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?

Thought it was nice that Roy and Kirsty benefited from Brian's food parcel.
Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I think the reply was probably a standard one he sent to a lot of people but he didn't hold back or make any excuses. That said he is from that dying group of MPs who became an MP later in life after a career outside and long term engagement in local government. I don't think he was worried about losing favour with Johnson.

he sounds like a good constituency MP, even if you didn't vote for him. Better than someone permanently trying for promotions or currying favour with the leadership

I think they'd be lucky to get £35 a night regularly for what they are offering.

The two filters I have as a minimum when looking for accommodation are private bathroom and free WiFi.

Do the Dopeys even have broadband? One of DD's friends lives on a farm where the farmhouse is a fair distance from the road and the cost for Openreach to cable to the farmhouse was extortionate. They now have some sort of fancy satellite broadband (and have the farm offices close to the village).

Surely Stella should/could be being charged a hefty rent for the Bungalow?

If they really are strapped for cash they should boot Pip and Rosie over to live with Josh (and Ben?) to rent out Rickyard as a holiday cottage again and get planning permission for a couple of Shepherds Huts (far more lucrative than a spare room).

But shepherd's huts wouldn't have as much potential for komedy kapers.

I still don't understand what happened to all the money Ruth inherited from her parents. I'm sure it's been explained to me but it doesn't stick.

They are so incompetent - all the farmers I know work hard but are doing nicely thank you.

Yes he is a decent MP, reasonably pragmatic - of the type which used to be a lot more common in Westminster.

He is also the type of MP who even if he doesn't take votes will further deter voters concerned about Labour's attitude to women in recent years from voting Labour.

I’m so in agreement with Lynda re the odour in the Brookfield house. Dairy farmers work very much at the mucky end of cows, and like smoke the smell gets everywhere. Some hoses don’t smell but that is normally where the wife has a job off the farm and is very house proud, there would be no going in the kitchen in wellies, and no doubt overalls as David does. Ruth has never been shown to be the slightest bit interested in domestic duties, and also is heavily involved in the farm, so I imagine the house fairly stinks. The smell of cow muck and silage is all pervasive.

I join the chorus of absolutely not wanting to stay somewhere with no TV or en-suite.

Agreed.

my farmer friends have a muck room (basically a large utility with washer, shower boot dryer etc) off the kitchen.
anything 'farmy', including the odd premature calf, stays on there.

the main house is muck & smell free.

Agree mucky smells too. Re Roy, he lost his Mum very suddenly from heart disease and saw what it did to his Dad. Has this been mentioned at all?

Short posts from me for the foreseeable future as I have broken a bone in my hand and am in a cast. Typing one-handed is a slow business.

Oh no - commiserations, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g ! Hope it wasn’t / isn’t too painful - and that it will heal without surgery.

Could you dictate to your device? (Never tried it but vaguely aware it might be doable.)

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , ouch, that sounds painful. Hope it heals quickly.

And yes, it would have been satisfying to hear Roy mention his mother. I seem to remember at the time the Tuckers pulled together rather impressively.

Someone on the previous thread said it would be good to hear from Mike. True. The SWs could have tried harder to draw in more of the long-standing characters who would naturally have wanted to support Brian.

I do so wish Adil sounded less … arch. It’s hard to take anything he says seriously, or consider him as a potentially important character.

Not painful, thanks. Orthopaedic appointment tomorrow so fingers crossed no op, but A&E thought it would. :(

The fact you have it as a filter demonstrates there are a few rooms out there without private bathroom. Otherwise you’d pay no more attention to it than, say, having electric light.

Ooh Gasp0de!

May the Ambridge Knit-bone Fairy flap its wings over your home.

Many thanks. I will look out for it.

I was confused hearing Roy tell Adil he was once related to Brian. Roy and Kate were not married to each other so Brian wasn’t his FIL.
I know there is the Phoebe connection but that doesn’t confer <whatever the word is for a family relationship>

Brookfield sounds like the last place on earth I want to book a B&B stay. Did I understand correctly that guests share a bathroom? Sounds little better than a flop house.

I once stayed in a farmhouse near Birmingham after taking my children to Drayton Manor Park. The fabulous owner sounded exactly like Susan Carter, it was uncanny. I had to Google Charlotte Martin to check it wasn’t the same woman!

Did he say something like 'I knew he used to be family, but ...' which is not quite claiming to be related. However, he could. Susan believes herself to be related to the Aldridges on the strength of Chris's marriage to Alice and now by virtue of their shared grandchild. Exactly the same relationship as Roy's via Phoebe and Kate.

Roy is the father of Brian's grandchild.
Brian is Roy's daughter's grandfather.
Roy and Brian aren't related and never have been.

I thought that a shower inside the back door in farmhouses has been standard for at least a quarter century. I also thought giving B&B guests an en suite was a very basic requirement. There are times when Ambridge seems a very odd place.

Poor Lynda.

Tonight’s episode brought to you by the makers of Steptoe & Son …

(I’m only just beginning to grasp that Brookfield was intended as light relief.)