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.

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'd like to have your fortune told by Bartleby, 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.)

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!

It’s Kate who lives with Brian. Alice lives in her cottage with Martha. Though Martha was somewhere else that day, with Chris I think?

Yes, but I think k Brian and Co were taking it in turns to stay with Alice to support her/guard her/whatever after pub quiz night.

Yes I thought her house was empty that night as Martha with Chris. Surely if someone was staying they would have been wondering where she was?

Brian had gone round to nag Alice. Christopher rocked up to enquire why she hadn’t picked up Martha and Brian started filling him in about Alice’s transgressions. So it’s not surprising she took the vodka elsewhere, really.
We don’t know how long either of them stayed after she flounced.

I assume she assumed Brian would be waiting for her

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g and BOOPing back at you for your quick and thorough answer.

So much of that night by the river doesn't make sense does it? I can't help thinking that George is going to get taken down a peg or two by this eventually. It's been needed for so long now.

The Palestine insert was painful. Charities have said for a long time that sending stuff to disaster zones is a terribly ineffective and inefficient way of helping. Surely Alan would know this?

But TA doesn't always represent best practice. Well-meaning people fuck up.

Sorry to hear you had those two experiences @Alwaysdieting

Goodness we do have different views on George in this thread, don't we? It never occurred to me for a minute that George would rape Alice.

I see him very much as a confused teenager who is socially and economically disadvantaged (by Ambridge standards at least) and who is struggling to find his path in life. I don't see him as intrinsically bad, although a lot of his behaviour has been very poor. I think his life could go either way at the moment and I really hope he doesn't spiral downwards. I am hoping the crash and the discovery of his lie will ultimately prove to be the making of him in some way. I don't want him to become some kind of pantomime villain.

Life is tough for boys like George and Young Offenders Institutions are full of boys like him whose lives could have - and still could - go in a different direction with some help and support.

Or perhaps I am just a sentimental old fool.

To answer @echt's question, if this thread fills up by tomorrow evening then it will be the fastest-filling thread outside of the Rob / Helen storyline. The fastest fillers top ten currently looks like this:

Rank | Thread | Lasted | Date ........... | Key event
.. 1 . .... 52 ........ 24.2hrs.. 03 Apr 2016 Helen stabbing of Rob
.. 2 . .... 53 ........ 41.4hrs.. 04 Apr 2016 Aftermath of Helen stabbing Rob
.. 3 . .... 65 ........ 76.4hrs.. 11 Sep 2016 Verdict in Helen's trial
.. 4 . .... 51 ........ 82.1hrs.. 31 Mar 2016 Helen talks to Jess; stabs Rob
.. 5 . .... 54 ........ 91.5hrs.. 06 Apr 2016 Includes poems for Rob in hospital
.. 6 . .... 64 ........ 93.7hrs.. 07 Sep 2016 Last stages of Helen's trial
.. 7 . ... 164 ....... ?????hrs.. 05 May 2024 Alice drunk, car accident
.. 8 . .... 50 ....... 121.4hrs.. 26 Mar 2016 New smiley discussion
.. 9 . .... 48 ....... 142.0hrs.. 13 Mar 2016 Ramping up of abuse by Rob
.. 10. .... 86 ....... 158.0hrs.. 23 Feb 2018 Nic Grundy's death

(The new smiley discussion eventually resulted in this in honour of the 50th thread -> )

If only!!

If Alice had drunk beer and fallen asleep, even wine, there'd be some chance of believing she was not going to drive while under the influence, but vodka that was going to take well over 24 hours to get out of her system, no way.

Though there is the question of did she actually vomit, and if so how soon after she finished the bottle did that happen? Her body might have saved itself from the worst damage.

Which doesn't stop her from having acted horribly irresponsibly before she drank anything.

My toes curled so many times last night I can’t get my shoes on this morning.

Alice may well be suicidal if she's about to loose custody of Martha and that she may have caused Fallon to miscarriage.

Unforgivable for George to have moved Alice into the driver's seat.

Goodness we do have different views on George in this thread, don't we? It never occurred to me for a minute that George would rape Alice.

Perhaps you'd be surprised at what blokes do when they think nobody will find out.

The whole cause of the accident thing is interesting because it actually was Alice who caused it by trying to open the door. But she would not have been in a moving car had it not been for George. And we don’t know if he was over the limit or not.

I find it quite odd that he would have chosen to drive her home if he was over the limit- he’s not the type to care about the safety of a woman or have sympathy for an alcoholic. Was he planning to use it as a way to get power over her, to blackmail her about telling anyone I wonder? Or was he genuinely trying to be a Good Samaritan?

To be fair, he can mess up his degree more effectively by going to a “good” university and being unhappy than by going to a lesser university. Although they’re plying the maths = geek trope for all it’s worth, there’s many more mathematicians who aren’t geeks/showing autistic traits.

He admired the car and asked if he might be able to borrow the car in future I think so perhaps that was his ulterior motive?

Ohhh...
Joy was banged up for killing someone while drunk driving!!!

The Alice/George storyline is masterfully done - Alice was vile then passed out drunk in her car, would have been a fair cop for drunk in charge, but didn’t actually drive. George tried to do her a favour, but ended up making things much worse and is now frantically covering his tracks (potentially making things much worse for himself). The Fallon/Harrison pregnancy story feels much more ham fisted in comparison - I can just about believe the unplanned pregnancy, but surely the two of them would have discussed it in the time between diagnosis and scan with Fallon urging Harrison not to say anything to anyone until it was fully confirmed and while I can believe Harrison was happy to think he might becoming a dad, I think his reaction was rather OTT (I would have preferred to see his disappointment manifesting gradually afterwards). Rochelle meanwhile is continuing to unfold slowly and long may that continue.

I like to think that she was the cause of Rochelle’s death one way or another. Looking forward to Mick finding out she’s a liar and a fantasist and Not Quite Right In The Head. Being the gobby so & so that he clearly is, he can share this knowledge widely. And then he can naff off.

It was the doctor telling Fallon about her own pregnancy status in front of someone else (twice) that made my blood run cold.

Yes @DeanElderberry I thought that was wildly inappropriate - quite the assumption that her husband was responsible for the conception. Imagine if he hadn't been?

Yes and it was completely unnecessary- we could have had the scene with just Fallon and the doctor. Cliffhanger- will she even tell Harrison? Dum te dum…

Then next day it’s clear she has told him (as I think she would have done) and he does get to go to the scan.