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.

I think she’s got brown hair which used to be permed, carefully done make up, fairly slim and well dressed. Probably everything from John Lewis with a few more expensive cashmere jumpers and things from her previous life doing whatever she did pre Ambridge. Contract lenses.

If that's Lynda, pre-Ambridge was nearly fifty years ago, so she's doing pretty well to have kept things from then wearable.

She was Robert's secretary before she married him; how well-off would she have been, I wonder.

Oh definitely this - I took it as a reference to the previous joke too.
I'm sure the word with be said in full at some point! Hope so anyway.

I meant contact lenses obviously!

yes she keeps her clothes very well.

I feel that fifty-year-old clothes might not be all that they once were, is all: even cashmere bags and pills eventually. She might wear them for gardening, perhaps.

Moths. Also, if her figure is the same as it was in her 30s, she must be a superwoman. Mine very definitely isn't.

I have often heard "woke" used in that context.
No one has heard the word/phrase/abbreviation "r-word" used in real life to mean racism, of course the actual word "racism" is a common word.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g Mine isn't that different, apart from the 32-B having been replaced by something much more matronly! So I am now visibly female, though frankly I preferred my shape before. I'm still wearing clothes I bought 40-plus years ago, including a pair of Monsoon summer trousers from the 80s - who thought they would last so long? Sadly, the Jaeger fitted jacket can no longer be buttoned up ... though the casual one is like new!

All the Harrison/Fallon/Alice goodbyes made me think he's almost certainly going to be dedded in the line of duty. I can't say I would mind very much!

I have always thought that Lynda looked exactly like the actress that plays her.

Yes, I inadvertently saw the picture of the actor that plays her and initially thought no. But now in my head, she looks perfectly like her and that works for me.

Lynda is definitely tall and thin in my mind. And also definitely short dyed hair.

Almost this- I think she has shoulder length hair. Mostly worn in a ponytail but pretty thick for her age. I still don’t like her though…

Snap!

👏I do like a bit of hopeless optimism!

I don’t think he will, I reckon he’ll have a drunken shag with someone else and they’ll split. He had a very fond farewell with Alice so I do wonder if he’s leaving the door open there. Perhaps Fallon could have Chris who’s also a handsome bugger and they could just swap? Saves fuss.

You know, I don’t think I properly took in Lawrence’s letterbox insult before.

I actually feel sick.

I never listen to the Omnibus usually but found myself sitting in a parked car whilst my driver did a bit of shopping so was rather taken aback by the theme toon.

However I was surpristed to hear it start with Fallon saying that she has now used up the frozen pastry left by Wayne so has had to make her own. Are we to deduce that Wayne has been so keen to cover his tracks that he has unwrapped all the commercial frozen pastry wrapping and replaced it with plain cling film or the like?

I've just looked back through this year's BBC episodes and associated synopsis. Wayne left the Bull on 9 January and Jolene started to talk about it on 5 January.

How big is the Bull's freezer?! Who has been doing the ordering/accepting orders/freezer-filling/bill-paying?

Still I'm enjoying the farewell to Harrison. If he gets deaded, Fallon will presumably get a police widow's pension and life assurance payout. She could go travelling with her Dad!

She's in the film The Thief Lord.recognised her voice right away so now that's Lynda in my head

What did he say?

Talking about Z and K he asked something like “are they the letterboxes or the red dots? I can never tell.”

It was only this morning that I grasped that he had only met Khalil, and not the female Maliks. That’s why he asked.

Hope fire and brimstone find him. Just a passing mention in a few weeks or months about how he’s no longer doing whatever he did because he and his car drove over the edge of a cliff …

Talking about Z and K he asked something like “are they the letterboxes or the red dots? I can never tell.”

Did he? When?

Well said!! Great to read this among all the constant Harrison-bashing!

At the end of the episode when he collected his glasses. It was slightly mumbled so I didn’t catch it properly until the repeat

as for Harrison - she had been crystal clear on kids for years and she didn’t promise him kids to entrap him!

I remember when they first met and found him extremely creepy and unprofessional