Archers thread #182: The Shit hits the Am! 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 be delighted to oblige your employer by cleaning up sewage spills without proper training or equipment in place of your normal duties, 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.)

Credit for the title goes to @echt. Can't think of anything much to say about current storylines. Credulity is strained to its limit on many fronts, unfortunately, but there are a few nuggets in the slurry. I did enjoy hearing Natasha's outrage that Fallon is doing obvious, sensible things at The Bull even though it might hit Terum. I thought Natasha was supposed to be an entrepreneur!

Over to you!

or psa about meningitis vaccine

It was weird they spent so much time in the episode the day before with Jazzer lamenting the fact he couldn’t enter the pancake competition and then when the opportunity arose he didn’t take it. I’d assumed the episode before was setting up a “hilarious” caper where secretly entered the pancake event and then had to go for his fancy meal whilst stuffed full of pancakes. I was rather glad that didn’t happen but it did beg the question as to what was the point.

There were a couple of mentions of Brad not eating all day in readiness of the contest, so I’d hope it was only that and not something more sinister (I’ve had enough PSAs lately).

Would it eating all day cause a healthy lad to faint though?

Not sleeping and not eating??

So just read the synopsis and it says Tracy insists on taking Brad away to feed him up. Weren’t there plenty of pancakes?

the think that irritates me most about the archers sw at the moment is that so much just doesn’t make sense

I know listening isn't compulsory but I have been doing it 50+ years. Some episodes do make me think "that's twelve minutes of my life I won't get back" - last night's was one among many recently. This wonderful thread makes it mostly worthwhile, as generally people on here are so nice!

I entirely consume the Archers via this thread - I am very grateful to you all :-)

I think the point was to emphasise that no one wants to eat Natasha's food when they can get much better Fallon food at the Bull.

It's all adding to the pressure on Natasha. When she finally blows, it's going to be spectacular.

@muddyford , you reckon? i've spent far more than 15 minutes a day on TA. It's always been a bit a bit of a curate's egg028.

I'm not quite sure what you mean. I wasn't aware it was a competition.

PassivAggressivHaus
I had the sense to live uphill from the floodplain and sewage works.

So did the Maliks; the Beechwood estate is uphill of Brookfield, which as we know was not flooded when the Am over-ran the village to the height of six feet and more in 2016.

The sewage works is at the extreme other end of the village, and the far side of the river.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime , I hope that the mysterious water table of Ambridge is a one-off then, or the local sewage works overspills might find their way to PA Towers.

@muddyford , 13 mins in the evening,13 minutes after lunch, a few posts here and there on MN in between, omnibus on a Sunday...
It's a compulsion not a competition.

Three houses of the Beechwood estate having their drains back up so that sewage flowed out of the downstairs lavatories (and yet mysteriously did not ooze out of the manhole covers outside the properties and get into the road) was a different incident from the wave of water with sewage in it which washed from Heydon Brook across three fields and past some disused gravel pits in order to inundate the Bridge Farm shop and carpark.

What/where are PA Towers, please?

You listen to every episode three times! Gorblimey. Once is more than enough for me at the moment.

The PassivAggressiv Haus, I assume.

I listen in the evening, a few posts on MN. Twenty minutes perhaps, all together. I don't do the repeats. I agree it's a compulsion to listen, if only to see what further horror is being wrought.

Thanks, Gasp0de.

I am mildly sensitive on the subject of defective drainage this week; on Sunday water ceased to flow out of the kitchen sink, and after we had spent some time on drain-clearance measures like bicarb-and-vinegar and One Shot (nb: do not ever get this on an aluminium sink), on Monday the drain clearance people showed us film of the blockage to the (admittedly antique) drains out through our garden and off down the one-in-six hill towards the local river a few hundred yards away sideways. Getting it fixed first thing on Tuesday morning was an expensive matter but essential if we wanted to go on living here. We are talking thousands rather than hundreds...

The idea that clearing a backed-up mains drain including foul water piping would be a matter for amateurs such as Joy and Mick fills me with awe and disbelief.

PassiveAggressive Towers. About 0.5 miles from, but not downwind of, the local sewage treatment plant. The naice housing estate is in the floodplain and gets 'the whiff'.

I don't actively listen 3 times, but the radio is usually on from the moment I wake up to when I fall asleep, but today I shouted 'F off' at it just after 6 a.m. and it's been off since.

Bad cut in earlier post but meant to say, I suspect this will occur regularly until November 2028.

Passiv if R4 is bothering you, give the World Service a try. R3. Essential Classics from 9:30 isn't bad, either, though perhaps not for everybody.

Commiserations to Asking; that sounds unpleasantly expensive!

Bye-bye going on holiday this year, I suspect. But working drains are essential for every day life, so that is rather that. Too bad.

A lot of R4 repeats on world service though

sympathies asking. I’m having issues at the moment too but can’t find a decent plumber!!

Bruisername
sympathies asking. I’m having issues at the moment too but can’t find a decent plumber!!

We found these ones in a local parish-type freebie magazine that comes through the letter-box once a month and has half-page ads in it to pay for it. If you get one of those it might be worth looking through?

Yes good point - must have one lying around somewhere!!

In my experience there is always one....