Archers thread #179: Beavers, livestock, ferrets, but nododo! 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 be happy sharing a hot tub with Mucky Mick, 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.)

The title started life with @JanglyBeads, whose autocorrect turned 'Oh no, nor do I!' into 'Oh no, nododo I!' on the last thread. For reasons of cowardice/prudence/lack of inspiration and the character limit, I haven't included @BeaLola's even more mysterious autocorrect - her phone had her asking Abdul if he'd always wanted children instead of Neil. Perhaps one of the mooted beavers can be Abdul.

For the first time ever I've added a poll to the OP. Over to you!

How can anyone not like Joy after that?

And calling Tom "bit of a prat" from Mick.

I'm sure the twins will get a room each, the boys will share the boxroom, Helen will get the cupboard under the stairs. And if she complains she'll be reminded she isn't paying a normal level of rent.

Tom and Natasha are living in April Cottage, whose only neighbouring house is Keppers Cottage. That was being rented by Doctor Locke, last we heard – he left The Bull with Debbie on 27th December 2016 and has not spoken on air since, but we haven't been told that he's left the village.

I think that it is about time that Ambridge had some residents who managed to commute beyond the bypass without feeling exhausted.

The village could easily have a surgeon/anaesthetist, Uni lecturer, teacher, road haulier, somebody at GCHQ but won't talk about it... even a buyer at Underwood's.

@Madcats ... not to mention a professional lady of low virtue but high prices, a properly raving lunatic, a dodgy dog-breeder ...

I very much enjoyed Joy insisting on having the key back. No, Tom, it is Not Your House yet. Imagine trying to set out rules before you've even bought the place! If it does happen, we're into a neighbours-from-Hell scenario.

I liked how Joy dealt with Tom. But it doesn't stop her from being a character I don't like, she's a gossip, a busybody and I don't like her general demeanour. Also she loves Mick, so clearly has a poor choice in men. He is so uncouth, and a blunderbuss. Neither of them have any self awareness at all.
I dislike all the new and newish characters( as well as plenty of the older ones). Rochelle is horrible, Mick and Joy as above, new doctor and her teenage children are abrupt, rude and generally unlikeable.
In fact thinking about it there aren't many likeable characters these days ( or rather, I don't like them).. Are we supposed to like David and Ruth, are they supposed to be like Phil and Jill, because they certainly aren't? It needs some pleasant, harmless characters like Nigel Pargetter, or Tom Forest or Bert.

Rex is pleasant and harmless. I suppose Brad is too.

If Tom needs silence after 7pm, goodness knows how he’s going to cope with two boys in the house. And Helen won’t take kindly to demands that her two are silenced. After all, it’s her house (even if Tom and Natasha have bought it)

I like Joy and I quite like Mick despite the clapped out old motor home -I'm not liking Rochelle

As for Tom - I like howJoy handled him - he is the most annoying Archer well with Pip

I wonder how long it will be before Tom tells the neighbours on the other side that he expects them to observe a seven o'clock curfew: Joy and Mick are not the only other people living in the eighteen-house estate. (Or twenty-house estate, since Azra is at number twenty even though only eighteen were built, according to what we were told at first.)

Brad is irritating. He was clever enough to get into a much better university than the lowest tier dumdum Felpersham university, but decided to stay living at home, he hasn't matured in the slightest and is stuck in the same dull village life as before. Having been apparently so intelligent he's now prepared to give it all up at the drop of a hat because it's hard. Well isn't university work supposed to be hard and challenging so you really have to try, it certainly was when I went. Plus he has the most whiny voice. The scriptwriters should have got rid of Brad the same time as Mia.

I'm confidently expecting Mick and Joy to get the jacuzzi out at 7 pm as soon as the clocks go forward. That should be fun especially if they invite TomnTash to join them.

What I inferred from that conversation was that Joy was asking if Rochelle was seeing her spawn when contact arrangements permitted and that Rochelle confirmed she was, which to me implied this hadn’t always been the case.

Brad is irritating

I used to find him very irritating but he's improved hugely over the George thing.

However Brad struggling with university and the weight of the whole George thing is the latest blindingly obvious thing not being spotted by anyone thing (except Lily, in a very surprising moment of not thinking about Lily)

I think Joy's house and Kirsty/Helen/Tom's house are semi-detached. Wasn't she complaining about the sound of toddlers through the wall? I think there has been mention of it I the past, too.

Didn't Helen complain about the hot tub at night when it first went in?

Tom's going to be such a great neighbour...

If my new neighbour asked me to keep quiet after 7 o clock. I would say I'm sorry but I don't live my life around your children. If they have the cheek to ask, then I can answer in the same way.
I don't like Joy or Mick but Tom has got such a cheek. I'm glad Joy stood her ground and I really can't see how the living arrangements are going to work between Helen her boys and Tom and Natasha. They are all mad.

Joy and Mick clearly said to Tom that 'People are ever so helpful round here' 'and if you need anything at all you've only to ask' which gave Tom the opening to say what would be really helpful for him, that they don't play loud music or do any DIY after 7pm.
I thought that was fine, people shouldn't offer to help if they're only doing so to sound nice.
If Joy and Mick then thought that Tom's request was unreasonable they should have said so and worked out a compromise. Joy's assertiveness with the door key showed she can stand her ground.

But what Tom asked for wasn't what Joy meant. "Helpful" means taking in parcels, lending ladders and garden equipment, pet sitting.

Tom's request was so gobsmackingly selfish and entitled I don't think it's surprising you'd do much more than astonished jaw dropping. Doesn't mean you're going to accede to it.

I get what you're saying but I found it refreshingly honest, the most helpful thing to parents of very young children are neighbours being reasonably quiet in the evenings so the children can sleep.
Joy and Mick have time during the day to play loud music or do DIY projects so I doubt it would be an inconvenience to them to be helpful with this request, they did say 'anything at all'!

Is Mick meant to be our likeable, low income character now Eddie is hardly heard from anymore?

Tbf no one should be doing loud DIY after 7pm imo

perhaps we should be more like the Swiss and have stricter noise controls!

Gosh. Do you have Archer genes?

We live in a terraced house. Noise from neighbours is unavoidable. We took the view that it was best for the children to get used to it. We were also very grateful that our neighbours were very tolerant of our children's noise.

Even in Switzerland 7:00 would be too early. He lives in the country - there will be animal noise, there will be tractor noise, there will be days in summer where the forage or combine harvesters will be working for 14 hours. If he's that noise sensitive he needs to install some sound insulation.

He would also be well advised to have a separate bedroom for times when Natasha's snoring gets too much. So a room each for Tash, Tom, Twin1, Twin2, - box room for Jack and Henry, Cupboard for Helen. And no-one must make any noise of any sort, including bathing, showering, flushing, after 7:00.

Bring It On.

I agree. Babies need to learn to sleep with the ambient sound. If you live on a new build estate you will hear other people from time to time and life doesn't stop at 7pm. When the twins get older they will be making their own noise which might be annoying to the neighbours but unless it's extreme they just have to get used to it. I imagine the noise of the Tom'n'Tash and Helen families' arguments will be making plenty of noise soon.

We are all forgetting that Tom is at the centre of the universe. I live in a terrace and have an unintentionally noisy neighbour. I like silence and she likes constant radio and tv. I can hear her radio in every room of my house. I have only asked her once to do something when it was really loud through the night on a week night.

I long for a detached house/ yurt/ tent/ anything but I am renting and I definitely cannot afford that.

Likeable characters:
Tracey
Jazzer
Stella
Rex
Kirsty sometimes (but she is inexplicably friends with Helen so...)
Clarry
Chelsea

There must be more...

Helen chopping herbs loudly at 7:10, Tom getting stroppy, Helen stropping back, Tash saying 'watch out, she has a knife' . . . .