Archers thread #154: Cider with Fat Rosie, Meadow Rise to Candleford or The Darling Horrobins of September? Get your rural saga fix – 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 be euphoric about getting a job in an abattoir, 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 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4888492-the-archers-spoilers-thread-8-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 for the thread title suggestions. @HumanWetWipe came up with Cider with Fat Rosie and @BeardieWeirdie thought up Meadow Rise to Candleford. I wish I could have put in the Line of Duty mashups from the end of the last thread. Another time.

Heading for a ferry shortly, so nothing more from me for now. Over to you!

I didn't think Lillian was serious about suggesting Susan canter, tbh. Somehow I missed the bit about Shula's broken bridle. I'm trying to imagine how a bridle can be broken before you start out, and you not notice, and I'm failing. I'm also thinking Shula would surely have had a bit of baler twine in her pocket to do a makeshift repair on said bridle, once she noticed?

Listening to omnibus.

Why on earth would Chelsea need Jazzer’s permission to hold an event in her own home? He’s only just moved in, and certainly shouldn’t expect to be exercising any authority over her. What was the SW thinking? I would understand if Tracy had said Chelsea should let Jazzer know, as a courtesy, so he could decide if he wanted to be involved or disappear for he evening - but I do not believe she’d have said Chelsea needed his permission.

Yes. It reminds me of one of my favourite rounds on Masterchef where three or four contestants form a team. One goes into the kitchen, picks some ingredients and starts preparing a two-course meal. After a given amount of time this contestant has to leave, without being allowed to make any notes on what's in progress, and waits in another room while second team member goes in and tries to guess what's going on and continue. And so on. Great fun for a cooking show, not a good approach for a soap opera.

It's me that writes Sarf London. This is common on MN from us South Londoners, and is a self-mocking comical rendering of our South London accent

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g I hate those sort of rounds with a vengeance. I want a cooking contest, not a communication exercise which is bound to fail. This stuff, I suspect, is influenced by My Kitchen Rules Australia, which was a brilliant and entertaining cookery competition in its heyday, and was discussed on MN by a devoted band of followers.

@TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore because Jazzer is new to the household, and it had to be explained to him that he could not just casually invite a potentially homeless colleague to come and sleep on the sofa. Hence Chelsea underscoring that in a small overcrowded household, everyone needs to agree on certain things.

@Ambridge Pip has come round to wanting to tell Rosie because Stella has become someone special in her life, and if Stella were a man, I think Pip would probably want to tell Rosie too. Of course Pip is nervous about telling her - this is all new to Pip.

@FizzingAda I agree. In fact I think anyone who thinks a terrified 60 year old on a horse for the first time should break into a trot needs their head examining. Fancy being jiggled uncomfortably in the saddle on your first lesson?

Any beginner needs to start, stop, and walk, before they can trot. Then they need to learn how to do a rising trot.

I would love to have cantered more, but my lovely learner's plod wasn't as keen on the idea as I was, and, ultimately, he was the one in charge

There were no vocal commands given by Lilian either, such as "walk on." Are these still used (it's 22 years since my last lesson)?

It's just occured to me that novice riding is particularly easy to research. All a SW needed to do was book a riding lesson and charge it to TA production costs

Pip has come round to wanting to tell Rosie because Stella has become someone special in her life, and if Stella were a man, I think Pip would probably want to tell Rosie too. Of course Pip is nervous about telling her - this is all new to Pip.

I question how many women would want to tell their 5 year old all about a man they had only been going out with for a month or so.

Indeed. I have a 5 year old and in Pip's shoes (if I were hypothetically single and dating!) I'd be leaving it at "Mummy and Stella are friends" for now. I wouldn't necessarily put any distance between them (that would be odd because Stella and Rosie already knew each other), but I certainly wouldn't be announcing a romantic relationship.

I'm not really a believer in the MN rule of waiting as long as humanly possible (a year plus seems to be the only acceptable amount of time!) to announce a relationship to a child, however I do think you need to be sensible and sure of yourself/a stable relationship (AKA more like 6 months+ rather than 6 weeks) in order not to create upheaval for the child.

I don’t have a problem with a parent telling their child they are in a relationship but it is when the child is brought into the relationship so led to believe that partner has a different role in their life. That seems to be what Stella is pushing as she has made herself at home at pips already.

Mmm, yes, that's a good point. "Mummy is getting to know someone" vs "here's someone who's going to stay in our personal space and become a significant part of your life" are very different things... my earlier post applies to the latter!

That was my thinking too.

@Poppins2016 , the MN rule is about introducing the new partner to the DC not about telling them that there is a new partner.

@HumanWetWipe Yes... I'd somehow almalgated the two! I blame being tired and hormonal (pregnant), I need a nap 🤣 😴

But Stella and Pip are in lurve, aren't they? - and many of us remember starting that kind of relationship, don't we? Though they daren't admit it to themselves, and each is trying not to say it to the other one, it could still be an unconscious motivation for wanting to tell Rosie. They each hope this will be their life partner atm, don't they, so of course it seems important to them.

Sure - but as a parent you should be more responsible!!

Maybe so. But TA is an everyday story of countryfolk, not government information about responsible parenting.

Doesn’t mean we can’t comment on her irresponsibility!

Of course. Analysis of TA characters is one of the reasons for this thread.

Are we sitting comfortably? …

Sorry to interrupt, but for those who find these things amusing (just me and @Fink ?), with @Brefugee 's post on Friday morning, we reached 150,000 posts on these threads. At current rates, we'll probably reach 200,000 around the end of 2026.

And me, @DadDadDad! Yay!!! BOOP for all on these threads!!!

@DadDadDad Please start posting again - you are sadly missed.
<does best irresistible pussycat eyes>

<waits hopefully>

@Alwaysdieting as SequentialAnalyst says, it's her that put Sarf London, not me, guv. I'm from a different part of London: Norf - Norf-East, and I would never dream of insulting the fine people of the south by writing Sarf 😆Anyway, apart from anything else it's quite outdated, most people who would pronounce it norf & sarf are of an older generation/dead/have moved out to the commuter belt, the younger crowd speak MLE and the vowel sound in south is different.

Thanks so much @DadDadDad I am indeed interested. I would note it in my spreadshit except I don't have to; you do all the hard work!

@Fink I am not dead! Though I did flee S. London for the NE decades ago.

I speak an ancient dialect, North Croydon/FortonEef(Thornton Heath), which is no longer spoken by young people in Thornton Heath. I do know some neighbours of my Dad, and also my DB and SIL, who I would say still speak in an Old Croydon accent.

People from the Carribbean began moving into Thornton Heath from Brixton in the late 1960s, and the local dialect now has a charming underlying Carribbean twang, though remains clearly a South London dialect. As a result of this influx, the High Street has been much transformed, for the better, and the non-black people of Thornton Heath have become much, much less prejudiced

SequentialAnalyst
Novelists make notes about their characters while they are writing their novels.

When I was organising a shared-world anthology we had what we called "the bible" for new authors to consult, about who had been reigning which countries when, what the various powers people had were and what were their limitations, when the weather turned nasty for winter in various towns, stray pieces of law, and all sorts of stuff like that. I found those almost as much fun to write as stories set in that world!

Absolutely! I can't understand why the SW team haven't been fascinated in the same by the workings and logistics of Ambridge? Was it "just a job" to them? I do see hopeful signs this is changing, though: eg hearing about the mechanics of George moving out.

Thanks @DadDadDad i am deeply honoured to have made that post and humbly thank my other half for watching so much sport on TV that i went back to listening to The Archers as light relief.

Thanks Dad3! Count me amongst those who like your updates!