Archers thread #174: God it's lame! But it still limps on. 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 think Ben-meets-Zainab is on a par with Elizabeth-meets-Darcy, 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.)

Thanks to @Bruisername for the title inspiration. She said God it's lame and that seemed to strike a chord with many, for some reason.

I am terrified of wasps and live in fear of encountering a hornet, so that was a tricky episode. I hope that's the last we're going to hear of them, except for confirmation that they've been nuked. [shudder]

So what do we reckon - custodial or suspended sentence for George? Will Clarrie return from Great Yarmouth or will she realise that actually life as a carer for her (presumably disabled) sister is easier than the endless and thankless drudgery at Grange Farm? Will any more tables collapse at the Village Hall?

Over to you!

I think Adam is well-acted. One or two of the cast seem a bit weaker than others or less believable, but generally they are good.

Yes, he's really grown on me. Especially now he's stopping hamming it up. He doesn't sound exhausted all the time now.

I think it's time for Stella to leave and Adam return to his rightful place at Home Farm.

Actually, I'm wondering if the long term plan is for Pip and Stella to run Brookfield. If Pip's still a lesbian then.

Superstepmum Stella will have run to the hills by then.
Pip will become Behbehmama Burns.

Sorry my descriptions dont help...My guess is maybe Olive oil rather than palm oil, (they go on about local sourese/ethical produce?) and dark chocolate can be vegan, either way I'd say it had a flakey/buttery taste with chocolate spread in the middle ill admit i have probbly low/trashey taste in food sometimes but .... I really need to stop thinking about croissants and get back to work

They grow olives in Wales? To take your mind off croissants, think about pains au chocolat instead.

Pip will become Behbehmama Burns.

I was about to say ’Not a chance, Pip is royalty’ - but of course there’s precedent with Christine and George. (Alice and Christopher don’t quite count because he’s from a prominent peasant dynasty, not just a random blow-in.)

Still, I’m not sure awful Pip and awful Burns together would be listenable to. At All.

Still, I’m not sure awful Pip and awful Burns together would be listenable to. At All.

They do very much deserve each other, though.

"Still, I’m not sure awful Pip and awful Burns together would be listenable to. At All."

Hopefully if they get together he'll be posted to the Isle of Man and they'll both be gone.

With apologies to any Manx readers.

That wouldn’t be far enough.

Surely the UK has a Police Work Exchange scheme with Polynesia?

The problem I have with a lot of vegan dishes that are substitutes for something fundamentally non-vegan is that they use a load of UPF non-food to imitate the natural ingredients they're replacing. I don't have a problem with vegan stuff that is its own dish, but trying to recreate dairy and meat from fake stuff isn't my bag. I'd be interested to see if there were genuinely a butter-free buttery-tasting croissant that was made from real food.

And I think I've said before on these threads that I really doubt it would go down well in a farming community. But maybe there are few enough farmers left in Ambridge that Fallon will be ok on that front.

Agreed, Fink, and I think if we were dealing with real people, which it's increasingly obvious we aren't, yes I'll now wash my mouth out with soap Fallon would have a tricky balancing act keeping everything vegan and also avoiding UPFs, using local produce (if she has any desire to) and making it appetising.

I learned from the ZOE podcast about seed oils recently that in the US they have replaced partially hydrogenated fats (trans fats), which are now banned in most of the world, with fully hydrogenated fats, which are considered safe. In the UK apparently we recoil in horror at the word hydrogenated, so manufacturers here have turned instead to palm oil to use in cases where vegetable fat needs to be solid rather than liquid. I try to avoid palm oil as much as I can, which is not easy, because it's in so many things. I'd much rather have butter, but then I am an unrepentant omnivore, very happy indeed to eat animal products.

Still, I’m not sure awful Pip and awful Burns together would be listenable to. At All.
Bring it on!

So Ive just listened to the Archers podcast with Emma Freud, (it was with that horrible sea shanty music they played for the omnibus). Anyway she made it sound as though it was hilarious in parts and edge of your seat stuff in other parts, she really tried to make it sound so fantastic and also what clothes the characters wore and how they smelled????!!!. If we wernt addicted and die hard fans I think to be honest a lot of us would give up on it. I think its to get new listeners but im not sure it will work when the build it up so much and its nothing like the real thing. Typical BBC.

Easy
jazzer and Neil smell of pig shit

brookfield and bridge farm archers smell of cow shit

lynda smells of llama shit

Chris and the stables lot smell of horse shit

pub lot smell of kitten shit

fallon smells of arsehole shit

Well, at least I'd know I could mute two pains in the neck for the price of one.

Surely the first trans character will be Rawsie? She's probably pretty confused already, poor kid.

Ha ha BBC Comms trying to dictate to it's viewers/ listeners on the 'right' things to think.

It's like when they used to tell twitter users to use #TOTP as a hashtag for people shitposting about the repeats of Top of the Pops instead of the year specific ones like #TOTP81

as an experiment I bought some vegan margarine that was in a block and purported to be like butter, let me tell you it was NOT
I used it once to try it the whole experience from cooking to eating was disappointing to put it mildly
then the remainder sat in the fridge for months until a dairy-free friend came to dinner and I was able to use it up in a crumble, which was OK but merely a shadow of wat it should have been
I think Fallon will have to rely on customers who are not farmers and haven't thought too much about UPF or sustainability
Some vegan food is great - if it comes from a cuisine that uses traditional plant proteins. But I can't think of any traditional baking that is vegan?

Nope, no eggs!

Well that was weird. I don’t really want to listen to rude people every night. And the maliks are just weird - hiding behind the sofa? And why are they still unpacking? and why is khalil planning on stealing the bulls cat? And why are they so dramatic? And was azra doing that on purpose? So weird.

bit of an odd setup to get Alice and Hannah together? Assume this is so we get some weird love triangle with Chris

Adam always sounds very earnest. A bit like a school careers advisor dishing out his lines.

The Maliks kids seem unnecessarily rude. Is it out of touch SWs trying to write teens? I've met rude teens but not like this.

The Maliks are vile. All of them.

@newtlover , there's a block of vegetable suet in my fridge. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but at least a few years.
I like baking but I haven't bothered for a long time.

I agree about the vegan food being great if it's traditional plant proteins. Things like fake bacon are rank.

Fallon and Emma smell of cooking.

Susan and Clarrie smell of sour milk. Helen smells of cheese.

Tom smells of compost and earth
Natasha smells of scent. Probably something by Dior or Chanel.

Lilian smells of horses, ashtrays and gin.

Jim smells of good sandalwood soap, Alastair smells of veterinary disinfectant, Jakob doesn't because Kate makes him use a patchouli based soap when he gets home.

Well the Malik kids are a caution no doubt. Also the first time I've heard Arabic on TA, when Khalid exclaimed Ya Allah (I think that's how it's spelled) when laughing and joking with his mum.

Kenton smells of musty cellar and stale beer.
Vince smells meaty.
Linda smells like those old fashioned drawer liners.