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 think the query is - who's the original Wet Wipe? An Archers character? A celebrity with that nickname? A friend of yours?

Is a “wet wipe” a “wet blanket”?

Is it just another way of saying someone's wet?

Why Fat Rosie?

I answered this at 19.26.

Apologies for calling Lee a wet wipe if I've caused offence.

Because there was a whole story about her being too fat for hand me downs and Pip getting a school letter(I think) saying she was overweight - it was all the fault of Jill's cakes! @BerylBillings

Apologies for calling Lee a wet wipe if I've caused offence

Didn't cause offence - it was funny.

Because she has been overweight enough, this time last year, for Ben to notice and remark on it, Pip to throw a hissy fit at him, and Jill to get blamed for allowing the child to eat millionaire's shortbread.

(Synopsis for 10th July, 2022: "Ben has noticed that Rosie’s got a bit bigger; well of course she’s grown, says Pip. But Ben also was surprised by how heavy she was when he lifted her out of the paddling pool, and he’s pretty sure his niece is a bit overweight.")

I used to eat cake when I was four and five, but I took enough exercise for it not to add pounds to my weight. I suspect that Rosie wasn't rushing around enough, as well as being over-indulged.

Sorry, meant to add the recent-synopses page: https://ambridgereporter.org.uk/synopses/

No offence taken @AlexCabot , but I still don't get the 'Justin public school boy' bit, sorry?!

Someone @AlexCabot knew in real life, I think?

Ah yes that makes sense now!

I wonder if George is going to redeem himself by rescuing Henry and Jack from Rob's clutches

Yes I think there was reference to sitting on the sofa watching TV with Jill, who was doing free child care, while eating said cakes.

I think the childcare was helping Jill with the baking, then sitting on the sofa watching telly and eating some of the millionaire shortbread.

Fat Rosie was given Poppy's old school uniform but they were far too small for her. Pip had a word with Jill and the issue seems to have gone away.

Dan was Fat Dan too, but he seems to have gone away altogether.

He was Fat Dan for a time because he was on steroids for juvenile arthritis, which I believe does often clear up by adulthood. He must have been fully fit to get into the army. I suppose with Shula Up North ministering to the heathen, there's not much reason for Dan to go to Ambridge.

Alistair is there, and his grandmother. I can't remember if Reg & Bunty are still alive.

I think one of either Reg / Bunty died a few years ago - and iirc Shula went to the funeral. Can’t remember if Dan went too - and it’s too recent for my Ambridge history books.

But yes, I was disappointed when the Stables was rented out to Josh, Ben, Lily and now Paul, as it indicated the SWs had no immediate plans to bring Dan back. The disappearance of that branch of the Brookfield Archer tree is a bit of a crying shame. Though realistic, of course.

Alistair and Jim are increasingly pointless characters now they have no visible connection to Archers and obviously don’t constitute a separate dynasty by themselves.

I think that one of them died too, but I can't remember which one.
Dan being an only child makes it easier for that branch to disappear, and Meriel has not been around much. Maybe Johnny will bump into her on his travels.

But it would be sacrilege to write the Stables Archers out - after all the trouble and tragedy it took to beget Dan. I’ve always assumed he would return with partner and family at some point to take up his dynastic heritage.

He might. IIRC he's still in his 20s.

I listened to the film while doing chores this morning, and realised I’d missed Hellin’s breathtaking assumption that Ian would automatically stock her cheeses without even trying anyone else’s, then blanked him the instant he failed to comply. She really is monstrous.

Also, Kirsty is a saint. Stands up to Rob, pulls Hellin together, deals sensibly with the situation. I just can’t understand why she’s such a doormat where Hellin’s concerned, to the extent of letting her live in her own house (and yes, I know it has bad associations for her, all of that, but…you really can abase yourself too much sometimes, Kirsty). I fail to see what she gets back from H in this friendship, it seems so inequitable.

People come and people go. Decades ago Tom Forrest was a big character, gamekeeper to Grey Gables, introducer of the Sunday omnibus. He had a silent wife, Prue, and I think they fostered two boys. Tom was brother to Doris Archer, wife of Dan, mother of Jack, Phil and Christine, grandmother to Jennifer, Lilian, Tony, Shula, Kenton, David, Elizabeth and Paul. Never even mentioned now.

@Ambridge , Kirsty's house is big and she'd be rattling around in it on her own. She gets on well with Roy as housemates. She'll be paying him a smallish amount and getting a lot more rent for the house.

It also means that we get to hear conversations between Roy and Kirsty, now that Roy is without immediate family in Ambridge.