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 Paul and Etienne may have been together before he moved into The Stables - so not new. In fact Etienne was probably the reason Paul rejected Ruairi’s advances.

Did you mean Josh sounded jealous? Maybe not what the SW intended - I don’t know. But as I keep repeating, Paul is intended for Ruairi, so he and Josh will be faaaaaam’ly one day. 🔮

dunno, I felt that stuff about Paul being with a man who wasn't good enough for him was a bit - wistful

in my village someone would have done so by now

Surely no one would want to dob Oliver in? Grey Gables (if written with any sense) must provide some helpful local employment for a good few people who aren’t commuters or digital nomads. I daresay there are nimby parents living in Beechwood or other Ambridge estates - but it wouldn’t be in their interests to disrupt a source of holiday and weekend work for their offspring. And anyway - how would anyone know?

@DeanElderberry - don’t go putting ideas into the SWs’ heads!

indeed, that might provoke an extreme allergic reaction

That was Emma’s worry when Oliver sold the land - that the buyer would report

I don’t think Josh was jealous, more perplexed by Paul being such an idiot

Yes sorry meant Josh. Yes I'm not convinced it's what they intended either but it was the way he didn't want to repeat what he said.

Chris going to see Harry felt a bit ham fisted, but I can see it was necessary to advance the plot. Chris was never going to jump to the immediate conclusion that his own nephew might have been driving, he's on the right lines though and slowly but surely he'll get there. If Emma is her mother's daughter, Chris is definitely his father's son - calm, measured and loyal to Alice even in her worst excesses. Maybe having someone believe in her will help shake out some shards of memory and in the meantime the pressure must be piling on for George who presumably is aware of the way Chris is thinking. At the moment it's unthinkable that George - with his hero tankard in The Bull - could be responsible, what will it take for that to change? I couldn't be less interested in Paul and his invisible boyfriend or Paul's mum and his invisible dad though it feels inevitable that there is more of this tedium to come.

This almshouse was on the local news recently. It has a wonderful setting, very near Waterloo Station. There are still quite a few almshouses dotted around in London.

There are some rather lovely ones in prime St John’s Wood.

I couldn't be less interested in Paul and his invisible boyfriend or Paul's mum and his invisible dad though it feels inevitable that there is more of this tedium to come.

Yes, I fear you're right. The mention that Alistair and Denise are away together on a training course won't have been for nothing. Whether they're finally going to get together, or have a very awkward time alone/ avoiding each other, it's surely a sign that their story is going to feature soon.

Compare and contrast

etienne wanting to open the relationship in truthful and open manner

denise having an affair

isn’t Paul the mature one going for therapy🙄

That's a beautiful little haven.

Would be, if it weren’t for those buildings behind it.

Therapy with a man so invested in their relationship that he wants to ‘open it up’ to others and falls asleep and misses the therapy.

I can only think we are being subjected to this nonsense over the unseen Etienne so that when Paul complains to his mum about the way he is being treated, she feels guilty about her affair with Alistair.

I was thinking of it as an escape from all that. I would probably never leave the garden.

Basingstoke has some right in the middle of town. I suspect there are lots around thst people don't really notice.

I used to live in a former almshouse in Kent. It was lovely. Easily the most characterful building I've ever lived in. I'm glad that I wasn't responsible for the decoration though: the floors, walls, and ceilings were all very uneven. It sometimes felt a bit like being seasick.

I see these from my train on my commute into London. I've always thought how adorable they look. They are next door to another special building: https://stephenliddell.co.uk/2021/05/12/67-hopton-street-an-oasis-of-antiquity-in-a-sea-of-modernity/

Will Meg have CCTV

Tree surgery sounds like an accident waiting to happen…

is Emma’s chip reducing! George overwhelmed by his guilt

definitely George’s escape!!

Lilian is going to be livid with Justin if she finds out what he said.

Justin was entirely justified, which is not something I expected ever to write. Alice hasn’t been at the stables for two years yet, so she could (should) just have been fired. Since when Lilian finds out he’ll get rat week anyway, I don’t see why he didn’t when she refused to resign.

Agree that he is right - maybe not about asking her to resign given he hadn’t agreed that with Lillian - but as a business they can’t be without a manager indefinitely and they can’t afford to pay 2 salaries for the same job

I was so hoping Em would decapitate herself and Ed. Or do something beyond the scope of the first-aid kit.