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 was good of Jazzer to remind the listeners Brad about the bench.

Not that anyone on here would have forgotten.

@WagnersFourthSymphony But I wonder why George wants to see Brad rather than his mum?

Wouldn't anyone rather see Brad than Emma? I mean, I'd almost (but not quite) rather see Lynda or Bert Horrobin! But really, I expect things are tough and he doesn't want Emma weeping and wailing, which would make him cry and lose face in front of the others.

Mia's surname, by her own choice, is Grundy.

Reason enough to think she's an idiot.

hello! Completely off topic but.. does anyone else think the announcer who says “BBC Sounds.. music.. radio.. podcasts” could in fact be.. Stella?! As in Lucy Speed. I feel like it could be but can’t find a way to check

George: [whispers] Gotta whisper, the screws are listenin'.
Brad: What? Can you speak up?
[Loud scuffling noises off]
George: You know that drone? I've got to get these blokes off my back...
[Scuffle scuffle]
Brad: What?
[Muffle muffl]
Brad: What? George? Are you OK?
dum de dum de dum de dum dum de dum de....

Next week, George gets Emma's letter.

I have stopped listening for prolonged periods twice. If George and Brad end up involved in drone drug delivery I may have to take another prolonged break.

I don't think Brad is stupid, but if it turns out that he is then I give up too.

Take heart; we know Brad is unable to fly the drone reliably.

at least he's spoken to Jazzer, and Jazzer told him he had mates in prison, so IF George tries to get Brad to do something stupid then he might confide in Jazzer who could tell him what an awful idea it is, with some authority

SWs take note

Yes, I'm sorry - it could only happen in an alternative universe which isn't TA.

But anyway, George will be having a totally shitty time in prison and the SW would be doing everyone a disservice if they didn't touch on that, and the pressures on prisoners. It's flavour of the month right now (about time too) so it's excellent that we are hearing from George inside. I'm hoping we will be hearing something that presses for change, but Aunty Beeb has to be impartial, so not holding my breath.

They are on a role with public service announcements- seems to be one per week at the moment with flu jabs being the topic du jour…

I really don’t care about the women’s ploughing match.

I really don’t care about the women’s ploughing match.

I'd be interested enough to go to one in real life. I went to one a few years ago and they were ploughing with horses - what a faff! I expect they knew what they were doing back in the day.

It would have saved Anna May McHugh so much time if she'd known you could organise one in a couple of weeks.

Though I suspect Ambridge's effort will be a bit small scale compared with THE Ploughing.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ploughing_Championships

Is there a reason men and women can’t compete against each other? I haven’t been listening and assume that’s been raised

where do they always managed to get vintage outfits from?

where do they always managed to get vintage outfits from?

The extensive costume collection at the village hall.

In Ireland the ‘farmerette’ class, open to all women, was introduced at the National Ploughing Championships in 1954, the winner known as ‘Queen of the Plough’.

At one time upper body strength might have been relevant - particularly with horse ploughing but I suspect now it's there as much for historical reasons as any - women can compete in all classes.

www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0913/1469911-national-ploughing-championships-history-ireland-anna-may-mchugh/

for the same reason as lots of things are separated by sex: some things are more suited to the male or female physique. Or (eg chess) because historically far fewer women are able to learn chess, play chess to a high standard etc etc. It gives women a chance to actually a) participate and b) win.

I suspect originally it was to give women a chance - from what Ruth said there's a fair bit of physical effort involved (presumably older tractors were much harder to drive, I doubt they had power steering!) and the male-bodied will always have a physical advantage over women.

I caught up on a couple of episodes this morning, the character of Lottie is excruciating. I can't decide if it's the delivery or the way she's written. Who on earth talks like that? And if that's what PTAs are really like then I'm adding the avoidance of that particular circle of hell to the reasons why I'm glad I don't have children!

Oh so it’s traditional ploughing

lottie is terrible because she’s there to serve as a plot device. The pta stuff relies so much on nasty stereotypes of, mainly, mothers that I don’t like it!!

Brian spoke about a women's cup rather than category, which would imply that women plough against the men in a mixed category and then the best woman is awarded the cup.

I would think there would only be a sex advantage if using vintage machines, hence getting out Bert's old plough/ tractor. With modern machines, the technology would outweigh physical differences. Not an expert, but that's my guess. And then it's just what was mentioned above: the need to promote women's engagement in a male-dominated (literal) field.

I'm sure the ploughing competition - like so much else that takes place in Ambridge - will make absolutely TERRIFIC radio listening.

At our local ploughing matches when I was a teenager in the late 60s/early 70s there were still old men ploughing with horses in their own category. (Obviously most of the competitors used tractors - I am not that old!) I don't ever remember any women though. I suspect you did need a fair bit of upper body strength with a horse-drawn plough. I'm pretty sure I've seen photos of land girls ploughing with horses during the War though so I assume it was something women didn't do, rather than something women couldn't do.

When anyone coughs in TA you know it signals an imminent illness SL, so I'm very much hoping no one mentions that Brad is having trouble sitting down in any future episodes as we'll know he is practicing to Beat the Boss.

Women were supposed to be "too weak" to plough until the First World War when the need for fighting men resulted in the sudden discovery that women could plough. But after the war they remembered that, actually, a woman's place was in the kitchen and women couldn't plough. Along came the Second World War and it turned out (surprise!) that women could plough. But it was back to the kitchen when the war ended.