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!

Usha endured vile and vicious racist abuse in 1995 including having ammonia thrown in her face and fearing that she was going to be blind.

Fish tagine is nice, yes, but why did she take tagine anyway - because it's a bit 'foreign'?

Maybe inhabitants of a rural village are used to seeing Asians as professionals like doctors (we had an Asian GP in the 60s), lawyers or whatever Ardil was supposed to be. Not so much used to random teens in the village. I don't think he was interfering with or feeding the llamas, though, just looking at them and he wasn't littering.

Does she have scarring because of it or did the health fairy get rid?

we don’t really hear enough from usha but as I’m not an Alan fan I can live with that if we hear less from him

The health fairy came through for her, unfortunately accompanied by dodgy Dr Locke, the real root of the Usha/Shula coolness.

Because if she had taken a shepherd's/steak & kidney pie it might have been interpreted as overtly British. The meat would probably not be halal.

Did anyone else think that Khalil sounded really like Ben Archer at times last night?

Yes,@harriethoyle . The first few words.

Gosh, really thought we’d established the spelling of Adil’s name about 20 threads back!

(Are people doing it deliberately to register their disapproval of his existence?)

https://shows.acast.com/all-about-the-archers/episodes/bonus-episode-we-chat-to-adil-from-the-archers

Sorry. I was spelling it how Lynda says it

No need to apologise to me!

But, given that the SW made it clear she is referencing ‘the R word’ this week, people may want to be mindful of courtesy towards even fictional characters.

(Did I ever tell you about the time, when I was five years old, that the teacher tried to tell me I was spelling my own (nasty foreign) name wrongly? )

Are people doing it deliberately to register their disapproval of his existence?

Well, I deplore Emma’s very existence and most fervently hope for her to come to a sticky end; but when I refer to her as ‘Emmur’, it reflects (my hearing of) the pronunciation perpetrated on air.
That probably doesn’t help much.

Honestly I really can’t get het up about misspellings of names - be it adil or Lynda or whoever. It’s radio so we are hearing the name

I've had a lifetime of misspellings/mispronounciations of my name and I prefer to assume the person is trying their best rather than assume they have some nasty intention

Roy was involved in that wasn’t he. Got in with some bad company.

@TottersBlanklyTowardsImaginarySunlight , definitely Adil.

Maybe it's because the pronunciation varied, like with Mere, Emmur and Geowurge. I find it hard to imagine these Grundys as Mia, Emma and George, which are very popular names.

Was Dr Locke dodgy?! I vaguely remember him and he seemed quite attractive/sensible/eligible IIRC, but then disappeared pre lockdown.

also I meant to ask up thread - who is Joanne?

Isn't Joanne one of the stable girls?

Was Dr Locke dodgy?! I vaguely remember him and he seemed quite attractive/sensible/eligible IIRC, but then disappeared pre lockdown.

First time round, mid- to late-'90s, he was busy having affairs with patients and breaking up friendships. (Maybe not plural affairs, to be fair to him.)

Doctor Locke spent a lot of time banging on about how people were richer than he was, had affairs with the better-off (preferably vulnerable) women in the village including Usha and Shula (who he leeched onto when Dan was seriously ill with Juvenile arthritis) and was then investigated after a wealthy female patient died having named him in her will.

The SWs dropped the story suddenly when Harold Shipman became news.

But it quacked like a duck . . .

well! I just remember him being vaguely affable and possibly being a love interest for Elizabeth (or possibly someone else?) a few years ago - thanks @DeanElderberry and @EBearhug

@TottersBlanklyTowardsImaginarySunlight

the time . . . . that the teacher tried to tell me I was spelling my own (nasty foreign) name wrongly?

Growing up in England I had that several times, likewise a claim I was pronouncing said name wrongly. It does not charm.

He did show an interest in Elizabeth, having been very hostile to Nigel-and-Elizabeth because they owned Lower Loxley. Nasty sinister man

Richard Locke: https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fthearchers%2Fentries%2F560b36d2-ff8b-4027-a3d7-e77cd4222dcc

As I recall, the old lady who left him some money was a grateful patient who'd had cancer. As a rural GP, he had drugs at the surgery which a city GP would not do. This included morphine. There was some discrepancy between the amount of morphine dispensed and injected into his patient by Doc Locke or the district nurse and the amount accounted for and returned to stores after she died. The old lady's son, who lived a long way off and had not visited as much as he could have done, IIRC, was furious that not all her money was coming to him and decided to complain about RL to the GMC, who reprimanded him for careless record-keeping but found no evidence that he'd helped the old lady on her way to get his hands on her money.

Didn't he and Debbie go out for a bit too? He was into Civil War battle re-enactments, IIRC.

He was into a woman who might inherit a chunk of a farming enterprise. Visible and predictable pattern.

Relatives and friends asking questions was what brought Shipman's crimes to light.

I'm getting a sense you didn't take to him, Dean. Not quite sure what's giving me that impression ...