Archers thread #173: The Fall of the House of Grundy? 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 wish we were hearing more of Pip, 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.)

I chose the thread title to echo one I used three years ago, which is here if anyone fancies a trip down Memory Lane: www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4320618--Archers-thread-130-The-Fall-of-the-House-of-Aldridge-Discuss-The-Archers-here. That was the thread where I caused all sorts of confusion at the start by not starting it before the old thread filled up, but others stepped in, fortunately.

At that point I see Ruairi was heading off to London to start his degree, which he has now finished, with none of us any the wiser about what he studied or where. Perhaps this will finally be mentioned now he's graduating.

And now, over to you!

I can't read the print all that well but is that mascapone in the tuna bake?! How posh! Right on brand for Waitrose!

I don't have any tuna+ pasta related trauma, although I haven't ever really been able to understand the concept of tuna and tomatoes together, nor of eating tuna hot. I had tuna steak just the once, and I over cooked it so much the cat and dog got the rest of it.

Yes, mascarpone, mozzarella, capers and olives! Very Waitrose.

I find it best to think of fresh tuna and tinned tuna as totally different foods. I believe the canning process somehow turns tuna from an oily fish to a white one (so I read, anyway). Fresh tuna seems to need about 10 seconds in the pan or it's amazingly chewy.

I too have a slight issue with tuna and tomatoes. I couldn't have a tuna sandwich with sliced tomato in it. Probably different when they're cooked.

We had tuna pasta bake just last night. Not with capers and mascarpone I hasten to add.

I'm quite partial to pasta with tuna, Rob's use of excellent food to play his warped mind games was a clear signal. Helen should have kicked him out then, it would have saved a lot of trouble.

tuna with mascapone and mozarella sounds disgusting

Enjoying your use of “gung ho” in relation to “Cantonese sauce” @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

It wasn't altogether intentional. I see that gung ho entered the English language in 1941, which is a lot later than I'd have guessed.

Tinned fish is apparently quite fashionable now. It's certainly become extremely expensive, or at least many extremely expensive tins are available. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/10/tinned-fish-tiktok-latest-food-craze

The "Adam 'borrows' some cash" was particularly odd. Asking will no doubt correct me if I have mis-remembered this, but I am fairly certain that Ian and Adam's cottage had already been damaged in the near apocalyptic flood (so would have already been rewired) when it was announced that it needed rewiring.

Adam flounced off before he was sacked and started doing a similar farm-manager job to Stella. He became exceptionally tired because he had to commute, became sulky and grumpy and I think he jumped ship after a few weeks of arguing with the boss when word had spread about 'hands in tills'.

Seemingly the Craig/Macy money worries evaporated when Ian bought a pizza van and Adam became Bridge Farm's odd-job and occasional yoghurt making man.

If Bridge Farm was able to remember that they had an orchard behind the tearoom, I feel confident that they can find a cottage for a new farm-worker.

Yes, Adam needed money for rewiring a house which had been rewired a couple of years earlier, so he stole it. Brian offered to lend it to him but Adam offensively told Brian he didn;t need his help thank you, and then put his hand into the "farm machinery" part of the accounts (and only owned up when Brian discovered there was £5000 missing and thought Alice must have taken it). Then he declined to pay it back.

His first prospective job was scuppered when the jealous and stupid Ian pursued him to an interview with his possible employer at a hotel, and rushed in to accuse them of having an affair, followed by which he and Adam talked about the pilfering. Not surprisingly, Adam didn't get the job... The one he did get involved actually being at work from nine until five, and Adam found this so exhausiting he could hardly manage the twenty-mile commute he also had to do, so he was delighted to discover that the nice chap who had employed him was in fact a stinker whom he could leave in the lurch with a clear conscience. So he picked a quarrel with his boss and flounced out of that job too.

Not sure the sw know the meaning of ‘professionalism’ because none of the characters show it!!

as an aside, i like an expertly cooked fresh tuna steak. But the idea of hot, tinned tuna makes me want to barf.

One of my favourite quick dinners is pasta with fried onion + garlic + tinned sweetcorn + tinned tuna + condensed mushroom soup. With lots of Lea & Perrins. But I can't abide fresh tuna; always chewy, always tastes metallic and "off".

Tinned tuna with cheese sounds horrible, mind.

I love tuna pasta - basically amatriciana but tuna not bacon, with lashings of grated cheese.

when I was a 6th former I used to have dinner regularly with a friend before we went to an evening class, they sometimes had 'tuna bake' which was

tinned tuna
tinned tomatoes
rice (uncooked)

put all in a casserole dish
top with grated cheese

bake

I was vegetarian at the time and i think they found it challenging so this was a compromise on both parts
I quite liked it

Clarrie's sister isn't really ill. Clarrie has run away from the shit show that is her family.

On the subject of litter, this morning the DCats found a discarded takeaway in the garden. The bag had become tangled round Vera's neck and Leon was chasing her round the garden.
(not their real names)

but if you were a vegetarian you wouldn't eat it.

Oh Emma, love, your letter doesn't say the same thing. That's why it's a Friday cliffhanger.

I loved the ruthlessness with which Pat turfed out Tony

Oooh, what letter? What’s the goss from tonight?

Yes I do think Emma should wait to receive her letter before celebrating. Especially as she said she talked non-stop to the police. I imagine Will said very little in comparison.

Oh Eddie, change the record. This “no justice for the likes of us” soundtrack is just boring now.

Emma neatly killed Ed.

deliberate typo to brighten @Bruisername 's day

Wonderful typo @KeepBritainTidy

Oh Emma, love, your letter doesn't say the same thing. That's why it's a Friday cliffhanger - of course it doesn't. Didn't Emmas say she couldn't stop talking in the police station? I was waiting for a chainsaw massacre - listening live for a change with DH who is totally out of the loop and now requires a full explanation.

So we’ve had a chainsaw accident? Nearly done