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!

And Brad, Kate, Jakob and Tracy. Though I might leave Brad to get slightly chewed to teach him to be less wimpish.

I obviously hate Pip too but I did feel a tiny flash of sympathy when Freddie revealed her true views of Needy Esmee. Of course, this awkwardness is now bound to herald the start of (yet another) gay relationship in Ambridge. I’m not sure I can bear the thought of Pip and Josh being love rivals for E’s affections…

I don’t find love triangles very interesting tbh

i hate the way the tv soaps have focussed on outrageous SL and hope they don’t go down this route

theres drama in Josh and Esme starting a relationship. Does there need to be more?

I hate the way they are going with George - they just want to make him a Nasty Nick

I love Freddie too. There is so much of Nigel in him

Has anyone thought of asking George to do the milking and other odd jobs at Meadow Farm?

On here, yes; on air, not so much.

So at the moment it looks as if the SWs want Esme to succeed to the tenancy of Meadow Farm. Even though (as far as I understand it from the NFU tenant farm succession pages) she can’t.

It would make so much sense, as would the new Home Farm farm support consultancy service taking him on as muscle for hire.

They probably have DBS issues if George has a criminal record, especially with children there. I suppose they could have found him something in the grounds, putting up special effects before the event started.

I thought that the romance signs were signalling Chelsea and Freddie.
George is out on licence, so somewhere like LL wouldn't want to employ him.

The NFU's description of tenancy farming doesn't apply to farms newly magicked up by the Ambridge Property Fairy.

Curious to know whether a conviction for dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice would automatically exclude someone from working near children?
I imagine though that George at LL would go down like a lead balloon with influential locals and generate the kind of bad publicity most businesses would want to avoid.
But John Timpson has done it so maybe there is still hope.

@Maersk Curious to know whether a conviction for dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice would automatically exclude someone from working near children?

He's out on licence, he wouldn't clear basic DBS.
I don't know what would happen when/if the conviction is spent.

You know, in the end it may not be schlocky drama that drives me away from TA. Right now I’m finding it almost unlistenable to because the SWs are either too uneducated or too squeamish to show any comprehension whatsoever of the wealth / business / social class divisions that drive the story.

Lower Loxley was formerly portrayed as a relatively huge, thriving, season-adherent country theme park, with a large number of visitor attractions each run by experts and staffed by ready crews. And now Freddie, and Vince are hovering over a single chocolate fountain? I know they shoved in an explanation of absent staff, but it won’t wash. This is absolutely rubbish writing and storytelling and I’m honestly running out of patience.

Yes - agree.

I didn't hear that at all. I thought Esme spelled it out herself - take over the tenancy (unspoken - with Josh at her side) or take up with Freddie (I thought her "Who was that?" spoke volumes) for a future at LL. I'd still like to see Chelsea with Freddie, but I'm not sure how realistic that would be. I do like the fact that there now seems to be potential for some romance and possibly rivalry to take the next generation forward.

(I thought her "Who was that?" spoke volumes) Same here, but she'll want Freddie, Josh want her, then at some point Fred and Chels will fall for each other, and Dismae and Tosh will fall into each other's farms. Pip will be the Malvolio/Mr Collins character.

Rant not over.

I can tolerate nonsensical events - but if they can’t see that it’s the differences, the gaps if you like, between one sort of person and another in Ambridge, the ones with land and those without land; the ones who are part of the Archer dynasty and those who aren’t; the ones who invest in pubs and the ones who clear the tables, the ones who own stately homes and those they employ - then we’re just left with people saying words. With no meaning or purpose behind them. It’s fundamental. And they’re really failing right now.

I completely agree with you.

But it's the BBC, one of the "wokest" organisations around.

If you're rich, white, have inherited wealth, especially if male, then you should be ashamed of yourself. That's why now, on the Archers, people with that privilege eg Freddie can't be portrayed as having any advantage so he's been in prison and hasn't yet inherited. Elizabeth gets together with someone like Vince. Visible signs of money are removed eg Brian losing Home Farm. Nowadays someone very well off eg Justin also has to be portrayed as an awful person.

On the BBC itself you can still be very highly educated but only if you come from a working/ lower middle class background and have a regional accent. If you say "aks" for "ask" that's even better because you're black and probably from a deprived area in London.

And yet you can say words that are offensive because that's comedy.

Surely there's a Timpsons in Felpersham?

No, only a load of old cobblers.

If only timpsons could offer enough positions!!!

I’m glad Freddie said what he did in front of Esme. She needed to hear it. Someone else should have been giving her advice on how to find temporary cover for milking etc.

Or, and here's a revolutionary idea, David (As Farmers Union bod) could have said "we can help x times a week, you need far more help than we can provide and try y and z organisations"

Isn't the problem that Esme can't pay for milkers at the moment?