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!

How much would he have needed to buy grey gables and renovate? How no long has the evocation been going on? Is there even a PR department? Has there been any concrete evidence that anyone other than Adil is involved?

his wife could have been wealthy, they could have a big mortgage to were paying out big life insurance, he may have had a payout for her cause of death, the sw are just really bad with money sl

I suspect the lark with the lark has been set up by marketing students to see how product placements translate into sales...

I am surprised that Grey Gables is taking soooooo long to update

The refurb of the Randolph in Oxford took just under a year. It also had a fire though probably bigger and more damaging than the one at GG. It was closed for about a year before the work started. GG closed in April 2022 so this timeframe feels realistic

She's doing a GCSE. They will have to teach what's on the syllabus. |It isn't necessarily a specific course for adults returning to learning.

I haven’t heard yesterday’s yet but they’ve clearly decided that October is Spooky Month and Macbeth fits with that. I hope Emma isn’t made to watch that sex offender Polanski’s godawful film like we were.

But there are different exam boards and within each board choices of text. And she is presumably doing a course that is adults only (rather than, e.g. a GCSE resit group at Brad and Mia's FE college). So I would expect the tutor to have chosen, from the texts available, the ones best suited to adult learners without many qualifications. And to teach the texts in an order which maybe starts with the most accessible.

Nevertheless, one Shakespeare play is compulsory for all exam boards, and the selection most of them offer is limited to between 3 - 6 plays, with a lot of overlap between boards. Macbeth is a very popular choice, probably the most popular.

Whenever driving down into Fife, I quoted, "The Thane of Fife had a wife---where is she now?" I still have most of the big Act V/1 Lady Macbeth monologue down pat. I angled HARD to get that bit in school. Fortunately, my classmates weren't as bothered!

And she is presumably doing a course that is adults only (rather than, e.g. a GCSE resit group at Brad and Mia's FE college). I wouldn't assume that. My Mum had to leave school at 14 and later did A Level Art in a class of 18 year olds when she was in her 60s.

I was never sure why Lady Macbeth gets an even worse rap than her husband when she eventually goes mad and kills herself from guilt and he is… kind of fine with carrying on killing everyone.

I've known someone with very similar behaviours to Rob. It was utterly bizarre in many ways because he knew what he was doing was wrong and - when pushed - would actually admit it, but he didn't stop behaving that way. I think it was a combination of knowing he had to say it was wrong while not really thinking that it was, and feeling that he had the right to behave how he pleased regardless of the effect on other people. I remember one occasion where he actually brought it up himself, as it he was testing the ground with regards how much his behaviour would be accepting.

Fascinating, and absolutely horrific to be on the receiving end of.

One of the many things I've never understood about Grey Gables is that the insurance company had only recently paid up after Bleak set fire to the kitchen (which presumably led to hefty smoke/water damage to other areas of the building). Why then waste money on another hefty refurb at a time when the world and their aunt were crying out for a UK holiday after lockdown.

I seem to remember that "Macbeth" was on a lot of boards for the last set of GCSEs; DD did Othello (but I do remember sitting through some rather exuberant re-enactments of Macbeth scenes the kids did in Junior school).

@JanglyBeads I think that Ruari was the original “Myson”, wasn’t he?

Couldn't Emma have done a Maths GCSE?

Yes Ruairi was Myson first, but even though the two Mysons are in the same family (although not blood related), it is OK. The Aldridge Myson has the emphasis on the son, and the Tichenor Myson has the emphasis on the My.
I don't think we'll see an AIBU? over name stealing but you never know

Presumably the SWs didn’t think they could squeeze as much entertainment or spin off potential out of having her do a Maths GCSE, @HumanWetWipe ?

Shame though - Brad could have taught her!

Plenty of possibilities of applying the knowledge. Change counting for a start?

Instead we get talk of witches. How long before cake slices are serves with a 'Is this a dagger I see before me'?

If the future of the archers is continual literary references then I may have to bow out.

is it literature appreciation month at the bbc or something and they have to shoehorn it in as much as possible? It’s like the population of ambridge have only just been introduced to ‘the book’.

Quadratic equations by candlelight at the harvest supper wouldn’t have been much of a crowd-pleaser. But then neither, in reality, would the Larkrise malarkey.

If the future of the archers is continual literary references then I may have to bow out

Me too! Especially if we are going to have Eddie spinning spooky tales for the next four weeks. I would love to know the listener figures for LtC last Sunday. Surely these spin-off shows are not the best way to recruit new listeners?

They often try to weave in something that's from some classical novel.
I thought that the LRtA was a ploy to get a play on the radio, not to encourage R4 listeners to listen to TA.

That man's a genius. The ending is perfect (I was never a teacher, which was very much for the best for all concerned).

Rob should contact the hospital before his next visit and arrange to meet the chaplain, who can baptise him on the spot. They'll have lots of experience of repentant (or at least cautious) sinners looking to make friends at the last minute.

Gosh, good for her! How did it work out?