Archers thread #168: Near to the Maddening Crowd? 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 hear more of Harrison's strange little moaning noises, 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.)

Thanks to @OverArmour for the title suggestion!

Over to you.

😆

Naughty Elephants Squirt Water

can you imagine if Rochelle was a big business type who has shunned her mother because she doesn’t want to be embarrassed!!

still going with her being dead

It was just nice to have a Fallon/Harrison-free episode. I’d even be grateful for Helen to reappear as a distraction from the pregnancy/non-baybee SL.

Always lovely to hear Susan. Given Meg has actually handed over the money, then she technically has bought him and owns him. If he dies before she takes delivery on Friday then I don’t think she would be legally entitled to a refund. It would just be very bad luck and the Grundies could keep the cash. It would leave a sour taste but I don’t think she could do anything about it.

Great episode:
Chatting in the village shop about the fete
Jazzer talking about Alistair and Jim
Bartleby and Gem trotting around the village
And Bartleby staying at home 👍😄

Got Cardiff City v Nantes written all over it

I just thought she was being exceptionally kind and understanding, but good shout

Yes I thought there was a knowing tone to Joy when they were talking about Alice. She said "she's still the same person, Susan". She was was referring to Rochelle as well I thought.

So glad Bartleby is staying. Is George gradually changing for the better I wonder?

I thought it was a bit odd that the lady paid up front. What happens now? Haven't bought/sold horses for a long time but always used to be payment on collection/delivery with a deposit for higher value horses.

Wouldn’t a complete fantasy include an address?

Possibly but it seems a bit too concrete. If Joy was fantasising I wouldn't have though she needed to record a real address in a physical address book. She could just imagine an ideal imaginary home for Rochelle.

how the hell does Martha remember Harry - how inappropriate of Alice to have introduced them. honestly. Her errors of judgement are countless

Have you blanked out the weekend away that never was? That was what began the chain of events that led to Harrison revealing all: he was agonising about Martha being driven by Harry and so Fallon ended up making up a story about not being able to sleep alone and Harrison being on nights. Fallon stayed over at Alice's, she cancelled the weekend with Harry, and Harrison pretended not to be home. And the rest is history.

My favourite mnemonic is “mnemonic” which is a mnemonic for the poisson distribution (the equation which gives you the probability of seeing a random event if you know the average rate at which such events happen - eg the chance of a car passing on a quiet country lane - it doesnt apply when the events start interfering with each other) M to the N times E to the minus M Over N (and the IC you have to remember is factorial)

i like the idea of mnemonic itself being a mnemonic.

I’d even be grateful for Helen to reappear Noooo!!!!

Well done, George! I never thought I’d say that

She’s been making it concrete by talking about her. Poor guy at the address is probably fed up to the back teeth of scribbling “not known at this address” on envelopes and dropping them back into the letterbox

On the ‘she’s still the same person’ - maybe Joy was an addict and lost Rochelle that way. I think the idea Rochelle was adopted has been mooted. So perhaps Rochelle is a fantasy but also a real person who doesn’t want to know her birth mum

I hadn’t forgotten Harry had spent time with Martha but still find it outrageous Alice let him spend enough time with her that she still remembers him this many months later given her age

Bartleby staying! How could they ever consider selling an old pony, Joe's old pony fgs 👀😤

Yes I'm furious at them for selling off an elderly pony for a quick buck. I NEED to know who voted yes 😆

I think the address means that Rochelle leaving Joys life is a relatively recent thing. Joy just hasn't crossed it out of her book yet, perhaps too painful to.

But Mick said it was the only address in her book? I assumed he meant the only one for Rochelle but maybe it was the only one at all

that would support my view that Joy did something bad which meant Rochelle was adopted

I thought he meant only address for Rochelle.

If Joy had done something bad previously you'd think she would be freaking out at the thought of being called up to speak in court. But she doesn't seem that phased by it.

Sad thing is she obviously liked him from what Susan said. I find it amazing the little things that 2 and 3 year olds will bring up months later, without any reminders in between.

i wonder if they sell humble pie in the shop, because if the truth comes out Susan will be needing a job lot. I am not sure George is showing any sign of fessing up any time soon, very worried the defence might trip him up, but that seems to indicate has no intention of telling the truth.

I’m not sure bad like having killed her parents but drug addict perhaps for lower by a breakdown when she lost Rochelle

I’m not sure the defence lawyers are going to be digging into her past and I can’t imagine it will be such a sensational case she will be worried about her photo in the papers

I've always assumed it isn’t her real name and she chose the name to reflect her new positive attitude after her Damascus moment

Talking about Rochelle is one thing. To me that feels like stories Joy is telling people because she finds the truth about her relationship with Rochelle too painful or shameful to admit. It doesn't mean that Joy believes the stories herself. Indeed, her comments to Mick suggest she knows she is lying (not fantasising) about Rochelle.
But writing a real address down in a real address book which she didn't expect anyone else to see seems like something different to me. That would mean she is lying to herself - or fantasising if we prefer to call it by a more sympathetic name - and that she actually believes the stories she is telling.
I think the former is more likely but I may be wrong. Time will tell. Sooner rather than later I hope. I don't do deferred gratification well where TA is concerned.

Yes, this is what I was thinking when Joy was talking to Susan and showing so much sympathy for addicts. It crossed my mind that Joy might have killed Rochelle, or perhaps one of Rochelle's children, while drink driving. Or that Rochelle is in prison for a crime she committed as a result of an addiction.

And I agree 'Joy' is probably an assumed name, adopted in an attempt to put a positive spin on a new, post-Rochelle life.

To whom should I address my petition to have Bartleby made into glue?

If a small batch would be uneconomical then Duke, any number of Grundys, Champion, Lola the guinea pig, and Oliver can be chucked in ad lib. And Justin, although the high phlegm content might affect the quality of the finished product.

Wait. Maybe Joy is Rochelle.

Random sighting of Nigel "Arrrrrrghghhhh" RIP just now in, of all things, B movie gangsta Brit Flick Bonded By Blood 2 on 5 Select

While Bartleby's reprieve is all very well, surely it's another example of the projected events that don't happen, a staple in TA storylines.