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 see the characters as if TA was on television. They might look a bit like the actors, but not exactly the same. The locations don't look like the ones on the Radio 4 site.

Not sure what thus was in response to but if it is strained it's jelly, if it has lumps of fruit it's jam.

Not usually.

In my mind, no idea whether I'm just weird the mixed fruit jam is always blackberry and apple, never bramble and apple, though the jelly is indeed bramble (even if there are a few crabs in it for the pectin).

I can well imagine the police and prosecution being as thick as that, but doing nothing could bite them in the bum. I once had peripheral involvement in a case where someone was accused of stealing furniture; she said the owner had sold it to her, the police checked the account she said she had made the payment from and were told there was no record of it, and charged her. They must have thought she was bang to rights. The trouble was, the accused had statements showing she had indeed made the payments. When her solicitors asked for someone from the building society in question to give evidence in person, alarm bells really should have rung with someone that that called for a double check, but they did nothing. I was in court when the building society witness gave evidence, it was huge fun, like one of those TV dramas when a prosecution case collapses in front of everyone's eyes.

So in this case, the police really should be double checking for fingerprints and DNA on the steering wheel, brakes and gearstick, to say nothing of asking a few more pertinent questions about how the hell George just happened to be there. But a police force that employs Harrison probably doesn't demand very high brainpower in its recruits.

Yes of course I wasn't meaning to downplay the tragedy of nic's death - think that was the best phase of his life really, being with her. Sad.

Oh I think I completely missed that he knew all along about Matt Crawford! That explains his thinking now a lot more.

Growing up in the South Wales, we called the plants brambles, though we went blackberry picking, to make jelly, which was always called bramble jelly.

It's called a bramble patch in the Brer Rabbit story.

I have always seen bramble/blackberry as interchangeable for the fruit. I would refer to the prickly bush as brambles but it could equally be called a blackberry plant or bush and I'm sure that's how it would be labelled in a garden centre.

Just gone down an internet Rabbit Hole, and found the American versions of Brer Rabbit versions say "Briar patch", but the Enid Blyton book says "Bramble Patch"
I think my mum would have called them briars sometimes.

Personally I call them prickly bastards.

This would make such a cute gift for Rosie. (Though even better as a christening gift for the firstborn of Ben and Chelsea if they ever do get together.)

https://www.woods4sale.co.uk/woodlands/northern-england/2292.htm

I totally zoned out during the Azra/Snell scenes. I couldn’t tell you what that was all about. I had forgotten how it’s possible to let your brain do that- ie to hear but not listen. It reminded me of when my Mum used to listen to TA in the kitchen when we were young and I could just block out the noise as if it wasn’t happening.

Ben and Chelsea if they ever do get together.

If Chelsea were male and Ben female, she’d be regarded as distinctly rapey, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

Why?

It was questionable that Ben had capacity to consent to sex.

Oh I missed that whole scene - was he drunk?

Yes, completely out of it. We didn't hear the actual event but he was very, very drunk. Chelsea was sober.

Moving on - can’t recall if this nice refreshing thing has made an appearance here before?

(I’m assuming it’s nice?)

“bindweed, rapid climber, big white flowers, close relative of morning glory”

I rather like bindweed, we used to call it Granny Pop Out Of Bed because you can make the flowers pop out if you squeeze the base. I'm all for plants being left alone if you like them (I agree with the whole "It's only a weed if it's in the wrong place" thing) - there's something growing over the front wall but it's very delicate with little flowers so I haven't ripped it up like I did the Mercury.

As for brambles/blackberries, generally bramble is the plant and blackberry the fruit here, but bramble can also be used to describe something the fruit is in, e.g. bramble cake or bramble jelly.

A note on jam/jelly: "...if it is strained it's jelly, if it has lumps of fruit it's jam" - jelly is made by cooking the fruit in liquid (usually water) then straining off the liquid and re-boiling it with sugar until it reaches setting point, where the amount of sugar is in a certain proportion to the amount of liquid. Jam is fruit cooked with sugar until it reaches setting point but it can be strained at that point if you really want. You'd be mad lose a lot of fruit but some people don't like "bits".

Weirdly I also would say ‘bramble jelly’ but ‘blackberry jam’ or ‘blackberry and apple crumble’ - no idea why, I’m assuming it’s what my mum would have said. I can’t bear the pips in blackberries so I’ve only ever made jelly.

The plants are brambles. The fruit are blackberries.
Bramble jam/jelly but apple and blackberry crumble.

Just to say that I saw Simon Williams (Justin) in a 1974 edition of Call My Bluff on BBC4 last night. No phlegm, but he referred to his fellow panellist Joanna Lumley as "love". And not in an affectionate way.

Don’t blame him (still haven’t forgiven her for the bloody garden bridge debacle)

I actually do know what a lot of the actors look like but don’t really imagine that either when they speak.
The antithesis of a suspension of disbelief?

My house is not in Scotland, so I call the fruitless stems brambles and the fruit of the bush blackberries. If there were any of the latter, which there are not.

Oh, and I make blackberry jelly. And blackberry jam.