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.

Lynda mentioned it quite early on, to Emma, I think.

Re Lee:
The cool fragrance for 15 year-old teens is still Lynx Africa, I am happy to report. It MUST be Africa, no other type of Lynx is acceptable.

My Lovely Man used cheap aftershave, but he was hiding a different smell. ( does the design on the mug resemble a leaf, do you think?)

• Re Lee: The cool fragrance for 15 year-old teens is still Lynx Africa, I am happy to report. It MUST be Africa, no other type of Lynx is acceptable*.

So true - when DS was 6 he asked for grown up body wash in his Santa list so I bought Lynx Africa thinking the name would appeal - when my 80+ year old DF arrived for lunch excited DS greeted him at door and my DF asked him what lovely things Santa had bought my DS replied "Grandpa he bought me Africa".

Ian pronouncing Adil as Addle is grating on me!

But he's from Nor'n Ireland - it's just his accent

Ian has a very bullying tone doesn't he? I don't think it's his accent. i think it's him. I can imagine him striding around and getting right up against people's faces as he spouts his views

My husband is from Northern Ireland, he’d be able to say Adil. I guess it’s no worse than all the Arrrdils, but it’s just grating on me. I’ve never been a great fan of Ian but he is being particularly awful at the moment. Maybe it’s just a result of the rotating cast lists. Presumably he’s been having concerns for a while but we haven’t heard him, so now it seems like he’s just bursting onto the scene stomping around hectoring everyone.

Re Lee:
The cool fragrance for 15 year-old teens is still Lynx Africa, I am happy to report. It MUST be Africa, no other type of Lynx is acceptable

I agree- it really sounded as if Helen was talking about a teenage son with the smelly trainers and Lynx references. None of it is very sexy. She would be better off splitting up with Lee and getting herself back on Tinder. She wouldn’t have to move back in with Mum and Dad- I’m sure she could afford the rent alone.

Yes, I have been wondering what Roy has been doing all this time. Surely he would have been involved with managing the contractors and would have had a clue that things were slipping.

‘Family emergency’ is such a euphemism. Dad’s carers used to always use the phrase when they wanted to leave with no notice.

On a project that size you wouldn’t have one person with so much control.

you also wouldn’t have designed a professional kitchen so badly or not put storage cupboards in for the housekeeping staff. The whole thing is ludicrous

I guess Lee can go off to San fran at least

it really sounded as if Helen was talking about a teenage son with the smelly trainers and Lynx references

I’ve always thought that Helen behaves as though she's Lee's long-suffering and faintly-exasperated Mum. It’s not a believable relationship to my ears.

I am slightly intrigued by what's happened with Adil (I actually think the various pronunciations are entirely typical of tin-eared British attempts to pronounce "foreign" names - even ones which are perfectly simple to pronounce). I can't think he's done a runner because his sister has been on the scene in a respectable role as village locum. Also he left Lynda all that cash - if he was a conman he would surely have run up an enormous unpaid bill. What is impossible to believe (and I've posted this before) is that Oliver has no idea who owns Caroline's beloved Grey Gables. I'm actually feeling the loss of Grey Gables (first they tried to blow it up now they've knocked it to bits) more than I would feel the loss of a much-loved character. The locations in TA are as much a part of my imagination as the people - it feels as if the backdrop is gradually being erased. I still haven't got over the loss of Home Farm, the new kitchen was bad enough. I miss inhabiting those familiar spaces - I've never been able to properly picture Brian living next door to Roy and Kirsty or now in Bloody Hell Cottage. Oliver would no more have handed Grey Gables over willy nilly to a stranger (especially since he still has a stake in it) than he would have moved in the with the Grundys. It doesn't ring true.

on the pronouncing ‘foreign’ names - I think it can be very hard when a sound in a name is not a sound in English. It can make it both hard to remember and to pronounce.

I would never criticise a french person because they can’t say ‘th’ or a Japanese person who can’t say ‘r’. It’s just the quirks of growing up speaking a different language.

as long as someone is trying their best I don’t see why mispronunciation of names or when speaking a second language should cause such irritation

i wouldn’t say it is a particularly English thing either

I worked in a university department with a wide range of foreign colleagues. We were generally awful at pronouncing each other’s names. Some resorted to calling themselves by shortened or simplified versions just to avoid the mangling. The Italians mostly put the emphasis on the wrong syllable of my name, and I’m sure I returned the favour. Nobody got upset by it.

I read a lot of posts on this site which make me think (sadly) that it’s a rather more believable dynamic than I’d care to think.

I have a confession to make.

Both my previous boyfriend (then in his 40s) and current one (in his 50s) use Lynx shower gel (well, Axe in the case of the German one.)

I have quite a fondness for it as a result. However, it is only shower gel, and just sufficient for the job, so I just get a hint when up close and personal. It is not spray used in industrial quantities that endangers the air quality in a forty mile radius. Current one works in a boys' secondary, so I'm sure he's aware of its dangers when overused.

@Bruisername @Chemenger I think that’s the key - trying your best. I worked with a lot of South Indians and Sri Lankans when I was based in South Asia. The surnames are often very long and challenging to the uninitiated (surnames of 15 or 20 letters, with Rs that sound like Ls and Ws that sound like Vs and vice versa). What irked my Indian and Sri Lankan colleagues was British people who didn’t try, just said the names as they thought best without listening.

The same goes for my Irish cousins. As long as my English in laws try their best, the cousins don’t get upset if Caoimhin or Blaithin aren’t pronounced totally right.

(I can’t work out how to do accents on my phone…)

Ha, I think you’re right!

My husband loves his Lynx Africa. He's 62. I actually think he smells lovely.
I do try and broaden his tastes on birthdays and Xmas. I buy all kinds of fancy washes for him which he dutifully uses. Then returns to Lynx

He's a chef, and a very good and professional one. He's trying to get a proper kitchen designed. He's assembled a brigade, and is trying to make sure they are still there if and when GG re-opens. He's not even going to be their chef (well, not yet - I live in hope)

It's not a bullying tone. It is the tone of a very exasperated man in the face of an exasperating situation.

Chefs styles vary - Gordon Ramsay and Monica Galetti are both very highy regarded. Admittedly, from what little we've heard over the years, as a chef, Ian's style tends to the Gordon Ramsay end of the spectrum

@AngryBirdsNoMore , you just put on a funny voice and say Christmas as Krizzmurze

How to Type with Accents on an Android with Smart Keyboard (wikihow.com)

I was glad that Oliver pulled Ian up for finger pointing. But honestly it is ridiculous “ Heads of Department”. Im sure they do have HoD in v large hotels but they have made it sound like it’s the Mandarin Oriental. Also it’s stretching the imagination that it would be sooo bad as Ian is making it out.

I will be relieved if Helen bins Wet Lettuce Lee.

I think I might be in a bad mood today….

Robert's death feels imminent.

Oh dear …

Pip and Stella painful yet again. Why does Pip think anyone really cares!! This isn’t Stella’s first rodeo so why is she indulging in the suits/dress convo. Lesbians don’t have to conform to heterosexual dress codes🙄. And how long have they been together? Pip would be roasted on here for moving Stella in so quick (luckily Stella seems more sensible).

and why was she confiding in Lynda?

are the main characters in the archers skewed towards the older age bracket?

I fear we are going to lose Robert soon

If there's a SW here, could you please give Pip a character transplant and a new actor please? I am sick of The World's First Lesbian.

I miss Robert.