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!

Obviously now Martha will tell daddy about Harry putting her to bed. Alice is too stupid for words.

Also I cant understand how you can have sex with someone then straight away think what a mistake and chuck them out. Neither had the excuse of drink that some people use but its not as if she was tied down she knew exactly what she was doing unless she was desperate for a shag. No self control. Or perhaps Im a bit old fashioned.

She was incredibly rude to him in the process! Telling someone that the sex you've just initiated with them was a mistake and you ought not to have done it is definitely not at all polite.

He’s obviously so desirable she couldn’t help herself 🙄

What was that creature that Ali-stare was treating when he was talking to Ed? It made a bleating sound that I did not recognise. I wondered if it might be a lamb but thought it couldn’t possibly have been. It’s not as if this is a farming show!

Maybe it was lamb dram in Lambridge or should that be the Rambridge Ram Dram Society?

It was a lamb...d'oh, you were being sarcastic? 😆I found it odder that the vet actually said how many 10ths lame it was. Sure, that's the official scale, but IME in actual conversation, vets tend to express it more like "it's a bit lame" or "it's very lame", or possibly, "it's on 3 legs, isn't it, poor mite?". I guess the "lesson for the listener" was that many vet treatments are so much more expensive than the price of a lamb (or sheep) that many farmers find it uneconomical? That being said, I got to help at a sheep C-section once! Still, the economics of sheep farming would be interesting to actually pursue, but somehow, I doubt that will happen.

I found Ed's incessant banter a bit unbelievable. I didn't think he and Alistair were close enough friends that ANY banter would happen.

They seemed like a very unlikely pair. I guess the SWs have a limited pool to work from,
depending on which characters are on shift.

Ed and Alistair have known each other a long time! Aside from his own and other Grundy enterprises, Ed’s probably worked on every bit of Archer land, with every animal they’ve bred or bought, since he was a teenager. So they’ve been in fairly constant contact - on farms and in the pub. And he’s middle aged himself now - I don’t think the banter was entirely unlikely.

It would have been almost believable from Henry (who is not quite fourteen) to another lad his own age. From Ed (who is not quite forty) to a man twenty years his senior it was not credible.

I agree. A bit of leg-pulling before the plaster cast went on was fine but round 2 was just too much. Ed sounded even more immature and obtuse than usual - if that’s possible.

I got to help at a sheep C-section once!

When i was about 10, we got taken out of bed to watch a cow have a c-section, because it was such a new and rare thing. I remember being impressed by the vet's neat sewing.

If an animal was on three legs, Dad used to say, "it's a bit dot and carry." I had forgotten that till now.

Shut up Ed for flip sake on and on. Love the sheep bleating anď the cows mooing.
I hope Alistair does go out with that girl it would be better all round but look out for Denise turning nasty she is horrible to Alistair at the best of times.

Oh and how dare the SW put animals in when they could have had more Helen and Henry, what were they thinking, people will be turning there radios off in droves.🤣

Good point about Alice badgering Harry @Eastie77Returns It's almost like she needs to save him from the bottle as penance for all the wrongs she did whilst drunk.

Ed is such a tool. Hope he doesn't get a life changing injury up a tree as he's such a whinger. Emma facing life in a wheelchair and going on to lead a successful and fulfilling life (with the help of a big insurance pay out) would be harrowing to listen to at first but could be an interesting long term SL.

Dot and carry! I know that as dot and carry one. I wonder what the origin of that is. Yes, I know I could google, but I have to be off shortly. Engaged in a time-consuming duty at the moment out of the house which I can't talk about and where I have to be offline. It's one of many things which the citizens of Ambridge never seem to have to do to, although we did hear 12 residents of other parts of Borsetshire doing this very thing in 2016. Draw your own conclusions!

Intriguing, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g …

Nice till and change sound-effects in the 8:10am slot on Today this morning.

Good luck @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g and I hope it’s nothing too harrowing x

Oh, of course!

Yes, I hope it’s not too awful.

How far is the cricket field from Beechwood? I'm wondering why a 13-year-old can't just walk home in daylight, rather than have to be collected by Mummy (especially as babysitting for Jack had to be arranged)

Ed's lamb injury was intriguing - what is happening to the Texels? Does he have somewhere to graze them and what happened to all the lambs he had left over from last year? When most farmers apparently wouldn't think it worth it to pay £150 to fix a lamb, why is Ed - who surely must be poorer than or at least as poor as many - bothering to shell out? Will he carry on with the Texels while wielding his chainsaw? The lamb's broken leg was just a lame way (pun intended) of instigating the banter and the forgotten coat and extended banter was a way of ensuring Denise was left in no doubt that other women are interested in Alistair. The nuts and bolts of plotting on full display there with the SWs completely losing sight of the fact that some of us are much more interested in the economies and difficulties of sheep farming (especially when you don't own your own land) than in whether Alistair and Denise will eventually get it on.

@nameoftheday I was thinking exactly the same. Henry is old enough to walk to and from the cricket field on his own. Helen no doubt decided she had to know exactly what he would be doing. So overbearing.

I noted it was once again sign posted how great Harrison is with kids. At least Helen didn’t ask Fallon the dreaded “have you thought about having any of your own..”

Denise is so unpleasant to Alistair.

Alice has a new addiction... Harry.

And Alistair needs to give up on Denise and go out with the other cricket captain.

I think that Denise wants to have her cake and eat it.

I was thinking about this the other day and would actually be quite happy to have a SL where Alastair moves on with Laura and that either goes somewhere or not.
Seems more reflective of the many situations in life where people don’t chase after every relationship whim for various reasons (different stages in life etc).