Archers thread #163: Too much aggro, not enough agri! 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, 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 @LikeTalkingToLassie for the thread title idea! She and @LillianGish had fun with this theme on the last thread:

More farmer, less drama
More ploughing, less rowing
There's mileage in silage.
More sheds, fewer beds.

All good points. Fair to say nobody on the last thread was delighted to see the return of Harry. I think we all agree that Alice is a blithering idiot to get involved with him again. Most of us also think that Miranda is up to no good. Other storylines in play at the moment:

Alistair and Denise, with the massive complication of John and Paul
Ed and Emma - another doomed Grundy enterprise? Does Will still have the will to wang them some wonga?
Whither George - YouTube sensation or Borchester Magistrates' Court?
Will Markie cause mayhem at The Bull?
Will Harrison haul him in to Borchester nick?
Will Hannah get off with Chris?
Will we ever get used to the new Robert?
Will there ever be a new Roy?
Why do we hear so little from Brookfield now? (Although if we never heard Pip again, I for one would be delighted)
Will Stella dump Pip?

There are probably others I've missed. Over to you!

"Worth"

Chris main issue with Alice is trust and not wanting to have to go through it all again

so when he finds out about Harry and/or Alice slips I can’t see how they can get back together

I'd like Alice and Chris to get back together. There would be less of a perceived imbalance in their relationship second time around - Susan was always slightly in awe of the fact that Chris had married an Aldridge, but with Jenny gone and Alice fallen from grace they could start again on a more equal footing. Susan is now indisputably chief grandma to Martha and I'd like to think Chris and Alice could go on to have a relationship as strong as Susan and Neil's. We need some strong relationships to carry TA forward and I like the fact that with Alice running the riding school and stables she and Chris now have complementary jobs (and both with a strong rural focus).

I would like them back together too but would prefer it without a will they/wont they over the coming years

@OverArmour

Please explain the new feature very slowly for me.

I’d be happy to hear Tilly Button voiced.

They voiced Denise and look how wonderfully that has turned out. It may be that Tilly Button is a more interesting character unvoiced.

Perhaps, but I’m not wild about a lot of the characters we’re currently left with. New blood could be good, or at the very least could dilute the dross.

Checking in for new thread

No problem. So on an iPhone, in the podcast app, start listening the episode.

In the bottom left hand corner there’s an icon that looks like a speech bubble with quote marks in it (it’s actually the same as the icon in the iPhone music app, which shows the lyrics for a song). Click on it and it brings up the transcript for the episode.

You can either read along with it, or scroll and click anywhere to jump to that place in the episode.

Pictures below to show (click to expand.) It may depend on the iPhone you’re using. I’m on a 13 and just downloaded the new update and that’s when this function appeared.

I'd prefer to hear from the established characters. New characters tend to take a while to bed in then they disappear. Too many characters seem to have become silent.

We could hear more of Tom'n'Tash, Johnny, Ruth & David, JoshnBen, Leonard, Frilly. Kirsty (and Erik), Roy (re-cast obviously), Bunter & Usha, Amy, Rex, Toby, Carol, Kathy, Debbie, Adil, Oliver, Jim. Joy, Mick, Noluthando, the Bellamys, & Azra has teenage DC IIRC who could be introduced. I might have missed someone.

If they want to give a character a personality change, can it please be Pip.

Thanks Gaspode.

I agree with ClickyHeels. Before we have yet another new character I'd like to hear from some of the forgotten residents, and for some of the old half-finished storylines to be resumed.

Mainly, though, I'd like a lot more farming and a lot less drama. Maybe I will have to leave TA for Farming Today!

@OverArmour

Thank you so much.

Kate and Miranda - that was delicious!

Emma’s notice period wasn’t very long. Good thing there’s a good second hand market for tree surgery equipment.

Alice is weaving a web she is going to get caught in

Love Kate! Liked her grilling Miranda from a totally self centred perspective!!! Not sure why Miranda was being such a cow. If she didn’t want to answer Kate’s questions then say so - mentioning the kids was bitchy.

don’t like Miranda though so if she’s not going to end up a baddie then they’re writing her wrong.

I thought Miranda was just turning the tables on Kate when she asked about the children, not being bitchy. Kate realised what she was doing and admitted her own questions were intrusive.

I know that’s what they were trying to do but Brian had shut Kate down and Miranda told her to go ahead. She didn’t have to sit through those questions. And then put her in her place with a bitchy question - she didn’t have to mention the kids

she’s a game player and I don’t like her!

Still not listening to TA. My life is better without it. I wonder how long I'll continue with the threads though as i loose touch with the programme.

Nice thread title, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

The Kate/Miranda duel made me laugh, though I thought its premise unconvincing. As much as both characters could have said what they did, I don't think they would have done it then and there.

Plainly Will is going to be very controlling about his loan. Hang on....maybe he'll be the chainsaw victim. Dodgy second-hand gear... a SL waiting to happen.

I had to turn off - rudely interrupted by children - did Chris’s wooden handled knife turn up? Or is it now checkov’s?

Your children interrupt you during The Archers?
Have you no boundaries?

They claimed it was an emergency 🙄 (their mates changed the meet up time tomorrow and CAN I STILL TAKE THEM!?)
They have been reprimanded in the strongest terms. Why did I have children?

That's what I was thinking! To monetise a YouTube channel you need to be pulling in a hell of a lot of viewers. How many people outside Ambridge are seriously going to be pulled in by a supposedly talking horse rambling on about people they know nothing about?

I'd like Alice and Chris to get back together. There would be less of a perceived imbalance in their relationship second time around

Socially, for want of a better word, maybe that would be the case. But I can’t imagine them getting back together as anything other than a disaster. An absolutely horrible dynamic, with Chris second-guessing everything Alice does (either just to himself or overtly) and Alice feeling the need to justify/explain/compensate and always feeling she needs to prove something. It would be hell. So yeah, bring it on (I don’t like either of them very much). IRL, though - noooooo

I agree with ##RegimentaSturgeon.
Could Chris ever relax if he got back with Alice, Im sure he is always on edge now because she has Martha a lot and her drinking was a big problem, not just the odd glass or two. Also the same with Alice, she would be always on her best behaviour with Chris. I think it would be a very bad idea for both of them to rekindle thier relationship. Saying that I hope he saves her from Harry's clucthes, but doing that he would have to threaten her with taking Martha away. Im not keen on Alice anyway I havent forgot the way she was to Brian and Jenny when she was hitting the bottle.