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!

Why have none of the concerned parents mentioned fines for taking children out in term time?

Brian is beyond dreadful, right back into his did that really happen?, viz his burning down the phone to pick Adam's brain and then basically denying his role in this.

The Ruairi character development is just plain silly.

Brian living at Home Farm, not with Jenny, not as the owner but as the boyfriend of the owner.

Wonder how that will go down with Jenny's children. And the village. And us.

I don’t know if the Ruairi character is silly, have you ever met boarding school educated men who’ve then worked in the city/consulting? Lack of self confidence is rarely a defining feature.

I could be misremembering but my whole recollection of Oliver and Caroline’s fostering days is that it was rather fraught. I’m sure there was one young teen (?) in particular who they worried over endlessly. Did he run away? Not sure of any details but that’s my abiding memory. And that they decided not to carry on because it was too much heartache.

edited thanks to autocorrect mangling things

Just catching up. I’m a bit confused did Brad and Zainab did the arrangements for Oliver’s thing? I wish they’d just mention it 😁😁😁

But on the fostering front I’m not sure they are portraying it as chocolate box or cosy. If your own children won’t talk to you but your foster children do, then that’s a big price to pay. And I should think that isn’t unheard of .

A big price to pay for what? There’s no suggestion they don’t talk to him because of the fostering?

I don’t understand why all these new people keep getting introduced tbh when there’s so much potentially going on elsewhere

Quite - not so much the cogs turning as the gears grinding in this case. The sale of Home Farm was unbelievable when it happened and could have been avoided altogether if Kate had been made to pitch her tents elsewhere. And to what end? It has literally fallen off the map in the intervening period - the Gills had no involvement in Ambridge whatsoever apart from the silly house-sitting episode with Joy and Mick. It has been remodelled beyond recognition, so any nostalgia Ruairi or anyone else for that matter may have had over their childhood home has been well and truly bashed out of it. And why is it Miranda who has bought it? It doesn't make any sense - except as a vehicle to move her permanently into the cast. I found last night's episode truly dispiriting - that exchange between Adam, Ruairi and Brian was so underwhelming. It should have been one of the great dramatic moments in Archers history - this is the whole point of Ruairi's existence surely - instead it was a complete damp squib which sounded like actors reading their lines. It's all so disappointing at the moment - frantically casting on new stitches while the rest of the fabric unravels. The remodelled Home Farm is starting to feel like a metaphor for the whole programme.

You know, I haven’t listened to last night’s episode yet - and I cannot quite believe what I’m reading here …

There are no words …

They did. @stilldumdedumming
That was Bruno, @Ambridge. His father was a crony of Eddie's.

I am eagerly awaiting your take on this @TottersBlithely - I realise now that I only continue to listen because I enjoy the discussion on here. Without this thread I would have given up, as several people I know in RL have.

Wasn't Bruno having to be fostered because Eddie gave evidence about his father Snatch Foster selling condemned meat, which put Snatch in prison?

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime , that's it, thanks. I couldn't remember if it was Fat Paul, Baggy or Snatch.

Bruno was a foster child called "Foster" ... how we did (not) laugh at that little editorial joke.

You’re so right, what should have been drama was just… whinging. Neither Ruairi nor Adam sound like this is their whole life and fortune they’re discussing. More like who’s going to have the last roast potatoes in the tray.

Only heard the last two minutes but feel like Alice should have said

you’re a 22 year old nincompoop who isn’t even related to Peggy

bloody chickenpox - what a halfwit

And and and

as lovely as Scotland is, the weather in November isn’t necessarily conducive to outdoor activities and there are a lot of young children who wouldn’t want to be cooped up!

and no thought at all to Chris - regardless of whether or not Alice would be ok with it - surely Martha’s father has a say

i would be annoyed with ruari if this wasn’t such clunky writing

Bruisername
i would be annoyed with ruari if this wasn’t such clunky writing

The writer this week is Katie Hims.

GCSE student?

If Esme remembers watching M&W Christmas shows, she must be nearer my age (early 60s) than Josh's. Ooh, cougar SL! And her bizarre accent disappeared completely.

I remember watching them and I’m mid 40s

We-e-e-e-e-llllll

Maybe she is taking an EngLit GCSE, like Emma.

https://curtisbrown.co.uk/client/katie-hims

That whole Morecambe and Wise thing was ridiculous. The last Christmas special was in 1977 - Eric Morecambe died in 1984. Fair enough they possibly repeated some at a later date but remembering watching them every year unless as you say she’s in her late 50s onwards just couldn’t have happened.

And don’t start me on the password being Eric Morecambe - how convenient.

And Josh, of course, at once knew what Esme was talking about.

He was born 13/9/1997.

It's much more likely she's that sort of age assuming that Mulligan was around 80ish when he died. Yet she sounds and behaves as if she's some sort of incompetent young idiot regarding what to do when someone dies.

Given that she's supposed to work with computers you would think she would have looked online at the numerous websites which tell you exactly what to do, how to go about getting probate etc.
I also find it very surprising that the only place she could find a copy of the Will was on a computer and not in an actual file somewhere. If it's on the computer presumably there's an indication of where the actual will is, or which solicitor it may be lodged with.

If she is a middle aged woman it really is going to be sordid if Josh ends up having a relationship with someone his mother's age.

How did Josh know all about M&W? Do David and Ruth watch all the Christmas specials every year? Because for someone as young as him surely he just wouldn't have come across them.

The accent thing is so peculiar. The way she talks is like someone whose first language isn't English.