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!

I would be very surprised if it is full time. I was very surprised when he agreed to kick Hannah out as I would imagine that rental income was quite a key part of his income

Not recently.

The arson story was 2012 apparently

I think the last storyline Keith was involved in was when Clive last returned and took advantage of his older brother being in prison and his sister in law being lonely.

If the SWs really wanted to mess with us they would have dropped a few tantalising reminders of some of these characters to fuel speculation

Uncle Clive.
Not even sure how I feel about this plot twist RN

Well we didn’t need to hear all of that with Paul did we? A start to make you want to switch off

my interest in the stables and Alice’s genius is very low - perhaps those with knowledge of stables find it more interesting. And why would Alice give Paul the medals and not just keep them at the stables?

so it is Clive. I can’t feel anything about that either - this is all getting a bit bleurgh and sounds like we are going to have an over dramatic finding out

sorry for negativity - life’s tough at the moment and I need some light relief but not getting it listening to this nonsense

@Bruisername sorry to hear that 💐

I think I posted too soon, I actually ended up finding the back and forth with Clive quite chilling. As we’ve discussed on this thread before there’s so much emotional leverage in that family - Emma and Will; Will and Ed, Emma and Ed, plus all the combinations with grandparents etc involved

for the record - I think it’s really silly George ran away and I think bringing Clive back is unnecessary in terms of plot, but if they are going to go there then it’s being done well IMO

Oh dear. It can’t get much worse for Emma really.

Still confused a) as to how George got his number and b) why he introduced himself as George Grundy when he called rather than saying “hi Uncle Clive, it’s George”. Although not sure if he has he actually met his uncle before?

If I was on the edge of being in serious trouble with the law, I don't think the person I'd rush to for help would be the uncle I didn't know personally, but who had managed not just to get sent to prison himself (twice I think) but who had also been instrumental in the jailing of my granny.

dunno, Clive just seems like someone to not hitch my wagon to

I also think Clive sounded very menacing. You could sense what might happen if you got on the wrong side of him. I’d be quite fearful in Emma’s position as it sounds as if he’s out for some kind of revenge.

I really wish they’d give Paul less airtime.

Well he has already made the threat - do as I say or I’ll tell everyone about george

emma should be hot tailing it to the police station

It’s. Just.So.Tedious.

Absolutely this.

There seems to be very little to be gained by Clive in coming to Ambridge, where he is known and loathed and the Grundys have no money to give him, but even more, what is in it for George? Nothing says "I am guilty as hell of something", and makes people look at you suspiciously, quite as much as going off and coming back with a criminal who was arrested by the police for even being in the village at all, ten years or so ago, as your support. I mean, would someone with nothing on their conscience do that? And if George has something on his conscience, what might that be? I think people are liable to start to ask questions when they realise he has asked Clive for help.

I enjoyed it, apart from all the business between Lilian and Paul which was such dull filler that I only listened with half an ear and immediately erased it from memory. Yes, the latter is a gift and I'm grateful for it!

Clive is one of Susan and Tracy's brothers, isn't he, hence the bizarre wish to see thankfully-perma-silent Bert. Is Tracy the only one of those siblings who hasn't got a criminal record? Or has she?

<on edit> With any luck, Emma will tell Harrison, who will go apeshit and end up in prison himself. 😃

Stewart, Gary and Tracy Horrobin don't have criminal records that we know of.

Well, things just got a whole lot worse for the House of Grundy, didn’t they?

And Clive, for all his outward persona of peace, love and garam masala, seems just as bad as ever. Poor Susan is going to need the smelling salts when she finds out he’s back.

Can anyone explain why they have "medals" rather than rosettes for the show? Seems a bit unusual.

I think the daal may mean the smelling salts aren’t needed

i think they had medals so you could hear Paul clinking them. No doubt he will lose them

and prizes for all is shit. I remember winning the greenest jumper when I was about 9 and was fully aware it was a charity prize

Medals because Justin (and apparently pretty much anyone who had anything to do with the stables) is completely clueless about horses and ‘norms’ within equestrianism.

Willow cottage will be sold to a voiceless family as per every other Ambridge house sale in the last 6+ years (sold by a voiced character - beechwood houses have been bought, not sold by voiced characters).

Hear, hear on litter. Balloon releases should be banned.

Gosh, Clive is back. That sounded like Alex Jones to me (played Clive before), but in a vain attempt to make it a total surprise his name isn't in the cast list. The BBC publicity photo for once shows just what I might have pictured, from Clive's voice and general scumminess. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5f185rS96kCZXFyy1byF9J8/clive-horrobin

George hasn't a clue what he's done by bringing this waste of oxygen back to Ambridge. Poor, poor Susan. It's inevitable she's going to encounter him, surely. Of those in the Post Office when he robbed it while armed with a sawn off shotgun, all of whom were kept hostage for a little while, only Kate is still around, I think. Fortunately Christine is safely in The Laurels but Jill is still in Ambridge - these are the two he nearly murdered when he set light to the Old Police House in the hope of killing George Barford, Christine's husband. It would kill Jill off to see him again, I suspect.

My pony once won a wee trophy for Best Mane and Tail! To be fair, his tail, especially, is quite splendid. Another time, he was beaten into second place by a Friesian. It's no shame to be beaten at Best Mane and Tail by a Friesian, though.

Ditto Chinese lanterns.

Oh, yes Please! Apart from anything else, if they use helium it's a terrible waste of an increasingly scarce resource.

The obvious thing is for Will and Emma to repeat what Clive said at the end of the episode to George.

Which is why they won't.

Oh Lord …

So from the very minute George phoned and asked him for help, Clive was realising how he could use George’s ‘predicament’ to squeeze the Grundy / Horrobin clan for anything he can get? For as long as he wants? And it’s in his interests for everything to remain a horrible, terrifying, unresolved secret - for ever.

Great work, George.

(And a BOOP for the story creation. Extraordinary ratcheting.)

Unnecessary ratcheting! This storyline had everything it needed to be quite dramatic enough thank you very much. This is a ludicrous development.