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!

Yeah maybe. I’m so backwards when it comes to technology I would be pretty impressed with myself!!

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g!

Me too, I don’t know why either.

@Samphire44 **As it stands (if we assume he was dangerous driving) I would class it as a c2 offence as the underlyingboffence was not serious and the innocent party was not sent down as a result of the perversion so between 6 months and 1 year.

I think Eddie was right, better legal advice and encouraging him to plead not guilty would have given a much better outcome.**

As others have said the conviction for PCoJ doesn't rely upon dangerous driving being proven. George had no choice but to plead guilty to the PCoJ charge at the very least, he admitted everything to the police. In a real sentencing the Judge would have explained the 'starting point' under sentencing guidelines and then applied a discount for an early guilty plea. I think George was well advised re a guilty plea in the circumstances.

The sad reality is any charge would have been unlikely had he owned up straight away.

Re Eddie's comments in criminal law there aren't many solicitors who practise on an exclusively private basis. It's usually a mixture of legal aid and private clients. I didn't see anything in the advice solicitor Sharon and George's counsel gave him that appeared questionable. I genuinely don't believe the outcome would have been any different if he'd paid privately. In my experience legal aid lawyers are really hard working and some exceptionally skilled practitioners work on a legal aid basis in the criminal courts.

I do think Rinder is right though and his age, clean record, good employment record etc might have tipped in into a suspended sentence in RL.

Lillian and Adam's reactions left me with the words of Lord Timpson running through my head... we are addicted to punishment in this country. I passionately believe prison should be about rehabilitation which is entirely lost on Lillian and Adam. George could have been more effectively rehabilitated with a community based sentence.

Agree with poster who says this has soured my view of Lillian. I've always been neutral towards her but now I think she's a Daily Mail reader with zero concept of 'but for the grace of god'.

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. I certainly thought George would have a drone as part of his photography/video sideline possibly because I know a lot of photographers. I’d prefer to think it was referenced as part of an attempt to get Brad to keep the business ticking over so he will have something to come back to when he comes out though I’m not sure it would be as easy as that (as indeed Brad seemed to prove by failing to master the drone). Without Ambridge extra I think it’s unlikely we’ll get much action taking place in the prison and certainly hope that is the case. I think it’s more likely we’ll get Elizabeth and Emma comparing notes and some input from Freddie. Hopefully Elizabeth will be able to get thru to Lillian about how unreasonably she’s behaving (she might take it from an Archer).

I'm another one who has an (obviously false) memory of George having a drone previously.

I also have the opposite, which is no memory at all of George having a podcasting business, which was mentioned at least 2 or 3 times on the last thread. Are those posters confusing podcasting with video content creation, or am I wrong here too and he has a podcast going on the side?

I thought the Bartleby series with Eddie voicing Bartleby was a regular thing that might be termed a podcast with video. That was in addition to his business of doing publicity etc for famers. Not that I paid that close attention to it.

And I'm afraid I'm another who thought a drone might be something other prisoners might expect George to exploit. If he's not too far away from Ambridge, that is, which he probably will be.

I'm not sure I see why anyone would expect George to exploit having had a drone before he was sent to prison unless he tells them he had, and there would be no reason to think he had any contact outside who would (or even could) use it for him. I think that will only get him into trouble if he does some stupid, cocky boasting.

I thought I knew George had a drone, but I can’t remember the context. He doesn’t make a podcast, he makes videos.

Didn’t George do some drone footage for the Bridge Farm socials at one point. I can clearly hear Tony in my mind saying exclaiming to someone about ‘he’s even got a drone!’ But I may be imagining this entirely

very disappointed to hear about Lillian, she’s classically been one of my favourites so I think I’ll be sad to hear her being so vindictive.

Has BBC1 suddenly decided to accommodate Archers listeners? The Times TV guide tells me Strictly is starting at 7.18 this evening. Just time for a quick loo break?

I'm not remotely defending Lilian's disgraceful behaviour over George's arrest and trial, but it's worth bearing in mind how loyal she's been to Alice over the adverse publicity re Emma's poisonous anonymous criticism about the alcoholic at the Stables, and how she has defended Alice against Justin's attempts to push her out. So horrible though she's been, it's not incongruent.

I somehow doubt Justin is reconciled to keeping Alice on, so we may have more drama over this.

Alice is not, shall we say, the most reliable of employees: she so often takes days or half-days off for this and that and at very little or no notice, even when she isn't incompetent through being drunk. (And when she's that she takes weeks off instead of just days.) If someone not family were that flaky I'm sure Lilian would be the first to say they had to go, darling.

clarrie still wobbly but nice to hear her!!

Poor Neil - I hope we don’t have a health incident!! I’m kind of hoping that given all the really old characters I’m hoping that’s saving some of the younger characters are safe. He needs to visit azra. Maybe enforced retirement

What is Apple Day? I know I could Google but I suspect I will get better answers from you guys!!!

interesting Keira uses ‘cruel’ - my similar aged child only uses unfair!!

I've just caught up on Thursday and Friday.

Can I just say how much I loathe Lilian? And as for calling the cat "scrawny" when I know that Lilian is short, tubby and squeezed into something expensive but cheap looking , 2 sizes too small for her.

Elizabeth was kind.

What on earth has the poor kitten done to deserve being forced to live with that obnoxious brat?

Khalil was all right, just not prepared to be attacked by a stranger and wrongly accused. And obviously an animal lover. I foresee a revelation of llama constipation and he and Lynda becoming best friends.

Poor Neil - I hope we don’t have a health incident

Neil ending up in hospital after Emma told him to leave would be a nice twist, though.

Apple Day in my neck of the woods is a small community affair with any or all of the following-
apple themed children's games
apple themed crafts
apples- to take away, to juice, to identify etc
apple themed baked goods, tea and coffee
music

I went past a branch of Redemption Roasters today (tagline 'reducing reopening through coffee' for those who haven't come across them). They manage to employ the most photogenic, hip young things. It's like they scoured the prisons for potential models. I wonder if they'll open a branch in Borsetshire, although I think George is much more suited to outdoor work.

Thanks for new thread 😊

In TA, Apple Day first happened in 2014 when Rob was fairly new to the programme, and he letched audibly over a pubescent girl (I forget which one, possibly Phoebe) being hefted up into an apple tree. Then it happened again in 2016 when Rob was definitely no longer welcome around the village, then again in 2018. In 2019 it was openly admitted on air that the "tradition" had only been started in Ambridge as an effort by Oliver to cheer Joe up when he was having a grump over something or other.

I had rather been assuming that when Joe died, the need for this "tradition" ceased to exist.

Neil is having cardiac events - this isn't going to end well.

I see Lillian as rake thin, someone who smokes and drinks but rarely eats.

Splendid. There can be years of argument as to whether George or Emmur caused his demise.