Archers thread #150: For whom the sausage rolls: George over a Berrow, Fallon & Harrison seek new lease on life, is it all a Fête Accompli? Discuss The Snivelling Simpletons, sorry, 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 people frequently miss their own weddings because of a morning quickie while in a plaster cast, 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 for title suggestions. I basically took @OverArmour's excellent suggestion and managed to shoehorn in snivelling simpleton, gloriously coined by @Eastie77Returns to refer to Lee in the first instance.

@WitcheryDivine suggested Recharging, Red Kites and The Man They Call Ron, is Ambridge becoming an earthly paradise or a hell on earth? which seems as good a place as any to kick off our discussions! Ron = Rob, a fortuitous typo on a previous thread. It does feel a bit as if we're marking time before he turns up again. Odd to do what could be a high profile storyline over the summer holidays when a lot of people will be away, but depending on your point of view, maybe that's a blessing!

Whither George? Is he shaping up to be Andrew Tate mark 2?

Everybody looking forward to Ferret Fun at the Fête? Me neither.

Over to you!

oh well, I gave it nearly two weeks and now I've given up on it again. Rob, George, the cherry trees . . . unremitting unpleasantness. I can get that in real life if I want it, I don't need it in Ambridge as well.

We can't have two bad guys at once!

George will be along in due course to give Henry a big pat on the back for reaching out to poor victimised, misunderstood Rob.

Credit to whoever predicted something like 3 weeks ago that Rob would weave his way in via Henry

It's horrible to hear because it's emotional abuse, and grooming.

I wonder how long the telephone contact will go on before something happens, and what.

It would be lovely to think that Henry will go away, have a think about tings, remember all those lessons I hope he's had about people who tell you to keep things secret from your parents, and Tell All to Helen. Or that she will have the sense to check his phone. And then get Ron locked up in a nice comfy prison hospital for contempt of court

Ahhh, the Dirty Little Secret... Sowing the seeds for the decades ahead. The SWs are laying it on a bit thick with Rob. George is a thick and idiotic teenager. He probably thinks in his baby/grown up mind that he's helping Henry. Oh how it will blow up, one day. Really, he should be hanging out with his mates under the supermarket canopy, vaping and knocking back energy drinks, and trying to get a grown up to buy them for him.

Rob will pull on Henry's heartstrings with the illness and, after all, how can a dying man be any danger to them now? He'll use Henry as a pawn in able to get to see Jack somehow.

Wouldn't it be amazing if George somehow saw through Ron, saved Henry’s soul, and through Doing Good evolved into a normal decent human being?

Yeah …

Well... it takes one to know one? So George seeing through Rob actually feels slightly plausible!

There is some truth there yes!

But I think the SWs have found a goldmine in Evil George so he's not about to save the day.

Oh god. George getting into Henry was bad enough, but hearing Ron getting his claws back into him is too much. On the one hand, excellent script writing. On the other, I'm seriously considering a hiatus.

A BOOP for tonight.

Many BOOPS, in fact. One of the best episodes this year - to my ears, at least.

I may have to go back to listening to the omnibus. That way I will only have to be incensed once a week by Ambridge instead of daily.

Agree @Fleetress , unpleasant but perfectly executed. Rob doing what Rob does best.

The lad playing Henry is doing a very good job. I wonder how much they've told him about the backstory. Not too much, I hope.

Jennifer must be turning in her grave. Poor cherry trees.

Excellent episode. Especially Rob's chilling remark about the presence of Lee being "at the moment". Henry has a good base of solid recollection, which will stand him in good stead when the awful truth is revealed.

Thinking of Brian's treatment of Adam. His reminder of Adam's status is presumably because at some point in the future he'll be begging Adam to return.

Is Rob really aiming to get Helen back? Or is that just a ploy to get Henry on his side, by selling him he idea of returning to their once “happy” family (much this might just be a figment of Rob’s imagination)?

I think it's Jack he wants.

Narcissists see children as their possessions.

Yes Jack definitely the main aim now. He doesn't want Helen back, just the control.
He would also probably love to ruin things with Lee somehow to get revenge on both of them. Lee had the nerve to come and "have words" so he needs putting in his place as well. Rob always plays the long game.

When will George be found out

The standard of dialogue has been excellent recently. It's also nice to be hearing more about the problems in the farming industry again. It seems such a long time since this was the case.

Henry is supposed to be 12, I think, so the actor must be that or older. I should think he can cope with most of that story.

Putting the big story aside.
Stella is really getting her feet under the table and Brian is letting her.
I do understand Adam saying about Jenny Darling loving the cherry orchard (not the novel) and Brain seems to jump down Adams throat all the time.
Im not very keen on stella, and why is Tracy such a bossy boots when theres a crowd around. Its like when she was working at the chicken factory and tried to tell that supervisor her job and got put on the horrible shifts then sacked.

I guess what you’re saying is that Tracy is a natural leader? Only lacking in the education and qualifications that would have given her an organisation to lead. Her life must be constant frustration!

In a sense I can see where Stella is coming from. She’s ambitious and farm management is her career. Not only does she feel a passionate engagement with the land she’s managing - she also needs to be seen to be successful in running the farm. She doesn’t want all the farmers within 300 miles gossiping about how Home Farm is going downhill because their lady manageress lacks the practical intelligence to run it, or was only hired to be a mouthpiece for the family. It must be incredibly hard to do, but she needs to not only know what she wants to achieve there, but have the 🎾🎾🎾to push her ideas through. While being clear in her mind that if Adam wanted to run Home Farm he should have stayed there.

Presumably by now Helen has had a conversation with Henry about his father. I wonder how she explained it to him?