Archers thread #152: The Dog Days of Summer in Ambridge! Rabid rants, tearoom dogfight, Bully Dog George gets it all on camera. Is Lone wolf Rob waiting in the woods? 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'd love a son like George, 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.)

Starting this new thread a bit early, as we're near the end of the last thread and I'm out all day today. As last night's episode was a banger, I thought I'd better ensure discussion can continue seamlessly!

The original idea for a dog theme for this thread came from the death of poor Weaver. RIP. The Dog Days of summer are associated with storms and the silly season, so quite appropriate for The Archers at the moment! They may technically be over now, as it's all to do with the heliacal rising of the Dog Star, Sirius (no, me neither), but apparently the Anglo-Saxons considered they lasted into September (thank you, Wikipedia), so that will do for me.

So - what next for Helen, Henry and Jack? Surely even the Bridge Farm Archers will see that she needs professional help? After her outburst the other night they might finally grasp that Henry could do with some too. All very grim.

On the lighter side (perhaps), whither Pip and Stella?

Over to you!

Emma has always been slightly in awe of Natasha.

What is Natasha’s background? How did Tom meet her?

all I remember about him was his affair with the supermarket buyer

Didn’t they meet at some sort of conference or training thing for entrepreneurs?

Natasha is Welsh. Her Dad has bipolar disorder. Natasha runs her own business (Summer Orchard, something to do with juices). She won an award. Somehow she ended up mentoring Tom through the award scheme. Neither of them are very convincing young entrepreneurs, to my ears!

I would never have guessed!!

Nuffield? Was that the scheme?

Yes, Nuffield.

That’s the badger.

Finally we've found out what it'll take for Emma to not be able to support George any more! Brilliant episode, can't wait to hear what happens next.
I think Natasha will end up taking over the cafe, and I hope for Fallon's sake she runs the cafe at the charging station.
I really don't mind Pip at all, I actually quite like her. I'd be interested to hear if she and Stella get together. Have we had a gay women relationship before?

@Shouldbehoovering,
Your wine-addled-holiday-mode character confusion is bloody marvellous! 😆

The scriptwriters need to knock back a few bottles of whatever you're currently on. Pronto. 🍷🍷

@Shouldbehoovering
"Excuse my brain if I’ve got characters mixed up (not good at discerning them, plus catching up on holiday after wine) but are we going to see a comedy moment with rex after pip, Tom after stella and stella and pip…..well, ahem….."

@MiniHector
"...Toby not Tom, but yes."

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
"...I'd quite welcome a farce-like set up like that. Did you mean Toby? Tom is married to Natasha."

@Shouldbehoovering
"Yes Tony! Hopeless with names (and faces but irrelevant here!)."

Sly old dog, Tony.
Whatever will Pat say?

I felt sorry for Emma tonight. She sounded crushed. How do you deal with being so disappointed and lost with your own child? We haven't heard much from Will or Ed lately, she seems to be dealing with all this by herself.

While George won't be changing any time soon, it's good that Emma has realised what he's like and, importantly, said it. While it was unrealistic not to name Tate, it made sense not give that oxygen thief any publicity on the BBC.

Losing his job will undoubtedly stoke his sense of grievance and we'll be having more from him soon I think.

Importantly though, it was Tom who sacked him because of the video and not because of the business with Henry and Ron. So George can't even blame a woman this time although I suppose in his head it will still be all Helen's fault somehow.

Definitely. It will be Helen's fault because if she hadn't kicked off he wouldn't have had to film her or had to put it up online. That sort of twisted reasoning.
^^

No idea what ^^ are doing

The problem with the Brookfield offspring (as we’re talking about Pip) is that Brookfield was conceived as the mothership - the exemplar, from Dan and Doris’ time, of not just good farming practice but a continent and modest domestic life.

No untimely deaths of nuclear family, no infidelity (even Ruth didn’t quite manage it the deed iirc?), no one carted off to prison, no loss or threat of loss of their home.

They’ve faced no huge challenges, and when they hit trouble they’ve been enviably well supported. So there’s been almost nothing to provide character building or evolution. (And although Ben / Beth / Chelsea was quite gripping it was all a bit inflated. I’m not sure many young men suffer months and months of serious trauma and psychosis because their one hour stand has a termination.) The SWs have written themselves into a corner and now have to invent tiny crises for the Brookfield heirs to emote over.

TL;DR Pip is irredeemably boring.

Hilda's ears

Have we had a gay women relationship before?

Anna Tregoran, Carol's daughter and Helen's barrister, broke up with Max while dealing with Helen's trial, but we didn't hear much about it, as the focus was on Helen.

Wonder if the Will-George-Poppy household flat plan still goes ahead?

If yes, I fear for Poppy having to live in close proximity to George.
(And a concentrated George, untempered by other family members' more moderating daily influence, to boot).

She's only a 9-year-old. More vulnerable to manipulation. And female, so a convenient target for her big brother's toxic drip-drip effect?

😆

I got a bit behind and you’re a quarter of the way through the new thread already. Glorious to hear Emma realising what her son is like.

I have missed the moment in the thread but just for the joy of typing it can we off Pip out of choice. Can’t stand Helen but she is wonderful and believable. Pip is awful. The script writers don’t seem to have conceived an actual Pip. To be fair if Roof and David go too , I won’t moan.

I don’t think so which is why I started banging the hopeful drum for Stella to be lesbian YEARS ago. Glad she is, it’s just weird that you have several core gay/bi men and all the women were straight as a die. Imagine how fun it would have been if eg Kathy had found a mid life lesbian flowering after Sid left her.

IRL I bet Mia would be pansexual (in theory only).

Mia would be whatever Ruairi wanted her to be.

(I know she’s with Brad atm …)

I turn down the volume during Pip’s scenes as her voice just grates. I hate the way she chortles and slurps wine and now we have to hear her silly school girl/awkward behaviour around Stella. She’s just so dull.

George is vile but he is barely 18, is it too soon to write him off? He admitted to Emma he doesn’t even know if he believes all the misogynistic nonsense he listens to. His life is not set on an irrevocable course and with the right guidance he could turn things around. Unfortunately his parents and grandparents (apart from Neil) have been in denial for so long it’s difficult to see how he will get the help he needs.