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!

Me too. But I am from very near Pendle Hill so perhaps I was a Lancashire Witch.😁

(Is an NHS correct or should it be a NHS?)

It's an. With acronyms and initialisms you use 'a' if it starts with a consonant sound and 'an' if it starts with a vowel sound: a NATO leaflet, an NHS leaflet (because the first sound is 'enn', a vowel sound).

Honestly, David, 65 years apparently hasn't taught you that you don't ask neighbours and friends why they're in a doctor's waiting room!

I’m worried for Neil 😢

Azra’s consultation with Neil was typically unsatisfactory. GPs generally just want to get the patient out of the door as soon as possible- no matter whether they have got to the heart of the problem, often with a prescription in hand (for an inappropriate painkiller or anti-depressant) and a request they monitor things and come back again in a few weeks.

I am very disillusioned with the level of care offered by GPs these days (with good reason but I won’t bore you); and find the only way for a satisfactory outcome is to have a very clear idea of what you want your next step in treatment to be. They used to play an amazing role but have essentially just become gatekeepers to specialists. I certainly wouldn’t rely on them for a diagnosis.

Azra proved exactly that. Neil should have been referred for further tests immediately. Given his time of life and his reluctance to seek help, his symptoms seem very unlikely to be down to stress alone.

we're heading for Movember and while we need to get people talking, especially men, about their mental health issues - shoehorning it in like this turns people off i think.

But. It is a very very important message so I'll forgive them.

It was worse than that - Neil misinterpreted David’s question about the plough match to be about the appointment but he opened up and I thought sounded relived to talk. And then David butted in and said ‘oh no sorry, I was talking about the plough match’

the big problem we have with the nhs is this idea that it is staffed by saints when u fortunately there are a lot of bad apples and jobsworths who have no interest in patients. I don’t know how you can improve the nhs without having a really honest review

I certainly wouldn’t rely on them for a diagnosis

Maybe I need to see a psychiatrist? I've obviously been hallucinating all the patients that I diagnose with various things every clinical day as a GP, in a system where they are increasingly let down by secondary care and where many referrals lead to a letter saying 'the patient has nothing wrong in my increasingly narrow area of interest, back to the GP' rather than any sort of holistic management.

My money is on Neil not having told her properly about his 'funny turns'.

I’m not sure he had the chance before she started parroting the ChatGPT at him. It was a poorly written episode imo

It's absolutely dreadful isn't it? I cannot understand why they commisioned one series let alone three of them.

Sorry for thread hijack.

I can’t help thinking it’s because they are trying to increase the number of female comedians. But perhaps they are trying to ‘prove’ women aren’t funny and self sabotage. I can’t believe there weren’t any better options.

@Bruisername good point about Neil speaking to David and David, having gone through all that with Ben, shut him down right away.

if anyone knows a man who needs to talk, or may need to talk you can point them in the direction of CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)

Homepage | Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)

and Andy's Man Club (I met two of them last year at Kings Cross, they do good work)

Andy's Man Club | #ITSOKAYTOTALK | Andy's Man Club

I have a perspective on the GP issue. I have moved from a busy urban practice to a village one. I had excellent GPs in town and the rural ones are no better or worse. But oh my god the access is incredible. It's so easy to get an appointment! This in turn gives you more time and often less admin mistakes because the burden here is less.

I agree about the returning to GP by secondary care and I am currently in that revolving door. But the next step is so much easier now.

but they can BBC-both-sides it with the older Archers pontificating that anyone who goes to prison gets everything they deserve. I don’t think it’s as clear cut as that. One’s feelings about crime and punishment are coloured by how much one is affected by crime, and by one’s politics, it’s not just age.

Each episode has canned laughter with one irritating person. I think there are two cans as the irritating laugh alternates week by week. And I only catch the last few minutes before the news and TA!

Woman's Hour has a scriptwriter for The Archers on to talk about that COMPETITIVE PLOUGHING storyline that checks we've all obviously been following

It's rather disorientating to hear TA at this time if a midweek morning.

I never particularly thought of ploughing as a man's thing - obviously male-domjnated, but that was because there were more men working in agriculture.

Also, with them explaining what ploughing is, and what is judged in a ploughing contest - I realised there's a lot of knowledge I take for granted.

They’re repeating Desert Island Discs from last year atm. Not old enough to be interesting. A sort of “just shove anything in” sort of choice.

I assumed it was because the guest had recently died. I find it a bit sycophantic tbh and only really like it when they have scientists etc on rather than actors and celebs.

the sw are really heavy handed at the moment but I suppose we should be grateful they have remembered the farming side!!

and find the only way for a satisfactory outcome is to have a very clear idea of what you want your next step in treatment to be. Our GP practice has an on line form to request an appointment, and once you’ve filled in what’s wrong, how long have you had it, is it getting worse, it asks you what you want from the appointment. It’s a useful question I think.

Oops

Agreed, “This scientific life” is one of the most interesting programmes.

Just googled and she’s still alive!! So bit odd they’ve repeated so soon.

as I get older I really have no interest in actors pontificating on things as they always seem so full of their own self importance

If I was Emma I would be asking all the family and George's friends to write a letter to him every week or so. I'm sure receiving letters when in prison would be a mood booster. I love receiving letters rather than emails, there's something special about the written word on paper. and I'm not sure if they have access to email in the prisons.

Surely a nurse would be administering flu vaccinations not a doctor?

My local GP has separate sessions for flu/covid jabs with a long queue which moved really fast - name? D.o.b? Jab. Out - no sitting about waiting.

When I was stewarding at a mass covid vaccination centre the older people like David (and me) were stoic and fearless- we're of an age when our parents, if not us, remembered polio etc and we all got used to lining up for jabs and take it in our stride. In my experience it was the under 40s that were nervous.

it asks you what you want from the appointment. It’s a useful question I think.

On a form you fill in beforehand - maybe. But when you’re first asked the question during the limited few minutes you have with the GP - as I was recently - it just seems like a time wasting exercise. And very new, too. Over the last fifty years the model was that the patient arrived and presented their symptoms. Then the GP would do their work. I was slightly miffed to find I was supposed to arrive with a PowerPointed agenda …