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!

Well that was a mixed bag…

Started listening expecting to hear bored to tears and had to rewind in surprise when I realised I was listening to Iain and Oliver’s voices!

why do we need more new characters when the old get so little exposure - seems like Dane the unimpressive of brain was there to offset Iain, although it was good that Oliver remembered he had hired a ‘head of food’ and even that he had been chef before that.

Then, monumental disappointment when neither TomTit nor David appeared on Helen’s dating app whilst Natasha was scrolling through. David would have been a lovely storyline with the family holiday looming….

The Great Dane's questioning of Ian and Oliver literally felt like both characters had been off the scene for so long that SWs felt obliged to remind listeners who they were. Very odd, though personally I would be happy for anything that gets GG back in use as a possible location - in fact I'm only surprised the SWs didn't feel they needed a further question from the Great Dane to elicit a brief history of GG for any listeners who had forgotten about/were unaware of its existence.

I really don’t remember Oliver having anything at all to do with the running of the hotel until after Caroline died, and then it was only as a stopgap. I get so annoyed when I hear him actively managing it, it’s nonsense. Unless I’ve misremembered?

So is the Great Dane aka Mini Vince lined up for Helen, Kirsty, Lilly or left field suggestion Fallon ?

Helen tends to date ‘down’ - except for Rob. I find it painful to listen to, so I hope not.
Kirsty’s not fussed, but I suspect she’s a bit maiden aunt for him.
Lily … Nah. (She’d better not.)
Fallon? Dane might be perfect for her! Intersecting careers, and - without all the Woe is me of her marital partner, she may even change her mind about procreation. Or they might both agree that it’s not happening, ever.

Given the SWs terror of anything approaching aristocracy or elitism I don’t see either Freddie or Lily getting into a serious relationship this century … Which is a bit of a shame.

Absolutely laughable that the first time Ian googles The New Interim Manager At His Workplace is ten minutes before the man arrives to start his job. 🤔🤔🤔

I thought the new manager was very like Mick and we dont need another one of him.

I don't know that Henry was being creepy and controlling. I think his behaviour showed a lack of trust in his mum to do what's best for herself and her children.

He's endured the damage Rob did to their family and then seen his mother throw out a man that he and his brother loved and trusted. If Helen rejects a kind, loving, dependable man, what type of man is she looking for?

If Helen rejects a kind, loving, dependable man, what type of man is she looking for?

Someone marginally less boring than Lee, and ideally without a collection of dolls?

I've never found kindness boring.

That sort of thing makes a mockery of everything they’ve built up about the characters doesn’t it? The long-term effects of adoption/fostering on the child and birth mother could have been a compelling storyline. I think it would have fit with Joy and Rochelle much better (if we had to endure that pair!). Rochelle being the baby that Joy was forced to give up, with them reconnecting years later. I wonder if that’s what they were going to do originally, then someone came up with the cockamamie vegan activist shite and they had the shoehorn the abandoned baby SL onto poor unsuspecting Neil.

I don’t know where to start on that bloody new Grey Gables bloke, so I won’t!

Not me, which is why I like Rex (I don’t accept that bullshit SL where he said nasty things about Brookfield!)

Gosh, that's a bit depressing about shoehorning in a storyline and casting around for a character to be in it. Go off and write a novel or pitch for a TV drama or radio play if you want to do that! If you're commissioned to produce scripts for The Archers, you need to be as well versed as possible in the history of the programme and its already large and well-established cast of characters, and you also need to grasp that a great many of the listeners have been listening regularly since before you, the SW, were born, and will notice if you arbitrarily change the personality or backstory of a long-established character.

I wouldn't mind the advent of Dane if I had any confidence he would be an occasional character on the sidelines, with the main characters (i.e. people who at some point have borne the surname Archer or who have a blood, financial or emotional tie to someone who has) still centre stage.

As for Helen, it is at least absolutely in character for her to be always looking for something unattainable. Totally agree that it's extremely weird and unhealthy for Henry to be spying on her, but I also agree that the poor kid has no grounds for confidence that Helen won't inflict another psychopath on the family or chuck out another perfectly decent man because he's boring.

Re Dane's love life - Paul? Ian? Adam? No reason to suppose he's only interested in women, after all. He might even (shock horror) not be interested in romance or sex with an Ambridgeite at all. There may be a significant other in the wings already.

I like Rex and I liked Lee.

Kind can be pretty boring on radio though!

I'm glad lee managed to escape to San Francisco

I don’t like Rex much because I find him dull and whiny and it’s sad they’ve mixed him up with Rochelle.

The new manager sounds like a dodgy secondhand car salesman with a shiny suit and pencil moustache. How nice to hear Oliver and Ian, I had forgotten they existed.

Then, monumental disappointment when neither TomTit nor David appeared on Helen’s dating app whilst Natasha was scrolling through. David would have been a lovely storyline with the family holiday looming….
I think you select an age range. David is 20 years older than Helen, so is probably not in her age range.
David isn't part of the family holiday.

Given the SWs terror of anything approaching aristocracy or elitism I don’t see either Freddie or Lily getting into a serious relationship this century … Which is a bit of a shame.
They will. Freddie will marry down, and Lily will marry someone who ticks boxes. Adil would have done that.

I thought the new manager was very like Mick and we don't need another one of him. I wasn't really listening properly but I thought that too.

Funnily enough I immediately jumped to the conclusion he and Iain would get together. Iain didn't seem to like him much but that's practically compulsory on soaps.

There may be a significant other in the wings already.

Well they need getting rid of! He’s only allowed in if he’s going to provide some proper entertainment.

(It’s a fair point that he might be gay - but they’ve already written a recently established, sociable and vivacious gay male character; they would surely conjure him a different personality if so?)

I like Rex but not Lee. I don't know why, maybe it was the action figures and posters.

Very nice to hear from Oliver and Ian.

As for Dane, I instantly got an image of the kind of person who has a "You don't need to be crazy to work here, but it helps" banner above their desk. I hope I'm wrong but I really don't want an "I'm zany, me" character forced on me.

Agree!!

and that’s not the kind of person who would be running a high end hotel.

I mean no hotel customer deserves that tbh

Did the Great Dane’s Dad really have to be a window cleaner? Talk about laying it on with a trowel.