Archers thread #176: In which Ian puts the I in PTA. 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'd like to hear more from Wesley the ashtray collector, 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 @DeanElderberry for the pithy phrase in the thread title and @CaptainMyCaptain for suggesting it should go in there. At least we've got the spooky disco out of the way for now. Plenty of wooden dialogue in the last few episodes that could go on the village bonfire next week. It's all been too dispiriting to discuss in greater depth. I'll just say that I don't hold out any great hopes that the production team will make a good job of reflecting concern in the farming community about the changes announced in the Budget to inheritance tax for farms. So often they get an expert to talk them through stuff like this but instead of ending up with a realistic storyline they pick out the bits they like the sound of and cobble them together in a totally unrealistic way. Maybe I'll be proved wrong this time. I hope so.

Over to you!

Thank you, @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime, for paying attention so that I don't have to. 😋

<on edit> @Bruisername - houses in Ambridge expand or shrink to fit the requirements of any particular week's scriptwriter.

Can Ruth be any more unpleasant?

Although Fallon's reaction to Emma wasn't far off it.

Not very, and it was far too crowded when all the furniture had been crammed into it.

You may have bookmarked that post on page 7. I inadvertently bookmarked a post one and it took me a while to work out why I was constantly landing on an old post on page 2 whenever I opened the thread.

I disagree about Fallon; she was startled, and surprised to see Emma, but happy to work with her and had some pleasant conversation with her. I agree about Ruth, who was no help at all at any point, critical, grudging, sniping, and finally dismissive, before spoiling Fallon's and Emma's evening by telling them they would not be wanted again (after they'd saved her bacon and earned Brookfield the fee for the booking). She could have kept that until a later occasion.

What does she actually need?

space for prep (a big table should suffice) - an oven for baking
hobs (very easy and cheap to buy countertop jobs she could use anywhere)
sink
from the sounds of it baking dishes, pans etc etc

if the church hall has an oven and a sink then she could rent that on an ad hoc basis?

if this ends with her buying the camper van from mucky so he can move in with Joy then my radio will be out the window

And how on earth is the catering done for other events? This problem is surely of brookfields own creation if they are reliant on caterers with mobile facilities

Ruth was extremely rude and ungrateful

What does she actually need?

Apart from the working surfaces, something larger than the average domestic oven, double. Plenty of vertical storage and industrial size fridge. Plus ample freezer space. Industrial FP and stand mixer.

ETA: and an industrial dishwasher.

Right, I've caught up now. Thanks, @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime for clarifying re the ownership of the kitchen.

Ruth was being awful:
a) At least let the poor woman finish her cup of tea before you have the 'we will no longer require your services' talk. If you need to have that talk at all. Just not calling her again would be sufficient.

b) You requested her help on the basis that she was a competent person with the relevant experience to do you a favour at very short notice, not that she was a professional events organiser. You knew full well that she wasn't set up to do this.

c) Don't be so bloody patronising and rude to someone who's doing a good job promoting your business, way better than you would have done.

I know, I was thinking how very much money Ruth and David made from just having a barn for the night (hundreds at least) and how little work they had to do (none) v how grateful they were for Fallon enabling this (not at all). Ruth was a dick to say that at the end of a day and night of hard work.

You know what Fallon should do, get an events type place put up next to Spiritual Home or the Rewilding and fuck over the Brookfield events barn at every opportunity.

If Ruth had any sense (pffft!), she’d install a kitchen in the barn and lease it to Fallon to use as a cafe/events space. But no, why do that when she can be an ungrateful cow, binning off the woman who saved her bacon?

The Brookfield kitchen mystery makes no sense at all.

Was Ruth's behaviour out of character?

I always thought she was a good egg but oooooooh noooooh last night she was obnoxious.

Yes Ruth was a very ungrateful cow and Fallon was a bit funny at first with Emma. I was just waiting for Jill to come in and start causing problems. I hope Ruth and David need Fallon again because they are desperate and Fallon tells them to stick it.
Poor Brad he has to learn to say no and Emma was pushy with him too, I was hoping Tracy was going to have a go at her for badgering Brad.

I don’t remember Brad and Chelsea being born - were Emma and Tracy reasonably close having such similar aged kids?

I'm fairly sure Tracy and the kids weren't in Ambridge when the children were very young. I don't know how far away they were, but they didn't come back to live there until the children were already school age - they moved in with Susan and Neil for a while so presumably they saw quite a bit of Emma, although I think she'd moved out from her parents' house by then. Tracy is closer in age to her niece than her sister, but I don't remember them ever being very close.

Ruth was SO fucking rude. A total cow bag.

Ruth's character has certainly changed, I think she might be heading for a breakdown.

I’m not sure I can bear listening to more Ruth tbh. And isn’t that a bit close to Bens breakdown?

I wonder if this sw just thinks this is how ‘stressed out busy farmer’ sounds

I was distracted at the end but did Ruth make a comment about Fallon having no room for contingency? Did she mean not being able to give Danielle a rebate on her missing guests? Or did she mean not having a kitchen?

I just thought there had to be a reason for it.

I’m not sure I have so much faith in the sw! I think this is the Fallon SL and Ruth has just been put in the position of being the one to say these things to her

Ruth has always been pretty unpleasant, imo, as well as uncouth and graceless. And I’ve long given up hope on that cancer recurring, sadly.

(Clearly, Ruth is not unique in being unpleasant, but I’m taller,a better cook, able to articulate comprehensibly, and don’t normally smell of cowshit, so nyer.)

You are probably right.

We rarely hear Ruth out of the context of her family. So “good egg” to her family, obnoxious to “outsiders”?