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!

Poor Simon Williams does sound a bit croaky. Still looks good mind. And upstairs downstairs is being repeated AGAIN on one of the more obscure satellite channels that's also doing the curious Nearest and Dearest

I thought when I heard the credit after the omnibus recently it was a new name - i remember thinking, "oh, what's happened to Sibyl Ruscoe?" but have not thought anything more about it until now.

I imagine the AA can advise on matters agricultural until they are blue in the face, but they can’t compel accuracy on the part of the SWs.

Glad everyone else is exasperated by mysterious Mulligan - and I’d forgotten about the NFU thing thanks @EBearhug
I’d believe David calling the farm “Mulligan’s” but not yelling that at the man.

Daughter will no doubt want to sell the farm and Justin will want to buy it up and turn it into Mar a Lago some kind of vanity project.

I was wondering if Stella could borrow enough to buy Meadow Farm …

Haven't heard any trailers for Book of the week, but Screenshot's theme was just Death?

Going to presume it's a story of the week about farm succession/tax.

Hopefully some independent female farmer/his daughter comes to run it and run it well, i.e. not attached to an Archer. I wouldn't mind a bit of lesbian drama and Stella realising there are better options available.

The 🔮 says that, after a lot of argy bargy amongst various interested parties, the Maliks will buy Mulligan's Farm.

It is confident on this point so who knows?

After googling Sybil Ruscoe, I think it was probably her fault that we had weeks and weeks of cricket: She had a cricket column in the Torygraph for 8 years and did some TV commentating too.

I THOUGHT somebody else had stood in for her over the summer, so that might explain why they have popped a bit of farming in the storylines.

With David and Ruth having been heavily involved in Young Farmers and then NFU rep it really is unlikely that they wouldn’t be well acquainted with Mr Mulligan.

Does Pa Malik have a job? He just seems to pop up from time to time.

He does mention going off to do various plumbing jobs, but doesn't seem to work flat out like most plumbers around here do.

If he's got so much time on his hands, I have two radiators I need taking out...

Someone very cleverly recently put together as posted a list of local farms - was meadow farm on it? And if not, why is it suddenly being introduced whilst other, aforementioned (in the archers) and included farms seem to have bitten the dust.

if it were on the list… is it possible to find the context?

The same thought crossed my mind... I'm intrigued to see where this goes.

Maliks to buy Meadow Farm, Zainab to fight Lily over management of GG.

I think we're going to have a storyline around Brine and Justin competing to buy Mulligan's farm. That won't prevent someone else from nipping in with a better bid, though, so it could well be the Maliks.

And omni-skilled Joy will teach Pa Malik to run a tiny commercial dairy farm?

Could Mulligan dying alone in fhe milking parlour be a plot device so Adam & Ruari (?sp) can say to Brian - there but by the grace of god go you Brian, alone on the cold concrete, for the love of the cows/arable crops retire properly.

Would Meadow farm be valuable enough to attract high inheritance tax? Presumably all goes to his 1 child which helps with tax I think.

I think the IHT on farmland isn't due to start until next April, so Mulligan has timed his demise well.

Why have the SWs suddenly conjured up a previously unmentioned farm with an unknown farmer only so he can drop dead? It’s nonsense to think the Maliks could afford to buy it - I don’t think Mulligan’s unknown relative will be giving it away. Perhaps Home Farm (Brian/Adam/Ruari) will want to expand now they’ve lost the BL contract, but they’ll need the Ambridge magic money tree since Brian had to sell the farmhouse not that long ago just to stay in business. I prefer the idea that Mulligan is like one of Marley’s ghosts for Brian (I know we’ve already tediously had a similar storyline for Justin) giving him the nudge he needs to retire then Meadow Farm can quietly slip off the map again. Whatever - it feels like a huge contrivance.

Sybil Ruscoe: ‘The Archers has to change. We want to remain relevant’
It's about 2.5 years old.

I've got a pair of wellies and a Barbour and am available as AA.

I had a think about the neighbouring farms, and we had 5 of them. They had 2 very ordinary surnames between them. 2 were brothers.
We knew them by their first names.
We had a less common, but not unusual, surname.

Someone on R4 (probably not one you've heard of) has quite an unusual surname, which stands out for me because I know someone with that name. I looked it up and it's a regional one (as mine is). Apparently, Archer is too.
named - Map your surname across the UK

What happened to the Gills selling Home FarmHouse? Did i imagine that?

So help me if you have summoned The Joy with your words.....😂

There is absolutely no way that a farmer round here wouldn't know the first names of all the local farmers, within quite a few miles.

I don’t think you can have imagined it, @EBearhug - I seem to remember getting all excited about the possibilities. It would be a very strange thing for them to bring up and then drop. 🤷‍♀️

I think they're only allowed to mention the strangely silent Gills once a year, if that often!

I know. But it had to be done. I am cowering in the kitchen waiting for the fall out...

I wasn't able to listen yesterday, so have just caught up and was profoundly shocked.

George ordering his steak well done was bad enough, but Fallon offering to cook it for 'a few more minutes' - dear God in heaven. . . .

and what's wrong with having 144 new pillowcases?