Archers thread #160: Ram a lamb a ding dong! To rate the mass wisteria in Ambridge, tap the feedback tablet 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'd have given a home to Hilda the Hellcat, 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 @MerryChristmasToYou, @OverArmour and @LillianGish for the thread title ideas.

This week is a bit better than last week, but the Brad/Adil/Lily stuff is very odd. Coming up to the anniversary of Jennifer's death (22nd January last year). We need a new matriarch - could that be Natasha? I find her quite an interesting character. Sometimes she's awful and then she has moments as last night where she utterly redeems herself.

Over to you!

It's the sheer presumption that Ed should be allowed to use the field. I imagine that they wouldn't rent it if the Titcheners said yes.

I get fed up with their moping. The Grundy life seems miserable.

Well they do seem to think that the world owes them a living. I have little sympathy for them as they are the authors of their own downfall. I feel sorry for clarrie and Emma. Will is the only male of that family who took his destiny into his own hands (and the sw taking his career away still makes me angry!!)

Also I thought it was Adil who was leaving that message for Mia. I thought whats he got to do with it. It sounded to me just like him. Had to listern twice.

I missed that. What was the message?

I thought Helen batted away Clarrie’s request pretty graciously. People are horrible on here about her and though I find her SL over-exposed - and that she is extremely self-centred and thoughtless - I still quite like her.

It was funny hearing her muse on how she - one of the owners of a farm with tonnes of acreage - would let Clarrie know if she could think of a way she could possibly help.

I like that it’s clear none of the farms are going to step in and offer Ed some land as they know they will NEVER get their land back. If Brookfield, for instance, had flooded land and needed some fields on an interim basis, I am sure Brian or Tony would step in without batting an eyelid.

Ed sounds so hopeless. I hope we are not teetering on the brink of another MH SL. May be he will lapse into drugs again. Or worse, become suicidal.

I feel sorry for Harrison that he won't be a dad when he clearly wants to be. Being child free is fine if you both want it. I don't know why Fallon is against the idea. She isn't building a career that needs all her time and attention. She and Harrison don't have absorbing hobbies or, say, a passion for travelling.

If he becomes suicidal that's the thing that would make me stop listening.

I'm just catching up. I'm so fed up of them continuing characters whose actors have died. Robert and Roy are all throughout the GG episodes. It feels very disrespectful of the poor actors and if you're an avid enough mumsnetter listener it's really janky. It rattles my chains!

Alwaysdieting · Today 05:29

It makes me laugh that it in this day and age, if you want a church wedding you have to have a "What married life is all about and what you expect from it",chat with the vicar or priest.

Matrimony is a sacrament in the Catholic Church so of course you’d expect to be prepared for it just as you would for communion or reconciliation. It’s not just a wedding venue.

Having kids is a big deal and if you are not sure then you shouldn’t do it. I have a friend who never wanted kids but agreed to have a baby with her husband because he was desperate to be a dad. Guess who ended up doing everything for the kid. She’s bloody miserable. Yes she loves her kid but if she had her time again she wouldn’t have had a baby.

of course she will undoubtedly be judged for that while the Disney dad who pressured her gets a free pass

I haven't listened yet so there's a chance I have misunderstood you but this reads a bit like you need a reason to not have kids. As I'm somebody who just didn't want them enough to have them, this is a friendly reminder that fallon doesn't need a reason :)

Why does she need a reason other than she doesn’t want them? It’s not the default.

Perhaps Harrison should have checked with her, if it were so central to his future happiness, rather than assuming.

Why was Mia surprised that someone who upcycles for a living is also ‘handy with a glue gun’?

There’s something about Mia I don’t like but I can’t put my finger on it

I have never wanted children and when i got married that was very clear. After 15 years i got the urge. And when i said that to DH (after a long long long period of reflection) it came out that he'd always wanted children, but was prepared to go with out for me (aw). i had no reason, but i just didn't want any. But if i ever said that to anyone - i got all the blame etc.

Am still glad not to be listening to actual eps.

@HairScratcher What kind of monster sleeps with the curtains open? Me
@Alwaysdieting It makes me laugh that it in this day and age, if you want a church wedding you have to have a "What married life is all about and what you expect from it",chat with the vicar or priest.
I would have thought it was needed just as much in this day and age as ever. It's a religious ceremony.
Not sure why you find it something to laugh about.

I don't really feel that way. Given the way they have recast some characters, it's always been clear that individual actors don't "own" them. I suspect they won't recast either Robert or Roy as they aren't Archers, but I'm fine with them staying as silents till their respective storylines are resolved over time. For the relatives of the relevant actors, they would probably prefer not to have to relive their deaths any time soon.

@Grimchmas Hear, hear.
@BeatriceBatchelor , I don't know why Fallon is against the idea. She isn't building a career that needs all her time and attention. She and Harrison don't have absorbing hobbies or, say, a passion for travelling.
That reads like you think not having a career, wanderlust or absorbing hobbles is a reason to have a baby.

Why does she need a reason other than she doesn’t want them? It’s not the default.

Well, it is the default, isn't it? The majority of couples have a child at some point. So whilst Harrison and Fallon should have discussed it before marriage, it's perfectly understandable that he'd assume they'd have a family together one day.

I can forgive her a lot because she lost her mum as a teen. So she's forging her own path without maternal guidance and unless youve been through that yourself you've no idea how tough it is. She might be annoying but she's found a cause she's passionate about. For now at least.

it's perfectly understandable that he'd assume ... And the default presumably is that the father assumes that the mother does most of the caring.

For the relatives of the relevant actors, they would probably prefer not to have to relive their deaths any time soon.
I'd find it harder to be reminded that the character was still alive.

And the default presumably is that the father assumes that the mother does most of the caring

I don't think Harrison would have been that kind of dad.

A lot of women don't think their DH/DP "would have been that kind of dad."
Harrison is fictional and works part time. Fallon built up a successful business.

For the relatives of the relevant actors, they would probably prefer not to have to relive their deaths any time soon.
I'd find it harder to be reminded that the character was still alive

But it is, in a way, the reality of being married or related to an actor, particularly in these days of endless repeats of films and TV programmes. I know it's not quite the same, but the late husband of a friend was one of those actors whose name you tend not to know but who pops up every so often in secondary parts in quite popular programmes of the type that are regularly repeated and reshown. So she's always had to live with the fact that he's constantly popping up on TV, and that even if she avoids the specific broadcasts he may well turn up unexpectedly, for example in obituary programmes when people who had the main parts die. For some time, she had people thinking he was still alive because he could still be seen on TV quite often. She wasn't going to try to stop it because it would have been unfair on all the other actors, and ultimately adjusted to it and now reflects on the fact that her husband would probably love it all.

I can’t do anything other than roll my eyes to this post, to be honest.

Not just me then.
as @AngryBirdsNoMore said - it’s not really about the bins…

She isn't building a career that needs all her time and attention.

Bake themselves, do they, the tea-room cakes & quiches? Not that anyone on TA actually looks after their own spawn/has any real childcare difficulties, but I would say that Fallon works more than full time.

Being child free is fine if you both want it. I don't know why Fallon is against the idea.

Because she doesn’t want nine months of hosting a parasite , two to three years of herding a small suicidal maniac, a constant drain on her finances and intermittent sleepless nights for the rest of her life? Or maybe she is triggered by talking about dinosaurs. It doesn’t matter WHY she doesn’t want them. If Harrison does, well, he knows where the door is.