Archers thread #156: Fireworks in Ambridge! Helen gave Lee a rocket, but Grey Gables is a damp squib. Is the writing on the (church) wall?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're irresistibly attracted to George Grundy, 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.)

Thanks to @OverArmour for the title suggestion, which I have tweaked a bit. I was strongly tempted by Less GGP (Grey Gables Peril) More GPP (Guinea Pig Plot), which was a plaintive cry from @PuppyPerson some days ago, but if Poppy has found new homes for the baby guinea pigs that may be the last we hear of them for some time, sadly.

Surely in the life of the next thread we must hear more from or of Rob, or Ron as some on this thread prefer to call him? <taps foot> Will Kirsty snap and tell Helen a few home truths? Will Pat's shotgun finally be brought into play? We can only hope ...

Also, will we ever find out who owns the other 60% of Grey Gables? Why is Adil AWOL (to use the other bit of OverArmour's title idea!)? Why aren't we hearing from Roy? Will GG ever re-open and will Emma get her Big Chance at last?

So many questions! Over to you.

Haven't heard tonight's episode yet, but it was 100% definitely 'wife' before. Here's The Ambridge Reporter's synopsis. I remember a conversation with Brian as well, and he also seems to have confided in Roy about losing someone. Roy told Kirstie. https://www.ambridgereporter.org.uk/synopses/2023.html

Thursday 11th May 2023
On her return Lilian is somewhat less enamoured of the electric car than she was when she set out in the morning; lunch was fine, but finding somewhere to charge the car was a nightmare. She speaks of this difficulty at some length, until Adil says [not at all clunkily. Gus] that he always found it quite straightforward so long as you are organised and plan your recharging stops conservatively, to which she replies that next time she plans a long drive she wants to pack him in the boot. This disconcerts him, and she expands the idea: every electric car should come with an Adil. He thanks her, and when she asks what for says it has been a rather difficult day: when she asks whether it was work problems, he says no, it's the anniversary of his wife's death.
...
Lilian has brought Adil a cup of coffee with no sugar, and is very apologetic, though he says it's really all right; she feels awful for banging on about her journey when only three years ago he suffered such a tragedy. He agrees that it can still feel pretty raw, and when Lilian asks how it happened, if he doesn't mind her asking, and he tells her that his wife was killed by a hit-and-run driver, and hearing about Jazzer's accident so close to the anniversary has been quite triggering. One notable contrast is that the driver in Jazzer's case stopped and helped; whoever it was who killed Sabah was never found. The thing that haunts Adil most of all is that she was waiting in a bus-queue she wouldn't have been in if Adil had collected her from the station as he had meant to do: if he'd left work on time it would never have happened. Lilian at once tells him that it's easy for her to say, and she had plenty of what-ifs over Jenny, but there's really nothing to be gained by thinking that sort of thing; Adil agrees that he knows that, theoretically. She goes on to tell him that she is not saying she knows how he feels, but she too was widowed very young, a very long time ago, and has had a wonderful life since; she's sure he will too. He thanks her, then adds that he doesn't normally tell people this; she promises not to breathe a word.

I’m placemarking this thread as my insight into the Archers. I’m behind and not sure if I can be bothered to catch up. Is Adil back?

The point about Adil's conversation with Brian was that Adil had heard about Jennifer's death and condoled with Brian about it, but had the tact and grace not to one-up him by saying "I know just how you feel, I lost my wife three years ago". When Brian asked Adil about his own life all he replied was "I run Grey Gables, Brian: that about sums up my entire story at the moment."

Yes but he definitely said wife when he discussed it with Lillian - I remember him telling the story of her being killed and why he blamed himself. At least that part is consistent!!

As in the quotation by Gasp0de, yes, Adil said wife. His sister has just said fiancée. Maybe this week's scriptie didn't listen on 11th May. Or simply doesn't care much.

I would say making a mistake is one thing but not caring is a sackable offence!!

I’m wondering if it was deliberate - part of a wider story of Adil clinging to the idea of her as his wife, even though they never had the chance to be married?

It’s inconceivable that TA can’t manage consistency regarding whether a character was married or not. 🤷‍♀️

Ah, as a sometimes-poster but extremely regular reader of this thread I have loved reading the précis of what to expect from this week before catching up tonight. It’s made me see characters in a totally different light, considered various romantic pairings I hadn’t even thought of before and just generally been a fab primer into my very late catch up on both Sundays omnibus and this week so far. So thank you all for your wit and wisdom and general wonderfulness ❤️

I don’t have anything much to add on top of the comments except to say that we all know this is typically the time where Christmas and NYE plots get seeded; so as others say it may be a romantic reunion for Helen and Lee but also it’s really interesting to speculate on where all these bizarre threads might be leading us. I previously threw my suggestion in that George was a red herring and it’s Henry who is being set up to be the incel in the not so distant future - I really hope that’s not the case though.

also has anyone been listening the the P&Q Tuesday podcast? They were my fave pairing on DumTeeDum, but keep forgetting to listen in. Anyone know if it’s any good?

Really sorry but Ben’s mental health SL wasn’t that long ago. I know MH issues are extremely widespread and come in all shapes and sizes but in a soap which is primarily designed for entertainment, I could do without another breakdown so hot on the heels of the last. Especially given that it appears Ardil’s is going be solved with tea and sympathy - with no apparent reference to the £250k Oliver seemed to need to find only three days ago!!

Oh actually - have I missed this or do we know what the panto/panto alternative will be this year? Obvs in reality it’s too late to plan anything but I can’t remember hearing anything yet at all…?

She's persuading Adil to come back but surely he's been fired?

Bonfire night is only 10 days away, and they're only now buying the fireworks? Surely they'd already have bought a large number of normal volume ones?
I think the committee may well regret their invitation to have Mia come and "help".
And why is everyone only just realising that fireworks are a nightmare. Mia has had this fervently held belief for about 3 minutes and is acting like it's a life long passion and that anyone who doesn't immediately fall into line behind her (even though she herself wasn't in that line very long ago) is an animal hating bastard.
And I actually agree with her cause! I hate fireworks and would happily see them banned or seriously restricted.

Oh God. Settling into a nice unchallenging watch of an old episode of Shakespeare and Hathaway when a strangely familiar and irritating voice assailed my ears. Yes, it's Daisy Badger, aka Pip.

Time to turn off the telly and go to bed, I think.

Adil's sister seemed to be referring to him as Ardil in the first bit of her "my poor baby brother isn't to blame for the havoc he's caused" speech, and Add-il in the second half.

I wouldn't normally notice but there's been so much discussion on here.

Not sure that he gets any credit for signing the petition when she threw the bangers. Surely any responsible parent would have told her that it was totally unacceptable and he certainly wasn't going to sign after that?? It's not just the risk of causing unforeseen consequences to human victims, how would she have felt if it turned out there was a dog just round the corner who was terrified by the noise? I felt that Alice too should have demanded that her signature be removed from the petition unless Mia agreed to hand over the fireworks.

If we have, it's passed me by.

Hasn't it occurred to Lynda that Adil's employers might have something to say about whether he should return to GG? Surely he hasn't got a job to go back to!

WeWereInParis
And why is everyone only just realising that fireworks are a nightmare. Mia has had this fervently held belief for about 3 minutes and is acting like it's a life long passion and that anyone who doesn't immediately fall into line behind her (even though she herself wasn't in that line very long ago) is an animal hating bastard.
And I actually agree with her cause! I hate fireworks and would happily see them banned or seriously restricted.

The really silly thing is that the person who has previously got up a petition against the fireworks, and even got them moved off the green one year, is

(drumroll)

Mrs Noakes! Why pick her to be the person who refused to sign a petition we know she would absolutely have agreed with?

Mrs Noakes! Why pick her to be the person who refused to sign a petition we know she would absolutely have agreed with?

Because the programme makers couldn’t give a stuff about consistency and the SWs are just phoning it in?

Going back in to the ep before last... the Helen/Lee split is presaging some deathbed encounter between Nob and her isn't it?

There's so much that strains credulity or plain makes no sense at the moment. But the Adil SL drives me mad. How can he mess up an enormous project - for which he appears to be the sole representative responsible to 'The Partners' - to the extent that major parts of it aren’t happening, suppliers are left in limbo, people are walking off the job…..and for weeks/months, nobody notices? (what’s Roy been doing all this time, let alone Oliver?)

Until suddenly they do, and in a fairly short time, he does a runner. Hey presto, Oliver discovers that he needs to find a quarter of a million pounds (!!!!) in order to make good Adil's multiple cock ups. But still, he doesn’t appear to feel it’s Adil's fault because he's pleaded 'a family emergency' 🤦‍♀️

THEN Adil's sister turns up to assure Lynda there isn’t a family emergency but it really isn’t Adil's fault because he’s been under terrible stress and he has this compulsion to take on too much. So if he says sorry and rolls his sleeves up, will it be OK?

Sorry but what? How can any of this be remotely plausible?

Please God may there be no panto or pantoesque nonsense this year

Well if Nob's not brown bread by then he can be the villain: He's behind you!!!! Oh no he isn't...Oh yes he is!!

It’s a bit weird to go to the B&B where he was staying too, it’s just a financial arrangement. I just don’t care about Adil as a character to want to hear about his traumatic past. Mind you I don’t care about Helen either 😂

I wonder if she’ll make other snap decisions, sell the Montbelliards maybe.

Rob will presumably be very excited to hear of Lee’s ousting.

The GG SL is the panto.

The problem is that when the sw stop caring about consistency and an element of realism (gg SL shows they don’t care) then it’s very hard as a listener to care