Archers thread #183: The Scorekeeper's Apprentice. 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 like to share a hot tub with Mucky Mick, 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 @TottersBlankly who suggested it and @BeatriceBatchelor who coined this lovely phrase. (It's led me to take a look at the Wikipedia page for The Sorcerer's Apprentice. I had not known before that the animation in Fantasia that goes with the Dukas symphonic tone poem is more or less unadulterated Goethe, and the story goes back to ancient times. You learn something every day.)

At the end of the last thread, there was an apocalyptic tone as we were all bemoaning the lack of continuity and farming storylines (especially lambing, which used to be a big theme at this time of year). Are there any reasons to be cheerful? (Not just Part 3 - another reference for the older listeners here. ) Over to you!

Well she said he wore suits for work so maybe he was a bank manager and during that summer, bank robbers held Rochelle hostage and her dad had to open the safe for them etc etc

and Rochelle is about to twig that Joy was in on it

Joy, Mick and Rochelle are inherently unlikeable and because they came with no connections to ambridge or the people in the village, listeners just don't care. I want the story to be over and done with quickly so they all leave asap and never come back @Hortus is right - this is the root of the problem. There are lots of dramatic possibilities to be explored with the existing characters who many of us have spent years getting to know without expecting us to get excited about total strangers from the other end of the country. Connecting Joy to Ruth or Heatherpet would have been a genius idea (and her money could have come from the toilet roll fortune), alternatively she could have even been someone Shula encountered in her own northern exile and pointed in the direction of Ambridge.

People didn't like Lynda for the same reason when she arrived, but over time people have come to appreciate her.

True, but Lynda wasn't expected to carry a massive dramatic storyline - she and Robert were gradually knitted into the fabric of the village in small ways through involvement with village events (and eventually the organisation of them). When Leonie and Coriander popped in these were very much cameo appearances - Mungo is wasted opportunity. The difference here is that Joy, Mick and Rochelle are expected to carry entire episodes on their own - interacting solely with one another before we really know enough about them to care.

Agree. Too much too soon.

Yes agree - and she kept popping up all over the place to be involved in other people’s sl (Helen, Ben, car crash (had to be bloody her in the car), sewage etc etc)

Lynda and Robert evolved. And didn’t one of the herbs marry Lillian’s son?

And didn’t one of the herbs marry Lillian’s son?

What sort of a herb is Leonie? But yes, she is Mungo's mother by James.

Leonie is a very normal name. Did she shorten it from Lemongrass?

so now Lynda and Robert have a link to the archers - a link that could return at some point

Well what a surprise that the payment secret is not going to stay a secret (they would have to declare them in the clubs accounts surely - as well as the donation from Vince). I’m sure the googling I did said that paying is ok if less than a certain amount but needs to be open.

and it’s amazing how they suddenly have a glut of players🙄.

that’s a very big selection of sandwiches - I’m not surprised they’re mainly out of date. its a village shop fgs. The way they talk about it and the amount of products they sell and the number of customers - it’s like it’s a Tesco superstore

there you go - she does have the ability to charm - guess she’ll be working at the abattoir before the end of the week

I was upset when I thought that the SW’s might be planning to incinerate Lynda in a Blake-instigated fireball. I suppose it makes me team Lynda, but I am struggling to understand how Pa Mallik might not have enquired and/or how she is still running what has turned into full-board lodgings with 70 degree burns and well past retirement age.

They should concoct a “working from home”/“consulting” strategy to have Mungo and parents in Ambridge. I bet James can play cricket better than Pat!

Rochelle won’t need to work once she’s sleeping with Vince …

Poor man, not allowed to move into LL. He’ll need some comforting. Preferably from someone less smart and sarcastic than his best-beloved.

"There's a squashed chicken and cress, which is basically chicken, just a bit younger..." 😂

I definitely got that feeling from tonight's episode.
Hopefully on top of everything else if that happens Joy would feel so mortified by her daughter's behaviour and the extra repercussions eg with Freddie working at the abattoir, that she will have to sell up, and they'll all leave.

I don’t want to go all Mumsnet but Rochelle is single so it would be Vince who should be ashamed. However if it got rid of Joy then fine

the problem they have with a Rochelle Vince affair is that it basically kills off the characters because their link to the archers is tenuous (Rochelle in particular)

I don’t think that’s their plan but they keep surprising me (not in a good way)

That was meant to say, "There's a squashed EGG and cress, which is basically chicken, just a bit younger..." 😂

I still don't like Lynda. There were 2 occasions when she was bearable- being kind to Blake (even if she scared him off) and encouraging Chelsea's hairdressing skills.

Rochelle clearly already knew about Casey meats as local big business. I wonder why.

I agree that they village shop carrying loads of ready-made sandwiches is unlikely. In Ireland the norm in small shops is a deli counter with meats and salads, and a variety of rolls, that can be combined according to the tastes of the customers.

They need to work on their product range and wastage as they shouldn’t have a box full of food to bin and they shouldn’t have so many different types of sandwich on offer. Is there anyone paid to work there to actually do a bit of stock analysis?

Why was Vince buying a sandwich anyway?

I agree with @Ambridge and @Hortus that the clueless SWs are throwing everything at the wall and hoping some of it sticks in their plot lines, and making TA look less believable every episode.
The willing suspension of disbelief is doing some very heavy lifting at the moment.

I imagine the SWs' meetings as being like the Signalgate messages.

Just as I WILL love all things to do with the ambitious cricket line-up for the season, I think it is perfectly splendid that the local village shop, without a building site/office/station/school for miles, would have sandwiches for sale within a hefty stroll of the pub/tea room/Lower Loxley orangery/charging station/Grey Gables/Zainab on Deliveroo/UberEats (other delivery services available)

Are the Archers SW team all on final salary pension schemes, or something?

They also sell random ingredients - I can’t remember but someone came in and asked for something quite specialist for a recipe and I found it very odd they would have it

also don’t forget the farm shop is nearby wrt competition for fresh veg/dairy etc

Re: Rochelle / Vince - think of the epic battle with Elizabeth, @Bruisername… She wasn’t ready to commit to him herself - but her disbelief and disdain if he shacks up with a homeless non-custodial mother (whose own mother lives with a previously homeless security guard …). Oh … That would be something to see.

Yes this is very true - but surely Vince would just not go to the village anymore? He didn’t seem that interested in her though

I always imagine him being….big boned. His need for a second lunch has done nothing to dispel that

Jolene: ‘you’re doing brilliantly, and I won’t hear otherwise…because I don’t let anyone get a word in edgeways’ 🙄