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!

There were two name changes discussed. Helen first of all suggested changing Sterling Gold to Grey Gables Gold altogether. Then Pat made the obvious suggestion that they could carry on selling Sterling Gold to everyone else and offer Grey Gables a specially packaged version called Grey Gables Gold. As Oliver continues to own part of GG, it seems a bit odd to change the name at all. They should be suggesting the menu description of the cheese could stress the local connection to one of the owners.

So they’re hardly getting “an exclusive local brand” are they? It’s bordering on fraud. Even if GG is aware what they’re getting, the customers are being defrauded. Unless the menu says “GG cheese: this is Sterling Gold under a different name” which rather defeats the object

And Plan B “Sterling Gold specially wrapped for GG” is a pretty empty offer

It’s almost like marketing and comms are actual specialisms that people make actual careers from! Honestly, the Bridge Farm Archers are not covering themselves in glory here.

I know Adil isn’t particularly popular on this thread, but I really like him as a character. I like that he’s so dry and we and the characters aren’t sure if he’s being sarcastic sometimes. His interaction with Lilian about his wife is one of my favourite scenes of the year; I think it showed a private side of both of them that we hadn’t really seen (or don’t often see, in Lilian’s case).

…although like PP I did rather like the typo (?) Advil and shall keep that in reserve for when he turns out to be a baddie.

I love that!

I like Adil too. I've warmed to him considerably since he first arrived. It's nice to have one sane sensible person in the village. Are there any others? Stella? Hannah? Neil?

I like Adil too @AngryBirdsNoMore . I think Robert is often pretty sensible @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , he's ying to Lindy's yang!

I liked the Adil character when it wasn't cool (right from the off, tbh)
😂

Yes, poor Robert. Sadly the actor who played Robert died recently so we won't be hearing his lovely voice any more. I do hope they don't recast, but can't bear the thought of Lynda's grief if they kill Robert off.

Aother Adil fan here

BTW namechange
T'was I who invited speculation on ferret production...

I also think Tom's presumption that Adil must be good at cricket was purposefully there to portray racism on Tom's part.
And I think there was definitely a romantic spark between him and Kirsty.
The whole rebranding the cheese thing is just silly and DULL and I'd much rather hear more Paul, Stella, Chelsea, Mia, Alistair - oh the sweet relief of those different voices this week!

Noooo @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g that is terrible news. I hadn't heard. God, those will be harrowing episodes when they come... and it'll have to be a similar scenario to Jenny Darling (which moved me to tears) seeing he's died relatively young I imagine. Poor Lindy.

The whole rebranding the cheese thing is just silly and DULL

I disagree. Instead of the fudging SWs used to do about business and what it entails, we are now hearing Tom and Helen get a dose of reality at Adil's hands

I agree it's great hearing Adil behave in a realistic way. What is a bit tedious is hearing Helen, Tom and Pat marvelling at the consequences and blundering through various doomed schemes to keep the business afloat.

It was an incredibly tactless and inept thing for Tom to do, to assume that because Adil is of South Asian extraction he must be a cricket fan. Not out and out racism, but the casual sort, stereotyping and buttonholing, which must be incredibly wearing to deal with day in, day out.

Pigeonholing, even. Sigh.

I hope Robert will be silently in the story for years to come, @harriethoyle. Not only would Ambridge grief be gruelling to listen to, but Lynda would surely be changed forever if he were not ‘there’ in the background being quietly supportive and grounding her through her crazier moments.

I also think the insensitivity of Tom's certainty that Adil would be good at cricket wasn't at all lost on Alistair either, but Alistair is too nice (or too much of a wimp) to call Tom out on it.
If the cheese business has survived restaurants being closed for Covid, and Grey Gables being closed for, what nearly a year now if not more, then surely it can survive without this contract? They've got a WINDOW remember, surely that means.... something... Oh no wait... What was the window for again? The window is also silly!

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g To be fair I think Adil did say he enjoyed watching cricket (if I remember rightly?) but just that he was rubbish playing it.

I wondered a while back which way the window faced. Would it not increase refrigeration bills, especially if the sun streams in at any point in the day?

The window was put there for a reason.

The SWs' reasons differ from those of the Bridge Farm Archers .

This is a really good question! I'll be worrying about it now, especially with climate change leading to record hot summers.

I propose we nickname it The Window of Impending Doom (TWID) and I can't wait for Pat's shotgun to go off through it