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!

It’s not Brad who is the bore in that couple

I thought Mia and Brad were sweet together but was surprised they threw in the towel so quickly. DD(19) is about to go into her 2nd year at university and is still with her 6th form boyfriend. Lots of her uni friends have long distance boyfriends.

I’m not surprised that Ed has reacted so strongly. There are so many layers

They're both dull, but he's exceptipnally dull.

Why are people so baffled that parents would feel conflicted about robbing their son into the police?

so Emma told the police everything - hopefully including what Harrison did.

ed has a way with words

is kenton fully recovered then? Not sure we needed so much time spent hearing them decide what dessert to make.

I’m slightly impressed that the SWs remembered that Poppy has another (and non-Ambridge) grandparent. That must be a difficult relationship to navigate, even at the best of times.

why all that stuff about the cat?
how will that play out by the third act?

Makes me think of train spotting (the film, not the hobby)

Why are all the kids so infantilised in The Archers? Have the SWs not got some sort of crib sheet to remind themselves how old they are, or do they not have any experience with children, or do they subscribe to the idea that country children are more innocent, less worldly, than city kids?

Poppy and Keira were being spoken of tonight as though they were around 7. Will and Emma keep reminding each other than George is only a child (while remembering his chronological age). Henry Archer sounds a good 2-3 years younger than he is. During Rob's illness, Jack was drawing him pictures like a 4 year old ... the only ones who are more or less on track are the really young (Martha, Xander, possibly Rosie) and young/ nearly adults (who are not George), e.g. the Horrobins & Mia. All the kids between 6 and 16 seem to be much younger than they are.

I assume it's one of the kittens found between the bales at... Bridge Farm? Grange Farm? Broomfield? I think it was Neil and George and Ben there, anyway.

Coo … I wonder if Keira has grown up feeling (proportionately) as mortified and resentful as George, knowing that her mother was actually married to Uncle Will (and had George with him) before marrying Ed?

It is Chekhov's Kitten.

Filler kitty …

Kenton on a chair looking for a kitten felt like the beginning scenes of Casualty where you know the characters are going to befall some dreadful accident.

And then…nothing happened.

Will continues to be stupid and doesn’t even acknowledge that Emma pushed harder than he did to go to the police. If Emma is sent to prison, he is more to blame than she is.

Although it was infintely better than filler whatever Alastair, Jazzer and Ben were droning on about.

For once I warmed to Kenton and Jolene.

Surely the likelihood of them going to prison is pretty close to nil?

where is the public interest? Given their family situations it would be detrimental surely

Thanks for the updated thread

Why are people so baffled that parents would feel conflicted about robbing their son into the police?

Because it's Ambridge? And baffled is the default setting?

I'm hoping the CPS think so and Harrison goes into a blind, uncontrollable rage. I don't mind who with as long as no one is hurt but he does it in front of an audience.

Maybe it will happen during the sentencing

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime Chekhov's kitty, LOL

I thought the Hero glass tankard got broken? And he didn't care, the poor love, the stress was getting to him so much.

And you can't get a duty solictor anywhere these days. Madness to go to that police interview without.

And I suppose the only reason we haven't heard from Ed and Clarrie yet is because we know exactly what they'd say.

I thought the Hero glass tankard got broken? And he didn't care, the poor love, the stress was getting to him so much

I'm fairly sure a replacement hero glass was provided after the first one was broken.

I think they replaced George's hero tankard.

Given that Will and Emma were talking about getting Ed a "proper" solicitor instead of the duty solicitor, it's quite extraordinary that they went to see the police without one. In fact, there's a good case for them being separately represented - Emma deserves much more credit for seeing sense about telling the police rather than wait forever in the vain hope that George might eventually see sense; plus am I right in thinking it was Will who took George in to give the fictional story about seeing Harry?

However, I agree it seems likely one or both will get away with a warning. Let's hope they actually pay attention to it.

How old is Poppy? If Bev tried to get custody of her presumably the courts would take her wishes into account. It seems she’s joined at the hip to Kiera so very unlikely she’d want to move. Will veers between complacency and catastrophizing at a dizzying speed.

On the other hand Emma knew the truth for longer, because George confided in her first. If I remember correctly they took George to the police station together. It puzzled me how Emma was managing to spend so much time with Will, without Ed noticing.

Was there some sort of clue in Emma saying she just couldn’t stop talking - are the police going to find that their stories don’t tally? Highly unlikely they’ll go to prison, I’m not even sure they’ve committed an offence. But then again, Ambridge.