Archers thread #188: New Order, please! 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 love to spend time with Martyn Gibson, 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.)

In some haste as we are going out for the day. I was asked weeks ago to put I've Killed the Vicar in as the new title but I agree with more recent comments that Peggy's funeral feels like old news now. Great line, though. Sorry not to have used Markie Malarkey, though. I've settled on something that will only make sense to people who were also youngish in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Here's a clue. If a certain person appears in tomorrow's episode the title will be relevant.

Over to you!

Ah, that rings a bell, thank you @TottersBlanklyIntoThePhysicGarden .

The twins will be 3 on 8/8/25

Barring divine intervention…

Somebody said that Chris was illiterate and you questioned it; that was the only reason I could think of.

And yet again the SWs have forgotten where Lily comes from.

As if she would have to save up to pay for travel. Particularly immediately after finishing uni.

(I haven’t forgotten long ago how one of the twins was given a horse(?) and Elizabeth said the other could have a school trip abroad paid for to keep things even. That was odd too.)

Bit fed up with this stupidity.

Dane's voice sounded like Alan's. No longer the wide boy...

But do the pargetters have much money? I always assumed asset rich and cash poor

Dane's voice changes from episode to episode.

My theory (and this is my theory, and it is mine!) about the tug of war is that the fit chaps from the GG gym are practising being utterly useless in a convincing way so that the village team can win.

Yes. I realised that I just disagreed that he is illiterate.

Why, though, @Bruisername? Elizabeth worked her socks off, with Nigel and post Nigel, to build a thriving business. Now LL has a well established, apparently well publicised multi-attraction theme park with endless seasonal jollities. Plus an extravagant wedding venue. Plus a wine business. Plus the common or garden traipsing through The House. None of them seem to live extravagantly, and I haven’t heard recently of any crushingly expensive household upkeep or repair that might trouble their finances. There’s absolutely nothing - beyond the squeamishness of the SWs - to suggest they must be living with such a degree of impecuniosity that Lily's trip would require any more effort than simply entering her card details in the relevant boxes.

I agree about Dane's voice. I never know who's talking until someone says his name.

Nothing specific to listening - just from reading about most country houses that struggle to make much money. Yes they have weddings, a restaurant and their vineyard but they don’t strike me as hugely profitable businesses

I don’t buy it that the LL clan are in any way skint. Isn’t the place run by volunteers? Round our way (not Home Counties and not celeb land) the owners of country piles with no discernible attractions manage to pay for schooling, yacht club membership and the odd nice winter holiday.

Not skint. But not rolling in it either

faffadoodledo
I don’t buy it that the LL clan are in any way skint. Isn’t the place run by volunteers?

The guides are volunteers, but I think all the rest of the staff are paid; I don't think Chelsea or Brad was working in the Orangery for love, and the chef is certainly employed! The manager Glen is paid, too (Elizabeth always pretends to be doing that job all on her own poor little her). I'll think of others in a minute.

But it is all moot anyway, since apart from Elizabeth's salary the estate seems to belong to the Trustees at the moment since they are the ones who control everything. I don't suppose they are happy with the idea of paying 25-year-old Lily more than a minimal sum, and we know that Freddie had to get a job to pay his rent before he moved back into LLH just as Lily moved out and started to pay rent at The Stables. (How she affords this is anyone's guess.)

I don't care, just as long as Lily goes to Australia and stays there. I don't mind much whether it's because she finds true love or because she gets eaten by a saltwater crocodile. Though a love interest might be more likely to tempt Lizzie to go down under for a long long visit.

Fair enough. Good point about the trust.
i bet they’ve got gardener volunteers too tho.

All I can say about Lily is that I wish her well in Canada/Australia/Namibia/Wherever and hope she isn't eaten or jumped on by something big and angry/hungry/nasty. I may be lying, though.

Ah, come on: if I saw Lily fall into a river full of hungry crocodiles I'd throw her a rope and haul her out.

Think of the potential damage to the crocodiles' digestions!

Good point.

I think Lily earned a decent amount selling kitchens and saved a lot. I could believe she was good at it. And her rent is probably pretty low. However, it seems silly to take out student loans (which I assume she has) when she could live at home and not pay any rent. Also, nothing ever happens at the house share, so she doesn’t need to live there for dramatic purposes.

If Lily wants to ski in the Snowy Mountains and doesn't have her ticket yet due to money she needs to get a move on. Top season is July and August and it finishes by first week in October. That's in a good year. Snow cover changes every year, though they do have machines. Also, skiing is expensive. It's cheaper to go to NZ.

UNLESS

She's going for a year, heading to Bondi for late spring and summer and ending up returning after skiing in 2026.

The volunteers at LL have always pissed me off mightily. It’s not a National Trust or equivalent property, it’s a commercial enterprise. Typical idiocy from the terminally forelock-tugging Bert Fry, but wtf is wrong with the others? (And it seems when plot demands it, every fucker is a volunteer there. Didn’t we have Oliver and Neil there at one time, engineered to have some conversation or other? Beggars belief.)

Bert Fry,
I wish you would die.
Oh, you did. Jolly good.
It’s seldom something like that passes me by.

Our local historic house is privately owned but has volunteer gardeners, guides and room stewards. And they don't have a CEO on six figures and HQ in an expensive part of London.

Thanks @echt brilliant travel info
I thought lily was being kept here so she could keep Freddie in line if he is allowed to go off the deep end

@CrashThere you never will we ask these questions about other topics and never get a solution
Ive often said it would be great to have a proper surgery story think of the gossip ......