Archers thread #162: ‘This is like talking to Lassie’ – how right you are, Fallon! 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 cowhide-covered walls are a great idea for a cafe with vegan and vegetarian customers, 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.)

Title comes from one of the better scripted conversations of recent weeks, when Fallon said ”Harrison, this is like talking to Lassie! Just TELL ME”. So true of so many conversations on TA where you just want to shake them and yell 'Just TELL US, and quickly, so you don't get interrupted before you can say the important bit', but of course they rarely do and days pass before the conversation resumes. @TheBell suggested putting it in the title, so thanks for that.

@OverArmour had a great if more obscure idea, paying tribute to a Peter Greenaway film: The Policeman, The Drunk, The Vet and his Lover. That will do very well as a starting point for the new thread. Will Alistair leave? Will Denise tell John she's leaving him? Will Paul learn to be less noisy? Do any of us care?

I do care a little about Harrison and Fallon. I want Harrison to get a grip and realise he needs a paying job more than the captaincy of the cricket team. I don't care at all about Harry but I think he's been brought in purely as a plot device so with any luck we can all forget about him very soon.

Over to you!

Thanks @TottersBlanklyIntoBimboCore and @LikeTalkingToLassie I remember Ifty now. I started listening during the Rob/Helen saga and seem to remember Ifty being in it around then.

I don't think Ifty taught at the Cathedral School. Did he advertise his tutoring service or did someone recommend him to Elizabeth?

🤷‍♀️Ifty

Brian and Miranda in bed…no words

Indeed. And Pip and Stella t'other week.

The 🔮 says it told us so.
It's looking v smug.

And of course Alice has decided she will be the one to save Harry.

Silly Alice.

Oh Alice. Why?!?!

Was this a tribunal or a disciplinary? If someone in any other employment were being accused of gross misconduct, it would be a disciplinary, without lawyers, and witnesses being cross-examined.

But police are quasi-military, and military have court martials, so police could well be different

Well, that’s a new twist on “if you leave me I’ll kill myself”. Devious and manipulative.

Alice needs to back away fast
why on earth did she go into the doctors with him?
she needs to speak to her sponsor pronto

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
do not count your Avanti chickens before they have hatched!

have you ever used their system for reclaiming? wailing and gnashing of teeth
not the last time, but the time before, my partner mysteriously received twice as much recompense as me for exactly the same journey

however we should of course all be very grateful that competition between the railway companies has driven such huge gains in efficiency and value for money

but have a safe journey anyway 😊

so What’s wrong with Harry

The bits I found missing and would have added more realism to the 'Disciplinary hearing' were Harrison's conversations with his Federation rep. They are absolutely integral to a Police Standards Unit (PSU) who police the behaviour of the police.. and the Fed rep is the police union... no police officer would attend a PSU hearing without a fed rep ..

He had liver cirrhosis... game over for an alcoholic without a liver transplant unless he is very very lucky....

Btw have only just found your thread TA listeners but have been listening since my farmer dad used to come home for lunch and we listened before 'listen with mother' .. probably about 1969.. didn't take much in then .. but always loved the name Walter Gabriel .. 🤔... can't remember where he fitted in , along with a chap who sold antiques ? Perhaps his son ? Can anyone enlighten me or have I dreamt that. I also seem to remember another pub ? Would be very grateful for anyone who can fill memory gaps !

Been a committed listener since about age 20.. even got my mum to send tapes out to Thailand for 15 years of the omnibus..

@newwidowtobe
I remember Nelson Gabriel and the Antique business and Lillian I think from the 70’s

Also recall the episode when Doris Archer died by the fireside I think!

Cirrhosis is only a possibility; the Malik woman has referred him for scans etc because his bloods were wonky Don’t get your hopes up too much.
It’s implausible that someone who until recently was a high-level eventer can have been drinking heavily enough for long enough to knacker his liver to a fatal extent.

so alice is back with him? What an idiot

Kenton wanting to go after Markie 🙄

overuse of ‘my darling’. Kenton/jolene conversation was a lot of time with not a lot of content. Jolene feeling good so there’s got to be a downer soon

glad to see the NHS working so efficiently. Impressed with the amount of time he spent with the GP. No doubt he will be seen and diagnosed within the week.

but I hope you all learnt something about the symptoms of liver disease.

how old is he supposed to be? I understood cirrhosis happened after quite some time

and and and - his drinking didn’t restart after his breakup with Alice because he was pissed and stripping in the street before that

I can’t get my head round Brian (81) and Miranda, purlease. Brian with heart cond. he’ll be round the drs for some blue pills. All the 80 yr olds I know have health issues, even mild ones, statins, and water tablets are the main subjects of conversation, plus hips / knees. Ambridge must have a magic healing well or something.

For God's sake yet another woman getting caught up with her ex's health problems. And why does Harry sniff at the start of nearly every episode he's in? I had him pegged for a junkie just for that. One I knew sniffed see-pityiingly too.

Honestly, I cant bear listening again if reading everyone’s posts is anything to go by.

I know the self pity is not unusual and the childish ‘i will stop drinking today’ but I can’t get why Alice is indulging it. He’s said his family are supportive so push him back to them

how healthy is it to bring this into the life of her daughter as well

why on earth did she go into the doctors with him?

See: Hellin and Knob. Not all that long ago, either. It’s starting to feel very repetitive.