Archers thread #157: How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless clan! Discuss The Grundys here. Bicker about The Archers as well if you like.

[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, 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 idea of making it clear in the title many of us are inveterate bickerers!

Now over to you, as we are about to eat and I won't hear tonight's offering till later ....

The business at "The Stables" (always sounds so childish - most livery businesses call the premises The Yard) was so stupid. Have they forgotten that we heard them bumbling around on the night the horse was injured? The faux competence and professionalism was laughable. And horses will always be better in their stable - with necessary precautions/observation if needed - than being out ("turned out to graze" - ffs).

Alice has just met her next DH.

I was not sad for Rob. Thinking only of himself and not of his son, so typical. Yes he can cry and be upset but not in front of Helen.

And let's see what happens tomorrow

Well he did ask her to leave so he could have a good cry

And horses will always be better in their stable - with necessary precautions/observation if needed - than being out ("turned out to graze" - ffs).

Not necessarily, for ours that were scared of fireworks we always had them out. We found they coped better if they could see what was happening and be in a herd together. It depends very much on the horses but mine climbed a stable door when we tried stabling.

Thinking of the deathbed scene, possibly was Jack so upset because he'd left his card behind. Also it was really for Helen to remember for him, he's only 7 for goodness' sake.

There is a lot on his little shoulders. There comes a point where the decision should be taken out of his hands.

now the risk is Rob dies and he is down on himself for not having seen him when he had the chance.

The question is and I think should be: "What did Alice do with the horses at The Stables on bonfire night last year?" and "What has Shula done with the horses at The Stables on bonfire nights for the past twenty years?"

Since no horses have previously been injured at The Stables because of being spooked by fireworks, which have happened on the village green every year this century (and that is rather closer than the old folks' bungalows in Manor Close where the noisy display was held on 22nd October), possibly going with that precedent would be the answer.

You are right, yes. And as they are all individual, what works for one, may not for others.
We had thirty to think about at one point, and a display just a couple of fields away. The big hot-blooded ones were usually fine, the minis and generally steady native ponies could kick up quite a fuss. But we did have a policy of all-in or all-out, so for safety they were all in with the big barn doors open so they could see what the noises were. Many just carried on with their haynets.

It was the previous incompetence contrasted with the faux professionalism (that of course only the listener knew about) that made me 🙄so hard this evening. (I admit - I am less interested in the Rob/Helen/Joy/Miles/Jack storyline than most posters.)

Adam Astill looks much more like how I imagine Rob! Equally, I picture Miles as similar looking. Timothy Watson doesn't match up to my minds image of Rob.

...I agree with the others that Rob and Miles sound similar on the phone. Quite realistic, I think! My own brothers sound similar to each other (both voice and intonation).

It seems to me that the storylines have changed recently to become more realistic. It's no good asking SWs to rewrite Nov 5th episodes from the past 20 years. They have addressed the fireworks/horses issue properly this year, comparatively, so give them a break.

You can get quiet fireworks, my local Farm business put on a display for DC this year. But they are mostly Golden Rains, Catherine Wheels and things like that. I was scared of bangs as a child, my parents chose fireworks that wouldn't scare me (back in the 50s and early 60s, when big local displays were a rarity, and we just lit some in the back garden).

So would probably have been no good at the Archers Bonfire.

And that's a right load of old foetid dingoes' kidneys, isn't it.

Quite. Because what would be the point of the confusion from a plot perspective, other than to make people go ‘huh? Have they made a mistake?’

Yes, agree. But they did the same thing with Kirsty and Adil and then completely abandoned it.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime love a HHGTTG reference

I’m not sure why they have this obsession with stilted sounding posh blokes: Horseman, Adil, Jakob all have quite similar deliveries (and hence sound like similar personalities) to me. Miles too to an extent.

That bit of flirting was utterly cringe as a result. And it’s not the actor as I’ve seen him in stuff and he was fine.

I cant understand how silent Jack forgot his home made card he was soooo excited about.
I do like they way Lillian speaks she is such a posh'o.
I can see how the SW wanted to say how horrible fireworks are for animals, my poor cat hates them and some of the fire works were very near to my home this year, which made me wonder, how do people in thatch roof homes manage,it must be a nightmare around Nov-Dec.?

Horseman, Adil, Jakob all have quite similar deliveries (and hence sound like similar personalities) to me. Miles too to an extent.

Odd! I hear them each completely differently - and Harry doesn’t sound stilted to me. In fact he sounds like countless men I’ve known. (Closer in context to Rex and Toby, if a little older.) I’m already a tiny bit in love … (Despite the ungracious script the writer forced on him.)

Adil’s delivery is always annoyingly arch - which simply doesn’t suit his character or story. Jakob presumably sounds as the SWs intend; it’s just weird that he and his brother have such very different voices. Weirder still that through Miles we will effectively have Rob’s voice living on after he’s gone.

@SomethingMustBeScaringThemAway Helen is the Queen of Arch. But yes, Adil too has a hint of it.

I thought Harry sounded rather similar to Adil last night.
Undecided on whether I care enough about a potential new Alice fling. But some new blood can only be a good thing.

I assume since we’ve been told that Ruari’s bday party is Weds, it can’t still be the same day for Helen and Rob in tonight’s episode. @JanglyBeads

Why is he having his 21st on a Wednesday? Have I missed something? Odd day for a party!

Will it be a re-run of the Grundy storyline, with William inheriting from Aunt Hilda and Eddie getting nothing, but with the older / younger brothers reversed? I think so. And as the years go by Jack will be more and more furious with Helen for not letting him meet Knob (even though he refused to go in). Knob's death scene didn't move me at all. I have no sympathy at all for that man after what he did (in the original and much better storyline) - his demise is a divine retribution if ever I saw one. Helen has handled it oddly imo - I would have thought she'd be happy to see the back of him (Jack complications notwithstanding). I suppose that's the whole point - his dying may have just put a spoke in the wheel of her relationship with Jack for life.
The Alice/Harry sparks were predictable - I just hope he stays in longer than Latif who turned out to be a flash in the pan after a promising start.

Is he dead?

No.

I assume he’s going to appear again in the next few days rather than miles just turning up and saying ‘he’s dead’.

poor Jack - if he ever complains Helen didn’t let him meet Rob before he died she’s going to say ‘well you had the chance’

Likewise, mine cope better out together than inside. They stand and stare at the fireworks for a bit, maybe run about a bit before staring some more, and then go back to grazing.

I thought Alice handled him quite well, tbh, but I thought it was very weird when he first showed up and didn't seem to think it was reasonable for a yard manager to be checking the safety of the XC course.

And why did he assume Alice wasn’t the yard manager?

from the whole interaction I don’t think he would make a good boyfriend and wonder if Alice is going to go from ‘putting him back in his box’ to quivering wreck resorting to alcohol and being ‘punished’ for it