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%.

You didn't imagine it, @TottersBlankly .

Oh? I had the omnibus on in the background but kept going out of the room so may have missed it …

If that’s the case, why are the SWs trying to disrupt my carefully stabilised blood pressure?

Was the Blackpool tea from Peggy? If so, how come?

The earlier Muphry's law accusation was misplaced - it was how I recalled it. It was my lack of attention to detail in not checking the cast listing for the exact spelling used by the BBC.

I wonder if they could have David Morrissey in the cast. Kirsty's long lost lover from Liverpool perhaps?

No, the Blackpool tea was from Justin.

(Wholly illogically when he could have stayed in Blackpool and waited for Lilian to arrive.)

Thanks, @TottersBlankly . That was kind of him.
I should have listened more attentively.

i understood that he was still there but he wanted to stay in the hotel (?) and get some work done and had therefore bought the voucher for afternoon tea for Lilian and Tony.

Shows how much attention I’ve been paying lately!

I’m as caught up as I can be bothered to be.

I’m all for lobbing a few quid into the kitty to have Helen scoop up her boys and swan off up to Scotland.

I was expecting Finlay to turn out to be the Castle Laird (whatever happened to Monarch of the Glen?) but, no matter. Will he ever be mentioned again, I wonder.

I’ve been struggling to care about who actually turned up to the “holiday” but it does seem to have been a bit “light” WRT Peggy’s descendants.
Scotland:
Kate
Tony
Lillian
Helen
Leonie (isn’t she Robert’s daughter? James and Mungo as blood relatives are AWOL)
(allegedly, Hazel turned up after
everybody left -stepdaughter)
Ruari(?) Did he ever show up?
So 4, then?

Meanwhile, in Blackpool
Jakob (no relation)
Justin (no relation)
Natasha (no relation)
Phoebe
Helen

This has been a madder week than the scam week, and that was quite an achievement!!

Onwards and upwards, I suppose.

Not quite, @Madcats.

Castle:

Lilian
Tony
Helen
Kate

Plus
Ruairi
Leonie (Mother of a Peggy descendant).

Blackpool
Alice
Phoebe (and Margaret!)

Plus
Jakob
Natasha (Mother of Peggy descendants)
Justin

Who else? I’m sure I’m missing one or two …

Justin was at the B&B. They didn’t stay in a hotel. Shudder.

How long was the actual holiday? Basically a long weekend? Who is so incredibly disorganised that they leave a whole day late when they are driving (an hour, sure; 2 hours is already annoying!)? And if you are hiring a car, why would you hire an e-car (was it electric? I somehow got that impression) for such a long drive? Who TF is Margaret (did I get that right? Car hire lady?)? And why did they end up in Blackpool after the breakdown, rather than, say, Preston or Lancaster, either of which would be more obvious for the M6? Why didn't the car hire lady get them a replacement much faster? And why wouldn't you just fly Birmingham to Glasgow/Aberdeen/Inverness (whichever is closest) and hire a car there? TBF with that many, a car hire isn't such a bad plan. And I once drove from Scotland to Torquay for a wedding.

What did the ones in the bunkhouse at the castle do, other than go fishing, flirt with a crofter, and herd sheep?

What an utterly weird set of episodes.

They drank whisky and rescued a sheep. Perhaps they went for long walks in the glorious November murk. The hours of daylight are pretty short in the Highlands in November. Were they allowed into the castle at all?

I was losing the will to live so not listening with full attention, but did Kate say that Maggie the car hire woman was the midwife who delivered Phoebe in Kate's tent at Glastonbury?

No she was at the door of the tent keeping out the adoring masses I believe.

Aha. Found this (warning: pictures) which names the midwife as Morwenna. IIRC Kate horrified Jennifer by telling her that her friend Morwenna, another very alternative type, was going to deliver the baby and Kate was going nowhere near a hospital. Only after the birth did Kate bother to mention that Morwenna was in fact a fully qualified midwife. Selfish to the core.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fthearchers%2Fentries%2F044ce2c8-5fda-467b-8193-dfbbcce38400

I feel Jill and Leonard as polyamorists is a step too unbelievable.

I think Ruth's leg just came off in Leonard's hand.

You could hear Ruth thinking "and we have this grotty little man living on our farm. "

Well, no, I couldn't really, because I don't think really Ruth does thinking as such.

Yes, bit I don't think Ruth has yet understood that.

I assume Leonard is preparing some sort of Christmas surprise.

That was laugh out loud funny and fair play to them, the SWs set it up beautifully.

I do hope we get to hear how David reacts when Ruth tells him

Leonard was being very naughty. Presumably he and Jill are planning a get-together with her old WRVS pals or some similar bunch of swingers.

Ruth is such a spiteful poke-nose.

We've heard Pip's reaction already. I wonder whether she'll change her tune if Ruth goes to her in outrage and tells her all about it, or whether she'll say "Mum, he's been having you on".

surely Ruth can't really believe that

maybe she's reverse double-bluffing

Why didn't Ruth just go over to Leonard when he was in the tea room then Leonard would have introduced Ruth to the Lady and it would have all been above board. I do think Leonard is pulling her leg. Good for him.
I've never heard of a Dace fish so looked it up and they wouldn't catch one because its only about in April. But it dosnt matter because most of TA is fantasy and you just have to go with the flow. It's very much been like Marmite for about a year, ( or more), really.