Archers thread #181: Panto Week's behind you! Was that the nadir? 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 enjoy playing badminton with Derek Fletcher, 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.)

Will it be onwards and upwards for TA now, or do we fear even more of these special weeks (Martin and a Christmas Carol, Scam Week, Panto Week) and sudden reinventions of long-established characters (Neil)? I for one have had enough of all that. I want a quiet period of change counting in the village shop, farming talk with suitable sound effects and village gossip over coffee at Terum or a pint in The Bull. Slowly developing storylines featuring the full cast, not a subset for a few weeks with no mention of the others, and all behaving in character. Not holding my breath we'll get any of that, though!

Over to you.

@Glorybox2025 you have the exact tone of my late great SIL so thank you for making me smile!

Linda having an affair would seal the deal on my new theory. That, much like the Tories with the NHS, the BBC can’t afford The Archer’s anymore and so are systematically ruining it by being completely shite. We still love it… we love the idea of it, the historic version but we simply….stop… listening

New Robert seems to have been created for the sole purpose of being written out. Given that I have always loathed the caricature that is Lyndypops, I'm rather hoping that she'll run off with the equally ghastly Laurence, that Robert will (much to her annoyance) wave her a cheery farewell, and that neither of them will ever be mentioned again.

Oh ... and if I were Hannah, I wouldn't be comfortable with Alice choosing the horse for me to ride.

Alice actively tried to push Hannah and Chris together at one point. (This has probably been forgotten by this week's scriptwriter, if she ever knew it. The episode on 8th October last year was written by Naylah Ahmed not Sarah Hehiir.)

I agree, Linda having an affair would be the final straw for me also. Just no.
I also totally agree with others who have queried why they are bringing in so many new actors - not cheap ones - when we have so many characters already.
It makes no sense!

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime I vaguely remember something like that ... But what I don't remember is whether Alice was doing it in order to put Hannah off the idea (there is nothing quite like the ex's approval for that!) or whether she saw Hannah as child-care for when Chris was working.

I thought she was doing it as a martyr tbh

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I've always thought that Chris &Alice would end up back together, however, I am hopeful that if there is to be a wedding we are looking at Joy &Mick or perhaps Kate and Jakob?

Fingers crossed this is the end for Harrison......

But someone needs to sadly die- Ambridge must be the healthiest place to live if you're 90+

Thanks for the thread, Gasp.

Why are we having to listen to this incredibly boring man Laurence? Who even is he?

Laurence seems to have acquired Justin’s respiratory problems

Unless I have missed it, no one else seemed to mind Tracy and Chelsea's spa appreciation noises last night. I think we would have understood they were having a relaxing time without every third word being 'mmmm' or 'aaaaah'. It made me feel a bit nauseous.

And I wish I didn't know (from the last thread) that Laurence is the actor from Four Weddings. I couldn't hear him tonight without thinking of that 'I think I'm in there' line. That character annoys me anyway, because he was doing a reading at the wedding but claimed to know the groom from having been at school with his brother, nowhere near a close enough connection to be asked to do a reading, even if the brother did bugger him senseless!

O my god, please not awful Joy and the repellent Mick.
I don't know why they've kept Roy alive when the actor died, they could have had him suddenly die in an accident in Poland or wherever he is, are they going to keep him alive for 40 years or will he just never be mentioned ever again I wonder.
They killed Jenny off, those were some very sad episodes. Peggy can't have long left, after June Spencer died why didn't they let her have a hundredth birthday party then let her die soon afterwards.
It's a long time since John died, surely they could kill off another young person, I'd vote for Pip to be trampled to death by a cow, then there could be an interesting long term story about Toby not wanting Rosie full time and Ruth and David having to become kinship carers, josh having to step up to become the farm heir etc.

Damn fine filly!

Thanks for the thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . I finally caught up with last week’s utter bilge. Wtf was going on with Vince? And as for Berwick and his ill-fitting dentures, he was excruciatingly bad. I’m glad we’re back to a semblance of normality now, but I’m losing my patience with the editor and writers!

Sorry for mentioning it but yes an iconic performance! 💒 💒 💒 💒 ⚰️

I found tonight’s quite gentle and nondescript, exactly the sort of episode lots of posters here claim to want. I’m not sure why Chris and Hannah were being flirty, didn’t he go in for a kiss recently and she gave him very short shrift?

I thought Laurence sounded like the actor from Heartbeat who played the Lord of the Manor ?

Yes he is

What Happens when Harrison's gig is over. Does he go back to being a sarg on the Beat? Or will he be going to different places and jobs for ever more.
Why does everyone think that when Fallon is in the bath and Harrison walks in, or when they are kissing and in bed together that Fallon will get pregnant. Surely they have been doing these things for years, and I would think that Fallen has got contraception up to the eye balls.
Usual crap Lynda beating about the bush with out getting to the crux of the matter, and who gives a fig for the bloody cricket.
Hope Alice and Chris don't get back together, it won't take long before she hits the bottle again if they do.

This. She's being 'brave'.

Signing in before I go and catch up with last nights episode

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff/5268190-introducing-pay-or-consent-on-mumsnet?reply=141928605

The first thing I thought, when I thought about leaving, was But what about the Archers thread?

Yes, The Archers threads are more important to me than The Archers. These threads are the only reason I've carried on listening, so thank you all for being so enlightening and entertaining.

BTW, you do know that if you click Watch thread it automatically takes you to the last post you read, without having to scroll through? I don't know if that button is available on the mobile app. (The downside is that you get notifications of updates, but you don't have to have emails about that, or, presumably, pings - just a number beside your Notifications feature.)

That’s not a thread to assess users’ views. That’s an announcement of a decision already made,

Hmm - yet another £36 a year, or drop out of mumsnet and give myself an extra hour a day? Difficult one!

£36 a year doesnt sound a lot, but when you add it to, say, netflix, ad-free youtube, newspaper, music streaming, it’s getting to be a sizeable chunk. Even more worrying, it’s getting expensive to dip into news media with a different viewpoint from yourself, which will increase the tendency of people to live in their own bubble and not recognise the validity of opposing views.

Not only already made, already implemented. People are already getting pop-ups demanding they pay up or accept cookies.

Yes I’ve just been asked to pay which I refused!

if they make it pay to post then I will sadly leave.

perhaps an archers WhatsApp group to replace!!!