Archers thread #189: Brian reaps what he sows, in spite of himself. 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 want to hear more from Markey, 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.)

Over to you!

Tom Archer, who has never made a mistake himself as a 20-something.

And is notoriously reliable and scrupulous in all matters financial.

Asking and Abra1t forgot to mention the bit about him being a loathsome little titt.

Didn't think it really needed saying!

By the time I was 7, I was in the Brownies (admittedly very much against my antisocial will) and had learned semaphore, for which I got Top Marks! Stuffed toys had long been discarded (though I still have my teddy) and I was trusted to play with the black labrador puppy.

Rosie is treated like a 3-year-old.

I got thrown out of Brownies.

All children seem to be worshipped in TA. Everyone's always gushing over the wondrous Marthurrr, who must surely be some sort of godlike creature given the way everybody has to lavish tributes on her at every turn. If she ever starts to speak it'll be such a disappointment to find she’s just an ordinary child. Ditto Rosie.

Are we seriously supposed to feel sorry for Amber the Horrible? What is going on here? I want to slap everyone with a wet fish! Including Freddie, who is hiding behind his sister like a lily-livered coward, which is rich, considering the virtue-signalling he was doing around the mildly dodgy historical painting taken out of context...

Re Amber, the snivelling self-flagellation didn't last long, did it? Do they do brain transplants in Turkey?

I'm going to feel really robbed if Amber doesn't end up with an agonising mouthful of bloody stumps.

Most dogs that were not introduced to friendly children when they were little puppies themselves, are a bit scared of these odd, small, unpredictable, humans and inclined to get on the defensive. Very close supervision of both young humans and the dog are required.

Rosie's not a toddler, though. I know Pip treats her as though she were, but she'll be 8 in November.

Only if she’s spared, @Gonners .🐍

Tom's miffed he wasn't one of the ones chosen to be paid. He'd happily find ways of justifying it otherwise.

Presumably if they're no longer being paid, Rex has had to go back to driving taxis and the college woman whose name I forget also isn't playing for them. They could probably work it out. Also, the club accounts won't be secret, will they?

And surely it would be easier for them to play with Ambridge and insist Lily goes?

Rex and the other one dropped out as soon as they were no longer being paid

i looked it up at the time and amateur clubs in the league are allowed to pay a certain amount of players but it has to be declared

if Laurence were wise (and a real person) he would have got them on that

November felt wrong to me, so I checked. The fat little horror is July-born and is just turned seven.

The sw are pretty bad at age appropriateness with kids - they are either outrageously mature or have habits that are far too young
The soft toy was for plot purposes.

Fat Rosie was born on Monday July the 23rd 2018, @Gonners . The info on Rosie Archer - The Archers Wiki is wrong.
She isn't Rosalind, Rosie for short. She's Rosie.

Lily is Lily Rosalind. Pip is Philippa Rose.

Thanks @RegimentalSturgeon ... You're right. That'll teach me to believe The Archers Wiki, which claims she was born on 16 November 2017! There's a BBC audio clip of Pip telling her parents she's pregnant on 5 January 2018, so July 2018 would be about right. She's still 7, though, not about 4!

As a kid - probable up to 8/9 I had a cuddly toy I adored and carried everywhere (except school). I would have been devastated if he’d been mauled but I also wouldn’t have put him in that position and neither would my parents

so whilst I can understand Rosie having an attachment to a cuddly toy (perhaps linked to moving between 2 homes - gives stability?) - Pip would understand that and be more cautious

i hate it when they go plot heavy and forget the characters

What's the secret of Lily's Best Ever Beans?
A knob of butter?
Hash?

We were on holiday in Greece once and saw a cafe advertising 'toast under beans' as an alluring breakfast item.

Maybe that’s the secret of Lily's success. Who knows? Might make all the difference 🤔

The quality of the bread can make or break beans on toast. I imagine Lily uses the good stuff (artisanal sourdough?).

My husband loves beans on toast and has them at least once a week. Perfection here means heating the beans to piping hot but not to the extent that they bubble, which apparently impairs the flavour. We get M&S own brand. The toast has to be fairly well done, to the point of being almost charred, and that matters a lot more than which type of loaf it is.

[44 years of experience went into this post]

Beans only need heating through. They're not very nice if they're left to stew.
Do you butter the toast?

** I won't eat the stewed beans.

(Posted this by accident on the other thread:)

One would think beans on toast was foolproof - but I once had an American relative with whom I was staying serve me baked beans in a bowl, with the toast on the side. I almost cried.

Baked beans are served as a side dish in America. It probably seemed an odd request and your relative might have misheard it as 'baked beans 'n' toast'.