Archers thread #185: Some farming would be nice. 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, 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.)

Over to you!

Thank you very much for that, Totters. Interesting bit here (not worded as strongly as most of us do here, but on the same lines), equally applicable to the current storylines:

The wartime setting was given a Call the Midwife-like sprinkle, with scattered references to doodlebugs and the war effort, but the plot centred on romance, jealousy and internecine arguments. I can’t have been the only listener hoping for a bit more agricultural nitty-gritty. Just what impact did the war effort have on the Ambridge farmers? How did rationing change their practices, their crops, their livestock? I enjoyed the relationship shenanigans and pleasingly hammy lines such as, “Evil’s come to Ambridge – and we know who to blame!”, yet I yearned to learn more about the realities of British farming in 1945.

Monday’s Farming Today (Radio 4) suggested an opportunity missed, as Vernon Harwood took a look at how the conflict brought about a revolution in the way we grew food in Britain, as the government pushed the sector harder and harder towards commercialisation to meet the growing demand. “Many of the fault-lines in British agriculture today were created there,” said historian Alex Langlands, and Victory at Ambridge would have been better still if we could have heard these fault-lines being created. A couple of hours in Ambridge is never time wasted, whatever the era, but I’d rather we spent more time in the fields and less in The Bull.

Morning, I've got the 6th to the 9th to listen too but dreading the voice of Rochelle 😅 where do they list the cast of each episode?

Nippy, unfortunately they just do the castlist for the whole week, not per episode, and even then they sometimes omit a cast member if it would be too much of a spoiler.

If you listen via the Sounds App/webpage it is easy enough to advance or rewind. Alternatively take the opportunity to put the kettle on/do a quick chore to drown out the bits you wish to avoid.

They don't list the cast of each episode. The cast list for the whole week (so the omnibus, effectively) is on the BBC website on the link for Friday evening's episode. I put them on the spoilers thread too, but of course you have to be OK with spoilers to look there.

Ah okay thank you, I'm on the app, I'll turn the sound down. X

Why is Lawrence still lurking around Ambridge? Roserran in the Vale has to be a 20 mile round-trip away.

Peggy was an utter bitch to Emma, I seem to remember.

Lawrence is lurking around Ambridge to make hectoring, bullying, know-it-all Lynda look good by comparison.

My recollection of Peggy and Emma's interactions is the same as yours.

Peggy wasn't very nice to most people. But I suppose no one wants to speak ill of the dead.

I’ve just come on to say that! Has she no other acting jobs?? I listened to the omnibus and she seemed to be inserting herself into practically every scene / storyline!! I always think of her as a “new” character!

Maybe they're building her up because they're planning to kill her off? (I quite like Joy.)

Passed Rex’s boat today - guess Rochelle gave it a final tidy before she quit Ambridge …

Well sounds like an inheritance is expected!!

the cricket teas are getting really boring. Lynda just showed her up to be as much of a snob as Laurence

But big klaxon alert - no Joy!!!!

I dont believe it! @Bruisername . Does this mean I can listen now?!

Yes. I hope Peggy changed her will to upset Tom's plans.

Maybe English law does it differently but up here no beneficiary would have been notified that quickly.

Tom and Gnasher are insufferable.

Why does it show you up as a snob to think that amateur players ought not to be being paid and that their keeping it a secret shows that they know this?

Edited to add: sorry, this is quoting the wrong post, no idea how I managed that. Meant to be about Lynda being shown to be "as much of a snob as Laurence".

I was recently executor and a beneficiary of a family will and knew before my parents died what to expect. I had seen the will before my mother died. My children were also beneficiaries via a deed of variation and were briefed shortly after my mother died. Nobody knew exact amounts at that stage, but it was all open.

No one will know the will yet in England either unless she’d told everyone ahead of time. Tom is assuming I assume

i meant Lynda was being a snob about the teas - not being locally farmed etc etc - much like Laurence was

she’s quite right on the paying!!

Tom is assuming I assume

I do hope he's assuming wrong.

My daughter has a copy of my will, although she won't know how much I have left by then she will know the intention. I also had a copy of my late father's will.

I do hope Peggy has somehow managed to leave Tom with no money and a stack of debt.

I also hope Lily is exposed as the cricket schemer.

In my experience copies of wills before death are only given out where there is one beneficiary and that beneficiary is often the Executor. And of course a will can be changed without that beneficiary knowing.

I would be surprised if Tom and Helen are the Executors and the sole beneficiaries and hold copies of Peggy's will.

My Dad's will had three beneficiaries- my sister, my daughter and me. We knew the proportions (2/5 to my sister and me and 1/5 to my daughter, the only grandchild) but obviously not the amount. My sister and I had copies of it presumably as we were both Executors.

How many grandchildren are there?
Tom, Helen, Adam, Kate, Alice, Debbie, James [is that Fagash' Lil's son?] Would Peggy treat them all equally? Would Johnny step into his father's share?

Tom got over the loss of his grandmother pretty quickly. I so hope he's counting his chickens.