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!

Fallon seems to have totally forgotten about the incident with George and the singing lessons. It was barely a year ago so the SWs can’t have forgotten about it.

This leads me to think they have taken a conscious decision not to try for continuity. They are clearly no longer expecting listeners to tune in faithfully year in year out but rather to dip in and out, which is an interesting change to how things used to be.

An interesting aside (or not) - just idly scrolling through the BAFTA computer game awards, and see that in Baldur's Gate 3, a best supporting role was won by Andrew Wincott - could this be our Adam?

I think it was, yes. It looks like him.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1218328/

He has a good voice for games

I adore Adams voice- it is probably the only thin that keeps me listened after 55 years
(dont search the photo-it doesn't match)

He narrated a book about Meghan and Harry too which I thought was interesting (the fact he narrated it vs the book itself!)

Fallon has to work with George's mum. She has to remain on some sort of terms with him. Also, when people want a favour, they often conveniently forget past differences, as I know from bitter experience.

The problem I have with Adam's voice is his peculiar EMphases.

I agree that the bad acting affects my loathing for Pip. Alice isn't an attractive character, but the fact that she's voiced by a good actor somehow makes her much less annoying to listen to.

I have no problem with Adam's voice. He's been in lots of things on R4, and I think he's a good actor.

pre TeRum who covered Emma’s day off? It’s a bit of an odd structure that she has to rely on the family.

george could be a really nuanced character but he’s written quite unsubtly at times. And the ‘it’s grandpa I feel sorry for having to work on the patios’ cut to grandpa working on a patio - innovative.

so bartleby is going to comment on ed’n’em squabbling over grey gables and that's going to be the end of it

Someone mentioned Adam sounds like he's briefing a spy for a suicide mission.

As I've mentioned a few dozen times before, Andrew Wincott is/was Clare in the Community's husband's best friend. He sounds totally different in that! I dimly remember that when he first appeared in TA the production team must have decided he sounded too like the other middle class males, and this odd but distinctive delivery was the result.

I've always thought he sounds far too urbane to be a farmer.

You could say that about Brian, to be fair.

Yes, true. But there's something about an urbane gay man that just doesn't scream "farmer" to me.

Hmm … actually I probably quite like the fact TA manages to include the odd non-stereotypical farmer!

Or rural vet nurse.

Or vicar’s wife. (Though one might wish the vicar’s daughter were less of a wet blanket.)

On another note - I find I’m missing Scruff Gin more and more. There’s no Nigel to care about LL wine … Everything’s just dull, dull, dull.

I adore Adams voice sadly his whinging Archers personality is a massive turn off.

Daisy Badger's awful diction is maddening and Ruth's voice is like nails on a chalk board.

They're the problem with Brookfield. David, Josh and Ben are fine and Jill is sorely missed.

I agree completely. I work in the North East and Ruth’s accent is terrible (not that I think you have to be especially familiar with the accent to know this!). I don’t know why they couldn’t have just employed an actor from the region, or someone who could actually do the accent convincingly. I find it really distracting so I can only think about how bad the accent is without really being able to believe in the story.

It’s interesting to read thoughts on characters who are loved and loathed etc. It does depend on how you approach it, as some have said. E.g., I’m not sure how annoying the scriptwriters intend Pip to be (perhaps not that annoying) but the terrible acting definitely has an impact. George, on the other hand, is often like a pantomime villain who I think we are meant to love to hate.

Someone said that the Brookfield Archers feel like an odd bunch and disconnected from the community. When I started listening a few years ago I remember them being more central, lots of talk of some sort of sheds/barns (sorry, vague on the details) and Pip’s role on the farm being heavily emphasised. The writers seem to cycle back round to families/characters over time and I sometimes wonder what it’s like for the actors to be heavily involved for a few months then, in some cases, hardly mentioned for years. I guess for actors who can get other work it’s quite handy to have that flexibility but must be hard if TA is their main job.

But they did employ someone from the area, more or less.

According to Wikipedia, Felicity Finch grew up in Eaglescliffe, Co. Durham.

I strongly suspect the reaction to that of people who actually live in Northumberland would be similar to mine if someone from Edinburgh with a strong Edinburgh accent were to be employed to play a character from Glasgow!

@UnintentionalArcher , I find Ruth's accent OK. She has been in Borsetshire for about 30 years. I've spent time in Newcastle and Northumberland.

On a similar note, I was watching something and a character was from my area and I thought 'Not with that accent, you're not'. The character mentioned a place name less than 5 miles from where I grew up.

The actor didn't have a strong regional accent as such but at a guess I'd say he was from about 40+ miles away. Where I am from does have an accent/dialect.

Both Harrison and Ruth seem to have been told to ham it up a bit so listeners can be sure they are from where they are supposed to be from. They sound a bit caricature at times

Well, yes, but remember Young Ruairi? Born in Ambridge, taken to Ireland when he was a couple of months old, and then brought up in Germany by his mother and (according to Brian) speaking German, until he was moved back to Ambridge aged five or so and played by a young actor from Donegal?

When it was mentioned that the accent was perhaps not ideal the response (I think from VW) was that he lived near the studio and anyhow it was Irish so what was the problem?