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!

Brad and Mia's A-level results were so outstanding that they have both been offered full scholarships to Stanford, Yale, CalTech and MIT and are too busy trying to work out how to get passports to grace our airwaves.

He’s a retired professor . IME academics will drink anything masquerading as ‘coffee’ and lose most of their tastebuds the ability to discriminate. Wouldn’t stop the old bore pontificating about it, mind. (What is the Latin for coffee?)

I'm I the only listener who couldn't care less about Brad and Mia's exam results?

Disgraceful attitude! I, for one, have been on tender-hooks for weeks.

(What is the Latin for coffee?)

Coffea

No, I'm with you on that. Brad won't have done badly in his maths, and even from that MN bugbear the "former poly" will, if he wishes, have access to a reasonable income AND good life balance while he's doing it.

What is the Latin for coffee? "The earliest mention of coffee noted by the literary coffee merchant Philippe Sylvestre Dufour[11] is a reference to bunchum in the works of the 10th century CE Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, known as Rhazes in the West." (wiki). It's just conceivable that there isn't a word for "coffee" in Latin

That's the scientific name for coffee (which we loosely and incorrectly call the "Latin name") - it's not a word which any Roman would have known - it appears to have been invented by Linneaus in 1737, either from the Turkish or via a Swedish intermediary

Since I'm in pernickity mood - tenter-hooks, the hooks used to hold in place in the frame pieces of cloth drying and being stretched to shape in the fields.

I had no idea there were any still in existence

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g you may have been having coffee right next to me… 😮 would love to know which cafe you were in.

joining those who are struggling to care about catching up lately, but I am disappointed to here there was no talk of Mia and Brads results. Could anyone remind me how old the Button siblings are? Would they be getting results too?

I think the Buttons are early 20s now, at least the girls. Dunno about Billy.

Next Door Records, Stoke Newington Road. Probably about 10am, maybe a bit later.

I’m a long time lurker on the Archers’ threads - thank you @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g and others for all that you do. First time posting.

I may have missed this being discussed, either here or by the characters, but why would Alice go to prison? No one died. It would be her first offence (I think?). Wouldn’t she get a suspended sentence as she has a young child? If anyone with more knowledge of sentences for drunk driving can explain it to me. And I guess, if George does confess, again would it be a custodial sentence? I know it’s all fiction and it’s never accurate but no one in TA seems to have questioned it - and I feel it’s just a constant at the moment, from eg Justin, that she’s about to go to prison. Thanks

@MereDintofPandiculation Since I'm in pernickity mood - tenter-hooks,

Arf! Sorry - sometimes jokes about US English fail.

And I guess, if George does confess, again would it be a custodial sentence?

Yes, for perverting the course of justice.

The original offence, if there even was one, no. He could have claimed he had Alice's consent to drive the car. There was a very slight possibility that Alice's insurance might have been wide enough to cover him so he wasn't driving without insurance. He might well have been under the limit for driving and he could have claimed Alice's actions caused him to swerve.

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g for the new thread

welcome @NinetyPercent

As far as Alice going to prison. It was quite a serious accident, luckily no post birth humanoid was killed (primarily thanks to Alistair and Denise and of course super George). Alice was also massively over the limit

It was considered, I think by her solicitor, that she may avoid prison if pleading guilty. But when she at the last minute pleaded not guilty, then it was considered she would be far more likely to get a custodial sentence if convicted.

Sentencing guidelines

It's not a definite but looks like a theoretical possibility since she caused an accident which is an aggravating factor

Thank you @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g!

Had the writer of tonight’s episode ever MET a cow? A crisp packet stuck in its mouth would mean it was waving its head around and it would be obvious something was stuck. There’s not that much room in there, it’s a cow not a chuffing whale.

That said, I’m all for dire warnings about litter in the countryside. Perpetrators should face the death penalty and that includes those arseholes who leave bags of dog shit on trees.

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I always get quite giddy about results days! I always know when they are and which of my friends need good luck type messages for their kids.

I am assuming that most people think they're weird as they age. I definitely do!

It was quite a serious accident

The thing is, it wasn’t really, not from the vehicular point of view. It was a minor shunt, plus inconvenient river. It seems likely that Joy’s (relatively trivial) injuries were sustained as the car plunged - well, more wobbled, really - into the mighty Am, rather than as a result of the impact. Mick was absolutely fine. Fallon had bruised ribs. Neither George nor Alice was injured at all.
If a sober driver who wasn’t twoccing and driving without DC&A had been at the wheel of Alice’s car, I think more people might be questioning Mick’s driving, too.

Oh yes my eyes rolled so hard!

Well I suppose it would have been worse if there hadn’t been rescuers at hand.

i still don’t understand why a narrow bridge with not very secure sides traverses such a deep and wide river

Did any horsey folk roll their eyes about the colic incident?

Yes. I am not a vet (IANAV) but if food was stuck it must have been choke (very different symptoms) and accessed from, erm, the front. Anything accessed/reachable from the rear end, having been through the horse’s loooong digestive system, is no longer food.

Advice about walking colicking horses is out of date, too, never mind travelling them. Travelling can take its toll on horses - they have to balance themselves constantly for a start - so the last thing I’d do with a horse that’s suffered colic is travel them.

It was a serious crime because of Alice's level of inebriation.

If a sober driver who wasn’t twoccing and driving without DC&A had been at the wheel of Alice’s car, I think more people might be questioning Mick’s driving, too.

If a sober driver who wasn’t twoccing and driving without DC&A had been at the wheel of Alice’s car, the accident wouldn't have happened. George swerved the car into the direction make was taking.

The picture has been marked 'sensitive content'!

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle , that’s sort of the distinction I was drawing: the accident itself was relatively small beer. Which could be better phrased. But as a crime, less trivial, because relatively large vodka.

I can’t take the mighty Am seriously.