Archers thread #180: Burgeoning backstories! Continuity, what’s that? 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 think it's a great idea for Helen and the boys to lodge with Tom, Natasha, Seren and Dippity*, 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 www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/5244480-the-archers-spoilers-thread-10-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.)

*Can't remember who coined this, but it's genius.

I was strongly tempted to use one or both of the posts suggested for the title of this thread on the last thread, but went for something a bit briefer. However, they're brilliant and will kickstart this thread very nicely, so here they are:

@Sidebeforeself: Beavers, bridge, bunny boilers and busybodies - it's all a load of bollocks!

(I couldn't agree more!)

@DeanElderberry: I don't usually speculate much on the appearance of characters, but do wonder what it is about Miranda that is bringing out the chest-thumping silverback in Brian and Justin? One little bridge game and the course of Ambridge rewilding is set. The face that launched a thousand beavers.

Over to you!

TA isn't about farming, just every day life dramatised for listening purposes. - sorry, but I have to disagree with this. Of course it’s about farming - Home Farm, Bridge Farm, Brookfield, Berrow, Borchester Land. Even Lower Loxley with the rare breeds. It’s about those who own the land versus those who work the land. What is the countryside without farming? Take away the farming from The Archers and what are you left with?

But there's very little actual farming in it.

Lillian, Kenton, Jolene, Fallon, Harrison, Lynda, Robert, Kate, Jim, Oliver, Brad, Chelsea, Tracy, the GP and her kids. No farming done by them.

Lillian runs the stables (not exactly farming, but livestock related) and is as good as married to Mr intensive farming Justin. Kenton is from the First Family of Ambridge in farming terms (not a farmer as such, but definitely farming adjacent through Dave). Fallon used to work on site at the Bridge Farm tea room, Kate’s business is at Home Farm, Oliver lives at Grange Farm and has supported Ed’s farming ventures, Tracy is married to a pig farmer, Khalil is not a farmer, but would love to swap places with Henry and live at Bridge Farm…

Well put like that ... 😂

Oh, @BeatriceBatchelor …

You have shocked me to my core. Mostly because I suspect you’re echoing the new breed of SW - who doesn’t seem to grasp the nature of the story they’re supposed to be telling. If you honestly believe TA isn’t about farming - my God, they’ve completely screwed things up.

TA is about Archers - past, present and future - who own the land and thus the soul of the village. The story is the endless struggle to gain (and maintain) proximity to Archers - through birth, marriage, business, inheritance, employment, friendship - whatever. Proximity to Archers puts you on the side of Good. Ownership of land that hasn’t come through an Archer connection means battling to wrest the soul of the village from its rightful inheritors.

But it’s too early …

Elizabeth has more patience than me - I’d have been saying to Vince “Which bit of not wanting to live together are you failing to understand? Can you stop going on about it?” long before he finally gave up.

A couple of days ago I chanced upon a PDF of Joanna Toye's Archers Miscellany online.

It was full of references to villagers mucking in to help with things like Nigel's first grape harvest (including Roy and Brenda, David etc.). I expect to hear about the farming year starting with lambing and peaking agricultural shows and subsequent livestock sales. I don't care about 2- week fly-ins.

Farming stories started disappearing after Graham Harvey and have never really recovered.

What could rescue this decline would be the re-introduction of a land agent/consultant. Get them to run the Lower Loxley estate (like Charlie Thomas on Clarkson's Farm - Vince and Freddie together would be a good incredulous Jeremy).

Wasn’t Charlie a land agent? (Adam’s fling) Can’t remember the details, of who he worked for, Borchester Land?

Also, I think Lily is studying land agenting at university isn’t she?

By the way, have I missed it or should Freddie not at some point in the context of the Vince moving in discussion remembered that he inherits LL any day now?

I guess it’s with some sort of guarantee that Elizabeth can live there for life, but does that include brummy boyfriends?

Exactly. The point was that agriculture was the story. Now the stories, in the main, could be set anywhere. If it wasn't for these threads I would have given up listening.

Freddie was 25 just before Christmas so should have inherited the place then.

Lily is/was doing some sort of hospitality degree (hence wanting a placement at Grey Gables).

I would be delighted if Charlie T were to come back from managing a Scottish Estate for Damara. It might knock some sense into Adam.

I have to say I was entirely unsurprised that a discussion about where to store his socks and pants didn’t have Elizabeth swooning 🤣

Does the Joy/Rochelle storyline also qualify as agricultural? They both clearly belong on a funny farm, after all.

What are we left with? What we have now, on the whole. No farming in any of last week's episodes, that I noticed.

If she’s shut down his plan to move in, where will Vince live so that he can head up the cricket team?

It’s more a drama about farming families and their associates, I’d say. Rather than actually about farming.
I consider it an added bonus if we do get to hear a snippet of actual farming content.

I forget whether it's on this thread or the spoilers thread that Home Farm has been mentioned. (It's not a spoiler, as this is pure speculation uninformed by anything the BBC has indicated is coming up in the next few weeks.) About time the silent Gills were sent packing. Brian's nose would be put right out of joint if Vince bought the place.

I cannot for the life of me see why Freddie is being kept from his inheritance. Nigel must be turning in his grave. Freddie would be far from the first jailbird to inherit a stately pile. Now he's 25 why on earth do the Trustees have any say in the running of the place at all? Were they there when Nigel was alive? I never had that impression.

As far as I know the trustees, being Freddie's trustees not Nigel's trustees, didn't exist while Nigel was alive and there were no trustees.

There was never any impediment to Nigel doing whatever he chose with, at and to Lower Loxley. Apart from Julia whinging, anyway.

The whole business is a message to any of us with enough lucre to make it worth leaving it to our minor children: make sure that the trust you set up for the inheritor or inheritors has a finishing date so that the trustees cannot go on indefinitely feathering their nests at your estate's expense.

so that the trustees cannot go on indefinitely feathering their nests at your estate's expense.

…with the active collusion of your relict.

Yes, why is Elizabeth content to allow money to flow out of the estate into the pockets of a bunch of strangers? Strangers, moreover, who have the power to prevent her from doing things that she wants to, as they did over the dairy conversion? (But offer no help of any kind when she has a nervous breakdown and nearly takes the whole estate down with her.)

You have shocked me to my core

Sorry @TottersBlankly

It’s more a drama about farming families and their associates, I’d say. Rather than actually about farming.

That's what I was trying to say (badly) but @iratepirate has put it better.

I've no interest in farming such as is discussed on Farming Today or whatever it's called. Insemination of cows, their illnesses, lambing, pig rearing, sending cattle off to market and so on.

But I am interested in the lives of the farmers, families, friends etc. Just as I used to love Coronation Street in the days when it was excellent but I've never worked in a garment factory, a greasy spoon, a garage or a pub but I was interested in the characters who did work in them.

So I'm really looking forward to the feud that I hope is brewing between Tom and Helen over Bridge Farm but I'm not interested in the cows that I can't name. And I'd like to know how the Terum is being run on minimal staff.

I thought trustees were unpaid, but I could easily have that wrong. How are they feathering their nest?

i just listened to the omnibus
I know a lot of people didn't like the Neil/Nellie scenes but I am now convinced she actually is his mother
even if you found a bay on your doorstep would you really think about them every single day for the rest of your life?

These trustees are professional people who never knew Nigel; I doubt they are doing it for love of his dead blue eyes.

At least twice we have heard of there being a new trustee: why would they have taken on this onerous duty for no remuneration?