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!

Is anyone really impressed by a boyfriend in prison? I get it that Amber is that stupid, but all her friends and followers too?

Markie malarkey can this be in the next thread title please.

Someone mentioned Brad. Surely he'd be back from University for the summer by now.

With 'Carrie Jade' there was obviously a need to be at the centre of a dramatic story. https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/series/40750-the-real-carrie-jade/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SamanthaCookes

Boyfriend in prison would not be a bad hook.

And the other serial fraudster, who often claimed to be a young teenager.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Azzopardi

I'm sure the names are just coincidence and every other Samantha out there is perfectly trustworthy and respectable.

Back in the olden days, my university term didn't finish till the first week in July.

Talking of Brad, I was looking forward to Jim mentoring him and persuading him to stay on at university (while teaching him how to score cricket) but that potentially promising storyline came to nothing - like so many others.

I'm confused by Amber. Is she meant to be a good natured but completely vacuous influencer who has mistaken George for her very own "Hot Felon"? Or was her completely unconvincing argument with Emma in the car park intended as a warning that she is a nasty piece of work under her fake tan?

I'm another one who loved The Outlaws. I've never understood why it isn't much better known.

The same with Deadloch which I seem to have been the only person to have ever watched. And Giri/Haji ...

Probably neither good natured nor inherently nasty - just supremely stupid. Entirely brought up by social media and doesn’t realise the views she parrots sound ridiculous to people with real life brains.

My immediate thought as soon as Lady Gabriella's Amber's phone started buzzing nonstop was that the SWs had been over-indulging in 'The Outlaws'…

I’ve only realised reading the thread that the car she got for her 18th is meant to be quite new and not on it’s way to being a bit of an old banger! She sounds much closer in age to Emma than George! Agree with PP why not make it a feature if there’s only one actor you can cast?

Giri/Haji was great, (particularly the bit when the menacing thug puts his motorbike helmet on).

Ohhh - given we agree on The Outlaws and Giri/Haji, I’ll have to seek out Deadloch, @Godesstobe. Fairly sure I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere. (BTW, if you haven’t watched Dept Q … Very similar appeal.)

but Gabriella (sorry for anyone who hasn't seen Outlaws) was basically very nice, just had no idea how the other half lived. Her exposure to the Criminal Justice System was a bit of an eye opener for her on matters of class and privilege.

She really did believe that everyone should be living their best lives. I am not convinced Amber can really see beyond the end of her 1" eyelashes.

In other news. I like to listen to The Cider Shed podcast while i iron on a Sunday. But since they are moving more and more to their paid patreon episodes, and not including all the week's broadcasts, i wondered if anyone could recommend another one? Preferably not too full of in-jokes, and not the official BBC one.

I’m fairly confident that the Landmark Trust place I’m off to tomorrow won’t have wifi or a phone signal, so I have downloaded Deadloch onto my Kindle Fire. Thank you for the non-Archers discourse.

Deadloch was recommended to me by someone I trust and to be honest I wasn't convinced it was for me after the first couple of episodes. Then I got into the mindset and just loved it and have recommended it (without much success) to everyone I know. So you may have to give it the benefit of the doubt initially.

But there's the similarity of the poshness (whether 'real' posh or not in Amber’s case, she's certainly cut-glass compared to the Grundies) and the being welded to her phone with all her followers. They don’t need to have ripped off the entire character for it to seem uncomfortably similar - after all, several of us seem to have had exactly the same thought.

I think the main difference is that The Outlaws was well written with believable characters we cared about, and was also genuinely funny unlike the heavy handed farce that passes for humour in TA.

If I sound disillusioned with TA it may be because I have just been listening with half an ear to the Omnibus. A big mistake. It is easier to cope with in small doses I think.

I will give Dept Q a go, thanks for the recommendation @TottersBlanklyIntoThePhysicGarden

Both my grandsons have finished. One at York and one at Manchester.

Thank you

@WitcheryDivine I agree about the car, I loved my beetle and recently had a quick browse because I fancied one for the rapidly approaching empty nest stage- but VW haven't produced them since 2003! Is Amber driving q resprayed original style one? That would be genuinely fun and quite interesting. Or a 2003 one, typical first car- in which case why was she so boastful about a 22 year old car?

I could hear the collective groan from us Mumsnetters, as Joy spoke. She contributed precisely nothing to the storyline. I wonder who she's sleeping with...

I couldnt face listening tbh. I don’t feel it’s particularly enjoyable anymore and I am in desperate need of cheering up rather than irritated

I am sorry you are feeling low @Bruisername. I agree TA can no longer be relied upon to raise your mood. I didn't bother to listen tonight either.

Not at Joy, but more cricket.