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 can’t help wondering if this is George’s chance to redeem himself, will he rise to the occasion?

@PedantScorner Thanks. I knew Newydd, I didn't think Cas was port (so many words seem to run parallel with French) but didn’t think of castle.

Over the border into Borsetshire, Malvern is supposed to derive from Moelbryn.

I presume English and Welsh Bicknor are both as English as they sound.

Unfortunately for George, any heroics he performs will be overshadowed by the fact he helped Henry contact Rob in the first place. He will unemployed again very soon and the wrath of Bridge Farm will be upon him.

It’s a shame really as it seems from his reaction when speaking to Emma that he really didn’t know the whole back story about Rob and he became genuinely concerned for Henry’s safety.

Am I right in think Rob know knows where Jack and Henry go cycling?

I think Henry won’t tell Helen because he’ll be afraid of getting George into trouble (thanks Rob). So we’ve a long way to go yet

Now knows.

Sorry
I was going through a stressed period, and got focused on linguistics.
I also couldn't resist trying to make a clever joke (I thought), about glottal stops and my S. London accent.
This thread is about the only one where I might hope to be understood...

@MereDintofPandiculation , Cas isn't port, it's castle (castell) as is caer, port is porth. Both Bicknors are in England, but Welsh Bicknor also has a Welsh name. Quite a lot of places near the border probably have names with brythonic or welsh origins. I had to look up Malvern, but wiki said it's from moelfryn, which is bald hill hill, which is tautological, but there's definitely a 'moel' there. Dover and Avon are both said to be names of Brythonic origin.

Rob was even more creepy than usual tonight.

Badly done, Rob!

Rob "flipped" and showed his true colours in front of Henry much faster than I thought he would. I thought he'd play a longer game. On the other hand... thank goodness Henry seemed to see him for who he is!

This section might work as a place to carry on the linguistic discussion. I find that kind of thing interesting, and I certainly don't see people sharing knowledge and special interests as showing off. But the detailed discussions might perhaps be better carried on elsewhere.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cunning_linguists

@Poppins2016 it may be that Rob is unwell and less able to control his temper. Alternatively he may feel time is running out and he cannot afford any delays. Either way he was rushing Henry and messed up the charm offensive. I really hope Henry confides in somebody about what happened. He must have been taught that adults should never ask you to keep a secret.

Oof, that was brilliantly awful. I felt all my skin crawling off, across the room and out the door. Even George was out-manipulated by a master.

But he showed his colours, didn’t he? I’m sure he’ll try and wind it back, apologise for overstepping, because he’s realised Henry isn’t completely under his control (yet), but it remains to be seem if Henry can be manipulated further or if the scales have fallen from his eyes.

Nail biting stuff!

Such a good episode. I like the way George paid real attention when his mother told him about Rob - and to basically say he had the stabbing coming would make a real impression. I agree that George met his master in the art of pressure stakes. Rob's swift move to denigration and anger with Henry was too much too soon, though possibly it's meant to show time ticking for him.

Not sure that George is out of the woods in the bad guy corner of TA, but his concern seemed real, though in the end he will look to himself when it looks like going pear-shaped. What I've never got is the why he's so involved in Henry's life anyway. It looks like a plot device to be the means of allowing Henry to be at the County Show, but the initial relationship is so unlikely.

Unless it's just one of those horrid relationships begat out of the older party having alienated all his peers thru terrible behaviour so they have to "befriend" younger children?

But yes, mainly plot device!

George does seem to be in with a chance of doing something genuinely helpful for a change. And interesting to note that he obviously does still respect his mum's opinion about some things, despite what he called her a few weeks ago.

He came out of today's episode as a much more rounded character I thought.

I really hope George does the right thing.

I think GaspOdeTheWonderDog you are better off going on the linguistic thread, where you can show off ( which is what it is) to your hearts content.

Reggie that comment doesn't seem inkeeping with the general kindness of this thread.

Rob was menacing last night. Well done to Henry for eventually walking away. I'm looking forward to hearing the fallout. I too wonder if the quick ramp up is due to his illness and time being short.

Kindness be damned, it was just rude!

I guess if Lee is coming back, then everything has to happen while he’s away - and he presumably only has two weeks holiday?

As I said before this thread has got very boring as has The Archers its self and its with regret Im leaving.
Its not only this thread but Mumsnet in general I think its had its day to be honest.

I'm really not sure what the SWs are doing with George. For weeks now creating a persona of a self-consumed, self-deluded misogynistic swine who thinks nothing of dishing out the most awful emotional hurt to those closest to him and who only want to support him - especially Neil most recently. But also presenting occasional episodes, such as last night's, where his character seems genuinely kindly, concerned, warm-hearted and decent.

I realise the human condition is often complex but George's character has me mystified. Do we loathe him or actually rather like him after all? He seems to be two distinctly different people to me, which I guess is the point. Certainly he is developing into one of the more interesting characters we've had on the TA for some time.

Your loss, @Reggieismycat

But isn’t that the essence of drama, @fitofthegiggles ? The fact that George has alienated so many in the Ambridge universe means he’s really hampered when he wants to do a good thing. (Thanks to cunning scriptwriting) Rob picked up on that at once.

Ooof,last night was really skin crawling!! The switch at the end was genius... definitely foreseeing some kind of woodland snatch, I think Jack will be taken and Henry left behind..

Just plain rude. Don't let the door catch you on your way out.

I agree, and Henry will be devastated when he realises Rob didn't give a damn about him, he was just a tool to get to Jack.