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!

gosh what if he gets radicalised and turns out to be a real bad 'un?

The last 9 months have been quite eastenders - dog attack, threatening gangster, stealing meat, rob, the accident, harry stripping in the street…

Or a drone drug smuggler. But he will have a big battle first to resist the bullies. And will come through in the end because soaps are either punitive or redemptive and he'll be getting his punishment.

OK, they aren't always redemptive. Clive isn't redeemed, but we weren't all invested in him to begin with.

Anyway, my 🔮useless as ever.

or he's going to get shivved in the showers in the 2nd week...

Poor poor Emma. Are we going to witness her coming apart next?

Or a drone drug smuggler.

Thats a very good point - the pre-sentencing episode with Brad which made clear he had a drone leads to the potential that George might come out a hardened criminal, angry at the system that sent him there, angry at the people who cocked up his life (as he’ll see it) and judged him, and having decided that he’s out for what he can get by whatever means?

I think so. She is really going for the "nothing good ever happens to the likes of us" hyperbole now. Remember how bonkers she went over the new build homes? I really don't want to go through that again 🤦‍♀️

The tree business is going to go down the pan if Emma spirals into despair.

Lillian was all for compassion when it was Alice in trouble.

I for one look forward to a storyline where Lilian is struck down with end-stage liver failure, after decades of excessive alcohol intake (now THERE'S a Public Service Information snippet they could and should have run with, re women and alcohol use).

Well I listened to the podcast and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The thing I found interesting, apart from the actors real voices, was Judge Rinder saying that in real life George would most probley have got a suspended sentence and that he was better off in a real prison than a young offenders one as they are a lot worse.
He also wants to be in The Archers as he was jealous of Rylan that time.
As I have said before Emma is down at the moment and she will come out fighting but she was the first to be really nasty about Alice(I really dont like Alice and I think she should have been charged for being drunk in charge of the car or something, as she was pissed as a pudding sleeping it off with the car keys so she could have woken anytime and drove drunk.),So I dont really have much sympathy for Emma to be fair. And I dont think Im victim blaming, but then again this is a story and not real life.

@Devilsadvocat Which podcast please? I really wanted George to get his comeuppance but am finding these episodes really upsetting. the george actor is really good.

The thing with George is he's been horrible since late childhood - the only shreds of a sympathetic character we were shown was his fondness for Bartleby, and even that was highly mercenary (and possibly inserted to make us forget all his other dodgy actions). Happy to let Brad take the blame for breaking the bench, no problem risking the health of the pigs by breaking biosecurity rules, really unpleasant to women - Nic, Emma. He works hard when it will make him money, and has charm which he uses to manipulate people, but when it doesn't work something dark surfaces.

I feel a bit sorry for the other young offenders, who presumably include soft eejits like Freddie.

The podcast is on bbc sounds and it is called The Archers Podcast, its only just started.

It sounds like the podcast won’t give me anything I don’t already get on here!

if I was a sw I’d give Fallon a mental health storyline. I’m wondering how she’ll feel about George being in prison and whether she’ll feel at all responsible. She’s been through a hell of a lot recently and hasn’t had much support.

I’d make Pat suggest, and maybe even fund, CBT for Emma. Emma is intelligent, capable and tough but constantly self-sabotages with her fixed beliefs about life (aka chip on her shoulder) and it’s really affecting her ‘life chances’ now. She needs to change.

I’d definitely write recurring relapses for Alice. If Alice, as written, was a real person I’d bet my house on her relapsing.

As for George, if I was a sw I’d write a redemption story for him. After a horrendous time in prison he gets out determined not only to get his life on track but help others. He continues his drone and TikTok/influencer work but now he has a USP for his influencer stuff - he’s been to prison and he’s got a message for young men. He applies for funding and runs ‘retreats’ for young men at risk of offending or radicalisation, taking in classes at Spiritual Home, rewilding stuff, and maybe even some animal husbandry. He teams up with Freddie and Vince to offer work experience at Casey Meats, maybe volunteering opportunities at LL as well. Online, he’s not exactly an anti-Andrew Tate but an alternative, with an engaging message about how ‘real men’ care for people, animals, the environment and their community. He gets invited onto podcasts to talk about his experiences. He works with Brad to develop an app that supports young men in accessing help and making better choices. He becomes rich, successful and completely shakes up the hierarchies of Ambridge.

To me its just something else to listern too or maybe white noise. I dont think they will say anything you dont know already but it was nice to hear from the actors.

I would agree to a point, but would argues the dog attack, gangsters and meat stealing were just drama for the sake of drama - already they are almost (if not entirely) forgotten. They came out of nowhere (what was all that nonsense about a gangster threatening Jolene??) whereas the crash storyline has been years in the making both in terms of Alice's alcoholism and George's developing unpleasant character. The ramifications of this story will endure - will Alice's lucky escape put an end to her drinking once and for all? How will prison affect George and the rest of the family and how will it affect their relationships with others in the village? While I can't bear to think of what life must be like for George in prison - because we saw a softer side to him in the run up to his sentencing - what he did was criminal. It's a good story when you can see both points of view and feel conflicted. If his court case had come up just after persuading his dad to evict Hannah I'd have had not a jot of sympathy for him, but because that's slightly faded from memory (though is still in listeners minds) I can wonder if his punishment has perhaps been too harsh and shed a tear for its affect on the wider family. But it's certainly not black and white - which is good.

Agree

my fear is that the sw have been starting to follow the Enders handbook and the George we get back will be informed by that

I would actually prefer the George that went to prison be the one that comes out and see how he navigates a world of Lillian’s

I would like it to turn out that Eddie's wide circle of dodgy friends know all about the borderline criminal activities of the Archer extended family and have been keeping schtum because of honour among thieves, but now tell all, with pictures, all over the internet.

Not because I think George didn't have it coming, but because they are so unjustifiably smug.

Which of them has had to deal with consequences of their actions - apart from Brian and Freddie?

I was going to name change but can’t work out how to do it.

I had an ex who received a sentence of six months (served three). The phone call home was totally realistic, and definitely took me back to an awful time. He was firstly taken to the local (to the court, not home) cat B prison, where he was assessed and put on the remand wing as the staff thought he wouldn’t survive in the main part. Tbh that wasn’t too bad for him, but the holy grail was to be transferred to an open prison, and that happened after a couple of months. There he was with hardened men awaiting release and he spent the next few weeks utterly terrified.

It did do him good, and he never fully crossed the line again, although I would say he is still utterly untrustworthy and will diddle anyone.

I received nothing but support and sympathy from everyone. I’m sure a number of people thought he deserved it (and he did) but no-one was horrid to me in anyway.

Can someone please give me a brief summary of the dog attack storyline? It happened at a time when I wasn't listening. I heard about Kenton being in hospital and taking a while to recover, and gather that those responsible haven't been caught though people have a suspicion who it is. Maybe there is even video evidence.

What happened? What was the motive? Was Kenton the intended target? Who did it, and why are people so reluctant to grass them up?

A group of strangers appeared in The Bull, one of whom Jolene recognised after seeing him the audience once at a gig she did in Wolverghampton 20 years ago (?!) Later Kenton went out into the pub car park to investigate a van that was parked there and was viciously attacked by a dog. He was badly injured, nearly died and was hospitalised (though thanks to the Ambridge health fairy has since made a compete recovery). The men warned Jolene not to say anything or they would burn the pub down. She confided in Vince (for some reason) who made inquiries and discovered the identity of the gang leader (Markie) who was subsequently discovered to be responsible for a meat-stealing racket at Vince's abattoir and was arrested for that. I'm sure I've left out a couple of details, but the plot really was as flimsy as that. Came out of nowhere and has never again been mentioned.

It was nonsensical

some guy with a stupid name turned up at the pub and Jolene recognised him as a thug who had caused a problem at one of her gigs many years ago

he and his gang were in the pub car park at night and when Kenton went to talk to them they set the dogs on him

jolene was too scared to say who had done it for a while. Gang man threatened her (in a supermarket cafe - probably waitrose - very mc)

eventually she cracked and told who it was. They couldn’t find the guy but luckily for Jolene he was involved with the meat theft and will be sent down for that

Xpost - it really was weird filler. I can only imagine to get some characters involved that we hadn’t heard from for a while.