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.

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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.

Just caught the end again and Lynda referred to them as the children
are we supposed to see Zainab as a child or a young adult? I thought that was odd wording by Lynda

My mother in law often refers DH, BIL and SIL and myself as "the kids". We're all late 30s/early 40s 😆

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

Yep. Pretty much.

So despite the CA implying Harrison would be on I decided to listen anyway

when Harrison left to get coffee I was hoping he was going to be hit by a car or something for a permanent goodbye. Maybe there is hope that the sugar will lead to a car crash on the motorway. Did he actually say Eeee to Alice?

how bad are Lynda’s scars?

At least Zainab was being nice for once - maybe there’s hope for her yet

cant believe we needed that heart to heart between khalil and Lynda tbh.

its not feeling very archers atm

Well it looks like the racism SL has been ticked off and has now finished. I hope no one blinked and missed it.

Yes, Harrison did say, "Eeee". His accent is definitely getting more and more performatively northern.

You said the R word!!!!!!

Are we getting all Harold and Maude with Khalil and Lynda?

"R" word my arse. Mealy-mouthed fluff.

I'll miss Harrison.

Bye then Harrison, don't rush back.

I've always assumed Lynda has quite severe scarring to her face. She really struggled with it psychologically to begin with.

Yes, had a feeling the racism thing would be short and sweet but I'm disappointed we didn't get to hear Lynda tell Laurence off, what a missed opportunity for Lynda to shine.
I'm wondering if Zainab is the way she is as she been through some racism/bullying, possibly even as a whole family. She seems constantly on the defense.

Out of interest, how many different writers are there?
Lately it feels like they all work very separately instead of collaboratively. So many ideas lately are thrown in and out again in a heartbeat. What happened to the slow burn nature of TA?

Yes, ain't it though. "Performatively Northern" is exactly right. He's like a refugee from At Last the 1948 Show except from the other side of the Penines. The real question, I suppose, would be is he Obadiah, Ezekiel, Josiah, or Hezekiah...

TheUsualChaos
Out of interest, how many different writers are there?

Last year there were eleven; in alphabetical-by-surname order they were Naylah Ahmed, Keri Davies, Sarah Hehir, Katie Hims, Sarah McDonald Hughes, Caroline Jester, Liz John, Avin Shah, Tim Stimpson, Daniel Thurman and Nick Warburton

So far this year we have had eight: also alphabetical, they have been Naylah Ahmed, Keri Davies, Sarah Hehir, Katie Hims, Liz John, Shaun McKenna, Avin Shah and Nick Warburton

Amazing answer thanks @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime

I'm familiar with a few of the names but not all.

So follow up question...have there always been so many? Or least over say going back over the last 20-30 years?

TheUsualChaos
So follow up question...have there always been so many? Or least over say going back over the last 20-30 years?

For the first fifteen years or so there were first two, and latterly three in a year. Then one of them died...

I have data going back to last century, and one day might get round to more but haven't yet. I won't list them all by name because the post would stretch into the middle of next week if I did, but there were
9 in1998
10 in1999
10 in 2000
11 in 2001
10 in 2002
11 in 2003
11 in 2004
10 in 2005
11 in 2006
11 in 2007
10 in 2008
10 in 2009
10 in 2010
11 in 2011
12 in 2012
12 in 2013
12 in 2014
10 in 2015
10 in 2016
11 in 2017
14 in 2018
15 in 2019
16 in 2020
16 in 2021
11 in 2022
14 in 2023

I could do you an incomplete list of SW names and starting dates....

Please don't! 🙏

I think it's virtually inevitable that Zainab has suffered racism. Black people will tell you that it's almost impossible to avoid it, a really depressing thought.

Yes, what was all that crap about "r word"? Dear god, are we not allowed to say racist any more? I refuse to believe that Lynda, who must be about 80, would be so woke as to not use the word racist. Absolutely ridiculous. I get that pre-watershed they had to have everyone talking about poo not shit or crap, but "r word", give me strength.
Are we going to hear on BBC news the announcer saying someone is going to be prosecuted for "r word violence"?

So some of them are writing for fewer than four weeks in a year? That’s bad. No wonder it’s so disjointed.

Perhaps if they paid them more they wouldn’t need so many?

Or perhaps this writing model just isn’t working any more. Maybe they need four or six (at most) locked in a room together all year long? With a resident archivist.

@TottersBlankly Or perhaps this writing model just isn’t working any more. Maybe they need four or six (at most) locked in a room together all year long? With a resident archivist.

I think the whole thing should be improvised, live, by the actors. All of them should get a go. It couldn't be much worse and, for the couple of weeks it would last, it might be quite entertaining.

TottersBlankly
So some of them are writing for fewer than four weeks in a year? That’s bad.

When the editorial team are trying out new writers they sometimes get a single week, or only two, and then never appear again, which I think is terribly sad. Imagine being discarded because you're not good enough to write for the current iteration of The Archers!

There is no watershed on R4, and no excuse for the mealy-mouthed shite dished out.

If you can’t name the behaviour then how are you supposed to fix it

I really liked that episode and it was lovely to hear Lynda adopting the teenagers in her own way.

but yes “R word” was odd - I actually thought at first she meant the other R word which is a horrible term once used for people with learning difficulties. Thought it was a bit much to say that of Lawrence!

Don’t forget any curiosity people in Ambridge had about the ethnicity/background/religion of the family was probably put to bed years ago as everyone met Adil first.

I don’t mind Khalil, he has a slightly puppy-dog-type enthusiasm which I think could grow on me to some extent, but I agree with Goddess that Zainab is just needlessly rude to everyone and that it’s her default behaviour.

There’s something in the way she replies to anything anybody says with a slightly mocking/disbelieving edge, as though they’ve just uttered something very stupid and she’s far cleverer than they are, that really sets my teeth on edge (and that’s when she isn’t being flat-out hostile).

So Harrison has left. Why if they now know how much they love each other(or Harrison thinks they do), is he going so far away ( just up t' road really).
To be honest I felt Fallon couldn't get rid quick enough seeing she thinks more of getting her dad in trouble more than her husband going away for a while.
Will somebody new come to the village and put temptation in Fallons way?
Glad Lynda got rid of old posho. What a boring man.
I wonder when it will be safe for me to put in an order for some Borchester Blue.
Getting back to Fallon. I really think she has been quite nasty to Harrison and is the cause of all his MH problems.
They got married and Harrison thought they would have a family and after a couple of years she said she didn't want to have children , which I think she should have told him long before they got wed, She lost the baby she didn't want and everyone felt sorry for her and Harrison was so upset because no matter how much he loved her he does really want a baby, but every one thought he was over reacting where he really needed counciling. She packed her job up to start her own business which fell through and now she is working in her mum's pub and has made it hard for her dad to have a job when he comes back.
She was also nasty to Alan's daughter when she found out she had slept with Chris which was none of her business seeing that Alice and Chris had spilt up.
Fallon is a very selfish women and I hope that Harruson meets someone new and has 5 kids with her.

What's 'woke' about not saying the word racism? I hate the word woke anyway it's so misused it has no meaning. It means whatever the speaker wants it to mean.