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!

The pancake eating contest is a terrible storyline. If they were going to do it at all, the Bull would be a more logical venue.

As for the Maliks- why?

And why make the Gills, Asian, but non-speaking? Everybody wanted to know about them.

Well, I'm guessing - or hoping - that's the point of them: that we're going to have some kind of reveal sooner or later. Not a crass reveal like money laundering or hedge funding, or being spies, but something vaguely credible and hopefully slightly disreputatable. Like managing a boy band, hence Mucky Mick's entrée with them.

Perhaps he prefers to run a humane abattoir.

I don't mind a bit of religion because it's fairly common human experience. But nobody can say the writing has been good. Why is Ramadan being treated as a lesson. There would be lots of more natural ways to include it.

FWIW I have fasted when staying with Muslim families in Ramadan - it was kind of polite as you're eating together in the evening. Although they weren't paying guests which is a bit different.

Also it's not all about fasting - what about service and community?

Have to say my heart absolutely sank when it was decided the Maliks would be staying in the village instead of buggering off back to Solihull

Me too.

Notice they slipped in a mention of a mosque. Just in case we hadn't realised the Maliks were Muslim.

Oh, wow, are the Maliks Muslim?
We were given absolutely no clue by their names. 🙄
How thoughtful to educate everyone about Ramadan and whatnot.

What a load of patronising nonsense.

Patronising not only to Hunter-welly wearing Archer stereotypes but also to any Muslims listening (if they're still listening).

@WagnersFourthSymphony , I doubt that any of them wear Hunter wellies.

But I bet the sw think they do!

Didn't Hunter wellies go bust?

They went into administration about 20 yrs ago. The green wellies became fashionable at some point, the manufacturing moved to China and the quality suffered, so they're not the brand to be seen in any more.

They probably still make decent wellies but it's no longer a revered brand.

Hunter Wellies have been going bust on a fairly regular basis since they changed the design and shifted production to China. Ted Baker group now own the company, I believe.

@WagnersFourthSymphony yes it’s really quite something that the storyline has managed to be patronising to both Muslims and non Muslims.

I skipped last night- this thread gives me freedom to do that. It was quite liberating to miss it- like bunking off RI!

My old RI teacher - the ancient Miss Drew - took the one sex education session I ever had. It was mystifying. She passed round a dusty old biscuit tin containing a range of antiquated samples of contraception. We were all left absolutely baffled as to how you would use them and the topic was never mentioned by her again. How on earth did that prepare us for real life?

Fusing a few themes, the biscuit tin comment reminded me of the venerable cream cracker tins used when offering us crackers and milk on Sunday mornings at school - breakfast was after church to support fasting before communion, with the snack for those who didn’t want to.

You see the snippets of religious and atheist experience here have been much more interesting than TA!

The only contraception we were taught about was the word No.

I'm now invested in Gaspode's beaver characters - I want ro see a storyline where they engage in fierce business competition with Emma and Ed.

I hope the SWs don't visit FAS on Marthur although it wouldn't be unrealistic for Alice to worry about it.

Similarly I hope there's no 'bipolar' storyline for Tash, just because she's not in the same mood all the time and is a bit spendy.

Dad Malik is a bit of a relief after the Educational Muslim characters so far.

I just don't understand why all the affected properties and businesses aren't knee-deep in insurance claims - it's the first thing they'd do - it crashes my suspension of disbelief, which is hard to keep in the air with TA at the best of times.

Dad Malik is a bit of a relief after the Educational Muslim characters so far

Is he a plumber or have I dreamed that?

Well, I’m disappointed that the alternative house is only in Solihull. And the discussion was over in the blink of an eye.

And, while I have nothing against plumbers, I had rather been hoping for a philosophy professor, or heart surgeon, or a really famous sculptor. I guess plumbing will take him into more Ambridge households though?

Who was it up-thread who wondered if the Malik family might be the mysterious Grey Gables shareholders? I would have loved that - but it’s looking unlikely.

That would have explained them letting adil get away with so much!!

I thought so. Certainly not a Lecturer in Muslim Studies anyway. He sounds a bit more real all round <faint hope>

His voice is lush. Azra sounds a tad rough in comparison. Except when she was speaking to Justin.

It's a pretty effective form of contraception if we exclude the possibility of divine intervention....

But not one most of us stuck to.