Archers thread #191: Mulligan: stew made from odds and ends; second chance after poor shot. Both fit the bill. 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 like George you like your steak very well done, 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.)

Mulligan mostly makes me think of John Finnemore's Souvenir Show. This is good, and tenuously connected to a recent TA storyline

Over to you!

There were a lot of calls for Helen Monks to be replaced; I hope the people who made them felt apologetic about the result.

In retrospect, her petulant tone was perfect for Pip; i think it was just that people didn't think Pip ought to be perpetually petulant.

Why does my blood run cold when I read this?

Couldn't George get a job at the chicken factory?

Call Jonathan Pie is deeply unfunny and is offensive.

Call Jonathan pie makes me think of someone who wants to say offensive stuff but then get all shitty if they get called out by saying ‘it’s satire - where’s your sense of humour’

Vince picking up chocolate buttons from the cash and carry - for Elizabeth’s commercial business?

Yeah right.

Why do they keep doing this? First Lilian drudging at The Bull, now Vince - senior business owner - is supposed to be running lowly errands?

It’s just plain stupid. Why are they so terrified of the social stratifications that are the whole point of the story?

Pip and Esme, up a tree…?

Lucky escape for Stella!

I loved this post @TottersBlithely. that’s not to say that I don’t think @CinnamonCinnabar has great points but there is certainly much to be said about recognising that family can be messy and unconventional but doesn’t mean there isn’t much of value to be found in it.

I didn't recognise Amber. Had a personality transplant.

Pip is such a Mumsnet Mum. She makes a huge performance about everything involving Fat Rosie. There is no way the UK has run out of witches costumes for kids. But Esme just happens to have one that fits perfectly up in the attic.

Wish Vince had given George a chance. He's an odious little sctote but employment might make him stop feeling aggrieved.

I wondered about that as a possible twist.
After grumbling like mad about the situation, Pip seemed to warm quite quickly to Esme.

It's all Rochelle's fault

Of course Pip and Esme get on, they've grown up on neighbouring family farms - which is why it's ridiculous they don't already know each other! Pip is the mother of an only child so I wondered if Esme's experience was giving her pause for thought. I think what I object to most is the speed with which this story is progressing from a standing start. Why couldn't Meadow Farm have been drip-fed into the plot - the lost heifer could have been from there, anti-social Mulligan could have been given a mention, someone could have remembered Esme from Young Farmers, then when Mulligan died it wouldn't have seemed so made up (I know it's all made up, but I like to believe we're flies on the wall rather than listening to a work of fiction!) The George Grundy story, by contrast has roots - all the way back to his rogue Horrobin relatives, the twists and turns of his life since childhood, his mother's tendency to give him the benefit of the doubt, Freddie's own chequered past, Vince getting his fingers burned with Rochelle - it's dramatic, but it hasn't come from nowhere.

If Pip does want a sibling for Rosie, I have a feeling Toby would oblige.

I didn't listen to last night's epi yet, but another poster's username reminded me that Granny Weatherwax's name is Esme(ralda) and I wonder is there a reason Esme Mulligan has witch clothes in her childhood home?

Sorry if I've missed this, but how old is Esme supposed to be? I can't work out any potential age that wouldn't involve her already knowing people in Ambridge from school.

@VioletMatilda , we don't know. She implied that she was older than Josh.
I had neighbours I didn't know, but we had a choice of 2 primaries, 2 high schools, 2 churches etc, so I might vaguely know them, but we'd know them as Mulligans.

Pip was ok with Esme because she had a costume for Fat Rosie.

I think socially, at school-age, more than about 5 years age-difference and they wouldn't be on your radar.

But farmers know who owns every square metre of agricultural land, who is good for an emergency loan of kit or practical help, who keeps and grows what, and what quality of stockman they are.

Not if they aren't good farmers, wouldn't offer practical help or be useful for an emergency loan of kit. Some people keep themselves to themselves.

I'm trying to remember the names of the kids from the next farm from me growing up. The parents were the same age as mine, but I can remember them getting married, and I think the eldest child is 12 years younger than me. I can only remember the names of the DC1 and DC4. We hardly ever went there.
They were nice enough, but their social circle (village, church, schools etc) was different.

The people over the wall from me are like that. Everyone observes, speculates, gossips, criticises. You cannot conceal hundreds of acres from curious neighbours.

"Older than Josh" should put her within three years of Pip. Unless she's more than three years older than Pip. But then she'd be in the same age range as Christopher Carter / Alice Aldridge.

Meadow Farm must be on the other side of a school catchment area - so different primary and secondary schools.

Some people aren't curious. It wouldn't cross my mind to gossip.
I'd investigate if I saw a stray cow or sheep, but not otherwise.

I just popped on here to see if the actress had been replaced. Her voice was different and the acting was stiffer.

@MiddleClassProblem , she has.

Farmers know who the neighbouring farmers are, especially if they have livestock. And David should have known because of his NFU involvement. They would probably have been aware Mulligan had a daughter, even if they didn't remember details.