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.

I think the scriptwriters rather enjoy teasing us with rather unbelievable but apparently delicious culinary concoctions. Remember Iain’s dubious sounding Pizzas being given all the rage. Even some of Jennifer’s recipes caused raised eyebrows on here…

edited as my poor English made no sense!

Re fruit cider, they might look at payments at the shop. I think Alice paid on a card, not sure about George. Doesn’t prove anything but might contribute as evidence.

I think Harrison will give George money for Bartleby’s upkeep too, compounding the guilt. What a tangled web we weave etc etc.

There was definitely chat about the fact George had to opt for his lesser choice because that’s how much change he had.

Was it parsnip lasagne Pat made one time?

Yuk. Even though I love roast parsnips that is just wrong.

Not necessarily, to an unsophisticated palate and lover of sweet things

It’s only a lasagne in the sense that a bulb lasagne is a lasagne. It’s just in layers. Not pasta with peanut butter and cream!

Thanks, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . Sorry about my panic attack yesterday, I should have known you were on top of things.

@DeanElderberry marmalade with banana split. The bitterness of the marmalade counters the rich sweetness of the rest (which can certainly include chocolate and cream).

That is in no way a lasagne! I don’t like the habit of naming things to loosely describe it pre make it sound more interesting.

it is a cake and the fact it is layered makes it no more a moussaka or a parmigiana than a lasagne

trifle is more like lasagne than that is

Oh, I hadn't even seen that! I knew we were getting close but I don't like to start a new thread until I've got up to date with that night's episode, which I couldn't do until quite late yesterday. Worked out quite well, luckily. I always fret about leaving the new thread till morning in case an insomniac posts merrily away in the early hours and fills the thread up.

I think I'd rather take my chances with Pat's parsnip lasagne than try that peanut butter thing. It looks cloying as well as very sweet. I assume Fallon wouldn't use instant whip and a box of chocolate pudding mix.

I was imagining a sort of peanut butter twist on a tiramisu

All of those dessert options sound awful to me.
I’d take the parsnips, even if they were in a lasagne.

Bulb lasagne?

Does the word 'lasagne ' mean anything unrelated to the usual recipe? Like, could it means 'layers' or something. I have no idea and am genuinely interested.

The name lasagne refers to the flat pasta sheets so I don’t think it has anything to do with layers

we need an Italian to tell us (once they’ve recovered from the shock of this culinary crime)

Bulb 'lasagne' is a planting technique of putting in tulips, hyacinths, or whatever you fancy at different depths in the pot for maximums flowerage.

Very pretty. Not at all edible.

I hope Fallon burns Harrison’s certificate in a witch’s fire at the nature reserve. For closure, of course.

She is far too accommodating. When he said ‘I’m not going to frame it and put it on the wall’ she said he can if he wants. She’s. But if a doormat on the whole

In that case the peanut butter atrocity is definitely not lasagne.

Thanks. I've never heard of that.

It would actually sound more appealing if it were something like creamy peanut butter layers than lasagne.

I cannot get used to TA on a Saturday. It's just wrong.

I can’t see how that’s a lasagne, surely it’s just a layered dessert unless it’s got pasta in it (which would be truly revolting)?

Anyway, back to Alice. I’ve been mulling this over while mucking out this morning (much to my horse’s annoyance as I was talking to her about it and she wanted her breakfast in peace). I still maintain that a Ring doorbell/dashcam is going to come into it, as it would explain why Robert was suddenly gathering door video footage. He’ll either be looking through it and see something or he’ll give someone else the idea to, not least because Alice’s legal team have got to try and build a defence.

Scenario 1: someone finds doorbell camera footage that shows the car going past with Alice visible in the passenger seat.

Scenario 2: Joy had a dashcam but it’s been discounted because it came loose during the accident/escape and got drowned. But Joy isn’t tech savvy and didn’t realise it backed up automatically to the cloud.

Scenario 3: Alister has a dashcam (most large animal vets have a very nice car IME - mine certainly has a brand new enormous 4x4 every time I see him…) and no-one thought to look at it as he arrived after the accident and it seemed a cut-and-shut case of a drink driver with George as a witness.

Either way the dashcam shows Alice in the passenger seat with a seatbelt on. Alister’s could show George moving her over.

Then, what with the fruit cider in the car and Joy remembering selling it to him, the net starts to tighten around The Hero of Ambridge.

I hate the way the Grundys have been degraded and demonised over the last 30 years, but George needs a dose of nemesis.

I know I’ve said it before but the Grundy’s bring their misfortune on themselves - always on the grift, always cutting corners and it comes back to bite them through not fault of anyone but themselves. I’ve met a fair few types like that and they’re always whining that they’re the victim. They never have much of a thought for the people on the receiving end of their shit behaviour though.

And Freddie’s crimes were lesser than George’s. Nolly took the drugs he gave her voluntarily. Dealing isn’t a victimless crime when you consider the chain of exploitation and suffering that the supply brings, not to mention the crimes contributed to by the drugs industry, but George took a vehicle without consent, drove without insurance, caused an accident which endangered life through careless/dangerous driving and then perverted the course of justice.

wrt sweet pasta, there is the concept of 'milchnudeln' in southern germany and austria, which basically is pasta cooked in milk and with sweet ingredients added. sort of a pasta version of rice pudding.

It’s not a cake. Cakes have eggs in them. The base layer of this is a biscuit.