Archers thread #166: Choppy waters in Ambridge! Look out for the red flags and 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 love to be married to Harrison, or other unusual views.

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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.)

Another thread started in great haste, mid-packing! Over to you.

I didn’t mind the am-dram stuff - but the idea of putting on an entire Punchdrunk production in your own house with one week’s notice is stretching my credulity a bit too far.

Possibly. “How are they doing the advertising for this event?” crossed my mind.
But maybe it’s more plausible than a car being driven silently through a bridge and into a river which is arguably not that deep, yet causing enough damage to keep the road closed for repairs for such a long time..
I tend to engage the suspension of disbelief when listening to most episodes.

STOP!!!!

Morrisons have Roses “lime and lemon” and an own brand lime

The evidence is that Chelsea is throwing herself into this with enthusiasm.

Sorry, just found the answer to my question. Thanks!

We don't have Morrisons either. I doubt any UK products have vanished from the UK after Brexit. Many of them have vanished from EU shelves, as a consequence of that decision that exports (and experts, and business) weren't important.

I wonder if the recent demand for marmalade to make marmalade cake will have them change their mind..

(tongue in cheek)

There was a rave (Ambridge is a bit retro), Ben got Chelsea pregnant, she had a tough time but eventually had a termination, Ben had a breakdown. Of course we're expected to feel more sympathy for him because he is male, and Archer, and 'respectable'.

To be fair, Lizzie was sympathetic at the time.

Answering the question you asked, not realising you'd decided to delete it.

Tbf his breakdown wasn’t over the abortion I don’t think as he was very supportive of Chelsea - it was the reaction of Jill and Beth and the feeling his life had imploded. Still weird the way it was all done and his very quick recovery

the Beth sl was so bizarre though - the way Jill kept going In about how she’d never seen a better suited couple etc etc

Sorry! Seem to have got in between you reading it and posting the answer.

Wasn't it when Ben and Beth were temporarily “off”? Then they got back together, and Ben had his breakdown and arbitrarily decided Beth was “better off” without him?

He went to the clinic with Chelsea, and showed signs of centring himself. I'm torn between finding him a total irritant I'd be happy never to hear again and feeling a bit wistful that we missed out on a household consisting of Ben Beth and Bess. I'm a bit deaf and it would have been a joy.

Yes, I often didn’t know if he was talking about girl or dog

I agree. And Ben sounded moderately into it too, which is why the CA's intro saying that Ben struggles to say "no" was confusing. I was waiting for him to have a real battle to turn Lynda down, but he said to Jolene that he was quite enjoying it. And Fallon, although not sure to start with, seems grateful for the distraction.

I don't know who the audience will be for this event, although being TA I'm sure the whole village will cheerfully participate. I agree with a pp that I don't much see the point myself. I caught some interviews with D-Day veterans earlier this week. I was surprisingly moved by their stoic heroism, and I'm not generally into anything like that. I do think it would be good to mark this D-Day as the last significant anniversary for which veterans will still be alive, but I really don't know why anyone would want to re-create 1940s hairstyles, music and so on.

The Archers needs more surreal 'woman or dog? is there a difference? do we care?' scenes.

Jill kept going In about how she’d never seen a better suited couple etc etc

She had a point. Beth was a spoilt, dreary, needy, manipulative bleep, and Ben is a dreary, neurotic, cowardly prig.

But you’re right, that whole thing with Brookfield in general, and Vince, behaving as if they were destined to be togethah 4 evah was A Bit Much. I suppose they thought that otherwise Ben’s ‘breakdown’ wouldn’t have been convincing.

Spoiler: it wasn’t.

I was surprised the book reading had such a large crowd tbh

yeah he did centre himself but he ultimately supported Chelsea to make the decision she felt was right for her and didn’t push himself into it all. Which if you contrast to what would have happened with Harrison and Fallon if they hadn’t lost the baby is quite interesting.

the breakdown was odd with the whole ‘you’re better off without me’ coming from nowhere. Seemed manipulative

I don’t think as he was very supportive of Chelsea

I don’t remember the clinic bit well, but on the whole they treated each other kindly during the whole thing and IIRC avoided any enmity between their families. I’m sure that leaves a door open …

My feeling was that in the end he was more scarred by the second break up from Beth, which was brutal - and had repercussions for his stupid parents who’d borrowed money from her father.

We have a 1940s market a couple of times a year in my town and it's very popular. There are similar events and weekends all over the country and people dress up appropriately. The styles obviously strike a chord with a lot of people.

It's not the style as such that strikes me as odd: I have a few 1940s-50s dresses that I wear semi-regularly, although I don't go the whole hog with the hair and accessories, I do appreciate that it's a popular era for lovers of vintage things. On its own terms, I can see the appeal in a 1940s event. What I find off in this is tying the hair and food and such like to a commemoration of a military event.

A very bloody military event that scarred some participants for the rest of their lives, with all the repercussions on their families that one might predict.

Yes it’s a bit of taking the joy from the period and then sticking in a dramatic reading of fallons great aunts letter to remind us of the tragedy

but we’re getting the home front view by the sounds of it

@DeanElderberry I'm not saying that we have to glory in it or make light of it. Whether it should be commemorated at all is another question. What I'm questioning is the appropriateness of using the fashion of a particular place and time as a means to remember the sacrifice of soldiers, or whatever it is a military anniversary is supposed to be about. IMO it would be a different matter if it were VE Day, since that more broadly looks at WWII as a whole, including the impact on people in the UK (e.g. rationing of food and fabrics); D-Day, on the other hand, is very specifically about a military campaign in France and I, personally, find it distateful to mark that by recreating fairly loosely-related elements of daily life of the time.

• I probably should note that I'm not a huge fan of such things even when it comes to VE Day, but I would be more inclined to just let people get on with it if it's their thing and sit it out myself.

but we’re getting the home front view by the sounds of it

Unfortunately without the Home Front writers or director …

(Constant bugbear. Such a missed opportunity.)