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!

Let’s hope it all goes wrong. What a horrible person I am wishing this.

Pat and Helen are both so snobbish, entitled and self interested. If it does pick up I can’t see feeble Helen managing the heavy work at all.

Helen’s accountant would have pointed out that it is a little bit cheaper to employ two part time workers on reduced hours versus 1 FTE, but would remind her that she would be faced with hefty redundancy costs (and a possible claim for wrongful dismissal given the way in which she has handled things in the past month or so). Is Adam still involved with the dairy?

On a positive note, the SW’s have remembered that Keira exists. Maybe she’ll be speaking by the end of the year!

For once I won’t accuse the SWs of forgetfulness - it’s pretty standard for Ambridge offspring not to become regular voices until they’re at an age where they have some agency and can get into trouble on their own behalf. Before that we might hear them very occasionally in exceptional circumstances (Henry’s whole life, Mia after Nic died …).

Sigh, Alan was irritating. A 10 hour bell ring would have me turning against the campaign tbh. and Jesus would have been ringing those bells for 10 hours straight

mr malik is a bit keen on village life. I really don’t believe people are checking the website regularly. Very generous of him to offer to deliver to beechwood - aren’t there only about 15 houses? I’m glad they clarified it’s a motorbike because I thought it was a pushbike on Sunday!! Of course he’s going to be best buds with Alan.

so was his cardboard transport business in Pakistan then? I find the Maliks past far more interesting than Joy and Micks.

the cricket SL is becoming tiresome already

Everyone was irritating in that episode.

the cricket SL is becoming tiresome already

Pa Malik and Alan's moped chat was tedious too.

When are they planning this bellringing? Surely it wouldn’t be permitted during Lent?

Friday.

But don’t worry, Alan reckons Jesus would be first in the queue for the 10hr bellathon.

I feel like he’s the type of vicar who wears a ‘what would Jesus do?’ T-shirt while he rides around on one of his many motorbikes

I really wished Freddie would say something along the lines of "Fine, you want to mess with the entire structure of the team, bring in players who don't live here and pay others, all without consulting the club chair. You go ahead. I am not going to do it for you."

Has she actually asked Rex whether he would be prepared to play for money? I can't remember.

I’m unsure what Freddie’s role is now other than lilys lackey?

He remains "team captain" but seems to have no power to choose the team or to decide how they will play or indeed anything at all.

Of course, what any team which has just been promoted to a more senior league needs is to be completely changed (by someone in a non-existent position and with no experience) before they've even had more than one nets practice.

The phrase might be "if it works, don't fix it." And clearly it did work, or they would not have got that promotion.

So a quick google tells me that an amateur can be paid but in order to retain the tax benefits of being a club it can’t be more than 10k pa. Wonder if they will have to operate a payroll

anyway, this is clearly going to end badly and create great tension and they will end up having a terrible start to the season and then Freddie will take charge and give them all a motivational speech and they will be the best team ever, hurrah and everyone clapped!

Lily is going to look all no-how if Rex declines her bribe, or Lynda doesn't endorse her decision to offer it. Doubly so if whoever else she decides to bribe also refuses and then publicises her behaviour, ideally to Tracy.

All of this Freddie and Lily malarkey is because the SWs have moved the who runs LL up the line.

Yes they are very subtle

Has she actually asked Rex whether he would be prepared to play for money? I can't remember.

Don't think so. As ever, Lily just assumes everyone will do exactly what she wants. And, annoyingly, they usually do.

Realistically if Rex ditches some of his weekend taxi hours during the season he's going to struggle to get the regular customers back again when the cricket is over. He would be mad to agree to it if he relies on his taxi income being steady.

You are not alone, I also find it jarring and infuriating. I'm assuming it's a very 'posh' pronunciation, although Pat isn't supposed to be posh in TA is she?

She pronounced the ‘w’ in ‘sword’ too.

Eid can’t be far off now…

About 10 days. A potentially very long week and a half...

Whenever I hear Lily recently it’s like someone has told her to do an impression of Lynda - both in voice and that pushy manner of assuming everyone will say yes to whatever mad thing you want them to volunteer to do. She’ll be developing a sniff soon.
The levels of entitlement overflowing from Bridge farm are matching the flow of poo..

Any scenes containing earnest Alan are tedious. Even more so when discussing motor bikes. Still, it gave the SW yet another opportunity to feature the new patriarch of Ambridge - Pa Malik.

I love the sound of church bells on a Sunday morning and also some Saturdays when there was a wedding , but even I wouldn't like 10 hours of it.
Stuff the Cricket and Lily so boring.
Like pa Malik but why is he not working? He always seems to be around.

I like the cricket talk. I've been known to volunteer to field myself when my husband and son's team are short. I'm quite a good catch (pun intended!)

I also like the way they have set up Freddie and Lily's relationship and look forward to seeing that play out over the running of LL. Freddie is one of my favourites and Lily is a great contrast.

£50 a match doesn't seem a lot to get Rex to give up his taxi driving on match days - I'm imagining he earns more than that in a day and the danger is regulars find an alternative driver and he loses even more trade that way. Lily is insufferable - does she even know anything about cricket? I always got the impression Ambridge was scrabbling about to raise a team never mind laying off regulars who were happy to turn out. I'm starting to see the point of Pat's bell ringing jingle now - if they ring for sewage for 10 hours (because let's face it your hardly likely to miss that) then every time people hear the bells again they'll think of sewage, a truly Pavlovian response.

Does anyone in Ambridge do any work? And Alan is just nauseating.