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!

Who's she and is Eddie really likely to have heard of her?

Is George really being paid the same as Ed to drive the tractor? Wouldn’t Ed be quite annoyed at that? Or will he get more
now he’s driving the combine?

I think there was a vague allusion to combine drivers being paid more. Which would make sense - much bigger and more technically tricky.

I wouldn't say driving a tractor alongside the combine to get your trailer filled is any less tricky than driving the combine.

Kathryn Bigelow, Oscar winning director of The Hurt Locker. I've heard of her and I'm not well up on 21st century cinema. If Eddie was casting around for the name of a female film director, it's plausible enough that he might know that name.

Yes, George is a nasty piece of work.

Yep, George is a piece of work, slipping in that bit about Ed accidentally shooting the dog.

Nothing accidental about it. Ed is also a nasty piece of work, and thick with it.

Ed is not nasty!

I have never heard of Katherine Bigelow. Am I just ignorant?

But it was an accident when Ed shot Baz(?)? Wasn't it?

A rogue combine would be lethal and impregnable , like a tank on a rampage. Though I guess people would have time to get out of its way, or can they reach a good speed?

It depends on your definition of accident. Ed certainly deliberately aimed at, and pulled the trigger, and killed a dog. He might claim that the ‘accidental’ part was the dog being Baz, I suppose .

But why did he aim at any dog? Was it on a shoot?

Ive heard of Katherine Bigelow because at the time The Hurt Locker was a big film but havent heard of her much lately, its not as if she is as big as say... Spielberg so I dont think Eddie would know her unless he is a big film buff and I think he is too busy with his ducking and diving (and giving us all a jolly good laugh) (sarcasm) to go to the flicks.
Last episode was boring I hope its just a filler and we have got something really exciting happening in the future. I Liked hearing Joy though she is a really lovely lady always helping people.
I wonder what her profession was before she came to Ambridge.? Answers on a postcard please...

I can't remember what happens with Baz either. Was it something like they thought a stray was worrying the sheep?

Eddie would have said "....Steven Spielberg?". Intern strikes again.

Combines are much bigger (round here anyway). And seem to have more controls. But I bow to superior farming knowledge elsewhere in the country.

Baz’s death was something to do with Ed’s cows I think. I can’t remember the details at all though. It gave Will yet another reason to hate his brother.

I’ve just listened to a clip from the episode on TA website when the dog died (2013!). Baz ran after a hare, he was on ‘Ed’s land’ whatever that means and Ed was startled and shot him. The clip is only 50 secs and is mostly Will screaming and shouting so I’m not sure why a running dog caused Ed to reach for this shotgun🤷🏽‍♀️

Ridiculous that Stella, competent Farm Manager of large estate would let 18 year old George loose in any vehicle on ‘her’ land.

Apparently the episode prompted Sir Barney Spanner-White (hilarious name!) of the Countryside Alliance to criticise the Beeb for giving the impression that farmers roam their land tooled up ready and willing to shoot anything that moves:

Here

Oops, wait a no

*mo

Here we are

I thought there was potential significance in how friendly Ed and Stella seemed to be last night. It was quite pleasing to see that George's attempt to sabotage Ed hadn't worked, but I wondered if we're building up to some sort of affair, or else Emma wrongly deciding they're having one and going to screech at Stella.

I wonder what [Joy’s] profession was before she came to Ambridge.? Answers on a postcard please...

I binged the entire series of ‘Hijack’ yesterday. So now I know she’s the female equivalent of Idris Elba’s Sam Nelson. (Big business ‘negotiator’) But now she’s in witness protection.