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!

Talking of Fallon, it just occurred to me that she nipped in the bud George's infatuation with her (whilst privately coaching him for her Christmas choir).

No doubt he'll have nursed a grievance over that 'rejection'.

Marvin the ferret.

Another Ambridge resident missing in action.

Can't blame him for legging it, having suffered the indignity of Eddie's ferris wheel.

When Pip and Stella get together there will be a lot of slurping and not just wine.

How old is Ruth?

Ah I think this is why I just have Toby such a glowing review. In hindsight I don’t love him that much, it was just nice to hear a new familiar voice!

@Bruisername , 55.
BBC Radio 4 - The Archers - Ruth Archer (warning: actor's photo)

I don’t like the photos! So she is closer in age to Stella.

does the archers have a disproportionate number of large age gap relationships?

Mianed are the same age. Brad and Mere are the same age.
Chris and Alice are the same age but no longer together.
I think Tashntom are the same sort of age as are Harrison and Fallon and Tony and Pat.

Age gaps seem to happen quite a lot though. Usually a much older rich husband.

Fartooold
Did Kenton ever fully repay David???

No; Jill did. She gave Kenton the fifteen thousand or so that Jolene owed – not David, but Brookfield – on the condition that he stopped winding David up and paid the blasted debt

Marvin was found in the trouser pocket of Eddie's costume for the fête.

Marvin is a bonsai ferret.... Adult hob ferrets are generally more than a foot long and are well over a pound in weight: not something you wouldn't notice in your trouser pocket. So Marvin must be a miniature of the breed.

Phew, that was a bit of an effort to catch up with the new thread!

I do wish Pip would stop snogging anyone who crosses her path. And PLEASE stop with the food and drink noises!

I’m glad Emma has finally seen the reality of George - she could just about cling on to her image of him until that video. I’m also glad he didn’t get his job back - he still doesn’t really get it, does he? He can’t say sorry, no matter how genuinely, and have everything go back to how it was. The genie doesn’t always go back into the bottle.

I got into The Archers by accident; we’d often have the radio on after work and I got into the habit of listening while cooking. I haven’t missed an episode since!

Oh, and on the subject of what characters look like, Lucy Speed is exactly how I’d imagined Stella.

Tracy somehow, in my mind, looks like Linda from Gimme Gimme Gimme…

Oh I just googled her and got a possible spoiler in a metro headline

i didn’t realise that’s who it was! She seems shorter than Stella should be somehow

Pip is so annoying. She sounds about 17.

Yikes to Susan asking about what she thinks made Rob the way he is. The whole George storyline is getting a bit paint by numbers

Surprisingly generous of Helen to offer George his job back. But I have a feeling he will turn it down as he won't want to feel like Helen has that kind of power over him.

Pip is a nob. Poor Toby.
Am sure he'll get over it though 😆

True @Bruisername .

Helen was kind and sensible (possibly) tonight.

TheUsualChaos
Pip is a nob. Poor Toby.

Ain't she though. I never thought I would feel sorry for Toby, but at this point I do. Pip's behaviour to him has been shitty.

Am sure he'll get over it though

Will he still offer to provide wine cheap for the Wedding Barn business, though?

When Ruth gave Toe-bee the cheesecake to take through, did she ask Pip to bring the Hedgehog? What is that?

Big mistake letting George back onto the farm, Helen…

I think that she said hedgerow cake

That’s what I thought she said but when I Google it just gives me a lot of hedgehog cakes!!

Rose Prince's Baking Club: hedgerow crumble cake (telegraph.co.uk)

Looks good! Maybe I will try it this autumn!

Hedgerow cake…very interesting…never come across that before…that picture looks like just the sort of thing Ruth would make. Very plain. I expect it’s tasty enough though I imagine Ruth would leave it in the oven too long and it would end up very dry.

Whatever are we to make of Natasha I'm sure at some point we were meant to not trust her and she had a shopping addition, did that just go?

Natasha is either a really well rounded character, or she’s incoherent, and used as a Swiss Army knife depending on the situation the writers need to deal with. I can’t decide.