Archers thread #169: Denise rocks the boat in more than one way! Will Chris find a message in a cider bottle? 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 have liked to have Harrison's behbe, 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 https://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 @LikeTalkingToLassie and @BrightYellowDaffodil for title inspiration. Is this the end for Denise and John? It does seem odd to introduce John now if he's going to disappear. He has a lovely voice.

Over to you!

Does anyone ever go to the theatre in TA? I must admit it's a very long time since I last went.

Has anyone already commented how utterly idiotic it is that Lynda is changing the date of the fete so close to the time? To change it once was a foolish move. If she does it a second time we really will be through the looking-glass.

(I attended a local fete last week. Plenty of potential material there, it must be said, including a contretemps involving the photographer from the local paper, which we didn't get to the bottom of. The organising committee are new and the old guard were in hypercritical mode. Pursed lips about the placement of the tombola stall right next to an overly similar stall. Tutting about the allocation of some particularly good donations to said stall rather than the tombola. More tutting about the lack of volunteers from certain quarters, the organisation of the duck derby, allegedly inadequate publicity and far fewer book donations than usual. My 91yo mother was rather hurt and surprised not to be asked to stand behind the cake stall for several hours. Etc etc. I'd much rather listen to stuff like this than the drivel we're getting on TA at the moment. Ah well.)

Surely tonight we’ll hear they’ve decided to merge the two events and hold the fete at The Stables?

The trouble is we haven’t had any conspicuous consumption of culture (or food) since Caroline and Oliver were the new power couple. They ate lots of expensive meals - will never forget her laughing at Shula’s handwringing by exclaiming that she and Ollie had recently enjoyed a restaurant outing that cost fifty pounds! As I recall, the SW had that right at the end of an episode, like a cliffhanger - and I kept waiting for a resolution, which never came. They may or may not have attempted opera - either in London or Tuscany …

Doesn’t Lynda occasionally snoop around the odd show, purely for research purposes?

I've always assumed that Lyndypops only goes to other people's AmDram productions, for the sole purpose of practising her critical sniffing.

Could we possibly arrange for Paul to be in the vicinity of the next Grundy tree surgery? When they shout ‘clear’ he will be unable to hear anything as his head is so far up his own arse.

Shame George’s criminal record will mean he can’t go into childcare. He’s close to breaking…

a little confused how Martha knows about letters and addressing envelopes - would her parents really still be doing that?

farm talk but felt really shoehorned

this bloody hen do is such a tedious and dull SL. Does everything happen in that bloody barn as well! And is she just inviting every one and their dog? It’s all so bizarre

I expect they do birthday cards and the like at school/nursery/wherever.

Wonderful to hear Jill again. What a cheery presence she is!

Yes, lovely to hear Jill! She didn’t sound as quavery as before. Maybe in better health

Jill!

Love that they’ve woven a tiny piece of drama connecting her to the hen do.

I think Jill was wrong to say “in my day a hen do was a quiet … the night before the wedding “. She’s nearly a generation older than me, and “in my day” hen dos were a real novelty

'ten to the dozen' is presumably the quiet, halting, counter to usual lively, chatty, 'nineteen to the dozen'.

Good to hear a bit of farming issues, reference to litter in fields and Asian hornets and the effect on pollinators.

George is starting to properly unravel, isn’t he?

Any hope of the Asian hornets being a feature of the Tragic Village Tree Disaster? Soon.

Yes, lovely to hear Jill! She didn’t sound as quavery as before. Maybe in better health

I’m surprised you say that. I thought she sounded about 125.

I say vick btw

I would tend to agree, though I think a few things like a quiet or even a raucous celebration at a bride-to-be's place of work might have happened before the mid1960s; after all, she might well not be going back to work once she was married so it was a way to say goodbye as well as to congratulate her on her soon-to-be wedding.
But Jill didn't have that sort of workplace.

I do remember my mother, born earlier than Jill between the wars, decrying the newfangled hen parties as a waste of money better spent on something of use for a new household like a good saucepan or some tea-towels; I suspect that attitude comes from there not having been vast scads of money to splash around on peripheral celebrations when she was in her teens (and a war on a little later, too).

So did I, she sounded like she was recording it from bed tbh.

Or rather than a general lack of money, simply the fact that you'd just purchased a house and have the whole house to furnish and equip. Most people find money tight at that point.

Ah well, I'm never good at these things.

I shouldn't have to say it, but for the avoidance of confusion my post that you quoted was entirely sarcastic:

Wonderful to hear Jill again. What a cheery presence she is!

Ah. I thought only the second half was sarcastic.

I think it was nice to hear Jill - even if they’ve decided to make her into an eeyore

Calibre of a country fête, IMO, hinges on whether or not they welly-wang. 👢

I favour the running start technique myself.

Same. I loathe the judgmental querulous old baggage. She behaved DISGRACEFULLY towards Ben.

Jill is awful. Her response to the hen party invite was typically ungracious.

I don’t feel the jill of recent years is the Jill I remember from prior years

Agreed - in fact "in my day" (and I'm at least 20 years younger) hen dos just weren't a thing.