Archers thread #187: Send not to know For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for Peggy. 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 Harrison to hasten home, 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.)

Thanks to John Donne for the title inspiration. The funeral of the century beckons. How much of it do we think we will hear? Kate confirmed tonight that Shula, Debbie, Noli and Sipho are all coming. If we hear one peep from any of them I'll be amazed. Bets on Hazel turning up?

Over to you!

Who has a board meeting on a Friday evening?

Shouldn't they all be getting ready for the summer solstice?

Our winter solstice is today (Saturday) at 12.42.p.m I may well be at the gym after my Aldi shop.

Who has a board meeting on a Friday evening?
Nobody.

Who organises a holiday for 27 people without knowing the budget for it?

Would love I if Peggy did no research at all and decided 5k would do it!

A cheap camping holiday with 26 of your nearest and dearest future enemies - what could possibly go wrong
That would be a brilliant storyline! Or the holiday is to a hotel from hell and everyone gets viral vomiting

Just a thought but wouldn’t it be glorious if Brian did revert to his old ways and have an affair!!!

I think all the no-shows for Kate's meeting demonstrates just how little enthusiasm there is for Peggy's holiday idea. No wonder Tom and Natasha aren't interested - going on holiday with small children is frankly not a holiday at all unless you get all the details right. Typical of Kate, who did virtually no parenting herself whatsoever, to have no idea about this. She's just seeing it as a way to get Nolli and Sipho - who she has barely mentioned since she came back to Ambridge and Phoebe (ibid) - to spend some time with her while she reinvents herself as super-gran, a status that will no doubt last for about two weeks until she gets bored. In the real world Phoebe would move to Bulgaria to be near Roy before she moved anywhere near her narcissistic mother.

Kate sharing mothering experiences with Alice was hilarious.

Kate realising what herding cats is actually like, and nobody listening to her was hilarious. Love Natasha (and Tom) being precious. Love Alice pushing back on that.

A cruise, in a big yacht type thing, in the med might not be too bad if it is just them on board.

Justin: utter knob. Stella should have told Brian what he'd been telling her. So now we're back to wondering if he has something over her or not.

Or a remake of And Then There Were None starring the entire clan?

3 large caravans at Weston.

Yes, it’s very strange! Particularly as the SW actually has Kate saying she didn’t know how much money had been assigned for this purpose! Why are they so weirdly squeamish around financial matters? All too often It makes the stories nonsensical. No one could possibly begin planning a holiday for 27 people without knowing exactly how much they had to spend on it.

I noticed that in that archive edition Gasp linked to, they mentioned a house having sold, and gave the price without any of the coyness they seem to have nowadays. It is very strange. Did Peggy leave 3 million to the dementia charity, or a couple of thousand? Is the holiday budget 3k or 20k? It makes so much of a difference. And yes, why on earth don’t they know?!

Lucy Fleming played "Jenny" in the 1970's TV adaptation of Terry Nation's book "Survivors". I loved that programme (also liked the 2008? remake and was annoyed it never got a third series). Her character in Survivors was vastly different from Miranda!
Meant to post this the other night, but my internet cut out at that very moment. ( I really appreciate this thread even though not a very frequent poster.) Currently feeling really sorry for Stella.

Was survivors the post apocalyptic series? I was only thinking about that the other day.

Loved Adam being too tired.

Yes, it was - and alarmingly topical in terms of a pandemic.

I was wrong to say it was an adaptation of a book - having checked online, the drama came first - then a book. I can really recommend the drama though, especially Series 1 - looks very very dated now but still powerful. Carolyn Seymour is wonderful as "Abby".

I remember that 1970s series, I really liked it at the time
didn't know there had been a remake

If only they hadn't already squandered the storyline about a disparate group bunking down in the Brookfield barn.

I'm amazed they didn’t have to apply for probate for Peggy’s estate but nothing has been realistic recently

Exactly, it's all been too silly for words. Of course they would have needed probate. In reality also they wouldn't have had their 264 quid or whatever it was, 3 days after her death, and of course they would know the amount available for the holiday and how much the dementia charity has been given. Why her own children are in the dark about this is beyond me.

While I agree that a lot of the storylines are stupid, there have been some great lines, lots of them from Kate, but also Jakob's being very clear that he CANNOT go on holiday with 26 other people. That actor is so good.

Totally agree @noodlezoodle

Yes, Jakob is excellent.

Adam being tired made me think of John Finnemore's Archer sketches - "Hello, one of the men who always sounds tired"

But the lines are good because of the people they come from

joys tequila slammer ‘joke’ would have been funny from another character that we know makes stupid jokes but from her it’s just jarring

If Jacob is supposed to be ASD he could very reasonably say that holidays with any other people are major stress and he'd like to be left alone to enjoy himself in his own way thank you.

When Kate said Adam wasn't coming to the meeting because he was really tired I felt it was a nod to John Finnemore's great pastiche of The Archers and all the men sounding really tired. I will try and find it.