Archers thread #170: The scriptwriters have cast a Paul on proceedings! 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 Drunk Alistair, 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/radioaddicts/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/radioaddicts/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. I was tempted to try some sort of complex riff on chocolate names, given @PedantScorner's lightbulb moment - Paul's sister is Cara Mack! - and all the nonsense in last night's episode about coffee creams, but I couldn't be bothered, beyond thinking we must all be Cadbury's Fruit and Nutcases for listening at the moment. Let's hope the SWs take a walk along Quality Street or we'll have to put a Bounty on their heads!

And over to you ...

@BeatriceBatchelor - I feel much the same, though I suspect I may have a somewhat unreliable moral compass. I can't find it in my cold, dead heart to blame George for the accident. Okay, had he not driven her home then it wouldn't have happened - or at least, not that particular accident. But who knows what might have happened when she woke up, under the delusion that she was sober, and drove herself home?

I can understand why he didn't immediately admit he was driving: he's a Horrobin/Grundy cross, and an immature one at that. And after that, it was too late. But with hindsight, he should probably just have let her fall out of the door of the moving car, ideally into the Am.

When it comes to court, I do hope that Harrison makes some sort of impassioned "victim" statement about the loss of Harrispawn and that Fallon (expecting it) contacts the defence so as to be called to contradict him!

I had an awful experience with the RSPCA and a grey squirrel. I understand they have to euthanise them because they are vermin but the inspector didn’t have to be so nasty about it

I have sympathy for George - it was just n accident but he made it a crime by blaming Alice. A split second decision which is destroying him

Yes, but is it somehow more acceptable if his split-second decision destroys her?

Alice did not take without consent and drive someone else's car having drink taken, she did not cause what might have been a fatal accident by her driving, she did not then frame someone else to pretend they had committed the crime she had, and she did not tell any lies either to the police or to the local village at large about what happened. Why is she to be penalised unjustly, just because George is oh so terribly sorry that he looks like getting caught?

Why is she to be penalised unjustly ...

Because she's Alice? I'll drink to that!

They are a dreadful organisation and I don't know anyone who has got a good word for them in general. I'm sure there are inspectors who do do a good job but I've had several occasions on which I've called them over the years and they've been absolutely appalling every time.

Oh I don’t think she should be penalised at all but I really hope she doesn’t feel vindicated and then think she can drink again

“Love of booze” doesn’t come close to describing alcoholism.

Alice has had a dysfunctional relationship with a drug that is widely available and socially acceptable. Not everyone reacts to alcohol in the same way.

It’s too simple to dismiss it as a “love of booze”.

Thanks@Scarydinosaurs , you expressed it better than I could. We lost DH to cirrhosis last year and the flippant remarks on here about alcoholics are hard to take.

It would be easier for Emma to compartmentalise if Alice wasn’t the mother of her niece and that is the genius of this plot twist. Emma is torn between protecting her son and doing the right thing by her brother and her niece. If she colludes with George and Alice goes to prison she is condemning Martha to the same trauma she herself suffered as a child. And if her collusion is discovered she is destined to repeat history - risking the same fate as her mother who went to prison for trying to cover for a family member. It's quite brilliant!

So sorry for your loss @OnlyFrench

It's quite brilliant!

It really is.

Surely Emma realises that now she knows the truth, the clock is ticking - for her?

I'm hoping that Emma will now confide in her mum - or perhaps more likely her dad - and this will be made clear to her.

How long was Susan in prison?

Please can the RSPCA hating fox rescuers find a more appropriate board to continue their discussion on, as this has nothing at all to do with the Archers.
I am a hard working cat rescue volunteer for the RSPCA and I come on here for light relief as I catch up with people's comments on the latest Archers episodes - not to read a load of abuse about the organisation that I work for.

I feel much the same, though I suspect I may have a somewhat unreliable moral compass.

I think it's partly down to the excellent acting from the actor playing George. He's developed the character from an odious little scrote to one that you can feel sympathy for. I was surprised Emma didn't feel the same but Lillian Gish makes an excellent point about the similarities between young Emma and Martha.

But everything that happened that night was as a result of Alice being pissed out of her mind.

"The love of booze" comment was my dodgy moral compass speaking. I know alcoholism is much more complex. My grandfather's alcoholism ruined my mother's life as well as his own.

Please can the RSPCA hating fox rescuers find a more appropriate board to continue their discussion on, as this has nothing at all to do with the Archers

To be fair much of the content of these threads is non Archers related.

I find the endless chatter about food and how clever certain posters are very tiresome but I'm not here to police what posters talk about so I just scroll on down ...

I wonder if Emma would consider speaking to Alice and helping her to remember/suggest tracking where the cider bottles were sold/door cam etc so she aides the investigation but unknown to George.

I’m sorry you feel like that but we discuss all sorts of things on these threads and you don’t get to police what other people say or the opinions they hold.

There have been a few comments not “a load of abuse”.

Also - could Harrison get into trouble for not properly investigating the crime if/when the truth comes out that it was George?

Grey squirrels can't be released because they are an alien species. Elizabeth Pargeter had the same problem when she rescued a muntjac deer.

No. Particularly since he wasn’t ‘investigating’ it at all. Pity, but there you go.

I can’t bear the thought of having to listen to more wailing about the baby that never was. That was the low point of that sl

Oh of course. Still. Surely they can get him on something…his policing career is hanging on by a thread and something will chop it.

I’m sorry for your loss @OnlyFrench and how some comments on here have made you feel. Ditto @TamzinGrey and thank you for the work you do 🐈