the nurses (including Lee) were all calling him until he decided to make an exception for Ben and tell him he wanted to be called Sykesy, and had always hated to be called William. (You'd think he might have mentioned this before if it mattered to him so much.) Sykesy is obvious, from Bill Sykes.

The reason I don't think he could be Paddy is that he was a child in or near Ambridge during the War and has worked in the area all his life, which is attested to by Jill.