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.

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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!

Yes, I'm hoping for a fatal crash.

Rubs hand in glee!

Baffled as to why Pat and Tony aren’t going on the holiday. And it’s never been touched on has it?

Yest more crap story lines and poor writing.

God I detest so many of the characters;

Emma - spiteful and stupid. Has many unpleasant traits that her mother has. Unlike Chris who takes after Neil.

Susan - spiteful gossip

George - thick nasty piece of work. His whining and aggressiveness is not the way to get people to like or help him out. He's too stupid to realise that.

Kate - selfish. Selfish. Selfish. Never forgive her for forcing Brian and Jenny to sell their house. And then later she was contemplating selling her business.

Mick - thick and unpleasant

And so many more .......

I'm baffled about everything to do with this holiday. At the beginning, we were told everyone had to go on the holiday or it couldn't happen. At the end of one episode, Ruairi was told that taking advantage of the so-called bargain offered for the castle was out of the question because notice was too short and, particularly, because it was term time. He then revealed he had put the deposit down anyway. I expected a follow-up which would be Ruairi moaning about losing money and everyone saying tough, you knew a lot of people weren't keen. Instead of which we had total silence about the holiday for a short time, followed by various people talking about it going ahead whilst others, including Peggy's son, were staying behind.

Either there's going to be some big reveal that they're paying for it themselves, or there is an absolutely massive plot hole which the SWs are just hoping we will all forget about. But surely they know Archers listeners really aren't that dim?

Talking of inconsistencies, Emma's another one. Did anyone hear the recent podcast where they replayed the scene when Emma first discovered what George had done? She immediately got how serious it was, and how cruel he was trying to get Alice framed for his crime, and she was absolutely horrified. Yet now she goes on as if he is some wronged innocent who just made a bit of a technical mistake, and seems to have totally forgotten what he actually did do and that he was perfectly prepared to let Alice take the rap. You really can't put all of that down to motherly love.

Yes the inheritance story is daft. A crash would throw some cards in the air.
But mainly where is the rest of Peggy’s money? Please someone enlighten me if I’ve missed the explanation

It was presented initially as totally beyond question - either the ENTIRE family went on the holiday, or the money was forfeit and went to charity.

If Tony - Peggy's own son, for goodness sake - isn’t going, never mind the 'fringe' members (spouses etc) who might possibly be quibbled over, then it’s a slam-dunk. The terms of the will haven’t been met.

How on earth they’re merrily brushing this under the carpet I do not know. But it’s driving me mad too!

I think Pat and Tony aren't going because of course Tom and Natasha need a break because they never get any help with the twins from anyone,and of course Helen also needs a break because she is Helen and noone helps her either. So Tony and Pat feel so guilty and also worry about the Montys, that they have decided that thier children deserve the holiday more than them, and I agree (NOT!).

Are the twins not going?

What I’m concluding about the Archers at the moment is it only makes sense if the writers don’t listen to it, and the editors or whoever oversees the scripts don’t really bother either or don’t have time/energy to sort out problems. It’s becoming less like a series and more like a game of consequences.

This whole holiday thing sounds like someone has had a one line handover “there’s a family holiday in the works, all expenses paid” and that’s all they had to go on.

it's like that old game of consequences where you wrote something, then folded over the paper so the next person could write the next bit without having read what went before.

You know, @WitcheryDivine - in over 60 years of listening, I have never before considered the possibility that any current SW is not listening to every episode.

Now you’ve said it …

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , Kirsty bought Willow Farm.

@Brefugee , Ru-air-i.

@Buxusmortus , it's typical of George but he is out on licence.

I am not a fan of George, but I think he is right when he says he has been punished for his crime and that he should be given a chance to reintegrate.

He did not cause the road accident. He was trying to drive a hopelessly drunk Alice home. A well meaning act. She was drunk in charge of a motor vehicle (regardless of where the keys were) and the accident would not have happened had she not been so drunk she did not know what she was doing. He then risked his life to rescue those involved. So I think Mick, Joy and Fallon should stop blaming him for the accident and stop blaming him for their PTSD. That blame can be laid at Alice’s door.

What he did to Alice (and Chris, Martha etc) was awful. But he went to prison for it. Alice - who perhaps recognises her own contribution to this sorry mess - says she does not object to him filling in at the farm. So any decision to ask Mick, who has no farming experience, and is not the sharpest knife in the box, is bizarre.

I am surprised that Alan is not taking more of a leading role in the forgiveness stakes.

but he has no understanding of what "paying for it" is. he went to prison, that was the punishment. But he is not rehabilitated, he still doesn't see how badly he harmed people. Because if he did, there is no way he would have insisted on serving mick and would not have allowed Susan to try to bully Mick into it.

Just because he went to prison does not wipe the slate clean. Otherwise he wouldn't be behaving so abominably to Neil and Susan.

But at the sentencing he showed genuine contrition - why can’t they have him behaving like that again

i really don’t like the way they are writing all this

that may or may not be because he was about to be sentenced tho?

I have huge issues (as i keep banging on) about how they telescope time for some things. The build up to realising Alice was an alcoholic was reasonable. Her miraculous recovery and lack of family members and friends she hurt being allowed to show that affected them? not so much (I have personal experience of that which is why i find it - possibly unreasonably - shit of the SWs)

Same with George. He is expressing that he has done his time so BAM! reset to how things were. There is zero attempt to understand just how, say, Mick or Fallon or anyone else (let alone Alice who i just don't care about) to have a long long tail of shock, trauma and possible recovery. The fact that George, Susan and Alan seem to think Mick was the unreasonable one there is typical of that kind of rubbish storytelling we have to put up with now.

Alan should have pointed out to Susan how Mick may have felt being pushed to be served by someone who nearly killed him.

I’m so fed up of daft story lining I’m giving up for a while. The “Scottish Holiday” is pure drivel, as is the sudden arrival of Esme -who surely went to the same school as Pip/Josh/Ben (or at the very least Young Farmers) George/Emma/Will etc is all getting a bit “one note” too.
Far fetched nonsense.

He’s a good actor and I thought it was very convincing and he said it when he knew he was going to prison (although juvie)

I don’t mind them showing the anger of the victims but I don’t like the way they are writing George.

and agree about telescoping of time. Alice’s miraculous recovery was odd and how come everyone’s forgiven her (not for crash but her behaviour in general when drinking)?

I do believe in second chances though so find the whole retributive attitude uncomfortable

less said about the stupid holiday the better

I’d feel more sympathy for George if he seemed sorry. He’s so angry at Neil and Susan, he blames them m, when the penny doesn’t seem to have dropped that his own actions put him in prison. He lied and lied for ages, and had no epiphany about telling the truth, it was forced out of him (don’t forget the perjury) and took the car without permission. I think Mick’s response was pretty realistic. I think it’s fair that some people will take longer to forgive than others, and the time will be lengthened by his lack of acknowledgement and remorse. It’s fair that he gets work at Bridge Farm, I do think it’s likely that not everyone will forgive him though.

Well said.

Alice's addiction recovery has been very badly written regarding the effects on family and friends. With an addiction like hers there would very likely be permanent fractures and deep changes in the nature of some relationships, not just between her and others but between family members- the ripples with an addict in the family spread wide and last for decades if not forever.

Often the issue is exacerbated by the addict getting extensive help and counselling telling them and possibly others to think it wasn't their fault, they were ill and now they're better, the future is what matters, the past has gone, they've got a clean slate, so they can't understand why anyone else would remain hurt and devastated by past actions.

The SW have followed the same script with George, wipe it all away.

Some on here appear to think that George has showed contrition. I don't believe that for a second. I think he's an extremely manipulative man, who feels he's been wronged and who will be dangerous in the future. I think Neil has possibly realised that but no one else seems to have done.

I will be pissed off if in a fortnight's time everyone in the village suddenly thinks he's marvellous and he's fully reintegrated, because in reality that just wouldn't happen.

The accident was George’s fault though. If you find a drunk person in their car you can call your family members or theirs if you know them, leave them to sleep it off, even call the police. No one in their right mind would decide to drive them home in their car, a car you’ve never driven before and aren’t insured on, and arguably drive dangerously too.

Anyway I found myself agreeing with Mick. George seems to have mistaken the length of the penalty which the court saw fit to hand down with how long ordinary people should take to forgive him. The two need have no relationship whatever. Plenty of people have walked out of court with a suspended sentence for actions that will have a lifelong terrible impact on others, those people are under no obligation to forgive and forget.

@WitcheryDivine , hear, hear.

He did show contrition in the courtroom

it was written as being a bit of a road to Damascus.

and then the person who wrote that left and the next people to pick up the baton have completely forgotten it

i actually think him being sorry and still having to deal with the people still affected would be a better sl

Agree on all of that about George's lack of genuine remorse and insight.

The holiday storyline is just drivel. Why on earth would Hazel be invited? Nobody even likes her! We were quite clearly told that Peggy had decreed that the entire extended clan had to go or the money wouldn't be forthcoming. That made no sense at all, but once it was stated surely the SWs are obliged to put it into effect?

If half the central characters are wiped out on the M6 and we're left with Esme, Joy and Pip, I won't be best pleased.