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.

So the gills have been there many years but the only local they’ve made friends with is newcomer mick?

Serves her right.

I can forgive the SWs bringing otherwise pointless Mick in it as it's setting noses out of joint.

I loved the Fagash falling off a ladder bit! And the part when Gnasher and Tom told Kirsty they wanted a survey of the drains. Fab. 💩

I hope Brad tells Gnasher to get lost. I'd quite like Tracy to notice Brad is under a great deal of pressure at the moment.

I wasn't a fan of Brad's until the George stuff, which I really enjoyed. He had some very good scenes there.

With hindsight, I think they said their mortgage company insisted on it. But (after initially assuming that Natasha was lying) in my head I translated that to "solicitor" - or at least assumed they'd heard it through their solicitor, who can obviously only be Usha. Usha will, naturally, be acting for both sides (don't tell the Law Society), what with being Borsetshire's only solicitor of all trades (mistress of none). Now she just needs to tell Kirsty that this needs to be paid for by the Gruesome Twosome ...

<on edit> What with that and the Fagash/Idiot scene, the tosh factor has been dialled up to 11.

Realistically no one would buy a house that had been flooded with sewage - you would consider yourself to have had a lucky escape. It doesn’t matter what the survey says, there’s no way you’d want to risk that happening again with all your stuff inside and that goes double for Tom and Natasha who are also dealing with a sewage spill at Bridge Farm. It really is a double whammy for the tearoom with Fallon now cooking up a storm at The Bull and (predictably) talking about extending hours. It’s the sound of chickens coming home to roost after Tom and Natasha pinched Fallon’s business from under her nose.

I hope that Tom and Natasha go broke. I would drop out of buying the house if the sewage thing happens once it could happen again. Sorry Kirsty, but she is not suppose to be in any way lucky.
Not interested in the Ramadan story line. (or any religion really). I got a new phone for Christmas from Amazon, and went to the calender and it had highlighted all the Muslim holidays 🤷‍♀️ so I had to find how to delete them all.
Why is fagash so bloody nosey. She acts like she is 9 years old sometimes. Glad she fell in the flowerbed. hope the Gills have cctv and catch her on camera and send her a bill.

I was hoping Lilian had broken something vital. Has visions of the air ambulance landing on a sewage-plastered field and the down-draught from the rotors spraying it everywhere.

Realistically no one would buy a house that had been flooded with sewage - you would consider yourself to have had a lucky escape.

Yes, I'd pull out of the purchase.

Do we reckon there's a price difference between Beechwood and Willow with the former being worth more? Is Beechwood mortgaged? If it's not, could Kirsty release equity in it and use that to purchase Willow and keep Beechwood as an investment property and let it to Helen?

I've no idea what I'm talking about, just desperate for something to go right for Kirsty!

Me too re Kirsty!

Something major did “go right” for Kirsty once -she was saved from being married to Tom.

Was that a Welsh term of endearment Gnasher was using for Tom?

More hilarious slapstick from Fagash and Justin. Oh how I laughed.

Yes, literally 'Little darling/love/sweetheart'. In the context, 'Tom bach', 'Tom cariad', or 'Cariad' would have sounded more natural.

It's not that it sounded unnatural, and it might be normal where Natasha is from, but I'd probably use 'Cariad' in the same way as 'Sweetheart' or 'Love', ('Are you ok sweetheart?', There you go love'.) so it seemed like she was saying 'Sweetheart love'.

I've no idea where Natasha is meant to be from. The accent suggests Welsh-speaker, educated, probably Cardiff area.

Her parents are meant to be living in a rural Welsh-speaking area in North Wales, but the mother's accent was anything but.

I too was hoping for a broken neck. I like your refinement!

Lillian wanting to see the home which holds so many memories of her beloved sister could have been very poignant. The SW decided to go for cheap laughs which produced ... no laughs.

Hmm … I’m shamefully unsociable but if I were the Gills I’d find it natural and sensible to at least introduce myself to the odd Archer or Aldridge. Or Justin. How could they not have bumped into those people at Grey Gables or wherever else the rich hang out? The SWs are not convincing on this point.

And Lilian would absolutely have marched up the drive and dazzled them on their doorstep long before now.

Yes they obviously do hang out in grey gables as isn’t that where they met Mick?

She has no right to insist on seeing inside a house that belongs to someone else now.

Yes. Wouldn’t she appear earlier on with a bunch of flowers and a smile and say she hoped they were as happy as her sister was in the house, etc, and charm her way in? Lillian would be quite good at that, you’d think.

This. It's entirely unconvincing of the SWs not to have had this happen. The latest development is silly.

The Gills must have CCTV. I hope Fagash Lil was caught on camera.

Fgs I'm being forced to agree with Lilian. You don't speak to customers like that.

I very much enjoyed Natasha's flounce. She has only herself to blame for all of this.

Surely it's just business, taking advantage of a competitor's absence from the market. I was waiting for the "it's not fair" with stamping of feet and tossing of hair.

Gnasher didn't mind being all business with Fallon when it suited her. The biter bit.