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 ...

I think Roy got the bigger portion when they spilt the house

confessing to Harrison would be the stupidest of all options

Ah that’s what I couldn’t remember, the name of their house.

Anyway, this is all a distraction from the will he-won’t he story. Trying to pin it on Harry is a non-starter as we know; in fact, that would alert Chris to the truth immediately. Also, does it not occur to George that some might wonder why he hasn’t mentioned this crucial clue before?

Willow Farm was a farmhouse and it was IIRC extended then split into a small 2-bedroomed house (Willow Cottage) and the main house.

Willow Farm was where Roy, Hayley, Abbie and Phoebe lived.
Mike lived in Willow Cottage, got married to Vicky and they had a child, Bethany,
They sold Willow Cottage and moved to Birmingham.

The new house, Willow Cottage, was the one rented by Brine and Jennydarling.

Didn’t Betty die shortly after the work started/ended?

She died before it started. Caroline first suggested dividing Willow Farm into two dwellings, for Mike and for Roy and his family, on 18th February, 2008, and Betty had died on 16th December, 2005.

Oh wow - I didn’t realise it was so long ago!

Hi, new poster to the thread here 👋🏻
I am so annoyed with the crash SL now. Does anyone else feel it’s gone beyond exciting and interesting, and is just making them angry? I just want George to be caught.

Welcome!

I wouldn’t say it’s making me angry but I’m starting to roll my eyes a lot. They’re pushing it too far imo

I find it fine. We know there will be cliffhangers and it gives time for hearing of everyday events in rural Borsetshire.

I don’t think it’s the dragging out that’s necessarily the problem - it’s more the ridiculous side roads they’re taking (which I think Chris wanting it to be Harry and then George wanting to frame Harry are - although the ridiculous Chris confronting Harry scene at least makes sense now even if it’s a stupid angle)

Exactly this, on all counts.

George is desperate because he’s losing control. But he’s going to point the finger of blame at someone who has a rock solid alibi (I should imagine people in rehab facilities are checked on regularly, if nothing else, which will show he couldn’t have temporarily absconded?) and then the suspicion will fall on George as so why he’s lying. Will and Emma will go along with it to start with because they’re equally desperate to keep George out of trouble/prison but one of them will crack in front of the police in a “George, it’s time to tell the truth” kind of way.

George had always believed that he can wheedle his way out of anything, Eddie-and-Joe style, and he’s about to find that there’s limits to that.

confessing to Harrison would be the stupidest of all options

I can imagine the episode ending on a Miss Piggy-esque scream as Harrison lunges for the murderer of his only heir…

@BrightYellowDaffodil I can imagine the episode ending on a Miss Piggy-esque scream as Harrison lunges for the murderer of his only heir…

Now that would be fun!

Are the litter-pickers going to find empty fruit cider bottles swigging-distance apart, in the verge of the road leading to the bridge? And is Joy going to remember that George is the only person in the history of Ambridge to buy said fruit cider?

I’ve been meaning to ask, everyone in the entire village seems to know that Emma loves sausage rolls - did we?

wouldn’t a Kirsty/harrison affair over litter picking be something to behold (and hopefully see him packing)

Kirsty is far too good for Harrison. I can imagine him trying to get something going, though.

You lost a behbeh too, Kirsty.

With luck she would then whack him over the head with her litterpicker and bury him somewhere in the rewilding. Not a court in the land would convict if they had to listen to the recordings inflicted on us these last few months. She'd be doing a public service.

I had no idea; what I did know was that George is known to love them, and it was him clandestinely eating one at Berrow Farm but leaving the wrapper lying about that got him sacked for breaking the hygiene regulations about no pork products on a pig farm.

(Edited to add: this answer is to the question about Emma loving pork pies. Sorry.)

Kirsty is a bit past it for breeding purposes, though.

I can imagine the episode ending on a Miss Piggy-esque scream as Harrison lunges for the murderer of his only heir…

With luck she would then whack him over the head with her litterpicker and bury him somewhere in the rewilding. Not a court in the land would convict if they had to listen to the recordings inflicted on us these last few months. She'd be doing a public service.

You lost a behbeh too, Kirsty. He'll be looking for a younger, broodier woman to make behbehs with.

Cursedy's about 43. The poor lassie has been cursed enough without having PC Plod inflicted on her.
How old is Hannah? Might she be hankering after piglets of her own?

Will really was at his most bovine tonight.

I vote for "the stupidest of all options"

The bit I couldn't bear about this episode was Will and Emma's precis of their previous talk of the night before at the start. Such clumsy writing. Grrrr.

Good call. There has to be some plot point to all the litter conversation.

Hannah's been in Ambridge since 2008, i.e. 16 years. I can't remember (or rather, never knew) how old she was when she arrived, but I'd guess she must be 40-ish? In any event, she has done nothing so bad that she deserves Harrison!

How on earth has Hannah been in Ambridge that long and nothing of note has happened to her?!