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!

John went to Brymore.
I didn't think Brad was droning on about uni.

He wasn’t droning but the whole convo seemed very unnatural and like the sw had a check list of things they wanted to cover

yes tonight benefitted from having some of the better actors

I think Brad is starting to grow up - standing up to his mum, and being kind to George. Nice to hear him having a bit of confidence.

Yes, I can’t imagine talking to my mum (educational level similar to Tracy’s) like that, nor did either of my DS share that much with me. But it wasn’t boring. I hadn’t thought about the “day boys vs boarders” aspect - in my day there were only 30 unis and few people had a local one - and he did a good job of illustrating the difference between A level and uni maths.

George’s attempt to pervert the course of justice is paying dividends! Obvious split between Archers and Grundies is not as clear cut as it might have been, ripples are spreading wide and are more tsunami than ripple. I’m looking forward to how it develops.

’I think Brad is starting to grow up - standing up to his mum, and being kind to George. Nice to hear him having a bit of confidence.*. And so is George too, I think.

And we know he wasn't acting out of character. He's acting all little boy lost now but he has had some horrible moments acting like a disciple of Andrew Tate.

he’s young and it’s unfortunate that he needed this to give him a kick up the backside but I would hope he’s growing up and realising what’s what

Or he may be someone who is still a dishonest toerag at the age of thirty, and forty, and fifty; some people still are, even if they have been in trouble with the law when they are coming up to twenty.

Isn’t that the beauty of a long running program - we will find out which way he goes!!

The thing is George is 19 whereas Alice is nearly 40 - she has made many many mistakes on life

Re Poppy - I guess she would be angry at Emma re Will and perhaps George too - not sure how close she is to George?

PSA?

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g.

Brad, who I've always liked, was great. So good to hear him confident, unapologetic but still polite. I'm still wondering if George will go down because the actor has something happening in RL. Not a gaol term, obvs.

PSA is public service announcement

i kind of hope George gets a good chunk of time because the actor deserves to have some success in his career!

Confused by Poppy’s egg throwing. How old is she?

Yes Susan you shouldlll tell Poppys dad. You cant have kids throwing stuff at windows it could be a brick soon (Alice). She needs to be punished and made to realise its very wrong. Dont think I'd be wringing my Hands about this at all.
I liked That Tracy was really interested in uni life, she is a very good mum and has brought up both her kids well.
George is still going to be a scallywag no matter what but I do feel a bit sorry for him, but then I am a soft touch. Hope Brad dosnt let George's pod cast take over and interfere with his uni life (thats if George is sent to the Big House).

I missed the new thread (thank you Gaspode) and thought everyone had got so bored they'd stopped discussing TA.

As if.

I enjoyed the minor drama about a few dozen mis-labelled yoghurts and the eventual proper apportioning of blame. A demonstration of much better personal morality than anyone directly involved in The Night Of Bridge Terror has displayed. So far.

I suppose it could be argued the stakes were lower, but just think, more than one person ended up with rhubarb yoghurt on their curry - the horror!

Poppy is nine, I think

Agree very much that throwing eggs is nasty and needs to be come down on hard and heavy.

Susan is trying to protect herself from another bout of Grundy abuse by considering not telling Will, isn’t she? I can understand that, but she obviously does need to tell him, and I think she probably will (or Pat will). They never came down hard enough on George and look where that got them all.

My hope for George is that he gets an education or learns a trade in prison and comes out of it mature and genuinely repentant for all his misdeeds. But then I am quite the Pollyanna 😬

I think Susan took the blame to help Emma - she definitely didn’t do it

i think Poppy is 11? Definitely needs a stern talking to or are we getting a precursor of another troubled teen?

I have hope for George because I have a teen that consistently makes the wrong choice. Luckily nothing criminal or that hurts other people but I can see how he struggles to weigh up the consequences. He is getting better as he matures and I would hate for people to write him off based on these years

Poppy was born 30 September 2013, according to the BBC. So she turned 11 on Monday.

I did wonder that @Bruisername - all the better, Susan helping Emma move on rather than wallowing. Pat handled it well too, all things considered.

But all three of them should then have squelched Poppy, starting with making her clean that egg off before it hardened.

I can see that Poppy has two opposing motives for egging the dairy. Either she's getting at Emma for shopping George so he ends up in clink, in which case why not egg Little Grange? Or she's getting at Pat for writing a character reference so he won't end up in clink? I agree Will needs to be told whatever.

Another demonstration of Pat’s kindness. I’ve never been that crazy about her - and at one point really did think Tony would be better off with Joy - but she has stood head and shoulders above everyone else in her response to the nuances of the Geworge subplot.

George surely will be the next Clive Horrobin, given the Archers law that apples never fall far from trees and the landowner/serf dynamic is perpetuated down the generations. No such thing as social mobility in Borsetshire!

It wasn't clear to me whether Susan took the blame to save Emma or whether she genuinely did it. If the former, the dialogue made clear that they were both on site at the time so surely Emma would know whether or not her mum had made any labels. So I'm more inclined to think Susan genuinely slipped up, which is understandable given the stress she's under, particularly on Friday which was when George was in court, and now having to train up a new worker (as well as gossiping with her) at the same time as doing her normal job.

I think she was right to tell Pat but not Emma about who threw the egg, but they'll have to tell Will. She really should have learned from past mistakes that this needs nipping in the bud.