Archers thread #148: Unseasonably, it's panto time in Ambridge. He's behind you, Pat! BANG. 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 think George Grundy isn't a psychopath, 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.)

Will Rob return, or are they playing with us? Will Pat run amok with her shotgun and wipe out half the village? (We can but hope ...) Will Oliver come to his senses and turf the Grundy clan out of Grange Farm? So many questions, so much time.

Over to you!

I have a feeling that Stella may have to accept having been sacked, because she didn't start work at Home Farm until September 2021 if then (her interview was on 23rd August) and so she hasn't been there for two years yet.

Gross misconduct is rubbish, though: Home Farm has suffered no reputational damage from her buying expensive kit without proper authorisation.

Gross misconduct is rubbish, though: Home Farm has suffered no reputational damage from her buying expensive kit without proper authorisation. Does Gross Misconduct have to involve reputational damage?

No, not really. There's a long list, including but not confined to

• Theft or fraud.
• Physical violence or bullying.
• Damage to property.
• Serious misuse of an organisation's name or property.
• Deliberately accessing internet sites that contain pornographic or other offensive material.
• Setup of a competing business.
• Misuse of confidential information.
• Serious insubordination.
• Discrimination or harassment.
• Bringing the organisation into serious disrepute.
• Offering or accepting bribes.
• A serious breach of health & safety regulations.
• A serious breach of confidence.
• Causing loss, damage, or injury through serious negligence.
• Serious incapability at work due to alcohol or illegal drug use.

The only one of those that might cover it would be "Serious insubordination." and I don't think what Stella did really comes into that category. But Brian doesn't need it anyway because of the length of time she has been there.

Would loss of confidence not count? Authorising a large transaction whilst Brain was on compassionate leave has certainly caused a massive u turn in his faith in her.

This has definitely sorted Adam out but I'm sure he did encourage her to go ahead. Seems unfair but she should have had more sense than to push on in Brian'a absence.

Didn't she push on partly because it was a time-limited "cheap" deal? Though Adam did tell her not to bother Brian and she was in charge of day-to-day decisions. The way he said it made it easy for Stella to infer it wasokay to go ahead. But as she said, there were no witnesses to the conversation.

I remember the time-limit aspect now, as well as Adam's day-to -day remark. Agree that it could make it a cert from Stella's POV, but massively expensive kit isn't day-to-day.

Yes I'd say it was really Stella's fault.

Not exactly subtle in setting up this storyline, were they? We’ve been predicting it since the first moment the expensive bit of kit was mentioned. Would be much quicker and cheaper for the BBC to simply say ‘Land (ownership and management) will always revert to Archers, all else is frippery and time wasting.’

The Jim’s glasses s/l is shamefully ridiculous.

And I hated Adil sounding so menacing towards Oliver.

Sorry - nothing positive to say about this week.

This is the omnibus for the week starting on Sunday 15th January 2023. At 1h 09.28 Stella asks Brian to consider the drill purchase, emphasising that time is critical to get the reduced price. He says he'll think about it, but doesn't sound convinced. This is the omnibus for the week starting on Sunday 22nd January 2023, which is the day Jennifer dies. In the first few minutes, before Lilian rings with the awful news, Brian asks for Justin's advice about the drill purchase and Justin thinks it's a good idea and would strengthen Home Farm's position to hold onto Borchester Land contracts. At around 19 minutes, Stella tries to talk to Brian, not knowing about Jennifer. (Excruciating.) At around 23 minutes Stella and Adam are talking and Adam tells Stella he's sure she can manage to look after the farm - drill purchase not mentioned.

49 minutes in, Stella and Ruth talk about the drill. Just before 54 minutes, Stella talks to Adam about the drill. I'm not going to transcribe the conversation, but this confirms what I thought I remembered - Adam basically tells Stella to make the decision and he knows from what she's said what she's going to decide. I'm amazed he's now saying he didn't know any of this. Given it was only a few days after Jennifer's death, I suppose he could argue he wasn't thinking straight. The Aldridges were ripping themselves apart at this point.

If only Stella had access to these recordings too!

Yes, I thought that too when I first heard it. There was a conversation about being widowed, and an invitation to share his own life story, and he chose not to mention the shared experience. That would be at best confusing for Brian when he finally discovers the truth, and at worst really turn him against Adil.

'You don't need to wait for us to make big decisions. Take the reins, Stella.' That's what Adam said. He may have jumped to the conclusion Brian had agreed in principle, but he didn't check.

Ah OK, I'd forgotten some of that. I'm not keen on Adam, I have to say.

My strong recollection was that Adam had conveyed the very distinct impression to Stella that she could go ahead with the drill purchase. Whether or not she was right to take his word for it is another matter, of course.

Slightly off-tangent, but did anyone see the interview in the Telegraph this week with farming advisor Sybil Ruscoe? The Eurovision SL is mentioned, amongst others…

I saw a paper copy at work and there’s a paywall on this but for the curious, pasting the article’s link into 12 ft ladder should produce results.

I felt the same @Ambridge . I think Adam has slyly pushed Stella under the bus. or tractor

Yup. Encouraged very much by Ian.

Ooh Adam is a shady snake and Ian is an enabler!! He absolutely encouraged Stella to make the decision on the drill knowing what she was going to do. What a liar! This will backfire somehow....

Stella is the manipulative one, she has been from day one. On this occasion she deliberately played two bereaved men off against each other, in the full knowledge that neither was in a position to think clearly about what she was asking. What I don't understand is what benefit she got from buying the drill rather than arranging to lease one this year - that question needs some follow-up.

I'm delighted that Adam hasn't let himself be cornered to admitting to having facilitated her. If she starts trying to blame him for her own devious actions the simple words 'I can hardly remember, I was still so shocked by Mum's death I wasn't taking much in, that must have been obvious' should cover him, and have the advantage of being true. Ian is right on this one.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
I'm not going to transcribe the conversation, but this confirms what I thought I remembered - Adam basically tells Stella to make the decision and he knows from what she's said what she's going to decide.

Someone on another board has transcribed it, and a listen tells me it is accurate, so:

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
S: (clearly continuing an ongoing spiel) : I mean Adam, it's an incredible piece of kit. It can plant straight into long stubble without disturbing the soil –
A: Right, OK.
S: Really is state-of-the-art –
A: You don't need to go on, I get the picture.
S: Sorry. I – I just didn't know how much Brian had told you.
A: He hasn't told me anything.
S: Ach. Well –
A: If that's what you and Brian have been discussing though, well I'm just glad he's finally been won over to regenerative farming. Now, I don't mean to be rude –
S: Yes, but –
A: I need to make a call.
S: But you're sure, though. I can put the order in. It's just that – it is a lot of money, and you definitely don't need to talk to the rest of the family?
A: Stella, honestly –
S: I don't mean to be an extra burden.
A: Look –
S: If I knew I was free to make decisions then I'd be able to leave you in peace.
A (huffs out air): To be absolutely frank, the way Brian is I don't see him coming back to the farm for a while yet. I don't think any of us are anywhere near being able to think about it.
S: No, of course.
A: What we need is the peace of mind of knowing it's all being looked after. You're employed by the partnership to manage Home Farm.
S: So –
A: So you don't need to wait for us to make big decisions. Take the reins, Stella. We'll all be grateful.
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

At no point did he tell her to go ahead and order the drill. He failed to tell her not to, and also told her not to wait around for big decisions but to do what she was employed by the partnership to do: manage the farm. She interpreted that as meaning that she was to make the big decisions herself rather than waiting for the partnership to make them.

I bet Tim Stimpson sweated like billy-0 making it all ambiguous enough!

I can testify that is indeed an accurate transcript, as that's what I listened to earlier. Thanks!

I will grudgingly credit the SWs/production team for this very slow burn storyline. I could see it going either way. I like Stella and would like to see her stay, so hope she wins. I wouldn't trust Adam as far as I could throw him. I wonder if Justin will intervene. He has an interest here as he will want the BL contract to be managed efficiently, and he probably has more confidence in Stella than Adam.

Don't wait around for big decisions, manage the farm, could, (and I think did, in this case) mean 'there can't be a decision on any major capital project such as purchasing the drill this season because of Jenny's sudden death, so go ahead and manage contractors who will handle the work this year'.

Yes, that's one possible interpretation. But coming immediately after an explanation of why Stella wanted to put the order in asap (to fix the price) it's at best an ambiguous way of phrasing that.

hrmpf. wrote something in reply that got lost...

II think stella will stay because she's 'involved' in bbc farming today
she has documented everything for the board. plus there is the 'relatioship with justin (is she his daughter?)

We did not hear her say that to Adam, though. We have no reason to think that he knew it was a "buy this week for our Special Low Price" deal. He had just said that he knew nothing about it: "[Brian] hasn't told me anything".

But hang on: Stella put it all "in my quarterly report". That can't have been in December, because she didn't know the thing existed until the tech fair in January. And if it was a quarterly report in March, she'd already put in the order before distributing it to everyone.

Quarterly report could have been quarters ending in 31st Jan and 30th April, or 28th Feb with the 31st May report imminent. The transcript shows we came in halfway through that conversation. I'm assuming it started with Stella apologising for bothering Adam but saying she needed a decision that week because of the price. We'll never know, though!