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 quality of them is dreadful these days, they hardly last at all. Definitely no good for trudging through mud so I don't think I've seen anyone wearing them outside of a town centre (seemingly people wear them in the snow, which makes me shudder because uninsulated rubber wellies are not good for keeping your feet warm!) or a festival for years.

Belatedly, completely agree. Any episode that consists entirely of a very dull and pedestrian depiction of something the SWs assume most of us know nothing about is not going to come across well.

Yes please! Think of the number of celebrity cameos they could shoehorn in on the back of that.

Oh. Perhaps not.

Well, buckle up, because we'll have it all over again at the end of the month for Eid, with Lynda wishing all and sundry "Eid Mubaaaahrak" like some sort of demented sheep.

I see Rylan is reprieving his “as himself” Ambridge cameo in Doctor Who soon!

The pancake contest was excrutiating.

And more Maliks.

That was another fast forwarded episode lasting less than a minute.

I have to disagree. The pancake contest was excellent, as Natasha was thwarted and forced into giving away pancakes just to keep people there. And I like the Maliks, though the doc is a bit wishy-washy. But Pa Malik seemed very decent in his interaction with Zainab.

Pa Malik is now the poster child for family values, yay. If I’d done the pancake challenge I doubt I’d feel more nauseated.

And Brad’s as much of a gurl as Fotherington-Thomas.

What's up with Brad fainting? Is it because he didn't eat all day( never met a teenage boy who would refuse to eat all day), or has he been overdoing the Proplus( if it still exists) in order to stay up all night working, or is it going to be something more serious I wonder.

I tried and failed to finish tonight’s episode. I’m afraid I just don’t care enough any more. Night-after-night we hear from the Maliks - it’s been going on for weeks. I don’t think anyone with the Archer surname appeared tonight apart from Natasha. Much as I love her and her credit card spending, even she couldn’t turn it around. It’s all just very very boring.

You know that person who keeps a record of the number of episodes Lorraine actually presents

i feel our resident statistician has a new job- what proportion of episodes are featuring an archer/archer adjacent

I actually meant it was excrutiating as an event.

Gluttony contests are vile and there's something a tad hypocritical about being all holier than thou about fasting and then competing in a gluttony contest.

I don't like Pa Malik anymore than the little Maliks.

Like @Gonners I enjoyed tonight.

I like the Maliks and am prepared to see them as potentially dynastically important. (I dislike the cut out and keep way they’re being presented, obviously, but as individuals and collectively they’re fun.)

And, of course, Natasha’s comeuppance came not a minute too soon. It was excruciating for all the right reasons - though I hope poor Brad isn’t harbouring anything serious. Frustrated for Tracy, though; the SWs never let her have anything nice.

What's fun about any of the Maliks? Not one of them falls under that description. Azra certainly doesn't come across as fun to listen to, nor Zainab or Khalil, they all moan so much. The father is being put forward as some kind of Superdad, but we know nothing about him, but he hasn't given any indication of being interesting or fun.
I really hope they can be got rid of or fade away, I'm sick of them being on every episode, it's like the Archers has turned into the Maliks. They should have been written as more interesting and engaging characters, slowly and gradually introduced, not episode after episode of their tedious lives.

Well it’s easy to be super dad when you’ve been away for so long! Let’s see how he is in a couple of weeks

What's fun about any of the Maliks?

I wondered that.

they all moan so much Is that not true of most of the characters?
I'd be moaning too if my house had been flooded by a sewage leak.
I had the sense to live uphill from the floodplain and sewage works.

The Maliks aren't fun, they seem dull an 'worthy', but none of the comedy is fun either. It's the dry one liners that are, and they tend to be memorable.

What's fun about any of the Maliks?

Arf! I guess it's all relative?

I quite like the Maliks.

I’ve stopped listening completely - just check in here for any signs of improvement.

I wish they'd stop going on about Azra's damaged box. I don't care!

Azras damaged box 🤨

Me either. It’s not so much that they are a bad addition, but that we are literally listening to the Malik show. It’s too much for new characters.