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!

No Hollerton Silver Band, though. What a shame. I love a good brass band.

I don't really see what Lynda and Joy uncovering anything a week or less before the fête will achieve: it will be a great deal to late to round up and organise the usual attractions by the time they do. For instance re-booking the Hollerton Silver Band, which has already been cancelled, would not be easy, probably not even possible at this sort of notice even if they had not been mightily offended.

Over 900 posts in two and a half weeks!

Where have I read

‘Do do one Ron,
Ron, do do one Ron’

recently? …

<makes note>

Yes, this thread is flying by.

He's not dying is he. It's all a big hoax.

Helen has been to the hospital and spoken to the consultant hasn't she? Or was that over the phone?

She spoke to the consultant on the phone and then went to the hospital to be with Rob when he got the diagnosis. If it's possible to engage an actor to play the part of an NHS consultant, swan into a consulting room in an NHS hospital, put a fake name on the door and carry out a fake consultation without any NHS staff noticing, the NHS is in a worse state than I had realised.

Helen did indeed go to the hospital and go in for Rob's appointment with the consultant, leaving Kirsty to wait in the car-park for her. I hope Kirsty had brought a book and her knitting.

I don't think there can be any doubt that Rob's condition is real and is serious; you cannot hire a bit of a hospital for a rôle-play event.

Hmmm. She did say she’d struggled to find the right room.

Disused wing? If the SWs go down that route, it would be akin to Bobby Ewing coming out of the shower and saying he'd had an odd dream.

Yes, so presumably she asked people where the neurology department was, or out-patients, or wherever it was meant to be, and hospital staff told her. I really don't think Rob could afford to take over a hospital and staff it with stooges.

Thought did cross my mind that somehow it will turn out that they got it wrong and it's a benign tumour. Would still give him the symptoms like seizures and headaches but not lead to death as quickly as they have said, if at all. Can't recall how much detail they went into medically? Did they say it was inoperable?

I agree hoaxing the hospital visit would surely be a step too far, but I feel as though it's so unlikely for soap writers to kill off such a baddie, surely it's much more usual to keep them in the back pocket and bring them back here and there over the years, a la Nick Cotton?
But maybe the writers agree with most of us that the Rob storyline is just too stressful and miserable to keep going?
It'll be a part of Gideon's life forever anyway, Miles or his children could pop up at any point, or there could be an inheritance from Rob that can only be received once he turns 18 or something?

They did indeed say it was inoperable. They also said there are things he can take which will reduce the effects of the symptoms, but effectively they were clear he has about three months to live, possibly a little longer or possibly a little less.

He'll probably be dead by the time Johnny gets home with a new voice.

Would be my preference for them not to drag Rob part 2 out for too long but I'm not sure. It got them good ratings last time. Although perhaps they are putting their eggs in the George Grundy basket going forwards.

I miss Johnny, he was such a breath of fresh air for Bridge farm.

So do I @TheUsualChaos He's one of the nicer, more normal characters... and they're so few and far between!

I remember when he first came, Johnny saying the journey to Ambridge was long and he had to get off the coach to have a wazz at Birmingham.

I could feel the sharp intake of Radio4 breath across the nation, and knew I was going to love this lad.

Yes I suppose they could do a "even though the world renowned expert (female) consultant diagnosed you, she got it wrong just this once" line...

The cheese board sounds

Shit limited

Given Tom's well-known negotiating skills, what chance do we reckon Helen has of keeping the Borsetshire Blue order if Tom is in charge of getting her the other two?

Well an unusual case like Rob's would have involved at least one multidisciplinary meeting in which radiology would have had an significant input on the diagnosis so it's not all on the neurologist. But either way, malignant or benign, he will die from the symptoms. But potentially a lot slower process if benign...

I wonder, would that please Tony, or will he realise that it would just prolong the agony for Helen?

God, Tom is a patronising idiot! A charm offensive 🙄

Would say it's almost 100% certainly that Tom will balls this up.