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!

Adam's Zarnder was not as pronounced this evening. It didn't rhyme with gander to me.
The first few words Lottie said did sound like Alice.

Thought all contributions were welcome.

Of course!

as for Brad and Mia. Please don’t let this lead to her dropping out to be with him. The BBC seem to have a thing against people getting an education if they aren’t middle class

Think it’s more likely that was Mia being written out of TA. From now on she’ll be like a Tucker (Abigail or Bethany or even Roy) mentioned intermittently with pride or affection (by Will, or Edddie & Clarrie) but never actually heard on air again …

Could be wrong!

Yes - I thought it was Alice until she said her daughters name

Mia could probsbly do better than Brad ... and, in turn, Brad could very definitely do a great deal better than Mia, if only he could be kidnapped and forcibly extracted from the enclave.

That PTA/class Whatsapp episode was giving me flashbacks to when my kids were at primary school.

Lottie is a pointless character. I can only hope she will end up with Pip and they will move far, far away, taking their offspring with them. Ian and Xander could go too.

I’m sure Adam loves Xander, but he sounds totally over parenthood already. Personally I can identify with the WhatsApp annoyance. I avoid groups if humanly possible and have all the ones I’m forced to be in on mute.

I can’t get worked up about Brad and Mia, except wishing them well at university. Please don’t let the sws make Mia transfer to Felpersham!

Lottie seems to be there for the infodumps, but it would be a relief if she did something, like catch Stella's eye. (Oh but then we'd have to deal with a weeping Pip, so maybe not.)

If the parent has given the phone number to the teacher expressly for the purpose of giving it out to others, there is no possibility of breach of the DPA.

Having read so much on MN about WhatsApp horrors, I'm glad my daughter's primary school years were pre-phone, email even.

Is Brad thinking if you love someone you'll let them go.
Not a big fan of Mia but he picked his time to dump her, just before she goes away, thats a bit cruel on top of her anxiety of going away to uni. I think he will be driving the van for Bridge Farm, or a Maths Teacher. Also cant students get cheap train fares and there is Trainline that do cheap travel if you book early, but I suspect spending even a fiver is a lot to Brad its sad that his family has always had to watch the pennies even though his mum and sister are hard workers.
Lotties a bit full on putting Ideas in Ians head, Adam is understandably worried Ian might be taking on too much and the other parents I would think will take advantage of Ians kindness and eagarness.

A student railcard gives you 1/3 off, as I remember (once you've got the card.) But I suspect that still means Hollerton Junction to Newcastle would be a stretch, despite whatever he's earnt st GG.

I retired as a teacher only 10 years ago and that was pre WhatsApp and parents emailing the teacher, in my school, at least.

I think he will be driving the van for Bridge Farm, or a Maths Teacher.
Me too.

I think Brad's attitude was sensible, but hope that he gets a transfer to a recognised university such as Durham.

Agree the sw will think the only thing you can do with a maths degree is teach

I wouldn't have thought Brad was cut out to be a teacher - too self-effacing to handle a class of feral children - so I expect that's exactly what they'll make him do.

Oh don’t you remember when he went to the scout (?) thing and engaged with a shy kid. ‘Oh Brad you understood the ND kid so well you must be ND too’ while brad was actually showing people skills in a way that suggested he didn’t have the same nd as the kid at least

maybe he has multiple personality disorder as he seems to be written differently each episode

@Bruisername , maybe they plan on him being an actuary or an investment banker.

Arf at the idea of Brad as an investment banker!

Brad seemingly not knowing about or being in possession of a 16-25 Railcard seems inconceivable to me. I know both he and Mia seem to have been driven to their respective open days but she would surely have made sure they both had one before this anyway - if only for days out. And what about when he travelled to see the girl he met at the summer school. He must have used one then? (I realise it might not be cost effective for a single journey - but teens always have places to go so would use them repeatedly.)

They seem to have changed from the old ‘Student Railcard’ - though I’m relieved to see they’re still available to nature students too.

https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk

@Gonners , it will be in the City if Brad's no longer needed, otherwise it will be in Felpersham, or Brum at a push.

He might show his true Horrobin roots and be a fraudster, and he's half Den's so who knows.

I avoid groups if humanly possible and have all the ones I’m forced to be in on mute.. I’m the same. I’ve still got 45 “chats”. 45!!

The problem with a young person's railcard is that you have to pay for it (unlike a lot of student discounts where just your standard student ID is fine - I speak as a lifelong recidivist student). So you have to be sure that you will be using the train enough to justify the initial outlay. And even with the discount, trains aren't cheap. Newcastle is easy enough from London on the east coast mainline, but it's more difficult cross country.

Brad (with his good head for figures😏), is correct that it would be a financial burden to have to keep visiting each other. Plus his analysis of what happens to prior relationships when you go to different unis seemed spot on to me.

Adam usually annoys me but I really felt for him yesterday. Coming home from a day at work and then having to unexpectedly entertain a school parent and her child is my idea of hell. Lottie seems to latch on to people very quickly. I can’t imagine joining someone I’ve just met for a shandy in their garden and staying for dinner at the drop of a hat but I am quite anti-social😅

Mia put up an argument for about 5 minutes before agreeing to break up. I think she was secretly relieved.

Think it’s more likely that was Mia being written out of TA. From now on she’ll be like a Tucker (Abigail or Bethany or even Roy) mentioned intermittently with pride or affection (by Will, or Eddie & Clarrie) but never actually heard on air again … I agree. Her connection to Ambridge is a bit tenuous to say the least - her brother has disappeared off the face of the earth.

To get the cheapest train tickets, you need to commit to a specific train weeks or months in advance and get an Advance ticket, which is non-refundable if you miss the train. This is OK if you have a fairly easy and short trip to the starting point and no reason to fear a change of plans, but as soon as the journey gets complicated the fretting over getting to the station in time gets too much for me. For my ridiculously complicated journeys north, I get an Advance ticket from London to Glasgow but shell out a small fortune for an Off-Peak ticket back from Glasgow to London because of the ferry uncertainty. Several times in recent years I've been glad I've done this, but it's ridiculously expensive even with a Senior Railcard, and well out of Brad's reach, I'd imagine.

He'd be much better off using the coach. We often got National Express as students. I got a Megabus north once, overnight, because of a train strike. Naively I thought the coach would be mostly empty but it was packed. It ran to time, took longer than the train journey but not insanely so, and was clean and reasonably comfortable. Also a fraction of the price of the train and didn't need to be booked months in advance.

(If you travel on Avanti often enough, the full refunds are a help. I've always got there in the end, but at least three times in the last year I've had my entire journey refunded because of a 2 hour plus delay. The transport system in the UK needs a good shake up, outside London anyway.)