Archers thread #151: A Fête worse than death or a reverse ferret? Helen’s got the Borsetshire Blues, Tom’s talking shiitake, George is a rotten apple. 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 Helen and Tom would do well on Dragons' Den, 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 @OverArmour for various title ideas! I would have liked to incorporate the suggestion from @Fleetress, which was

‘Do do one Ron, Ron, do do one Ron’

(Rob is Ron for many on this thread now)

Possibly a bit obscure for newer posters, though!

Anyway: we got through that last thread in no time at all. Combined effect of Rob and George, I suspect. I wonder if Rob will have made it to Ambridge by the time we need a new thread. I'm still waiting for Pat's shotgun to feature. That can't have been mentioned for the first time ever for no reason at all.

Over to you!

I heard it on Friday and just heard that bit start again while in my car this morning. I have to say I turned it off as I didn't need to hear the last bit again. I hadn't twigged that it was the super new machine that had done it. I wonder if this is the plot purpose of it because I can't really see any other point. Maybe it is so huge it won't stop quickly and is not very manoeuvrable and it will be a valuable farm animal or a person next time.

I had assumed it was to humanise Stella a bit more and get us to sympathise with her.

It's a bit drastic if that's the whole point.

I wondered if it was done so she would find it easier to source a new rental, when evicted.

I found it really sad as someone who has made the decision to have my much loved cats and dogs put to sleep.

TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore
I wonder if this presages years of the new machine being cursed and bringing death and destruction every season?

No, they're ok: the new machine is a drill and is not used in harvesting, and the trailer with which the dog collided at high speed is unlikely to be new.

I knew I hadn’t been paying close enough attention!

Still, there surely has to be a meaning to poor Weaver’s demise? Who comforts? Who replaces? Oh this house is so empty, I can’t go on living alone …?

was it the super new machine? I thought the machine was the combine harvester, and the dog was run over by the tractor's back wheel.

TBH i think it was one of those things that TA is supposed to do: educate people about country/farm life. And that is don't take your dogs close to fields when the machinery is working. Nobody i know does that (i live rurally, lots of arable farms here)

Having said that: nobody has the combines out now, it's been too wet for the last few weeks.

No, as Asking has explained above, it's not the super new machine, i.e. the drill.

Odd that an experienced farm manager would have her dog in a field in those conditions. Still, it's happened now. I wonder if it will be one of those inexplicable filler episodes or if it will lead to something further.

Was Stella an experienced dog-owner, or was Weaver the first one she'd had? I can't remember her ever saying anything about a previous one. In her defence, if she has not had a dog before and has always previously worked on vast farms to the east of the country with fields which seem to stretch forever, she may never have come across a dog being present at harvest time and therefore may not have realised how risky having one there might be.

I thought it was an ordinary tractor when I listened but someone else mentioned the new machine so I thought I'd got it wrong.

I’m pretty sure this is what was happening: https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/combine-harvester-alongside-a-tractor-and-trailer-harvesting-the-corn-gm176051740-10203492
ie Brian was in the combine and Ed was driving the tractor beside it collecting the wheat in the trailer. Weaver ran between the tractor and the trailer. It would have been far more gory had he been combined.

I am fairly sure we were told by Alistair that Weaver had been clipped by one of the trailer's wheels.

I'm fairly sure Stella has had dogs before. She spoke of having suspected that he'd been used for hare coursing in the past, which suggests to me a reasonable level of knowledge of dog behaviour etc. And I think when she got him it was all "oh I do miss having a dog to keep me company..."

Forgive my ignorance but is hare coursing illegal? If so, then I wonder if this is something building towards a plot around illegal animal activity - whatever that job was that Harrison applied for and didn’t get. I assumed that job would be used to bring about greater awareness of animal issues. There’s been a few mentions of various wildlife issues recently I think - domestic dogs being off their leads in either Bridge or Home farm, something else to do with sheep or cows (obviously I wasn’t concentrating very hard!). So many be there’ll be a new fancy police officer entering the fold soon. And the consequence of Weaver’s history in hare coursing might have bought an emotive element for the audience.

Weaver ran between the tractor and the trailer and the back wheel of the trailer clipped him.

New legislation to crack down on illegal hare coursing now in force - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Yes, hare-coursing, which was what Stella was worried about Weaver perhaps having been used for, is illegal; lamping, which was Ruth's immediate interpretation of the word Stella used is not illegal if it is done by a landowner or with the consent of a landowner for pest control.

Lamping without the permission of the landowner is illegal, like any other poaching.

Not caught up with the thread yet. LOVED the fete. The pictures on the radio are so much better than on the telly

But I would love to see a photo of the ferret atttaction!

@Abra1t Me too! I'd love to know what it was that sent Lynda into such rapturous congratulations.

What planet is Helen on?

Helen is on Planet Helen, where the only thing that matters is Helen getting what she wants at all times.

Yes I hope the Beeb publish an "artist's impression" of the funfair at the very least!

Iain is now considering the Head of Food post: "Gosh, what a surprise!"

I am just remembering the last time Oliver unilaterally made an offer on behalf of Grey Gables.

Whilst browsing children's picture books last week, I had a wry smile at passing "A Ferret Named Phil And The Old Ferris Wheel".

Maybe Eddie read it to Poppy when she was little, and inspiration struck?

Good theory.