Archers thread #155: Cold Comfort Farms! The rural sagas continue. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

FILL THE OLD THREAD UP FIRST! https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4902507-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?page=10

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 like to hear more scenes in the 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 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.)

Lots of lively discussion about Brad's university aspirations and the Open Day on the last thread. Do you want him to end up at Felpersham or do you want him to spread his wings and go further afield? Where will Mia go?

Will this thread see the end of Rob, or do we have many weeks more before his long overdue demise?

What's going on at Grey Gables? Are they running into financial trouble? Will we hear from Roy, who I had forgotten was working there until he was mentioned the other day? Who are the mysterious 'Owners'? Will the locum GP turn out to be Adil's sister, as we have been surmising since she first spoke? Why's she been conjured up?

Talking of the GP, I'm hoping against hope we're not in for bad news about Jim's mole.

Praying that we're going to get a long and much-needed break from hearing P*p. Not praying that we hear Rob being christened. Who would be his sponsor, as someone commented on the last thread? Harrison? Surely that would be a conflict of interest. Can't see who else would do it locally.

I wonder how Ben is getting on now he's back on his nursing degree? Will we ever hear anything about Lily's course, or how Freddie's getting on at the abattoir?

So many questions! Over to you for some answers and boundless speculation.

I think George joining the Police would be an appropriately ambiguous and fertile long term plot line. I love this idea. George’s whole incel outburst is starting to feel like Roy Tucker’s racist phase. He seems to have been very quickly rehabilitated.

I don’t think the sw will touch corrupt police with a barge pole. The saintly harrison is all we will deal with!

i think the sw have George as the next eddie really in terms of wheeler dealer. So any exploration of the incel scene is a brief youthful misjudgement. I don’t mind that if they show him growing up and still making mistakes but ultimately maturing. We know he’s not a psycho as the sw have made sure to show us his love of animals. 🙄

also, life is going well for him at the moment. It’s how he reacts to setbacks that will show his dark side

He said it the night of the stab, as he was goading and gaslighting Helen.

Bruisername · Today 08:22
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I don’t think the sw will touch corrupt police with a barge pole. The saintly harrison is all we will deal with!

I think you’re right, probably a bit too gritty for TA but I think it would suit his character admirably.

Allotments, and the waiting list for them, on Today (R4) right now.

If Adil really has gone for good, I guess his will be snapped up in milliseconds.

Oh dear poor old Adil. Hope something turns up to rescue the situation for him. Maybe his sister will be able to talk him down

I am a bit worried about Ardil. My first thought was the high suicide rate for British men. It would be a realistic but very depressing plot twist. May be he wouldn’t pack his suitcases if that was his intention though.

I wondered this too re: Helen.
It certainly hasn’t just “gone away” but I’m expecting her to break at some point.

This was my first thought as well @EmmasBirthdayEarrings

@LillianGish I came on to say the same - George seems doubtful, Emma is loving it!

It's what I said, Emma is having a whole new lease of life with her lummoxy misogynist son off the premises!

There has to be a reason for Adil the barely developed character to have his sister swan onto the scene. She has to be there to bring him back, although I'm struggling to know how this might feel different from the Chelsea running away story or the Ben mental health story. I think he will come back but it'll become more of a cooperation with the villagers as a PP said.

Lynda's constant insistence on the availability of time off strikes as me as very realistic for someone who last had a full time job in ???

@Bruisername I have thown down the gauntlet! Are you going to pick it up, and settle this matter in an honourable way?

[tongue-in-cheek emoticon]

My friend died falling off roof. It was only a 3 bed cottage.

What a surprise! (Ricco)

That's a recommended 18 square foot cage you're going to need, lads (assuming none of the babies are male). Good luck getting a gaming cushion in, never mind a gaming chair.

I love how the tandem has become a key sl!

Do Guinea pigs eat their babies when stressed? I’d have thought Ricco would be pretty stressed

bloody hell - 30 years ago since the susan/prison sl.

I do like Neil and Susan scenes together

what a small minded and unchristian village!!

what are bets on the word that Neil wouldn’t say but gasped horrified at?

I don't think GPs eat their babies. They are strictly herbivorous plus, as mentioned above, the babies are perfectly formed with hair and teeth- they could bite back!

Guinea pigs very very rarely eat their babies. Much rarer than in other rodent species. It seems to be only in cases of severe malnutrition (or some think it might occasionally be accidental, when trying to clean the babies, get rid of the placenta).

So if Ricco has been properly looked after it shouldn't happen.

Yes, but was he doing something completely unnecessary high up on a stately home, while being egged on by his brother-in-law? You do realise I am referring to the event that was supposed to celebrate the longevity of TA, don't you, and failed spectacularly, so much so that I almost stopped listening

On rodents eating their babies:

Long ago when I was a psychology student at a well-respected university somewhere in NE England, I fulfilled my childhood dream of having a pet rat. I asked the animal technician for one, and that's how I got Bourneville, my first rat, a female.

Sadly she had no companion because I was young and ignorant, but she and I did form a strong bond, and she helped keep me cheerful through a difficult period of my life. Once enough of my friends had converted to liking rats, I borrowed a male, and they had a tryst, roaming free in my bed-sitting room (there is film of this...)

I waited anxiously as Bourneville grew rounder and fatter, and one morning I woke early and went to look at the cage. Bourneville came running onto the bars to greet me, a baby hanging out of her. I counted the ones I could see, and hoped I hadn't disturbed her too much.

She decided 4 was the right number for her; though I had counted more, later that day when I carefully checked, that's how many were left. Personally, I think she made a very sensible decision, given that she was a rat

I've never seen Kevin McCloud save anyone on Grand Designs. He usually turns up and shakes his head over the builders' follies, maybe doing a bit of token digging or cement mixing, then buggers off again before turning up again a few months later being amazed that they've actually managed to finish the project. And then he tries to find out how far over budget they've gone.

I highly recommend you watch this, if you can find the time - there are 3 1hr episodes. Alex knows what she is doing, but her Mum, who is partnering her in the venture, wants all fancy plates and god knows what, because she likes doing the furnishing and choosing things that go with the very high-end ideal she has in her head. They are both putting their own money into the project.

Alex, the hard-headed hotelier, has quite a battle on her hands, with her own mother. She is also on very good terms with the builders. Nevertheless there are the usual problems with the build. GG refurbishment is as nothing compared to this!

Oh, and a little thing called Lockdown happens in the middle of it all...

My5 - Alex Polizzi: My Hotel Nightmare - Season 1 - Episode 1 / Episode 1 (channel5.com)

Crazy thought but could it be that between them Oliver, Linda Snell and Emma will somehow rescue the situation at Grey Gables and open it on time, thereby saving Adil. I hope so!

God, I wish the bloody Guinea pigs s/l could have been wrapped up as swiftly as Susan’s troublesome birthday present.

At first it seemed an interesting ongoing way of reminding listeners of Poppy’s existence, without having to employ a child actor. But now they seem to have taken over the whole show …

(Am not a fan of small furry creatures.)

Of all the small furry creatures Guinea Pigs are really the nicest.

At first it seemed an interesting ongoing way of reminding listeners of Poppy’s existence, without having to employ a child actor 😂I'm now wondering if the guinea pig's surprise pregnancy might be foreshadowing another surprise pregnancy eg Pip's - with two mums raising the off-spring. I'm probably reading far too much into this, but that's what this thread is for!