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 police will push a charge on them to help their buddy Harrison. That’s why they need a solicitor

Poppy will be eleven in two weeks time. Keira is 13, she’ll be 14 next April.

That’s quite an age gap. I don’t think their reactions were not age appropriate. Poppy is still young so I would expect her to be upset. Keira is same age as dd who would probably react in the same way!

they clearly signposted that Eddie and clarrie are upset about it all but clarrie is being rock like for the girls

i wonder how old Bev is.

also interesting that Mia didn’t mention Poppy when she was having the convo with Will and George

@MerelyPlaying 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.

Definitely. Emma would blurt out the truth and Will would prevaricate. Emma will have said far more than necessary, and implicated herself even further. Crazy they didn't have a solicitor.

And now we have a nice wait for the CPS. No idea how long that will be, but can't imagine it would be rapid. Could CPS say to Plod: We can't run with Assisting an Offender, but how about charging them with Perverting the Course of Justice? Do CPS do that sort of thing?

Yes, Ambridge.

That’s quite an age gap. I don’t think their reactions were not age appropriate. Poppy is still young so I would expect her to be upset. Keira is same age as dd who would probably react in the same way!

Honestly, I would think my dd (a few months older than Keira) had gone soft in the head if her reaction to hearing that I might go to prison were a) to confront the police with an impact statement along the lines of 'why you shouldn't take my mum' and b) to not let on to me that she knew. The former especially just strikes me as the instinct of a much younger child. Maybe the secrecy thing is more to do with the culture of the family, I don't know.

I know some nice police officers and I would never go to a police interview without a solicitor. I would also consider a no comment to everything.

yes it did sound as if Emma was just talking and talking...she will be hoist by her own petard
they should have got Richie

I thought Poppy was younger, about 9/10?

Grundy’s will be kicked back down the pecking order after the thrill of business/home ownership.

Back to poaching and tarmacing drives.

I like the kitten content. We should have more kitten content.

Who calls a kitten ‘catty’? That’s just weird.

I call our cats ‘Catty’. They like it!

Im glad to hear the Pirate back she's been gone for awhile. I prefer to hear about the kitten than the boring cricket. Is apple and cheese pie sweet or savoury?, ive seen in american films they have a slice of cheese on top of apple pie. Why not make a nice caramelised red onion and cheese Quiche, just seen that in a recipe whilst I was looking for Manchester tart.

Well, I stand corrected! Sorry for saying it’s weird 😬😆

I call my cats Catty all the time, they are quite happy with it, Oscar was a bit disconcerted wrt 'good dog' the other day but forgave me when he discovered his plate of cold chicken 3 seconds later.

Do sometimes call them Catto.

Must say though that the SWs are upping the stress levels, in anything bad happens to that kitten . . . . .

So when is Clive coming back? I don't believe he will have been resuscitated just for those few episodes.

Maybe he will spring George, Emmur and Will from jail?

Or maybe he’ll be a witness and blow a hole in their defence claims? Or a bigger hole, since it already seems that they’ve potentially given contradictory accounts.

They are their own worst enemies.

Yes true. I meant her reaction with Poppy I suppose

my dd would have confronted me about what she had heard!

So Will - I am going to be really annoyed if his relatively small loan to the tree surgery business leads to him selling the house. It’s a prime village property which he can rent out again or airbnb

how was Hannah able to afford a 3 bed house but then struggle to find something else. Azra seemed to find something pretty quickly

Maybe he will spring George, Emmur and Will from jail?

Maybe he’ll break in to the pub and make himself a kitten sandwich.

Have we heard from Tracy lately? Emma dobbed Keith in for the barn fire so she'll reckon it's karma for Emma.

Early groundwork for the girls starting to speak on air. K - daughter of Emma, granddaughter of Susan - sharp, nosey, gobby, feisty, already knew the full story. P - daughter of Will, granddaughter of Clarrie - not a clue what has been going on, slow on the uptake, weepy, passive. Apples not falling far from the tree.

It's unfortunate timing that a presumably long-planned possible jail scenario has coincided with Britain's prisons facing record over-crowding. It seems unlikely Emma would go down, but it's an irresistible bit of history repeating - especially since she and Susan are similar in so many other ways. I don't think Clive will be back, he's served his purpose in reminding newer listeners of ancient history and also in prompting to Emma and Will to finally go to the police. All in all the entire storyline seems designed to keep the Grundys firmly in their place as underdogs. The new kitten is presumably there to provide light relief in the form of 'hilarious' interludes with a cat which sounds like the polar opposite of Hilda - I can hardly wait.

Brilliant - absolutely spot on!

we haven't heard much about The Most Incredible Twins Ever To Walk This Earth (and their now forgotten window) for ages, have we?