Archers thread #192: Village of the Dammed. Discuss the beavers here. Throw in the odd word about the Archers if you must.

[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 you'd love to have Kate present as you give birth, 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.)

I'm more excited about the arrival of the beavers than anything else going on in Ambridge at the moment. I hope there will be a webcam.

Bets on how much of next week is set in the castle or on the way there/back? I'm bracing myself for at least 50%.

I don't think we've got to the bottom of Leonard's woman friend. I hated that whole storyline as it hinged on Ruth's being inquisitive and downright rude in her enquiries. More to the point, it's out of character for her, but hey ho, it's what the SWs do, innit?

Ruth being inquisitive is certainly not ooc. Opinions on ‘downright rude’ might vary from mine.

Well, I had a relative called Peggy who was a lovely lady so I certainly have nothing against the name per se, but in the context of The Archers - it's a horrible name.

I find it really odd how they’ve lionised Peggy - purely because of the actress it feels

but agree it would be more natural to remember Jenny in the name

I think Henry I quite sensitive to men being pushy because of Rob. It will be interesting when he gets a girlfriend.

I suspect it hasn't, and that it's a slow-burner like Alice's drinking was.

Kate describing it as her baby is a little concerning, sounds like one of the MILs you hear about on mn

Well I just thought (apart from lovely Jacob), that the whole thing was rubbish. We all knew Phobe was going to have the baby, but we thought in the castle.
Im not sure about the fuss about the sheep though, so really Helen and Tony had a busmans holiday. And Tony saying I don't want to wake Rhaui. That little so and so should have all the crap jobs of cooking and cleaning, for not making sure they were in the castle, and over sleeping.
Where did Kate get her entitlement from. Fancy using Jakob's card why didn't she use her own. I hope she pays him back.
Well the Holiday away has been such fun hasn't it. Carry On Capers.

I had a lovely great aunt Peggy, but yes, in the context of TA it's a strange choice. Jennifer would have been nice.

Amidst all the joy - I don’t like to think of Brodie’s distress (maybe fury) at being so comprehensively excluded from proceedings. I hope it won’t have any lasting effect on his relationship with partner and child.

He certainly wouldn’t be unreasonable to bear a grudge against Phoebe’s family - Kate in particular.

Kate’s behaviour was appalling. Phoebe didn’t even want her at the birth, so for Kate to rock up without Brodie just magnified how incredibly selfish she is.

I don't think Kate knew Phoebe didn't want her at the birth, to be fair, because don't think Phoebe and Alice had got round to telling her. But forgetting about Brodie was unforgivable.

Why couldn’t Brodie make his own way to the hospital? I’m not a fan of Kate but not sure why she was expected to direct the taxi to pick him up en route.

i understood Phoebe to be a sensible person who would not have travelled so close to possible birth

i also though we were in 2025 - this seemed more like the 1970s in terms of tech etc.

Because no one told him Phoebe was in labour.

IRL. Phoebe would have messaged or called him
herself in between contractions.

There were enough people in Blackpool. Someone would have called him.

So the wonderful Archers family holiday has come down to only four of Peggy's descendants actually going on what was booked, and staying in a hostel bunkhouse rather than the glamorous castle. I do hope the executors refuse to cough up.

Or surely he'd have been calling and messaging fairly often himself at that stage in the pregnancy.

@Abra1t the SWs very carefully had Phoebe say at the start of the week that she and Brodie had unreliable reception at home. Then the next day she was messaging him, and hoping he’d receive the message. As pp have said, there’s no way they wouldn’t also have had a landline in the circumstances.

If the reception is so unreliable and his heavily pregnant girlfriend is going away for a few days then Brodie could have asked for a landline number at the Castle. Or, crazy thought, he could physically move himself to a place with a better reception to call Phoebe and send/receive messages.

It is absolutely ludicrous that he is at home, has had zero contact with her and has made not attempts to rectify the situation. But it’s the woman’s fault (Kate) that he’s unaware that he is now a father🙄

Does he not work? Wouldn’t he have better signal/landline there?

Presumably he has a job. No idea if he works from home. I guess it wouldn’t have been much use Kate sweeping up in a cab if he was twenty miles away.

Did the beautiful Mr Bonnar take up so much of the budget that they couldn’t have afforded another voice for one phone call?

It does suggest that the plan is for him to be peripheral to this newly extended branch of the Archer tree.

But it’s the woman’s fault (Kate) that he’s unaware that he is now a father

nah, but it is UTTERLY the selfishKate's fault that she didn't stop and collect him. I'm so glad they (hopefully made up a story) remembered the insurance thing. How completely self absorbed that woman is.

I also would have preferred Jennifer for the baby, or one of Brodie's relatives (maybe they get a son's name?) or Bryony for having the same birthday (?) as grandad.

I think the point of Leonie doing a reckless bravery is that she is very much ground down by the mostly-absent-James and saw this as her chance to prove him wrong. He sounds vile. But then, look at his mum...

nah, but it is UTTERLY the selfish Kate's fault that she didn't stop and collect him.
If the castle is where a pp suggested, then he might have not been on the way without at a diversion. MN's 'on the way' could be a 150 mile detour.

Bryony for Brian is a stretch.

If you've never lived somewhere with dodgy broadband or mobile reception, you won't understand.