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 heard that sort of name in the first listening. But I’ve since listened twice on line and once on the repeat and not been able to pick up a name

I think your transcription is spot on. I just listened again with your transcript in front of me. Definitely 'Well, uh ...'

The fallout will be much more interesting than this interminable dragging out they are doing with george

I’m actually enjoying the slow-burn. Real life grinds along at a slow old pace and I like that this SL mirrors that. The fallout is going to be electrifying and the ramifications could (should) reverberate for years.

Emma and Will should have frogmarched George back to the police station immediately after he gave that false statement. I have no sympathy for them. They have been talking about doing the right thing for a week now but still haven’t actually done it. Have they learnt nothing from years of watching their relatives make mistakes? Now it’s starting to look all too late...

And tonight we’ll have to cope with more of Ali-stare’s turgid declarations of love for Deneez. What a bore. I can’t think of a love affair that has ever interested me less.

The Alistair and Denise affair just gives me the impression that he's desperate and she's simply bored and that absolutely anyone would have filled the bill for either of them. Now that John knows about it and they (presumably) don't have to sneak around furtively any more, what on earth will they have to talk about?

My impressions is Alistair is, inexplicably, in love and has been for a long time (I recall Jakob first pointed out his crush on Denise during lockdown) but agree she was bored and could have had her head turned by anyone. I can’t see it lasting but then again I was convinced she was lying about the state of her marriage and just stringing Alistair along and it seems I was wrong there so who knows. I just find the entire relationship so odd and unconvincing.

Hmmm, we had the prediction he would be married by the end of this year. As Denise can’t get divorced that quick (can she?) then perhaps he marries someone else!

One of the Button sisters? 😉

I just find the entire relationship so odd and unconvincing.

they have zero chemistry. And FFS why isn't he shouting "it's ALISTAIR"

Whaaat?! Lovell and James are an item, which everyone apparently is aware of, and Alistare hasn't mentioned it all this time?? It would have come up, either pre this scenario as a matter of interest, or certainly in the context of "Well you know who is already in a relationship within the partnership? (The partners!)"

Or Deneez or Paul could have mentioned it.
Beyond ridiculous.

It's the parallel plot thing again, isn't it. One secret needn't have been a secret after all and the other, BIG secret... well!

I was awfully afraid Alistair was about to be knocked over and killed outside Lovell James …

...by George, twocking again 😄

I have yet to come across anyone, either on this thread or among the (very few) TA followers I know in real life, who thinks the Alistair/Denise affair is (a) believable or (b) remotely interesting. The SWs must be completely deluded if they think we are all following the SL with bated breath.
Is it too late for one or preferably both of them to succumb to Weill's Disease contracted in the Mighty Am and put us all out of our misery?

I think it's believable and I'm interested in it.

I think the fact that Emma confided in Will and not Ed will be a real hammer blow to E and E’s marriage. I was also wondering if the accident SL could end in George taking his life. Ostracised by the entire village, Tilly, his family. I hope not, although looking into it I see the last suicide was Greg in 2013. It seems not beyond the realm of possibility that there would be another more than ten years later in such a rural setting.

It's more believsble and more interesting than Brad's 4* A levels.

That would make George a kind of martyr and that would not be satisfactory.

It will cause problems between Emmur and Ed but not that bad - George is Will's son not Ed's. Unless Ed has some vision of how he could have completely made the problem go away?

I believed in the romance until it became public and it's been since then

This George storyline is ridiculous now.

Would Emma be able to make a statement to the police saying what she knows now? Or is it just hearsay?

Agree about E & E. But George? I don't think so. We had a brush with serious depression recently with Ben and all the helplines were flagged. Besides, he's far too invested in self-preservation.

George's reference to the last meal was odd, though. Hyperbole? I took it to mean he was intending to leave his Ambridge life, as I've thought all along he was going to do a runner.

He won't succeed though, will he? But not before Will and Emmur have been put through the wringer, and Ed finds out what Emma knew, etc, etc...

I don’t mind it either. I like Alistair and like to see him happy. The sneaking around wasn’t cool, it would have been more decent for Denise to do the right thing over the summer and end things with John, and then her and A bided (bade?) their time and had a nice romantic Xmas get together or something…. the Paul complication plus all the hand wringing at work is annoying, could do without all the dramz. But I can believe in them as a couple.

I'm still slightly baffled by the Lovell James interview, seems a bit heavy handed for mere dramatic irony. Life partners, who knew? Do we expect to hear more from this department?

Checking into the thread very late (I am on holiday somewhere with poor internet access, which generally winds dc up more than me, except when I really need it to make actual plans).

Boop for Brad's A Level results, but the idea of making George go out to celebrate for Mia was bizarre. Was Will invisaging a speech along the lines of 'Well, two of my children will shortly be leaving Ambridge: one for university and the other for prison. Poppy and I will miss you both. I would say we'll visit, but we all know that I've reached my early 40s without seeing foot outside Borsetshire, so that would be a lie. Please raise your glasses to George and Mia.' ?

(I am aware that Mia isn't technically Will's child, but given Andrew's silence she might as well be).

Now just waiting for Emma's results!

I have caught up with the episodes since then, but have nothing to add about them.

@Fink Can I give you an A* for Will's speech?

I imagine that whatever the questions were in Emma's exam, she wrote some tosh about Lark Rise under Candlewick, and will therefore either fail or get an A* and an immediate scholarship to Yale.