Archers thread #175: Crime, punishment and kittens. 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 your current highlight is the kitten naming, 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.)

As I am posting this on Sunday morning at a point where some omnibus listeners won't have caught up with this week's events, I've kept the title less spoilerish than I might have done. Below this point, everything broadcast to date is of course fair game, so be warned!

Of course the main interest for most us at the moment is indeed the kitten naming competition. Isn't it? No?

Oh well, since you insist ...

How do we think George is going to cope now? Whither the Grundy and Horrobin clan? Will Lilian choke on her G&T (please)? Will Kenton get septicaemia from a kitten scratch? Will Alice die of sanctimoniousness? Will Fallon spend the rest of her life with the appalling Harrison and his unfulfulled longing for a behbeh? Will Adam and Will come to blows in the Bridge Farm packing shed?

Over to you!

It’s been sold to pay for the laurels I thought? Kate lives with Brian now

It can leave you looking a bit scalped and I think it has gone out of fashion in favour of thicker eyebrows anyway.

Yes I think Brad snd Zainab will get together.

It can leave you looking a bit scalped and I think it has gone out of fashion in favour of thicker eyebrows anyway.

Yes I think Brad snd Zainab will get together.

I suppose she is similar to Mia in her single mindedness but otherwise seems quite a change. Shame he’s not met anyone at uni

looks like it was a good call from Mia

I expect Mia has met someone who will join her in throwing cans of soup.

looks like it was a good call from Mia

Wasn’t it Brad who decided an LDR wouldn’t work? During the picnic on, ahem, Lakey Hill.

It can leave you looking a bit scalped and I think it has gone out of fashion in favour of thicker eyebrows anyway.

I don't think it's gone out of fashion. At least around these parts there's always a queue at the local salons. Whether fuller or thinner eyebrows are in fashion, a lot of women still want some shaping and tidying up.

I've never had a cut from years of threading. I did get burned the one and only time I had an eyebrow wax.

Awwww, I love Chelsea. I thought the abortion SL was really well acted and she makes me laugh. Sure, she's a bit adenoidal but we all have our flaws!

Do not like Zainab at all by comparison although I've a soft spot for Khalil.

yes The Chelsea part of the abortion sl was v well done. Shame sw wanted us to focus on poor little ben

There's a competitor on Bake Off this year who seems to have consciously chosen to have a little gap cut, shaved or threaded into his eyebrows. I am clueless about this sort of stuff so don't know if it's a trend. He is very beautiful (and a very good baker) so maybe he will set a trend.

I sometimes get my eyebrows threaded, to get them in a better shape than they naturally are. I don't go for thick, heavy brows.

Last time I went (a week ago,) I was offered the choice of threading or waxing. Waxing is a bit less painful than threading (and apparently lasts longer, though as they both involve ripping hairs out by the root, I am not sure why.)

It's the only beauty treatment I ever bother with - I don't wear make-up. I suspect Zainab is rather more high maintenance than I am.

I have a friend who looks like that,but it's actually a scar from when he cut his forehead open as a child.

That doesn't mean it can't also be deliberate. I have no idea.

I think the gappy eyebrow is in fashion

I think it's dreadful that one set of parents can demand that - we had a JW girl in our drama class and her parents got the entire class term play scrapped as it involved demons. I felt sorry for the girl as everyone knew who was responsible and blamed her.

Halloween is part of Celtic tradition as @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g says (it was certainly a thing back in the early 80s when I were a lass, much as it's been heavily Americanised since) and anyone who doesn't want to participate need not join in. But they don't have the right to dictate what others do!

Oh and a warning - writing the name of a Chinese online retailer who starts with "T" and ends with "Emu" is an automatic block on your post! Apparently it's to prevent spam.

agree - unless it’s a religious school and part of their ethos.

are schools banning the worst witch and Harry Potter in these cases too?

I think "those" parents also won't accept Harry Potter as it's "promoting witchcraft" or some such nonsense. Nowt wrong with witching - we don't expect others to join in our beliefs but they should be respected, as we respect theirs.

But I wonder if the schools who scrapped the play and Halloween plans would also remove those books

I don't know about HP but the same group of parents wanted to stop yr6 working on parts of Macbeth. They failed in that one.

I have cousins who are on the more evangelical end of Christianity, and Halloween is definitely off the menu, because you'd be inviting the devil in. Harry Potter, and any books with witching are similarly off the menu, as are discussions about ghosts or crop circles...

I come more from a "know your enemy" perspective, so if you really think these things are evil, wouldn't you be better placed to fight them through knowledge?

But still, we all get through life in our own ways.

You're right she did want threading @CaptainMyCaptain but a previous poster mentioned dying. In fairness though, I'm appalling at beautifying but I do find home eyebrow dying much easier and better than going to a salon.

I also thought she wanted her lashes doing which takes a professional at least an hour - maybe I misheard but the timings definitely don't stack there. Also it would require Chelsea to stock a range of lash shapes and lengths.

Gosh I didn’t realise witches were off the menu as well.

What about Room on the Broom? And The Worst Witch?

@TumbledTussocks you're right, she did also want false lashes. It's a wonder Chelsea has got space for all the kit she must stock in a small house!

I didn't hear all the details as my husband was crashing round the kitchen just the bit about threading.

There wasn't any book banning as far as I can remember but Halloween was never reinstated even after those families left. It was about 25 years ago.