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.

I'm wondering if Rob can take any credit for splitting up Helen and Lee? He did accuse Lee of assault and Helen didn't immediately disbelieve it, that might have made any potential fissures wider. He did suggest to Lee how important it was for fathers to be with their children, maybe sowing some seeds of annoyance for Lee when Helen snapped at him for feeling sad to have missed his daughter's birthday. On the whole though, I think of him feeling pleased to hear the news, but not actually gloating, Iago-like.

And on top of the Adil rubbish, to forget (apparently) that he previously had a wife but now it seems she was a fiancée….it wasn’t even that long ago. They can’t plausibly plead forgetfulness on the grounds of ancient history when, as Gasp0de reminds us, it was in May this year that Adil bared his soul to Lilian.

Add to this the 'my horses have never heard fireworks before' story, and Helen dumping Lee, and it’s really plumbing the depths for me at the moment. Sorry, I know people don’t like to hear negativity but when SLs lose contact with basic realism it does make me cross.

I know how cross I get when something I am familiar with is unconvincingly portrayed, like riding or education, and this extends to things about which everyone has some awareness, like support for mental health or running a business. Presumably the farming storylines are factually accurate though!

Just catching up with this week, and…ugh.

Not sure where to begin but after really changing my mind about Mia with the Brad/Mia SL, I’m going off her again after this week.

Agree with pp about Will; he certainly seems to be more kind and steady than in years past. Perhaps he’s meant to be the poster boy for people being able to outgrow their misspent youth.

Not enjoying how we seem to just be lurching between PSAs lately, with a bit of hurried scripting to attach them all together. (30 days wild or whatever the reason for Harrison’s sudden foray into the Great Outdoors, firework safety etc etc).

If the users of this thread can check facts from previous storylines, I’m sure it’s not impossible for todays SW team to do.

Will didn’t have a misspent youth, @iratepirate - are you thinking of Ed?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3B1CqyBhJYsrTdlyjkkJflr/will-grundy

(Photo! Somewhat cursory but links to other relevant history.)

Oh yes, @TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore ! I think so 😖

If everyone on here distinctly remembers Adil talking about his wife's death, then why on earth can't the combined forces on the production team?

Dear Archers Scriptwriters,

Please confirm you are developing a story where Adil is in denial about the fact that his fiancée died before she could become his wife.

Yours in confusion,
Etc

But that would be a total waste of airtime if he is in denial. The whole thing is just so stupid.

im away at the moment so not listening (listened to last nights) and I honestly don’t know if I’ll bother when I get back

developing a story where Adil is in denial about the fact that his fiancée died before she could become his wife.

No, thank you.
They’ve missed a trick here, though: for maximum mawk, they should have had the wretched woman be pregnant. With twins.

I have a horrible feeling there’s still time for them to retroactively deploy that, @RegimentalSturgeon….

(With apologies for split infinitive 😬)

“If everyone on here distinctly remembers Adil talking about his wife's death, then why on earth can't the combined forces on the production team?”

Or even the actors. They’d be well placed to remember what their own characters said, or those they were in scenes with. It’s really odd when massive inconsistencies happen that are obvious to the listeners - just how?

It’s a fair point, @Ambridge . And ‘retroactively to deploy’ would have been a bit laboured.
Embrace your inner Raymond Chandler: “when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split”.

✊

Not to bring down the thread but I know someone whose long term partner & fiancée died before the wedding. He would never "accidentally" call her his wife, but sometimes it can be easier to explain things as if they were married. E.g. he might call himself a widower as that's how he feels (not for legal purposes obviously). But that's not what Adil did.

The only other explanation I can think of was that if he's Muslim they'd had their Islamic marriage ceremony but not yet made it official legally i.e. gone to the registry office. However then I think his sister would also be referring to her as his wife rather than fiancée.

The whole story is so full of holes it's hardly worth picking over. To think we thought Joe Grundy in a onesie and his ferrets running loose in the hotel was a low point... It feels as if the SWs are disappearing further and further down a rabbit hole with this story - first they blew the place up, then we were expected to believe no-one knew who had taken it over even though Oliver still has an investment in it now we're expected to believe that manager who can't even remember whether or not he was married has been kept on after walking off the job and leaving a £250,000 hole in the finances. I know it's fiction, but they really are making it up as they go along.

Maybe Adil’s sister doesn’t know he was married?

£750k hole in the finances!

But also don’t forget some of the problems identified will be really difficult to resolve - such as the hot water issue and the lack of housekeeping cupboards on the floors

Even the kitchen will be difficult and expensive to rejig.

the lack of research or care by the sw is pathetic

Only £500k; they want Oliver to pay half, not one third, of the money needed. And his holding is 40% so even that makes no sense: why should he pay disproportionately more?

I thought it was half of what they were putting in

And is it not wrapped in a corporate structure of which Oliver owns 40% of the shares. I’m sure they could borrow the extra to finish off

if the partners really are proper business people and not just Adils parents then they would have structured the acquisition in a tax efficient manner.

i thought that too, so they're putting in a cool half a mil, and he's putting in 250k

Frankly? i had stopped listening for a few weeks, and now I've come back the SL is all over the place.

I wonder how long TA can actually limp on with so few actors/characters, SW that apparently don't know/care what has happened before and increasingly ridiculous scenarios.

It's a shame but maybe they need to have the entirety of Borcestershire (😂) explode in a Bonfire Night Send Off and then we can all go about our lives remberin a once interesting gentle radio drama?

And don’t forget only Ian knows what should go in a restaurant kitchen . The architects and builders have been so bad that it sounds like there isn’t even a microwave. Oh hang on .. maybe that’s deliberate given what happened last time …