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!

Oh ffs! Another new person to get our heads round. What’s wrong with George just mentioning some mystery woman he is corresponding with for the next few months? That would be enough for Emma to become alarmed and speculate endlessly without us having to cope with another poorly-acted blow-in. Now we have to sit through tomorrow night’s supper. It’s all such a bore. And these amateur extras are too old to be on work experience so must be blowing a hole in the budget. I want to hear more about probate and what’s on the new Underwoods’ shelves…Humph!

Sorry to be a pain, but can anyone tell me if we know how George and Amber hooked up (or, more realistically, didn’t)?

Being entirely the wrong sort of listener, I really only consume The Archers through this board, referring to the BBC synopsis on the rare occasions I can’t work out the plot from your collective rantings measured critique, but I don’t think this point was covered.

Sorry to be a pain, but can anyone tell me if we know how George and Amber hooked up (or, more realistically, didn’t)?

‘Socials’ I think. I was only half- listening but think they went to the same school

Do you know what? I don't care.

At school together. She was following him and then decided he was a big hero and it’s a miscarriage of justice

so a prison groupie

i won’t be listening tomorrow

Haven't listened tonight yet, therefore haven't read on here, however, yes I know she could be one of the crazy women who obsess over prisoners, but she didn't come across like that and I don't think George (not Will, sorry!) would be taken in by someone like that? They seemed very easy with one another, like they'd spent quite a bit of time f2f already, which must be impossible. It was weird.
And as a pp said, there were enough promising potential storylines for G's release, why did they need this little surprise? It's like the Rochelle and the vegan activists SL, why did they have to make them a) exist and b) be
cult-like for goodness' sake?

I guess the idea of Jazzer suddenly deciding the band needs to get back together isn't that bizarre. But I really, really hope they don't turn into an instant success. Have any of them been doing any music-making at all (other than Fallon's brief stint as George's vocal coach in the mad episodes of "village choir sounds suspiciously like the BBC Singers") since the band broke up? Do any of them have any, um, actual training in song-writing? Were they actually that fabulous, when they first performed? As a musician/music prof, I am very worried about this storyline turning quite insulting. I know plenty of people with ordinary jobs, who are excellent musicians. But in those cases, they are excellent, because they take it seriously, and don't stop for several decades, and expect to pick it up again like "riding a bike".

I felt the same @Trivium4all when Mick could hold an audience rapt with dark yule tales, and Stella and Ruth wowed the crowds with life stories of Land Girls: storytelling needs skill and practice, it's insulting to imply otherwise!

Can I just say I loathe Jazzer?

Both these stories are awful.

God, Emma is such a sop when it comes to the repulsive George. What normal person would ever agree to their imprisoned child's so-called girlfriend( someone who clearly cannot be a girlfriend in any normal sense of the word and who obviously has major issues if they are the girlfriend of a criminal and are stupid enough to believe that George is the subject of a miscarriage of justice) coming round for tea? The whole thing is ridiculous. Why couldn't she just tell George that she can come to tea when he's out of prison like anyone normal would?

like anyone normal

bwahahaha! (a schoolgirl error, btw)

Excellent vocal mardiness from Emmur tonight, I thought.

Well it dosnt surprise me as Boomers are the enemy on Ms Net.

My DC love calling me a boomer (in affectionate jest) no matter how much I explain that boomers were born after 1945 not after 1970…

My DC don’t use boomer as it’s cringe to now apparently.

we live in a weird world where everyone has to be labelled - good and bad - voluntarily or forced

Wonder if we’re going to see a rekindling of the Fallon/Ed romance now that Harrison is on his way out.

@Trivium4all I fear you’ll be disappointed! They will probably find the same manager who thinks Jolene is an amazing singer and end up going on tour too. Don’t tink we’ve seen te last of the Ambridge career fairy!

I thought Fallon/Jazzer? Didn't they have a thing as well?

When we evenly saw the return of some long established characters I hoped the SWs were finally listening. But the problem is they’ve given those characters such ridiculous story lines that they are becoming irritating too.

The SWs cannot understand that long running programmes need to ebb and flow.Just as parachuting in new characters ,with no backstory, doesn’t work (especially when you write them into almost every episode!), nether does dusting off a familiar character and giving them an “exciting storyline”.Especially when you do it to several characters at once.

The result is the stories feel chaotic, people act out of character and theres just no depth to personalities.Weve currently got the return of a “band”, the return of a villain that nobody had heard of before and the resulting court case, the return of Ambridges only policeman, and another new character bizarrely being invited for tea!

It’s all piffle and I think the BBC should be ashamed of what they have let it become.

@IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle iirc Fallon realised Ed was still mooning after Emma, whilst Jazzer was mooning after her!

Well, at least now we know why Amber is with George …

I slightly love Will tonight!

I can’t bear to listen so can anyone give a précis? Just the amber bits!!

Can anyone tell me when this idea of the band got mooted? I heard last night’s but there must have been a previous episode I missed.

I felt slightly sorry for Amber (and George). I suspect once he's out she'll be terrified of the physical reality of an actual non-theoretical man.

Re Kenton, do the police really dump traumatised witnesses into a space where they have to look at images of people who have attacked them without giving them support? And do they really turn on them afterwards when the trauma has left them unable to articulate? And do they then try to guilt the victims because the police have handled the situation so badly?

Not that I’m standing up for ‘Full Thickness’ Burns, you understand, but he’s bugger all to do with the investigation and was not speaking in an official capacity.

Was Will in it tonight? I thought it was Ed.