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!

Joy has her own, at least 3 bedroom, house.

Fallon moving in with Joy would be a good move for both of them.

I think Fallon and Joy might get on rather well as housemates, if Mucky Mick could only be given the boot.

I’m well aware of that. But not everyone wants a lodger if they have a regular boyfriend around.Especially if they don’t need the money.

Yes. Me too. Very moving.

They do like their toxic masculinity on the archers. Do all the menfolk need to express their feelings through such aggression. I even failed to find much sympathy for Brian’s angina attack tbh.

why is Neil always the only grown up

I feel bad for Emma and Will as the thought your child may attempt suicide is so hard

didn’t Helen get Tom to take the blame when she was drunk driving? Bit pot kettle

I will give the sw points for the Brian Tony chat and George is a fabulous actor

i am annoyed with Neil convincing George not to report Harrison purely because I hate harrison

and as for George’s trial - is it realistic it will go to court quickly

didn’t Helen get Tom to take the blame when she was drunk driving? Bit pot kettle

The difference is that Tom consented to taking the blame though!

Actually, was Helen over the limit or just driving carelessly?

and as for George’s trial - is it realistic it will go to court quickly?

He’s pleading guilty so there won’t be a trial, just sentencing. I think that does indeed happen quite quickly.

HotCrossBunplease
was Helen over the limit or just driving carelessly?

She was drunk as a skunk. I don't think there can have been any way she was not over the limit.

Oh Neil 💔

Well done on cracking through that hard carapace of aggression and bluster that George has been cowering behind.

Agree 😭

Helen was very drunk. Did Pat and Tony know about that, and conspire, or did they just accept that Tom was driving?

OK re Helen. I’d forgotten the details of how it all happened. Funny isn’t it, Helen is so sanctimonious it’s hard to imagine her drunk driving now.

Tom may have taken the blame but it was under duress and he and Helen have effectively committed the same crime as George!!

wonder if they will bring the prison overcrowding into play

I thought that acting tonight was properly brilliant. A great episode.

Harsh! But true.

Do students new to college still listen to radios? Tonight's episode is definitely the sort of thing that could hook a young person into a decades-long Archers addiction.

I gave a new student a radio not too long ago. It was only turned on when they used it as a prop in an arts project …

Wasn't there a horrifying poll reported on Feedback not too long ago that showed a great many young people couldn't even identify what a radio was when shown a photo?

Terrific episode tonight. Last night's idiotic nonsense is now forgiven.

(All male too. Not often that happens.)

My 11 year old loves The Archers.

You've done a fine job there, Eastie. My two have pointedly refused to listen and as they are both now over 30 I doubt this is going to change. Pah.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
Wasn't there a horrifying poll reported on Feedback not too long ago that showed a great many young people couldn't even identify what a radio was when shown a photo?

That goes along with "clockwise" and "anticlockwise" now being pretty-much meaningless to most people under the age of about forty.

And those two are a lot more universal than a radio: I have four radios in this house, and they look completely different from one another.

Am I right in thinking that Neil was a bit of a teenage tearaway when he first arrived in Ambridge? He can counsel George from experience.

Very to hear Brian sounding so old and frail.

Neil was indeed a bit of a tearaway when he arrived in Ambridge; why, he (gasp!) rode a motorbike! Clearly destined to get a criminal record, which he duly did.

I actually thought Brian might be going to die then and there, which would really pile the guilt on George.

Will is coming out of this as the family member with the fewest morals, somewhat surprisingly.