Archers thread #190: Carry on, Cleo! Best new character for ages. 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 be delighted to have your wedding reception across the lawn from the local Flower & Produce Show, 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.)

Charlotte Smith must have been delighted to get back to Countryfile and Farming Today. What a pile of piffle tonight. Ah well.

When is George expected back? It can't be long now, surely. It occurs to me that I can't recall whether he's ever spoken on air to Ruairi. As their actors are currently the best (IMO) amongst the younger members of the cast, I hope they will cross swords in some way.

And finally, I can't mention Carry on Cleo without squeezing in one of the best lines ever written (Denis Norden and Frank Muir have the credit): Infamy, infamy! They've all got it in for me! Currently, Lily probably feels this way.

https://youtube.com/shorts/eRnd48yTC5A?si=N05njp3uLfpSjAmI

Over to you!

No, I couldn't recall him having those nightmares, either.

I've only been listening a few years and cannot recall Chelsea ever talking to Freddy - do their paths cross? Are they about the same age?

Also I sincerely hope that Amber & George pull a Megan & Harry - fall out with all his family & emigrate.

😂 And post endlessly on social media about how hard-done-by they are!

It's another unsubstantiated statement from Amber. Why are they all so gullible? They bow down in front of her and believe all the fantastic rubbish that emerges from her trout pout.

Chelsea works / worked (I forget) at The Orangery at Lower Loxley, @CinnamonCinnabar. The SWs also seem keen for her to be involved in almost every Ambridge sporting or history related community event - so she has a lot of contact with people outside her ‘expected’ social circle.

Yes, Freddie was Chelsea's boss and gave her on-the-job training.

Why do people insist on suggesting this ghastly scenario?
The nasal, whining, aggressive voice of Chelsea would be better never heard again as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure Elizabeth and the trustees would do everything possible to prevent such a liaison happening, not that Freddie has shown a spark of interest in Chelsea at all.
Freddie's already a criminal, I'm sure they wouldn't want him associating with the criminal Horrobin genes, god knows what any progeny would turn out like. Freddie needs a nice well-bred country girl to bring out the best in him.

Maybe Amber will set her sights on Lower Loxley.

On the nightmares I do seem to recall him mentioning something when he had one of his emotional breakdowns with someone

the whole Amber thing is ridiculous tbh. The fact she sounds so old doesn’t help

I thought the obnoxious Amber said he had them while in prison and his cellmate threatened to kill him for making a noise.

Strange that prison seems to have turned flighty Freddie asexual, and all-talk-no-action George into a family man!

have you read the story of Bailey the support dog in an NI prison? Traumatised animal! Awful really.

Ambridge prisons are quite odd

Does anyone know anything about Amber, other than she's an influenzaaa and George's fiancee?

I’m behind on the thread as have been off grid, so apologies if this has already been mentioned, but I thought Amber was actually going to mention her family.
I still think sone tiktok sleuthing will reveal something else eg, Amber has form for getting engaged to inmates and loses interest once they’re out and struggling to get work/ reintegrate with the community they wronged.

She’s supposed to be quite young despite the fact she sounds 30’s so I can’t imagine she’s had time to do much else

i think the sw had a good idea to introduce a gf for George but they’ve executed extremely poorly

If she went to the same school as George, Mia, Brad and Chelsea, then she'll be fairly local. Someone would know something about her background.
Nobody seems to remember her at school.

Granted, there may be many pupils at Borchester Green, but I'm sure if I wanted to, I could find out something about someone I was at school with, and the school I went to covered a large catchment area (some travelled about 15 miles each way).

Oh goodness - the start of R4 Life Lines is horribly Archer-relevant! Two teens on a tractor that’s overturned in water …

Could we have a 30 something mother and her fat offspring on it instead?

DH (who isn’t really a listener, but is forced to hear it sometimes by my having it on in the kitchen) is firmly convinced that Amber is in fact one of George's ex-teachers and is in fact 45 years old.

Interesting theory. I think it's more likely that she was someone different at school. I can believe that she might have been a fair few years older than George, and a teacher could have been a young as 22.

And there we have it!

I never imagined Ruairi’s return would be so swift and clear cut. Never.

And you could almost hear Brian’s brain cogitating over how to cut Adam out.

Wow …

I'm actually really glad Ruairi's back because it will presumably lead to some interesting storylines with the issues of inheritance, blood relationships, conflict between Adam and Ruairi and other family members, what happens if Ruairi enters a relationship with a man or woman etc, lots of good stuff.
Far far better than stupid storylines about ridiculous Amber and George, or Rochelle/joy. I look forward to seeing where this story goes.

Has Dane been planted by a rival hotel chain to destroy Grey Gables?

Good question. It does seem likely, doesn't it.