Archers thread #171: Harvest's nearly over – but will George ever reap what he has sown? 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 been delighted with a hand-painted squirrel tray for your 40th, as shown below, 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.)

All I have to say about current storylines for now is that I want the George Alice crash stuff to come to a resolution, sooner rather than later, and I also want to hear very little indeed of Alistair, Denise and Paul maundering on. More of Jakob would be very welcome. His brother can come back any time too.

I now declare this thread open for business!

the parents of ambridge don’t half infantilise their children. Choose a paint indeed

weird hearing the Grundy brothers getting on!!

weird hearing the Grundy brothers getting on!!

Don’t worry, it won’t last

I definitely see Ed going mad over the betrayal. The lies upon lies. I predict Friday it all blows up.

Agreed. And the truculence.

Chelsea's a bit of a stroppy teenager socially, but completely different and very confident when she's doing someone's hair. I think she'll grow up when she qualifies and starts "real life" doing something she enjoys and is good at.

I still want her to marry Freddie, because (a) I think they'd have fun together and (b) it would kill Elizabeth.

Not relevant to current SLs but just came across this story about Auntie Chris. (Well, not her of course, but wondered what she was up to.)
https://www.lincolnshireworld.com/news/people/star-of-the-archers-soap-is-now-a-talking-newspaper-volunteer-in-louth-at-age-of-90-4747311

Brilliant! Well done Auntie Chris. That's something I would enjoy doing and I shall contact the local RNIB to volunteer.

I used to do something similar in China, recording the tapes that went with English language teaching text books. They were generally written by people whose English was - er - less than perfect, but we was had to read what was wrote anyway, because they already been printed! 😉

I mostly recorded conversations with the same man, who unfortunately had a similar sense of humour to mine. I shall never forget the scene about Chinese New Year lanterns, and my immortal line "I wish I had a big, balloon-shaped one like yours!"

Much as I generally like most Archers characters, Tom has always annoyed me and him “not hearing” his daughters in order to make his wife get up with them just confirms everything I’ve ever suspected about him. He is That Man. The subject of a thousand frustrated AIBU threads. And an entitled arsehole to boot.

I bet Tom has a ‘this is what a feminist looks like’ tshirt.

Tom is awful. I was surprised Natasha shrugged that off. A nice breakfast when you’re home doesn’t cut it.

Is she still meant to have an awful sweet tooth? That storyline was an odd one. As was the spending. Haven’t heard either for ages.

Really? I enjoyed it, thought it was a very natural sounding scene(s). I am a Natasha fan though. Why she married Tom Archer is a mystery that I will never fathom.

Ruth said "a strong flask of coffee" which has a completely meaning to 'a flask of strong coffee'.

For some reason this infuriated me I know that many of the script writers have dodgy grammar but you would think the actors night have pointed out this error and corrected it. Maybe they don't care.

Yes really. Pat always sounds wooden and Natasha not much better. Natasha is loathsome so well suited to Tom.

I hate the sniffing. Has nobody told her how unpleasant it is and that she should blow her bloody nose

Ruth said "a strong flask of coffee" which has a completely meaning to 'a flask of strong coffee'.
It was Natasha not Ruth.

For some reason this infuriated me I know that many of the script writers have dodgy grammar but you would think the actors night have pointed out this error and corrected it. Maybe they don't care.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Nah, I think you can allow 'flask-of-coffee' as a vernacular compound noun.

It's certainly irritating when you stop to think about it, but the thing about ordinary speech, which SWs attempt to imitate, is that it's hasty rather than thoughtful.

I agree. I say things the wrong way round, change my mind about what I'm saying mid-sentence, all sorts... If the scriptwriters really reflected everyday conversations, it would probably be more disjointed, lots of ums and ers, hesitations, more swearing, repetition, etc, etc. I think we're saved from most of that, fortunately.

If you've ever transcribed voice recordings, you realise just how many filler words and hesitations and so on people use in real life, even when they're trying to speak more formally, e.g. in a meeting. Not everyone is as bad as it could be, but I am glad we don't hear all the ums, ers, y'knows, etc.

I rather like Natasha. I think she did very well to build up her business by herself from humble beginnings. Not surprisingly her get up and go spirit seems to have been rathered smothered by the awful Tom, which is why she has been reduced to getting irritatingly over involved in the minor details of the tea room. If she hadn't married Tom she could have been much more successful, and consequently much less irritating, by now.
She reminds me very much of someone I know who wasn't able to fulfil her full potential because she had a very severely disabled child to look after as a single parent after her husband walked out on them - she will try to run your life for you if you let her and lots of people can't bear her for that reason but don't have the gumption to stand up for themselves, but if you make it clear that you aren't going to let her ride roughshod over you (as I do) she is great fun and really good company. I think she could have been running the country if her circumstances had been different.
That maybe why I like Natasha - although I am obviously not comparing Tom to a disabled child!

PedantScorner
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

I would have thought it a simple case of Muphry's law, or one of its many variations.

. I couldn't resist.

for completely irrational reasons i can hardly bear to listen to the Pat actor. Her voice and inflections drive me bonkers. I have so enjoyed not hearing her.

Natasha sounds like an entitled brat who has birthed the World Saving Twins. Urgh.

They were talking about visiting Roy a couple of weeks back

is it usual for the sw to reference the character of a sadly departed actor so much?

I couldn't comprehend Ed putting £10 in George's account so he could 'buy a few pints' for his friends. A pint must be about £4 or so in Ambridge so how many rounds does he think George will manage with £10 in Bournemouth😂

I used to quite enjoy Formerly-Welsh-Pat, but she has become increasingly pointless, and poor Tony is just irrelevant. Natasha is also going through a dull patch: I much prefer her in being-absolutely-awful mode.

Poor Ed!

I mean - if £10 is all he can manage, despite seemingly numerous jobs - how furious is he going to be when he finds out he’s sacrificed it because he was lied to? That his wife and his brother conspired to lie to him?