Archers thread #164: AmbridgEnders! An Everyday Story of Soapy Folk. Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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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.)

Thread thrown together in great haste in advance of tonight's episode. Who's in the Am? Is it George's fault? Is this the end for Alice? Over to you!

And so soon after she had to concoct one to spend the evening with Ali-stare just last week.

Mind you she recently claimed John doesn’t notice or care if she’s around as he’s back out cycling all the time.

I am old and out of touch. What's the difference between a voicemail and a voice note?

Voice note is on Whatsapp x

Thanks - so it's just a voicemail message sent via WhatsApp?

denises cover was out with girl friends and that’s who she told Joy she was buying the booze for

kind of weird they picked a hotel close enough to the village to be driving through after dinner

Yep. And since it’s sent like a message on WhatsApp (ie it appears with the icon of a recording in the recipients account) you can delete it. Whereas you can’t delete a normal voicemail message that you’ve left on someone’s phone.

So they could have a drink? So they didn't have to pay for expensive parking? Or so they didn't have to park somewhere dodgy? Or because the parking is miles from the venue and he could pick them up closer?

Thanks, I think I may have got it now.

I’m leaning towards a voice note rather than voicemail because George got on the phone and left his message fairly quickly. There wasn’t the pause you’d expect if he was listening to Will’s recorded “Hi this is Will, leave a message…” prior to leaving a voicemail.

I’m completely overthinking this😂

Fair enough.

Yes, except that George’s headlights aren’t pointing towards Joy/Mick when he swerves - if he’s drifted either partially or fully into the other lane, he’d have had to pull hard towards the side of the road to correct. At that point he’d be side-on and visible in Mick’s headlights because his own aren’t cancelling them out.

Out in the country you can’t really see inside the car at night. In fairness you can hardly see the outline of the car of it’s a dark night.

You can if your headlights are shining into it! Mick is presumably still facing forwards.

Oh Lord. I think I have found my people.

I am still upset George isn't deceased.

Now that DadDadDad has popped back here, he could probably organise a poll about...

You do one poll about people's ages on these threads, and show a little aptitude for statistics, and still ten (yes, TEN! ) years later, they think you're bloody YouGov, ... <mutter, grumble...>

Further predictions:

Brian and all Aldridges rally round Alice after the initial awful shock has worn off and when she remembers more they believe her and accuse George of lying.
Emmuh and Ed plus Susan and Neil rally round George. Pushing an even bigger wedge between Alice and Chris.
Chris gets full custody of Martha :(
George gets outed by the location services on SnapChat - his ‘followers’ can see exactly where he’s been.
Once all is revealed Harrison goes postal and hits George. Losing his job. Harrison and Fallon leave the village - Jolene and Kenton follow.

I want George to survive because he is going to be such an interesting character for the future. So far they have done a good job of showing the revolting sides of his character alongside some vulnerability. The scenes where he spoke about the issues regarding his parents were brilliant and it has so much more to offer.

I wouldn’t say it’s the same as a voicemail is specifically when you can’t get hold of someone on the phone. A voice note is more like a voice version of a text, if that makes sense!

On a quibbling note: on Sunday we heard a squeal of tyres and then a pause while the car was doing whatever it was. Today Denise and Alistair heard a squeal of tyres and Denise instantly saw headlights in the water.

(How long do the headlights stay on when a car is totally submerged in water?)

I don't think it was just the one poll that people remember, to be fair; it's more the overall picture of statistical competence: the spreadshits, the analysis, the hints at a career in stats ... there's no getting away from it, you're the Tim Harford of the thread 😁

I reckon he either says that he was going to drive her home but she refused to let him and drove off and he was so worried he ran after her and came upon the aftermath or he says he started driving, stopped and got out (leaving the keys in the ignition) because she was feeling sick and then she tried to drive off without him but had the accident which he witnessed.

I'm hoping that Joy's involvement in this RTA (about which I am sad) will lead to a reveal of why Our Rochelle doesn't tip up at her hospital bedside...

Questions will be asked about how Aliss could possibly have been driving even a short distance given how out of it she was. She would have barely had the wherewithal to start the engine, let alone let the clutch out. Ok- it was probably an automatic but even so.

I am thinking that she has either a Mini Countryman or a BMW X3. Possibly a Golf GTI but aren’t they a bit passé now?

I think the writers have set this up nicely - is George a nasty piece of work or a hero who just doesn't always think things through? If he has a driving licence then it doesn't seem a terrible decision to drive Alice home, and he genuinely put himself in danger to rescue Fallon from the river. But his deception over who was driving is bad, even if gets away with it.

And thanks, @Fink , I'll take the compliment of being equated to Tim Harford (and respect for correctly spelling his surname).

Joy is far too much of a motor-mouthed Pollyanna for my liking so I can't say I'd miss her. I should feel awful for saying that but after some of what I've read in this thread {{ shocked }} - I don't.

I bet she won't die though: Coma is a better storyline. But the last time I confidently made an Archers prediction here, I was diametrically wrong.

It seems to me that it is very much in George's character to shift the blame away from himself. Alice made herself the perfect patsy, honestly, and George will probably come to feel that she is partly to blame and deserved to be the fall guy.

I think RTA detectives only do extensive investigations when a death has occurred, but they might do for serious injury too.