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!

The sw are telling the stories they want to tell with no regards to the fact this is a long running soap set in a farming community

the foundling sl being a case in point

Yes. It's not unusual to be in the countryside after dark in the summer and see tractors & combines working with huge lights so they can get their harvests

There were so many possible story lines available for George’s release from prison there was absolutely no need to introduce this ridiculous and thoroughly absurd woman.

I don't know what others think, but for my part, I enjoy/enjoyed listening to the Archers because although it was a soap, it wasn't like a TV soap with constant drama, cliffhangers at almost every episode, frequent new cast members and action.
Of course there was drama, but it happened at appropriate times, and as @MissMarplesNiece describes, the rest of the time it was obviously a story moving to agricultural rhythms.
I also agree with @TottersBlanklyIntoThePhysicGarden that the SW appear to be trying to wipe out socio-economic differences, especially regarding inherited wealth which is frankly ridiculous. Now, it seems as if the SW want it to be just like a tv soap and for me that means it's lost something.

It’s all bonkers. My ds hasn’t made Sunday supper (never had lunch owing to farming being 7 days a week) for the past two weeks because of hay making, and dd2’s partner is silaging almost 24/7. Neither would have been able to make the cricket team. As @DeanElderberry says, all the youngsters are driving tractors - whenever I see one I pull over, knowing what ds’s driving was like at 16. And lots of the poorer characters would have been earning extra cash for beating, pheasant plucking etc. The rhythm of country life has gone, replaced with a faux country commuting village type atmosphere.

i live in a village full of farms and they are flat out from sunrise to sunset at the moment - it is beyond belief that Stella has time for picnics etc given the amount of work there is to do.

And wasn't Brian talking about the Rhythm Of The Year a week or two ago and how he loved it? (or did i dream that)

That Amber girl? no. If she is going to be a regular fixture there to cause more stress & worry to Emma? Lazy lazy lazy writing

Also she will never want to live with the grundys - even in wills house. So if she moves in soon it will be really poor

Also boomer isn’t the insult they use these days

Should I skip last night's episode for the sake of my blood pressure, then?

I know it's not the point but Emma isn't anywhere near a boomer. She's a millenial born in 1984. The cutoff for boomers was 1964.

The boomer thing just didn’t make any sense

i get they’re trying to make her come across as rude but are they meaning for her to come across as so spectacularly thick?

i can remember listening g to characters and thinking they were being awful etc but it was listenable

amber is not listenable. The archers is supposed to be gentle

there was a government minister on this morning and he used the archers as an example of something benign (can’t remember the exact phrase but he said something like it’s X not the archers). I assume he didn’t listen to last night!

‘Made the fall of Rome look like an episode of the archers’

Douglas Alexander

I'm not able to keep up with the thread ATM but just needed to vent! Just when I thought TA was improving, along come Amber. What on earth?! So loud and grating. It's like bloody Rochelle all over again.

Please let this be a short-lived storyline. But it sounds like she has completely manipulated George and plans to take over his entire life. And calling Emma a boomer, she's about the same age as me! Is that how young people see us early 40 somethings?! 😭

my guess is that Amber is something to do with his dodgy group of friends and will be used to manipulate him when he’s released.

The way George said about how they've been talking about what happens when he's out in October is ominous. Either they've decided George is running away with Amber or they're going to ask for Amber to move in with the Grundy's. Emma will be so desperate not drive George away that she will agree to it.

If they are going down the Happy Valley type story, these women tend to target the real bad boys don't they? Not one time offender nobody George.

Agree it could be an urban soap. And there's hardly any young farmers types. Suppose if George was around he would be out driving tractors now.

Agree with @OnlyFrench, it wouldn't surprise me if George is being manipulated and set up to take the blame for something. Seems to run in the family with men overestimating how smart they are - see: Ed v pesticides & Tom Oatey.

I suspect by saying 'boomer' Amber has intentionally collectively insulted us all, of any age 😁 (I'm two years younger than Emma)

Joy can still fuck off. She's not a character, she's a plot device. Somewhere in between deus ex machina and Q from James Bond's gadgets.

Having looked her up on wiki, Charlotte Jordan (Amber) is closer in age to "Emma Grundy" than she is to George. What a ridiculous argument she had with Emma.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that George misbehaves in the next week or two so that he is no longer eligible for early release!

It’s so weird - and that inane giggle

and why is Emma such a pushover

Yes I thought Amber sounded no where near George's age.....and given that Emma thought she was working on George's behalf professionally then maybe that means she could be a lot older than him. Potentially. The mind boggles as to quite what on earth the SW are thinking 🙄

Regarding farming - it is quite surprising that, having offed Johnny to make way for George-as-crucial-Bridge-Farm-Team-Member prior to Bridge of Doom and his incarceration, they haven’t actually replaced him with a named human on the farm. There must be a million and one bits of manual labour that a George character would be needed for over the summer there - and it seems a bit unlikely that Archers alone are covering it all.

and why is Emma such a pushover
Think her reaction was because she initially thought Amber was there on a professional basis so didn't want to rock the boat in any way for George.

Argh more new characters that are dick heads. We have enough virtue signalling from Kate, I don't want more from Amber.

Can't we just go back to the gentle country folk idea?

It’s extremely poor that Amber's self-satisfied telling-off of 'boomer' Emma was both badly-acted and wholly unconvincing on every level. Then for Emma to abase herself before the nauseating little madam signals that yet again we’re in for a 'let's give the Grundies a good kicking' SL. It’s so very tedious.

Well Emma is right - the prison groupie is creepy. And Will is right that they need to let it play out!!

but the whole thing is just absurd and the sw need to get their heads out their arses and apply for a job writing for eastenders instead

and what’s with Ed and the band - this is also completely ridiculous. No doubt they’ll be playing Glastonbury next year🙄