Archers thread #172: Come on, Clive! Spill the beans and put us all out of our misery. 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 Clive sounds deeply misunderstood, 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.)

Fete over, cricket season over - can the Flower and Produce show be far behind? I don't think I've heard a mention of it this year. Have I not been paying attention?

In any real village, preparations for the Christmas show would already be under way, but not in Ambridge, of course. I am probably in a minority of one in regretting this.

With any luck, though, by Christmas this incredibly protracted tale of Alice, George and the crash will be behind us at last. Do we think Clive's really gone? I don't believe it. We won't be rid of him that easily. Will he go to the police himself? Will he attempt to blackmail his family or extort money from the Aldridges in return for information that would secure Alice's acquittal? Do we care? I find I don't really, unfortunately. I did enjoy hearing Clive for those few brief exchanges but I've had enough now. Unrelieved nastiness is not really what I want from TA.

Over to you!

It was quite bizarre to hear Kate say Brian loves Alice more than her.

Particularly since Brian was not at all keen on the prospect of Alice’s creation. IIRC (and I’ll fight anyone who spoils my long treasured recollection tells me I’m wrong,) he told Jenny she was too old to have another child.

Given the heartache both his biological daughters have inflicted on him, it would be no surprise if he did prefer Debbie. But even she’s had her nose put out of joint by Ruairi.

Debbie has had the advantage of being in another country for the past ten years and more; absence makes the heart grow fonder. She was fair to average vile to Brian shortly after Jennifer's death, though, and has tended to be for the past couple of decades.

Ruairi is the one of his children who has not so far treated him like something to scrape off his or her shoe.

There are people on another board making a convincing argument that Jenny insisted on Adam and Debbie getting a bigger chunk of Home Farm than Kate and Alice (or Ruairi) and that being proof that Adam was actually her favourite.

Which seems a reasonable proposal but I don't remember the thing at all, it must have happened some time I wasn't listening because it was all too miserable and offputting.

The fact there is so much discussion about who is the actual favourite surely means that B and J did a pretty good job at parenting equally and actually favoured no one.

Having favourites is bad, except when it's having a favourite starter-of-new-Archers-threads.

Thank you again @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g.

Debbie has for years been a golden child. Still miss her!

I miss Tamzin Grieg; Debbie I have easily done without, because I thought she was a nasty person. She was the one who advocated intensive farming in Ambridge, for instance, and thought (and openly regretted) that too few cattle were being crammed into the cow-factory being proposed at Berrow by Borchester Land on her advice. Horrible.

Thanks Gasp0de

I was taken aback by Mia's first response to fronting the litter-picking committee's inaugural meeting as a "not relevant to me". Utterly unconvincing for her character and her proven commitment to the planet.

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

What an untidy bunch of folk reside/pass through Ambridge 🤔

Much as I loathe Ruth, I don’t believe she would say ‘ floor’ (flewer) when she meant ‘ground’.

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. I don't understand where this forensic obsession with litter picking is leading or is there suddenly a big campaign in the UK that I am unaware of? It's unimaginable that Brad would be going to study maths at Felpersham with 3 (or was it 4?) A*s - wouldn't he at least have gone to Birmingham - which has a superb maths dept - if he wanted to stay local? Otherwise - if it's absolutely essential he stays in Ambridge for plot purposes - why not give him slightly lower grades or have him ace the maths, but blow it in his other subjects. I actually liked the contrast between him slightly envying Mia for her exciting new adventure while she was having last minute pangs over missing a litter pick in Ambridge and I think there's a story to be told of her spreading her wings while he remains a small-town Ambridge boy, but it's less believable while he's holding such stellar grades.

It was 4 A stars!

As you say - Felpersham is utterly unbelievable. It must surely be Plot.

Also, he went off on that summer course and loved it. He’s the type of person who would have found out all about the lecturers and would have wanted to learn under a specific person.

they are so inconsistent in their writing of Brad - they obviously want him to fill a few character holes but it doesn’t work.

I always look forward to the preparations for the Ambridge Christmas show, though I may not be very representative of the average listener since I am quite obsessed with Christmas and my own festive preparations tend to begin in September!

I imagine part of it is because there's a rise in poorer students staying at home while they are at uni, for financial reasons - compare and contrast with Mia; i guess Andrew is better off than Tracy. But even living at home should still give him access to Birmingham or Warwick, probably some others. I don't think he drives, but there's the train at Hollerton Junction.

I listen on and off and was going to pop in here to ask why Brad was going to Felpersham. I was wondering if he didn't get the grades to go anywhere better, or if it was for financial reasons (will he be living at home?). It sounded odd that the wonder boy wasn't heading off to a highly ranked uni (I remember an episode when he went to an open day)!

That open day episode was bizarre

@Everlore - I may have said this before but there is never any need to quote Gasp0de’s opening post in full. We all know which thread we’re on.

LillianGish
I don't understand where this forensic obsession with litter picking is leading or is there suddenly a big campaign in the UK that I am unaware of?

70th anniversary of "Keep Britain Tidy" this year (it was started by the WI in 1954), plus the UN's World Cleanup Day on 20th September.

I was wondering if the current litter-picking storyline could be leading up to another Archers celebrity guest appearance. It would be great if they could get the prolific litter-picker David Sedaris to visit Ambridge to kick off their anti-litter crusade.

David Sedaris would be fun but I suspect he's a bit too rude for The Archers.

Oh that would be amazing!

Yes to David sedaris!!

on another note, book at bedtime is Alice Munro short stories. I wonder if they’ve thought that through

YES! I thought that! Very odd for a farmer.

I was disappointed, but not surprised. I taught for years in a department that catered mainly for local students. There were always some there that were good enough to have gone anywhere, but had various reasons for staying closer to home. Often, they were among the first in their family to go to uni, and/or finances didn't allow, and/or there were family reasons to stay at home. Sometimes, it was cultural, or a lack of confidence about fitting in at a major institution: I think this is what we're meant to think about Brad's feelings about the Open Day at Durham?! It doesn't matter all that much, though, at BSc level; he'll presumably go on to grad school, and hopefully by then, will have the confidence to fly the nest.