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!

The clarrie being away is pathetic. Couldn’t they have just made her a silent character? Do they really need to be 3 employees down rather than 2?

I thought Pat was reasonable and Ed was trying hard. Tony blaming George for all their problems is very Grundy-esque.

George sounded quite different tonight - I didn’t recognise him at first

Yes, he's gone all thoughtful and contrite - at least, after his outburst at his whingeing granddad.

Sussurations
I’m sure Harrison had savings. There was talk of ISAs.

yes, but they were nothing like enough for him to be able to afford a cottage in Ambridge; he and Fallon had settled for something in Borchester until his parents came through with the deposit. And from what you say your parents did not have to re-mortgage their house to pay for yours?

I should hope that single policeman with no outgoing costs apart from rent and food would have some savings!

Eddie is unbearable. George is seeing sense.

I want to slap Tony.
"We" are not writing George a reference?

I hope that makes Pat do it.

I thought that. If I were Pat I'd write one if only to prove I could.

Yes! Also, I think the people who will write the references are those who are not vengeful. Pat was pretty much saying that whether he does 2 or 20 years he is being punished but she clearly believes in redemption.

Tony seems to have mislaid his marbles.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime no, my parents wouldn’t have re-mortgaged. I don’t think they’d finished paying theirs though. Also (this has only just occurred to me) it was the time of 100% mortgages when you could essentially get a mortgage just by saying you could afford it. Things are very different now. I wonder if the mortgage lender knew the money was an (borrowed) loan from Harrison’s parents. I imagine Woodbine Cottage was quite expensive, but the lender must have had faith in the affordability for Harrison. I often wish there was more detail on financial stuff in TA. I would prefer a conversation about mortgage affordability to nonsense about giant sunflowers etc

I'm too young to remember this on air, but wasn't Pat and Tony's relationship on the rocks at one point because of her activisim in feminist and more general left-wing causes? Like Greenham Common etc? Of all the wives you could try the 'WE are not doing X' line on, I don't think it's wise to try it on Pat!

I have very fond memories of listening to this with our two boys on long journeys.

Sussurations
Also (this has only just occurred to me) it was the time of 100% mortgages when you could essentially get a mortgage just by saying you could afford it. Things are very different now.

I am fairly sure that had stopped being the case before 2017, though, so it wouldn't apply to Harrison and Fallon. 2008 comes to mind as the turning point: that was when there was the financial crisis caused by sub-prime lending in the USA.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime yes, I didn’t express myself clearly - the lender might have wanted to know where the deposit came from for Woodbine Cottage!

But then he stopped, which is the point.

But he began raising the issue on two occasions and only stopped because Fallon in effect spelt out to him that she needed to concentrate. The point is that he should have worked out it was the wrong time from the outset.

Yes, but that would have involved thinking about the concerns of someone other than Harrison Burns.

I would write a reference if my DH told me I couldnt! Tony was so" Im the boss you do as I say" I really hate men who do that and think the little woman will obey, its like he slapped Pat across the face. He is always moaning anyway. Go and play with your trains tony and chillax, its stupid they didnt search further a field (sorry for the pun) for staff in the first place but I expect the Grundys were cheap and Tony etc thought they would be laughing all the way to the bank.

It is really setting it up for Alice saving the day by coming forward with a good word for George, either on paper or dramatically in court. Which would have much more interesting long term ramifications that just sending off to prison.

Nice to see other fans of that BBC LoTR dramatisation - so much right with it, including many excellent voices, having the scouring of the Shire, just enough of the songs, and that little whispery voice of the Ring, which was something the film makers nicked. Having read the book end to end for three or four years around by early teens I then found it unreadable for nearly 20 years, and it was the BBC version that got me into it again. I miss having a car that will let me play stuff, but it occurs to me that my laptop has good sound and a DVD slot, so maybe . . .

It’s a shame we didn’t get to hear Fallon’s pitch last night and were subjected to Eddie’s wailing instead. I wonder how she got on.

There is a certain type of man who will wait until his partner is busy or doing something that is important to/focused on her, before trying to make it all about him. They can’t bear their partners to be the centre of attention or to have something for themselves.

Harrison is looking like that sort of man.

And once again, with referees for George, there’s nothing for Brookfield to contribute … This is becoming weird now.

Yes I note that Natasha was run ragged running terum alone - although so was Fallon

also, I’m struggling with terum being so reliant on Emma when Chelsea was recruited to replace her so they shouldn’t have such an issue

Tony etc thought they would be laughing all the way to the bank

Nonsense. Tony never laughs all the way to anything.

The only point I can see to the Brookfield involvement in references for George is as a plot device for Pat to "defy" Tony - who seems increasingly enraged (rather than his usual low-level miserable) and out-of-character in the manner of an impending dementia storyline. Jim has also apparently lost his marbles (very much in like Oliver), NuRobert is obsessive, as is Ian, and as for Harrison, give me strength!

How did Pat not stab Tony ? And Tony whining on about how hard the Bridge Farm lot have it (Was Ed still there at that point?)

Where is Helen anyway?

My prediction is there will be a couple of convincing enough character references (Oliver, Pat) and toothless enough victim statements (Fallon, Alice) for George to get off relatively lightly, and Harrison will blow a gasket. Good times.