Archers thread #165: Bridge over troubled waters! 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 believe Rochelle exists, 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 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/5071889-the-archers-spoilers-thread-9-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.)

This thread may well fill up as fast as the last one, so let's just get stuck in!

Goodness @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g what a busy evening for you!

Thank you!! Lets see how quickly this fills up!!

Might the fruit cider have price labels on it from the shop? And that's how Joy will pin George down rather than it being possible to have been bought at ie tesco? 🧐

Ps signing in, thank you for the thread

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Thanks, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , nice to be plugged back in to for a bit! Shout out to @Fink - link to an old post - a numerical milestone is going to happen on this thread. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4902507-archers-thread-154-cider-with-fat-rosie-meadow-rise-to-candleford-or-the-darling-horrobins-of-september-get-your-rural-saga-fix-discuss-the-archers-here?reply=129384090&utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

How far are we from the significant 161051st post @DadDadDad ? I shall try to mark the occasion with a It is pleasing that it occurs in a thread number that is made only of digits contained in the number itself.

And does that mean that the last thread had the 160061st post? Not meanginful in terms of powers, but a nice palindrome.

Re. the trailer of doom (I haven't heard the latest version) mentioned on the last thread, I assume that Alice's 'just when you think things can't get any worse' refers to Alice finding out about something we already know or someone having angry words with her in the village, rather than a new disaster. I would put money on Harrison confronting her about killing his baby at some point in the not too distant future, or Mick seems like he'd quite like to give her a piece of his mind. Or we might get to hear just how painful she is finding it to give up Martha. FWIW, I think those are more likely than that she discovers something else that we don't yet know about.

I don't know a lot about alcholism, but is there some reason she hasn't checked back into rehab/some sort of crisis treatment programme? Brian would almost certainly stump up the money and shout at people to get her seen as a priority. She would still be available for all the police investigations.

But if he was carrying bottles of cider when he met Alice I would assume he hadn't drunk the cider as he wouldn't carry the empties home. He could have put them in Alice's car before going into the river.

Yes I agree @CaptainMyCaptain - I think his undrunk bottles were in the car. I'm just pondering on identifiability...

Is Chris the only person who has doubts that Alice would have been driving the car? Everyone else (including Alice) is treating it like an open-and-shut case.

@Fink - still about 500 posts to go, so don't panic yet. And yes post 160061 was made in the middle of the last thread.

There has to be a major blow out with Harrison.

FYI - I was sent home with a no heart beat thing and she is 12 now.

Thank you, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g Excellent title!

BOOP to the SWs for giving us so much to speculate on.

Your own, I think, Totters!

I thought it would take a bit longer before anyone questioned it being Alice.

George didn’t the want to buy the Cider, he only begrudgingly purchased it because he didn’t have enough money for beer. So not sure why he would bother taking the unopened cans with him when he left the party as it’s clearly not something he’d normally bother to drink.

Anyway I think Detective Chris will work it out. It will result in a huge rift between him and Emma as George will deny everything.

A&D have had the best part of a week to come up with a cover story🙄 Obviously the ridiculous story Alistair concocted will unravel in minutes when Paul questions a sick Denise about it. It sounded as if he didn’t believe a word of it anyway.

He said on the phone message that he’d only had one cider. But as said why would he bring it back if he didn’t like it.

Didn’t like to draw attention, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

It does seem implausible that George would leave the party carrying the drink he had taken to it - but perhaps, as a Grundy male, he figured he could sell it on, probably to some unfortunate underage drinkers at the scruffier end of Ambridge.

Something like this. He wouldn't give away drink he'd paid for.

Isn’t the most likely explanation that George was drinking the cider as he walked home? He might despise it, but it is better than nothing. Put it down in the footwell before manhandling Alice. Forgot about it.

Oh YES @RegimentalSturgeon ... you've got it!

George is absolutely not the type to leave a party without his money's worth of alcohol (or anything else he'd brought). The plot being what it is, he has to have brought back the fruit cider he's known to have bought in the village shop so there's evidence to link him to the car. IRL, I've known people like George to walk away with significant upgrades on what they donated. In this case, 'people like George' includes middle class, middle-aged, women. Beware the aunties who bring empty tupperware to a church picnic!

It was good to hear Jazzer tonight, although is it only me who doesn't remember him being Chris's BFF before? If they needed someone who could be a plot device to get Chris's thoughts aloud, and Harrison and Jakob are out of the picture as too closely involved with recent events, surely Neil would have been a good shout (I'd love to hear from Neil).

And speaking of characters who are sorely missed, Shula was very reticent to employ Alice in the first place, as was Justin IIRC (although if I never hear from Justin again it would be too soon). There should have been a Lilian-Shula-Justin conference about what to do with The Stables now Alice's life has imploded. It's pretty implausible that they're just ticking along with Lilian in charge.

I know Shula is widely disliked on these threads, but I like her.

but George was known to be in the car anyway?
doesn't seem too surprising that he would put down a bottle of cider he was carrying in the car while 'helping' Helen

speaking of characters who are sorely missed

In ‘proper’ TA no week like this could have taken place without the grown ups sweeping in from Brookfield to spread order and calm and establish the truth. The First Family silence is the most shocking thing about this whole story.