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Archers thread #149: This is not a drill, it’s a plot device. Here’s hoping for Stella-r rows in Ambridge. Discuss The Archers here.

979 replies

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 06/06/2023 08:28

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

Archers 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's bantz make him a great laugh and totally harmless to women, or other unusual views. Grin

Archers 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!

Archers 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 for title suggestions - @FallonsNewCoat started us off with Drilling down OR What’s the drill?: So many jobs hanging in the balance - what’s planned for Adam, Stella, Freddie and horrible George?, @OverArmour's suggestion was ‘Drilling down on less than Stella-r performances and who will be a pig in muck’ and @TeenDivided contributed the laserdrill focussed Lets drill into plot holes and hope George gets his comeuppance. I went for a bit of all of that. The phrase at the back of my head, which I am very pleased to have tracked down, was from one of my favourite film franchises where the character Conklin says in Jason Bourne's memory This is not a drill, soldier. We clear on that? This is a live project. You are go. Training is over. Training is over. Well, that's us, troops. Training is over, discussing The Archers is a live project, and it's our job to drill down into all aspects of what we hear. Grin

On the last thread, people were discussing how unrealistic the portrayal of mental health problems is on TA. I wholeheartedly agree, but I suppose they don't feel they can tackle long-running slow burn storylines that often. They made a great effort with Jack Woolley's Alzheimer's. Other than that, I don't recall anybody having a recurring illness that's been portrayed realistically (and actually that goes for physical conditions as well). Most things clear up and are hardly mentioned again. Sticking just to mental illness, Pat had depression after John died, Mike Tucker had a bad bout of depression, so did Elizabeth. Helen's ED may or may not be about to re-appear, but nobody's mentioning it. Ben's rapid-onset depresssion recently led to a psychotic episode but now he's fine, not least because he got prompt, skilled and appropriate treatment on the NHS, unlike most of the UK. Hmm This is one area where I feel they shouldn't even attempt it if they can't do it in a way that reflects the reality of what most of us experience, for ourselves and our loved ones.

Anyway, with that off my chest - over to you!

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FallonsNewCoat · 20/06/2023 12:21

It’s not as if she’s a toddler. Flowers and an attempt at cooking dinner should be enough for a mid-week birthday. What was he supposed to do? Party hats and streamers?!? Admittedly he could have rustled up a bottle of scent but it’s not obligatory!

BeardieWeirdie · 20/06/2023 14:14

I loved Stella’s “I’m a sucker for a Twirl” - I’m sure she knew the likening of cacao and Dairy Milk would get up Kate’s nose.

ChocChipHandbag · 20/06/2023 14:15

Yea, it was brilliant, as you say, very obviously calculated.

WitcheryDivine · 20/06/2023 14:34

FallonsNewCoat · 20/06/2023 12:21

It’s not as if she’s a toddler. Flowers and an attempt at cooking dinner should be enough for a mid-week birthday. What was he supposed to do? Party hats and streamers?!? Admittedly he could have rustled up a bottle of scent but it’s not obligatory!

Maybe for you! I note she didn't actually ask for anything else, it was more the fact that he'd clearly spent the minimum amount of time on her/with her.

WitcheryDivine · 20/06/2023 14:36

BeardieWeirdie · 20/06/2023 14:14

I loved Stella’s “I’m a sucker for a Twirl” - I’m sure she knew the likening of cacao and Dairy Milk would get up Kate’s nose.

Yes this was brilliant, her tone was perfect

TheUsualChaos · 20/06/2023 14:38

Oh I don't know, it sounded like he was making an effort cooking quite an elaborate dinner. She could have chosen to sit with him and talked while he was cooking with snacks and wine like he suggested but she went off for a bath instead leaving him to cook by himself. It seemed a bit cold. But I take the point that he went out all day too and could have come back earlier since it's her birthday so maybe she was miffed about that. They still could have had the evening together though which is all most couples get when a birthday falls midweek. It's six of one, half a dozen of the other isn't it really.

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 20/06/2023 17:55

TheUsualChaos
How old are Fallon and Harrison now?

Fallon was born on 19th June 1985 so she has just had her thirty-eighth birthday.

Harrison last night said that he had joined the police when he was twenty-three, and been in the force for fifteen years, which would make him (probably) thirty-eight. We haven't heard him have a birthday, I don't think.

WitcheryDivine · 20/06/2023 18:15

Glad you're back @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

AskingQuestionsAllTheTime · 20/06/2023 18:25

WitcheryDivine · 20/06/2023 18:15

Glad you're back @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Thank you! I had a lot of fun. And I am going to be away for the second weekend of July having more lots of fun with fine Finn fans. This summer is making up for the previous three.

suzyscat · 20/06/2023 18:40

I have to say I'm first in the queue for Kate's solstice event. That's right up my street. Slightly can't bear the foreshadowing though.

I really think Stella needs to work with Kate about her concerns. I do fires and campfire cooking with groups and I'd definitely be doing my own a risk assessment of Kate and how to mitigate the Kate factor if I were Stella, even if it's not her job she needs to have an eye on that wheat.

It should be relatively straightforward to keep a fire low enough, contained enough, down wind enough to manage safely and one would assume she's done it hundreds of times before... However I'm not looking forward to this.

TheUsualChaos · 20/06/2023 19:00

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime thanks! They are both a good few years younger than I thought.

A fire would be devastating. Not sure I want to see poor Brian take that hit on top of being a recent widower 😢 I keep getting the sense Adam is regretting leaving Home farm now. He and Brian seem to get on so much better now but probably because of not working together!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 20/06/2023 22:21

Well, the SWs have thought about US visas. Good. Surprised to be the first person to comment on Henry finding his voice!

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echt · 20/06/2023 22:59

Just thinking about Harrison's work issues - I'd be thinking about that police pension. BTW, how old is he? Do they rent Woodbine Cottage? No-one has mortgage problems on TA I see, thanks to the property fairy.

While I'm here, I looked the character up online and by heck the actor is good- looking.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 21/06/2023 05:32

They used to rent Woodbine from Christine, and then managed to buy it from her.

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CountryCousin · 21/06/2023 06:51

Yesterday I was thinking how strange it was that Fallon had evolved from a free spirit who was gobsmacked by Harrison’s house deposit savings and pension / life insurance planning, to someone who now couldn’t contemplate any change to the status quo. But one conversation with Lynda appears to have magically resolved everything, so …

I was a bit disappointed by the Henry Event, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. He seemed to be phoning from a far distant planet, so it was hard to engage. He also didn’t sound anything like his mother or uncle or my expectations of how a Bridge Farm child might sound.

CountryCousin · 21/06/2023 06:55

Btw, for anyone wanting to know how old characters are - you can usually find their birth dates in the character outlines on the BBC The Archers site. There will be photos, though!

BBC Radio 4 - The Archers - Characters

The Archers profiles: Characters

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3VLG6MxxfQpKXF2Chky4Fmh/characters

Poppins2016 · 21/06/2023 07:08

Henry also didn’t sound anything like his mother or uncle or my expectations of how a Bridge Farm child might sound.

I agree with this. His voice doesn't quite 'fit in'....

Brefugee · 21/06/2023 07:11

He sounded quite northern to me.

As for Harrison - who wants a really late midweek (birthday) dinner? And the reason it's late on my birthday is because my husband, right off a series of night shifts priorities a dog walk over spending the evening with me?

I'd be Having Words.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 21/06/2023 07:24

The young actor playing Henry is from the West Midlands. Surprisingly for such a youngster, he has a social media presence and a bit of a track record in acting and related activities. Right age for Henry as well, as far as I can judge.

We don't have anyone in the cast now who started playing their character in childhood, do we? There's usually a change, or more than one, as the child character grows up. Tracy's actor used to be Kate, a long time ago, for example.

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WitcheryDivine · 21/06/2023 08:16

I thought Henry didn’t sound too bad, a considerable step up from AWWWIGHT, anyway.

The Harrison actor isn’t especially my cup of tea but I bet they wrote the storyline about his past in stripping when they realised they’d hired a bit of a beefcake.

The trouble with Harrison/Fallon is that H is essentially a dull man, so you can’t pair him with someone comparably nice and bland eg Kirsty or Amy. But he’s made Fallon boring too IMO. Where are her hopes and dreams? There’s rarely any sign of her business doing well or badly, does she have no other ambitions but keep making cakes and the go home for the rest of her life? She used to do stuff!

ChocChipHandbag · 21/06/2023 08:23

I thought it was quite sad to hear Lynda talking about Robert when we know that the actor has died in real life. I never saw a public tribute from Carole Boyd to him, which I found quite odd.

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/06/2023 08:30

Brefugee · 21/06/2023 07:11

He sounded quite northern to me.

As for Harrison - who wants a really late midweek (birthday) dinner? And the reason it's late on my birthday is because my husband, right off a series of night shifts priorities a dog walk over spending the evening with me?

I'd be Having Words.

The dog's need for a walk takes priority over just about everything in our house.

TherapistInATabard · 21/06/2023 08:45

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/06/2023 08:30

The dog's need for a walk takes priority over just about everything in our house.

Well yes, but it wasn’t his dog was it? It was all very bizarre and I was waiting for it to be a bluff for a big surprise later.

I thought the Henry actor was ok. Tom is so infuriating. For those who have listened for donkeys, is his White Knight status a rewrite or was he always rushing to Helen’s aid when they were small?

WilkinsonM · 21/06/2023 08:55

Haven't caught up on the thread yet but 2 things - Lee went along with the Rob plan and Lee assaulted him. Tom is just as stupid but Lee being arrested isn't Tom's fault. And why is Henry northern?!?!

CaptainMyCaptain · 21/06/2023 09:00

TherapistInATabard · 21/06/2023 08:45

Well yes, but it wasn’t his dog was it? It was all very bizarre and I was waiting for it to be a bluff for a big surprise later.

I thought the Henry actor was ok. Tom is so infuriating. For those who have listened for donkeys, is his White Knight status a rewrite or was he always rushing to Helen’s aid when they were small?

Fair enough. I didn't know it wasn't their dog although I did wonder why it hadn't been mentioned before.