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!

Kirsty’s insistence that she knows how Fallon feels was intensely irritating.

I’m not sure Adam’s decision was a wise one. Unfortunately I suspect poor Xander is going to stumble over an ‘unwell’ Aunty Alice spark out on the front room floor.

Alice is silly to think it a good idea to go to live on the village green, in full public view, and just across from Fallon and Harrison, given that Harrison has already kicked thngs around and sworn and shouted at her; she won't be able to go out of the door without being afraid of running into him and having the risk of him reacting violently again. (We heard the sound of things being flung about while he was ejecting her from his house, and there is no real reason for her to think he won't do something similar another time.)

It's OK- she has promised not to drink.

Is Alice still drinking or has she been sober since the accident?

The fact that she has told Chris to keep Martha could be because she is still drinking (so not capable of looking after her) or she might be sober but not trusting herself to stay that way.

Does she still have her secret stash of booze at home or did she drink it all? Probably the latter if she had to go out and buy vodka on Saturday?

When she was talking to Adam she said that Chris had brought Martha round and she couldn’t wait for them to leave so she could have a drink. I was surprised that Adam didn’t ask her if she’d had one. It’s kind of him and Ian to have her to stay but I bet they have booze in the house and I fear it’s all going to go horribly wrong. Much as they love Alice they’ll put Xander first.

Blimey the Am must be deep

i know Kirsty meant well but she was pushing her own view of her grief onto Fallon. Chelsea was far more circumspect!!

took me ages to realise it was Kirsty painting the boat rather than Stella!

Thanks for explaining @BoreOfWhabylon

Does she still have her secret stash of booze at home or did she drink it all? Probably the latter if she had to go out and buy vodka on Saturday?

She couldn’t have gone to her stash with Brian and Chris hanging about, so we don’t know either way. From what she said tonight about thinking that when Chris took Martha away she could have a drink, yes, she’s still drinkiing.

What was that bit about something metal damaging the boat? Sounded like a hint at something that will come out later..?

I wonder if there might be a security camera on the boat

Will Rex’s boat sink? Now that Pip and Kirsty have repainted it he might not even know it was damaged.

I’m impressed by the way the repercussions of the accident are rippling out to affect so many villagers.

The accident itself involved George, Alice, Mick, Joy and Fallon but has now drawn in:

Alistair and Denise - struggling to keep their relationship secret after arriving at the scene together. Denise is also now ill.

Paul - I think he’s beginning to realise something is off about A & D but not what. How long before the penny drops?

Kate and Brian - their relationship has suffered as they disagree on how culpable Alice is and whether she’s the favourite child.

Jakob - being blamed by Brian for keeping Alice’s drinking secret.

Harrison - grieving the loss of his chance of being a dad. He and Fallon seem very distant from each other as a result.

Lillian - running the stables single handedly.

Martha - no longer living with her mother

Chris - now effectively a single parent (therefore Susan and Neil must be affected too)

Kirsty - dealing afresh with Wren’s loss

Adam and Ian - Alice has now moved in with them.

Gosh, yes. They love this tactic! I loathe it!!! But I think it could play a part.

Will Rex’s boat sink? Now that Pip and Kirsty have repainted it he might not even know it was damaged.

Didn't Pip say she'd sent him a picture and he'd replied he'd touch up the paint when he's back? So he does know.

Earlier on I posted that I wondered if George would get caught by dash cam or cctv footage ?

Now, as am overthinking, I wonder if the crash investigators (will there be any) will wonder why Alice's seat is positioned too far back - assuming George is taller than her and moved the seat ?

I missed the very beginning - noisy air fryer. Was Rex's boat damaged in the accident then? I didn't realise that was what was being painted.

I don’t understand how his boat was damaged. Does he moor really close to the bridge, which by all accounts is a really busy road?

I had always imagined the boat was moored somewhere very rural. Nobody mentioned the boat at the time of the crash.

They don’t know how it was damaged, but debris may have been carried downstream and hit the boat. I guess it must just be superficial if a spot of paint fixed it. What’s weird is that they painted it in the river so the damage must be above the waterline. Has anyone looked underneath?

I must say it makes my blood run cold to think that Rex (when in residence) is vulnerable to being murdered by any vehicle that comes flying off the bridge. Over a busy road.

I dunno … Have the SWs thought this through? He might seem a tiny bit fey and naive, but - really? If it’s true he might as well just set up a tent on the motorway.

I actually can't see G confessing voluntarily. That would take courage.

It's the current SWs' incurably metropolitan mindset. They can't imagine a road smaller than a motorway, a settlement with only one or possibly two bridges, river smaller than the Thames in central London, a city without a Lord Mayor.

Though I'm getting steadily more baffled by Ambridge geography The river must have crazy meanders as well as baffling variations in depth and speed of flow.

I think the river has the same issue as the bedrooms at Brookfield.

Although … Thinking of the locks area in, say, Manchester - there’s a place where the train or tram lines run directly above people’s houseboats. Perhaps I’ve missed whatever fictional disaster has arisen from such risk laden urban planning.

I just find it odd that you are in the countryside (allegedly- although ambridge seems to be a bit of a metropolis at the moment) and you choose to moor up by a road

and agree that unless Kirsty and pip managed to haul it out of the river then how did it get damaged above the waterline

There may be a lay-by near the bridge that Rex can keep his car in? Assuming he’s not in an official mooring (one which has bins and water supplies etc). Although if he is in a more official mooring then there’s a number of logistical reasons it would be off a main road into a village.

I see the road and bridge as single track, or at least narrow enough that one car needs to stop/pull over the the other the pass. It sounded to me like George was on the bridge And the other car went screeching off the side before the bridge to avoid him. I still think I heard a splash at this point (someone said it was described as running water, but that was the unofficial synopsis). The later splash perhaps being a bit of the bridge that George crashed into which stopped his (Alice’s) car going in.

Aha! I thought I recognised the face on the poster outside the theatre yesterday. But I was rushing to a meeting and didn’t stop to examine it. Shame I couldn’t have stayed another night for the show. Anyway, she’s on WH this morning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001z65v