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.

Definitely 2010, it’s when I started listening properly rather than dipping in and out. Matt was still in prison but Lillian had begun to show an interest in the atrociously drippy Paul.

I knew I loved the character of Brine when he referred to the Alice/Chris marriage as “a starter marriage”.

The thought of him in lycra is appealing

I winced at the voiced final S in croissants too! Often characters use phrases that don't seem right for their age or background though, everyone seems to call their evening meal "tea" for instance.
Paul saying he felt he was "an old soul" because he liked to slug on the sofa eating crisps puzzled me. I thought old soul meant wise beyond their years, almost as if they had lived a past life and been reincarnated. He seemed to use it to mean " someone who enjoys things more associated with the elderly such as a sedentary life". Not sure where the crisps fit in.

Didn't Paul die? Maybe I imagined it.

Oi no spoilers on this thread ;)

I have just realised, before I starting listening again (just before Jennifer died), that it must have been in the 90s I first listened for a few years, because I remember poor pregnant Elizabeth being dumped (just like young Pip/Fizz has been by Jude in my alternate 2010 timeline).

@VoxPop Oi no spoilers on this thread ;)

Arf! Frankly, I'm astonished that I even remember him, 11 years on! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/3Clsr6r3VtCVlJVRFgd6QLJ/paul-morgan

Agree...am quite partial to a MAMIL myself!
(MiddleAgedManInLy ra, for the uninitiated)

*Lycra

Ooh I like this! Ready for it to be renamed 'The Grorrobins'.

I was wondering whether the couple of recent mentions of MAMILs speeding through the village (although having time to stop off to clear out the shop of various products) will have anything to do with John, Denise, and Alistair in the future.

Motoring through this thread - 905 posts. Title thoughts now welcome ...

A reference to Chris’ sleuthing?

Oh yes the cyclists "clearing out the shop" were very pointedly mentioned at least twice.

Alistair is being incredibly duplicitous having those sorts of chats with Paul. Hope he gets punched when it all comes to light.

Yes, but I think it was in AmEx rather than the main programme.

It does feel like Denise is playing with Alastair and is going to make out it was him pushing things etc. Hope we don’t end up with some employment law coming into play🙄

she must get some pleasure from the situation but they haven’t had sex have they? I think she likes having someone fall in love with her but will ultimately stay with John. Not great her to shit all over her sons workplace

The first scene of Sunday’s episode indicated that they have finally DTD, I thought (references to ‘last night’). I suppose we should be thankful, if only for the sake of waterfowl morals, that they weren’t at it in the boat.
(Although how a night together stacks up with Denise dropping off a food parcel to Paul on Sunday morning, goodness knows.)

I suppose we should be thankful, if only for the sake of waterfowl morals, that they weren’t at it in the boat.

Have you ever seen ducks in action? I don't think they have any morals in the respect.

I saw some MAMILs only yesterday. They are ubiquitous on the country lanes round here. So unattractive as they propel
themselves along. They literally think they own the road- don’t get me started…

I don’t know how Stella can bear talking to Pip. Her conversation is so two-dimensional. She sounds like a teenager who has yet to finish her A-Levels. Would anyone - apart from a teenage boy - get excited about a soggy mini-croissant at a board meeting?!?

I will be really sad if Alice goes to jail. I have a disproportionate reaction to any injustice - even in soaps.

I agree with you other than John almost certainly has an attractive posterior as he propels along. I can tell by his voice that he's a damn sight more sexy than Ali-stare.

Would a teenage boy get excited about a soggy mini-kwassont?

The clear signposting in last night's episode that Pip is a cat person while Stella (as we know) is a dog person sounded like another nail in the coffin for their long-term future. Perhaps the new thread title could also feature a reference to their relationship going to the cats.

I refuse to entertain the idea of the graceless yahoo Pip being a ‘cat person’; more pertinently, so would any self-respecting cat - and there is no other kind.

well we dog people don’t claim her!!! Can you imagine the poor pup having to live with her - but at least it would be fed well from fat Rosie

From, or on? Don’t get my hopes up, @Bruisername.

Frankly, a pet rock would find Pip an embarrassment.

The farm dogs when I grew up were fed exclusively on table scraps. It sounds like it would be slim pickings once Rosie had finished.

Isn’t it time that child had a voice - if only occasionally? She remains entirely imaginary - and I can’t really be bothered to conjure her any personality.

No.