Archers thread #158: Te Rum? You numpty, numpty, Tom! Empty tearoom follows. Christmas coming, farmers’ stand up, will it make us LOL? No! 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 think Tom Archer is a great businessman, 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 @LillianGish for the title idea, which may plant an earworm if my scansion just about holds up. @BeatriceBatchelor wanted 'plebby coffee' inserted in reference to my Bolivian coffee anecdote on the last thread, so I'll mention it here instead. Here's hoping Fallon and Emma decamp to the charging station or Grey Gables, or both, to run the type of coffee shop/tearoom people actually enjoy spending time in. Tom's cauliflower eclairs and kale criossants approach sounds more likely to drive the casual trade away from the farm shop and cheese window as well as the Google Translate-named Te Rum.

Feeling very uninspired by TA at the moment, so I have nothing more to say for now. Over to you!

Going to the gallops at a trainer's premises is like going to the races. In neither case does the person who has gone along as a spectator do any riding of horses: they watch while professional riders do the galloping or racing.

Alice and Harry stood around while horses galloped past them, then went and had some lunch at the trainer's yard.

You're forgetting the fancy salads! They'll be what pull the punters in, obviously.

They'll be picking their own salads, surely?
That'll be the Poly Pizzeria's USP that will lure villagers into the aliens' clutches.

They’re very fickle in Ambridge. Adil cocks up for months yet one good party and they’re all back on side

i get that they’re trying to introduce new characters but this isn’t being done very well

Doesn’t this just prove that the kitchen Ian said was unfit for purpose is in fact fit for purpose?

How does it work with health and safety law? Ian said the kitchen wouldn’t meet health and safety and it obviously hasn’t been inspected yet

so how was the catering done for the party?

Does it count if it's a party and not paying customers? If I have a party my kitchen doesn't have to be inspected (although I'm sure it would pass 😇).

It’s a business event and he used paid staff so I would say it’s trade related

I feel like the GG story has moved from annoying, to ridiculous, all the way through to downright hilarious now.

There is a glorious polytunnel cafe at a very bouji place we camp at in Cornwall, but a) it's a campsite, and b) it's summer.

Who in their right mind wants to eat a pizza in a polytunnel in December? They'd need heaters and it'd be all steamed up inside, like the top deck of a crowded and overly heated packed bus on rainy winters day. Who is in charge of the GG marketing strategy?! One of the mysterious alien partners I guess.

Did Addle say he'd paid for the whole thing out of his own money?

As for Harry and Alice... 🤣.

And don't even start me on Te Rum and the kale croissant 🤣 This last week has been comedy value for all the wrong reasons! I did like the scene where Tom made Fallon do the photo with the keys though... CLASSIC Tom, what a twunt tht man is 🤣

I think Fallon would have been much more upset at handing over her tearoom than has been portrayed.

I did choose to google said gangrene and Tom deserves no less! I offered to show DH a pic. He declined with speed and determination

😂

What I don’t get is how Tom and Natasha have basically stolen Fallon’s business. I mean, I know she was renting the premises from them, but the actual business was all hers. Shouldn’t they have paid for goodwill or something?

I think @FortunataTagnips that Fallon would probably have had an equitable claim against the Archers…would have been an interesting story line…

Rogers v Archer (2023)…

She should have had a moan to Usha.

Surely once they have ended the lease (legally) then if they change up the cafe it is a different business?

just like if a landlord evicted Starbucks and costa took over the lease - Costa wouldn’t owe Starbucks anything for goodwill?

It sounds like they paid her for all stock and I hope the kitchen equipment etc she left for them.

one question - she took all the furniture. So what furniture were they using? Would they not have had to shut for a few days to redecorate and refurnish? Plus when is the skylight going in? That’s a messy job

One question might be how Tom and Natasha, on Helen's say-so, were able to end the lease before it was up. It didn't run out until next year: they said so, Fallon said so, and Tony said so, on various occasions. The landlords not agreeing to extend it for eight years instead of three or five doesn't mean that it then immediately ceases, in Real Life.

Quite what point there was in Emma opening up on Thursday when there was no furniture to serve food to people on is something I don't really expect ever to have explained.

I assumed they were using a break clause? Still seems very swift

Fair enough.

How is Harry’s career, accident and retirement not widely known? The horse world is ridiculously small and news like that would be in Horse & Hound. Much as I like Harry’s character, the lack of knowledge of the horse world is starting to grate.

On a different front, I can see Fallon reaching the end of her tether when Tom reads an article about veganism and decides that’s his Latest Vision. Having been ordered to create chickpea and seitan hot cross buns by lunchtime (“It will be edgy!”), she’ll throw in the towel, tell all to Jolene in The Bull where she’ll be overheard by Ian and hoovered up for Grey Gables. Emma will become manager of Terrum , so she’ll get the promotion she wanted and she’ll suddenly be Tom’s biggest acolyte.

Surely Alice would have googled Harry before their first date?

Is it usual to have a break clause only a few months before the end of the lease?

I think a break clause can be triggered any time after say 6 months of starting or as agreed.

the real question is why the rush? It’s like they decided they wanted to run it and the decision was made within the week. Clearly a plot that has been decided on to create a xmas SL imo