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!

Exactly. That is how I remember him so how did that Justin end up serving in the local shop to garner kudos for an award. As if!

Perhaps Justin and Lillian have quietly retired. Still got plenty of money and income, but not needing to manage it much.
They are both at least 70 I think.

BrightYellowDaffodil
wrangling The Ghastly George is entirely different to managing staff a fleet of staff

And she has made a pretty thorough hash of wrangling George: she seems not to have the faintest idea how to go about it. In her saner moments she admits this.

Emma’s whole life has been a saga of punishment for being fit and not completing her education.

Emma is her own worst enemy. She has many of her mother’s bad points, exacerbated by a combination of misplaced vanity and a sense of entitlement. I would avoid her if she lived anywhere near me.

I'd say she's managed to absorb a hefty dollop of the Grundy Sense of Being Hard Done By.

Maybe it was in the marriage vows, "I promise to love, honour and obey...and believe that everyone else has it in for me, even when I brought things on myself".

Justin's character veers between Machiavellian businessman and bumbling, amiable country gent depending on the requirements of the storyline. He is a plot device pure and simple and as such immediately devalues any plot that turns on his behaviour. This lack of consistency also has a knock-on effect of Lillian. Isn't she supposed to be a business whizz using her property developing acumen to run Amside Holdings? How is it possible that for someone who is supposed to have her finger on the Borsetshire property pulse she hasn't warranted a single mention in the Hannah eviction/home search plot?

Despite having very supportive parents. Say what you want about Susan, but she was keen to see Emma get on.

Any properly conducted interview with Emma would have been a car crash. "Tell us about your experience of managing a housekeeping budget for a large business". "What is your experience of managing a large team of staff working shifts?" "A cleaner asks you to make reasonable adjustments for her allergy to cleaning products. How would you handle this?" "How would you deal with a guest constantly complaining about their room?" "You discover a guest is keeping ferrets in their room. What would you do about it?"

Mind you, it could be quite fun to be a fly on the wall listening to it.

"You discover a guest is keeping ferrets in their room. What would you do about it?" 🤣🤣

I'm sorry to hear about your loss @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g.
I for one would really like to see Emma succeed at college and get a better job. She's definitely bright, ambitious and hard working. She's also a real pain in the arse with a bit of a chip on her shoulder, but I like listening to her and I think her choosing to carve a better path for herself could be a nice story running alongside George also realising he needs to change and improve. I would like to see Emma and Ed moving out of the caravan one day!

She really should kick Ed to the kerb if she wants to really improve her life. If I had a gun held to the head and had to choose between him and Will, I think I would choose Will. I mean neither appeal but Ed is such a loser. And not even particularly good company. At least Will is creative (pottery) and has shown he can hold down a permanent job.

I didn’t realise they were still in the caravan!

Different caravan. This one is a Static Home in the farmyard at Grange Farm, not the one in Neil and Susan's back garden.

Problem is Emma just adores Ed. She proposed to him. She begged him to take her back after Ed - the utter numpty - lost her her very modest dream house. I fear she's a lost case.

Being fair to Ed, it was Emma who got him into transporting illegal chemicals for Tim Oatey; then when he wanted to stop, she (having persuaded him to do it in the first place) wanted him to carry on.

Tuesday 16th April, 2019
Emma asks Ed what happened to Tim. Ed tells Emma about the dodgy courier work Tim wanted him to do. Emma objects and says loads of people do that. Why doesn't Ed play along a bit, asks Emma? Ed could use the extra fencing work and they need the money for the new house.

Wednesday 22nd May, 2019
Emma continues the pressure on Ed to work more for Tim
...
Emma brings up the next job for Tim but Ed doesn't want to hear it.

and after he had the accident

Thursday 6th June, 2019
Ed says he must give up the delivery jobs; it will cost more to get the van fixed than he made. Emma tries to change his mind but Ed is determined to give it up.

Is this supposed to be comic relief?

I don't think GCSE English lit is the qualification Emma needs to be employable. Doubt that would even get funding.

They would definitely be able to get another registrar to do the wedding there would be someone in the office who no doubt could cover (prof knowledge).

I should say Eng lit is great did it for A level in the dark ages but it's not probably first choice for employability.

That was me I think 😂

TonightMatthewIamgoingtobecher
I don't think GCSE English lit is the qualification Emma needs to be employable. Doubt that would even get funding.

I think it is only Maths and Eglish Language that adults can do free.

As for "the registrar called in sick" – give me strength! That's not even passably good tosh.

Another one signing in after an extended BH weekend - so sorry for your loss @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g and your current sadness @TonightMatthewIamgoingtobecher 🌻

@harriethoyle ❤️

I think Emma is doing Eng Lit to nurture her hinterland rather than improve her career prospects. I really enjoyed the scenes between her and Lynda.

The registry office business was tosh - including brainy Brad's calculations and stroppy Chelsea's threats - but the ending was nice. A happy blended family throwing confetti, cheering and smiling for the cameras made a welcome change.

The registry office was really rubbish - they were ‘scared’ of Chelsea and Brad used maths to prove it would work? What nonsense. Whoever decided this was comedy is obviously behind the new lot of 6.30 comedies