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!

Not a new listener but I’d entirely forgotten about this. So thank you for reminding me.
Never liked Helen!

Yes, I remember Greg.

Indeed, uninterested! Too late to edit, unfortunately.

I think it was because he felt Emma's failure to rush to the police to dob her son in as soon as she knew what he'd done was conduct unbecoming to a Parish Councillor. What a knob he is.

Mick is a very unpleasant character

I think you can’t tell people how to feel. I don’t think George really seems that sorry. Only sorry he got grassed up by his grandparents.

Good point about Helen doing the same though - might be interesting for the SW to bring that up to Tony / Pat.

I was thinking as I was listening he could resurrect the litter picking effort - be seen to do a yucky job that benefits the village. That’s another story that was a big deal that went nowhere.

I mean the shop is useful for the village but working there isn’t exactly going down a mine is it? It’s probably quite nice.

Just a thought, if Josh and Esme get together and plan to marry, will David and Ruth be thinking "Is this bloke good enough for our Esme?"

@Trivium4all , The too late to edit is a PITA. It was an amusing error.
I had a picture of you in Ghost Weedbusters mode.

I don't mind Mick but I don't see the point of him.

@MorningCoffeePlease , You can picture them having parent-daughter heart-to-hearts 'You don't have to go through with it love. We'll adopt you or marry Ben or Pip instead'.

Gah, forgot to clear the quote.

I welled up listening to the podcast. It's really good, but I'm in tears.

I don't see how finding farm work boring makes someone a useless twerp. He's holding down a perfectly good job elsewhere, after all.

I'm not aware of the CofE cold shouldering anyone as an article of faith and I'm not sure that Alan needs to get involved. Shunning is certainly not something to aspire to, despite what Mick thinks.

George isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer and has very limited reasoning skills. But he was aware that he'd seriously messed up straight after the accident but had no idea how to proceed, apart from keeping quiet. So that's what he did. I've 'taught' kids whose woeful logic led them to much more serious crimes and sentences mainly because they could only see one course of action.

well, then he has to accept the consequences of his actions? He has always been a wrong 'un so the willingness to extend the benefit of the doubt and all that is non existant.

So he can stay, but everyone else has a right not to want to employ or do business with him.

Alice isn't ostracised despite putting the health of her baby at risk by drinking like a fish or for abandoning her daughter. Or lobbing a brick through a shop window. And Brian isn't shunned despite poisoning the Am. Wonder why not. Hmm let me think ...

I'm going to end up adopting George if Im not careful!

yes but Alice is a nice MC woman with a supportive family (I have huge issues around this Alice SL though and think it is all being glossed over rather than highlighting what actually happens when you have an alcoholic in the family)

Same for Helen.

Nobody can make the villagers want to support George, and the fact that he comes from a WC family with unsavoury characteristics doesn't help. It's just a fact of life. Add in his "the world owes me a favour and i've done my time" and it is no wonder nobody wants to help him.

I don't know why they asked him anyway. I don't think he's ever worked on a farm.

I really can’t stand Mick.

I feel that George has the potential to be dangerous - he doesn’t like it when things don’t go his way and people don’t succumb to his manipulation. However, he’s very young and his brain isn’t fully developed plus the length of time he spent in prison must have seemed like an eternity to him, although in real life it was short. I think the storyline is quite nuanced - if things go his way, he could be a useful member of the village community. If not, and with family like Eddie, Ed and Emma who are extremely chippy and hard done by influencing him, things could go badly wrong.

Strangely, employers like Tom and Helen, who are quite selfish and not overly bothered about the overall situation, could be good for him.

I feel that if you don’t like being served by someone who’s volunteering you should go elsewhere and not make a big song and dance about it. However Susan should have served Mick and not given him
anyhting to complain about. Alan is so unbelievably wet!

Susan seems to forget that George set light to the post box and lots of people had letters and stuff destroyed, but she kept quiet about that, so her not being Post misstress any more ain't such a bad thing. Will she go to the shop Carrie is working in and ask for a job. At least she has the dairy.
Why do some people ignore the bad in thier relatives and make excuses for them, when if the shoe was on the other foot.......
I don't like Muck. He took the pee with his camping van in the Bull carpark and knew exactly what he was doing. Also Jill has well and truly got her feet under the village life table. I would avoid both of them if I knew them in real life.

This reminds me that Susan did show Alice forgiveness though too, after the chucking the rock through the window and what her alcoholism did to Martha and Chris. There were some quite touching scenes with her being compassionate to Alice.

Do you mean Joy? Jill Archer was the centre of village life and the SW keep resurrecting her for a slightly creepy bit of dialogue. But Joy is too good to be true and her smarminess would have me exchanging greetings and comments about the weather and stopping right there!

Why do some people ignore the bad in their relatives and make excuses for them, when if the shoe was on the other foot.......

People on this thread are exactly the same though - have their favourite characters who they won’t hear a word against and the ones they don’t like can do nothing right!

of course people wear rose tinted glasses when it comes to their family - that’s the irrationality of love. Susan loves George and is desperate for a good relationship with him. And we know from previous episodes that George loves his family but can struggle to show it. That’s why he’s a good character because there is nuance there. If the sw decide to squash out the good he just becomes a cartoon villain.

Yes sorry I meant Joy.

I agree totally about Joy! Too much too soon.

There is nuance in George’s character and long may this continue. I agree that his prison sentence would have felt like an age to him, but let’s not forget his punishment continues with his driving ban which will make it hard to get around and get out of Ambridge and also hard to get farm work where he might be required to drive a tractor or trailer. I think this is a pivotal moment for him - volunteering in the shop under the supervision of his granny could have been just what he needed to give something back to the community while showing some contrition. I can see why Susan is annoyed - she was the person who handed him into the police now she wants to give him a chance to redeem himself. At the same time it’s entirely realistic that some people would be unwilling to allow him this opportunity. Susan is 60, she has another job at the dairy, she somehow escaped the Post Office scandal, I’m not surprised she’s thinking of jacking it all in. This is the hill she’s prepared to die on - putting her relationship with her grandson first. Not unrealistic. Some character based drama at last!