Archers thread #184: It’s a shambles! And we don’t mean Casey Meats. 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're looking forward to Morris dancing on the radio, 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.)

Right, to business. I can't say I'm delighted that the focus is on Rochelle and Casey Meats at the moment, because I'm not. All far too peripheral to Ambridge and too new. As I say ad nauseam, more farming storylines please, and where are all the long-standing members of the cast? The discussion about inheritance tax in The Bull the other night was a bit clunky, but what a refreshing change to hear two familiar voices, both farmers, talking about farming-related stuff, even if BBC balance meant they had to be challenged by two non-farmers, and even if it is months after the Budget introduced these changes. Ah well.

I was tempted to put one of my Dad's terrible jokes into the thread title as an oblique reference to George's coffin-making idea, but it wouldn't have made sense to anyone else. He loved referring to the cemetery as the Dead Centre of the island, so I was pondering something about Grange Farm becoming the Dead Centre of Ambridge. It could happen yet. Emma and Ed could provide willow branches and Clarrie could sit in the kitchen weaving them. Surely it must be similar to knitting?

Finally, if the SWs are lurking and looking for new storylines, it's been very dry recently and there have been lots of wildfires in rural areas. There was a bad one on Gaspmother Island a few days ago. Many farmers are very worried about this at the moment, as reported on Farming Today last week. But what am I thinking! This is a story that only works in a rural setting, so in the current incarnation of TA, it's not soapy enough.

Over to you!

I think Rochelle must be at least 44. I'm pretty sure joy said she got married in 1978 or 79 and she had Rochelle quite quickly so that would be in 79 or 80, so 44/45. She neither sounds nor behaves like a woman of that age, her behaviour is like someone in her twenties. Rex really must be desperate. If he thinks he might want children at any point( no idea if he does) then he sure as hell won't be having them with Rochelle.
I can't stand the dumbed down VE day/wartime lessons being given by Chelsea and Brad. Who on earth do they think listens to the archers, because it isn't anyone young? My children are in their 30s and would laugh their heads off at the thought of listening to it, I don't think they listen to much live radio, it's all podcasts. The listeners in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond would know about wartime because their parents and grandparents would have been children, grown up or fought in it, they don't need lessons from a 20 year old.

I think Rochelle must be at least 44. I'm pretty sure joy said she got married in 1978 or 79 and she had Rochelle quite quickly so that would be in 79 or 80, so 44/45.

Rochelle told Mick she was 15 in the summer of the late 90s. The "late 90s" are 97, 97 and 99 meaning she was born between 1982 - 1984, meaning she is between 41- 43 if she's had a birthday in 2025 or 40-42 if she hasn't.

To be honest - let’s just say she’s in her 40s but sounds younger than Chelsea

Ahem. I called the commune for Rochelle although I’m sure it was mentioned before. Do I get a prize?

pip a lesbian? I had no idea (my son’s girlfriend is expecting twins - he is the only person to have ever become a father let alone twins. He keeps speaking earnestly about us respecting his parenting decisions etc etc).

I want something exciting for Rex. He is lovely.

World tonight on the impact of the SC decision on schools - no mention of the safety of girls or listening to them either. So frustrating.

it wouldnt surprise me if the sw are told to put a sl in tbh which is aligned with the BBCs preferred view

The news coverage is doing my head in @Bruisername If TA insert a character who says they are trans, that really will be the end of listening for me.

@Gonners "Fairbrethren" 😆

Will be really tricky on radio!!

I have a teenage dd so hearing a teacher saying her feminist society was mainly trans and non binary kids was quite galling. Do they have no curiosity?

so if Toby is 33 - how old is pip? And how old is Stella? I never thought I would ever say this but I would rather hear about Stella being held hostage by Rosie than Joy and mick

Pip is 32.

We knew Rochelle was or had been involved in "that group" bc her mum asked whether she was still "with them". Thing is, it's clearly not just any old animal rights activist group, even one that lives in an (all female?) commune. Saskia sounded very manipulative and Rochelle was not her usual brash self when speaking to her.

So is R even still in touch with her boys? And we still don"t know what Joy meant by vulnerable, specific to relationships. I mean of course what happened when she was 15 is enough in one sense, but we have a lot more to learn about what paths Rochelle has taken since then I think.

I wonder whether Joy still wants to hide some of that from Mick, and if so, why? She's letting him think she's told him everything and she clearly hasn't.

And how old is Stella?

Old enough for Ruth to think of as her friend.

god I love this thread - so I am actually only a couple of months older than Rex, and therefore wasn’t too off base with my hirtherto unrealised affection for him? I thought he was a lot younger than me tbh (32/33?) and I also thought Rochelle was meant to be older (late 40s) so thought the whole thing was odd (not in general, as I love Jazzer and Tracey, but in this context). That reframing makes it less unlikely (although I stand by previous points around the unnecessary element of it).

I’d totally forgotten about anisha, and also about the pip debacle - does anyone remember the night when she emotionally announced she’d ’picked the wrong brother?’ mind you, I also find Stella quite attractive as well, so perhaps this is just a sign that I am much more like Pip then I would ever want to admit to myself. I hope Rex isn’t destined to be alone - that’s too Thomas Hardy to be realistic isn’t it.

i do also wonder what the equivalent of this thread might have said back in the pre-internet days. Do you ever think we are being too harsh? I personally don’t - but I definitely remember my grandma in Southampton rolling her eyes at storylines while I was helping her make dinner as a littley, which is coming up to 40 years ago, so perhaps it was always slightly soapy and ridiculous?

I know I am echoing many previous messages before mine, but I’m having an immensely stressful period of work and life at the moment, and these threads really are a daily break from it all (more than the actual Archers is, ironically, as with others). I previously posted under leftshark and had some lovely interactions (and sometimes spirited debates when it came to Alice) but I just wanted to say that while I don’t post regularly I really love this community and am glad it’s continued even where the quality of the programme has fluctuated so wildly.

also @Madcats really enjoyed your comment about people cantering into their adulthood both celibate and childfree. I’m currently doing both 😄 but loved the turn of phrase.

Always found the Pip/Stella relationship a bit creepy. I mean if it had been male friend of David's then eyebrows would be raised.

Rochelle changed completely on that phone call. She sounded scared. Definitely culty commune vibes and sounds like this will be why she doesn't see the children much and why Joy didn't have contact for so long. Maybe they stopped Rochelle from being in touch with her Mum as they knew Joy was trying to get Rochelle out. The way she turned up unannounced at Christmas, had she run away? Maybe that is why they are making her prove herself to them.

Why was she asking the woman if she could move back though? I thought she wants to be able to afford her own place? Or was that bit just part of her act for Freddie's benefit?

Who on earth do they think listens to the archers, because it isn't anyone young? My children are in their 30s and would laugh their heads off at the thought of listening to it, I don't think they listen to much live radio, it's all podcasts

I've listened since my mid 20s Rarely listen to it live though, too busy at that time of day. DD, age 12 enjoys it too and asks about who all the characters are.

I’m on holiday in the US and the receptionist at the hotel introduced herself as Rochelle when I checked in. How I smiled. Then she said her manager was Brenda. I thought that seemed unlikely.

Off topic a bit but I see they are putting poppies in the Tower of London, you can't buy these ones but have seen the ones that you could buy on sale for £300. I Brought mine because my dad fought in WW2 and would never part with it.
So I liked that Brad and Chelsea were talking about the war and the sacrifices people made back then. Lest we forget.

With the introduction of Saskia, it's all starting to feel a bit like the Mikey and the dog attack gang and an incident that happened in Wolverhampton years ago or the meat theft storyline. If the SWs wanted a plot about someone being drawn into a cult/activist group then why couldn't they do that with one of the many existing characters (Mia might have been a good candidate for instance). Instead we have a character we don't really know or care about who may or may not have done something before she arrived in Ambridge five minutes ago (to live with a mother who moved to Ambridge relatively recently for no apparent reason and who has recently shacked up with another blow-in). It feels like the current SW team don't find Ambridge, farming (or the Archers for that matter) in any way interesting and would rather write about anything or anyone else in the belief that this is in some way more exciting. It's Easter - I want to hear lambs and chickens, bees buzzing in the orchard among the apple blossom, birdsong as the sun comes up on Lakey Hill. I’m a confirmed city dweller. I like the archers because I like dropping in on rural life this is me too @Bruisername. My favourite moment last night was the jingling of the door bell on the shop - immediately conjuring up the village shop, in the heart of the village on the green. I'd far rather the SWs explored Elizabeth's relationship with Vince - will they/won't they get together, where will they live, will Freddie ever be allowed to come into his inheritance, what will happen to Lily, how will LL function without Elizabeth at the helm etc - than have Vince removed from the scene by his mother's unrealistically convenient hip break so animal activists we've never met can sabotage the abattoir.

I wonder if the future is Lily running grey gables and Freddie lower loxley

i wonder who could afford to buy Oliver out? When he dies it’s going to be pretty juicy with grey gables and grange farm up for grabs

I'd like Grey Gables to come properly back into the plot - it's been very much sidelined since its refurbishment. Putting Lily in there as a permanent fixture would be an excellent way of doing that. How old is Oliver? he can't go on for ever, but the current approach to ageing or even dying cast members seems to be to put them in a silent holding pattern for eternity. There seems to be a refusal to move on from the old order and at the same time a reluctance to engage with new order in favour of bringing in a load of randoms to enact one-off dramas.

Doesn’t Oliver have kids? Why not bring in one of them who wants to run the hotel and will inherit it?

there are so many linked characters that could be brought back in rather than all these randoms

Why haven't they dedded Peggy?

What will be the consequences? I think she has no more assets and it would just be cash? Spread between her grandkids? Would it be life changing? I guess Tom could pay off a chunk of mortgage or pay off Natasha’s debts. Helen could use hers to buy herself the world’s tiniest violin. Kate can buy another yurt.

Yes, I'm puzzled by that. I'd assumed they'd do it when June Spencer died. Maybe they've forgotten!

Oh. Yes. The SWs not finding Archers / TA interesting and preferring to write about other things … That sends a chill down my spine. Not sure I’d thought of it in such stark terms before.

But why would they think TA listeners want a different programme?

I’ve been assuming Lily would be the new Caroline at GG since she first crossed the threshold with purpose. Though not quite the same - the SWs haven’t finished turning it into a Wetherspoons yet. I’ve never actually been to a theme park, so can’t identify exactly which one they’ve been gradually disguising LL as. I guess the Pargetter twins’ social and familial inheritance is going to look pretty different to what we expected when they were born.

Just had a big catchup on the thread.

@Hortus I’m sure I read somewhere that TA is the top download for the under 35s or 30s or however the Beeb measure it, I presume much to their chagrin as they spend a lot of money on expensive celeb podcasters who no one listens to.

@stilldumdedumming congratulations to you (and your son I suppose), has he gone Full Tom?

Sorry can’t find the comment but I totally agree with the poster who said that Joy would have told Rochelle that her new boss was Elizabeth’s partner, I expect she’d have given her chapter and verse - and if she hadn’t just offered up the info, R would have been asking about it.

I liked the Brian and Martyn scenes, I don’t mind Bridge being a thin pretext for them to have personal chats after many years of working together. You’d have had to have a heart of stone not to laugh when Martyn said (I paraphrase as can’t listen back due to being under a sleeping baby) “Oh the spring foursomes! Alackaday! They were going to be in Bristol this year SOB SOB.”

“The Archers remained the most popular audio drama for listeners this year, regularly topping the list of most-listened-to on-demand programmes for all ages, including under 35s.”

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/bbc-sounds-reveals-top-10-podcasts-of-2024