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 had forgotten, and was reminded elsewhere - but ultimately that would have added to the Fear of the Fergie. But decorating tractors is so much 'easier' now that everyone can buy many many strings of battery powered LEDs and put them everywhere that it wasn't realistic that Ambridge would not have gone there eventually.

I must remember to check which afternoon in will be impossible to drive from one side of our town to the other.

Alice was blatantly flirting with Rex. It's that rather than pregnancy.

Don't think the sweet but ineffectual Rex has the personality to deal with Alice. Hope the SWs don't go down this route. (I wondered if she might be preggers and was trying to think who she might have had a fling with).

Well, if she does shag (poor) Rex, she can do a fun compare and contrast with her sister’s adventure with his brother!

Buy he’s certainly nowhere near emotionally mature enough for her.

And I wouldn’t be impressed with the SWs throwing Rex at yet another impossible (Pip + Toby, Anisha + out of his league) or damaged (Rochelle) woman who will only drag him down.

I’m sorry but I just don’t get his level of patheticness. Why is he in Ambridge? Does he want a family? Does he just want to write poetry? In real life that kind of person would have another real passion whether that’s sailing or guitar or something. What does he do in the evenings?

And unless my memory is playing tricks on me, didn't "Morwenna" turn out to really be called Maureen?

Seems highly probable!

we have a (summer) tractor thing in our town, we get some really beautiful ancient things, and some awe-inspiring gigantic satellite steered monster things. I love them. No parade as such but a lot of them drive through our village to get to the show.

Recently there have been a lot of night tractor parades for Christmas, and of course we have Karneval where (being rural) all the floats are pulled by tractors. So we see a lot of them.

At least Joy had the nous to check with Tony about the tractor thing. Ruth and Pip didn't really understand her point, i feel.

Drives his taxi.

He's passionate about re-wilding and his pigs. When the Dopeys evicted him, he didn't give up on his dream to be a farmer. He's even living on a canal boat to pursue his dream. I think he's a thoroughly good egg and want him married to Kirsty.

My mum and uncle co-own a 1950s Porsche Junior tractor. It's in a storage barn at the local tractor museum and comes out once a year for the village fair. Yes we do joke that we're taking the Porsche for a spin.

And like @Brefugee, the tractors also come out for the carnival processions, usually covered in some grotesque papier maché - see pig. Shrovetide carnival, not summer - I spent many hours in a stupid costume in the freezing cold as a child.

to be fair, in my village our actual Karneval is a couple of people dressed as something (carrots, astronauts, whatever) on a flatbed being pulled by a tractor followed by the kindergarten teacher pulling a little handcart loaded with sweets and blankets, followed by a load of tiny kids dressed as ladybirds (or teddies or something) followed by our silver band playing all the tunes :)

Our time for hours in a stupid costume in the freezing cold is St Patrick's day, a bit later that Karneval, but Ireland can usually deliver horizontal sleet in March for the delectation of visiting Americans in marching bands.

I agree. I think I'd like him in real life.

Likeable people don’t always make the best characters in a drama, though …

that is why sensible people here have one outside and one inside outfit, often they wear the inside one under the outside one for a seamless transition while celebrating. Loved the year DD2 dressed as Wonder Woman for inside, and a huge fluffy penguin for outside - casting the penguin skin aside to emerge as WW.

Agree that - unless he's going to start a relationship with Alice now - that Rex isn't a really interesting character. But we need more than the main ones, otherwise Ambridge would feel emptier than it actually is.

Likeable people can be good characters in a drama if the writers and the actors are good.

IF

He's a good actor. He just needs air time and a well written storyline. One that doesn't involve Rochelle.

I've always like nice guys. Oh and Russ.

Lowfield, Thursday 25th June, 1998
Jennifer's shocked, but not as surprised as when Morwenna recognises Hayley. It seems that she (in her previous incarnation as Maureen) trained as a (conventional) midwife with one of Hayley's mother's friends.

I don't think Kate had planned to tell Jennifer about Morwenna's qualifications at all, if she even knew them herself, but Hayley let the cat out of the bag before Kate and Maureen went off to Glastonbury with Gaz, Shaz and Moonflower. Kate had Phoebe on 28th June.

Oh well done!

I actually remember listening to that episode, I must have been what, 15? Still living at home, and my teenage self was very impressed by Kate and her free spirit 🤣

Neil is a good example.
thoroughly nice man. But plenty of depth of character.

Oh Amber, just walk away.

…into Brad’s arms…

Do we really want this for Brad though?

mind you Amber will be ever so pleased when Chelsea gets together with Freddie and she can do all her photo shoots at Lower Loxley

Absolutely not. Why would Brad want George's cast off?

I hope Brad isn't pineing for Amber. I hope he is just worried that he hasn't got money to buy anyone a Christmas present.
I would like to see Rex and Kirsty get together, but if you live together and work together could that work?.
I think George and Amber will spilt, to be fair, if someone sort of insinuated that you had stole money from your folks, you wouldn't want them anymore. I know I wouldn't because trust just flew out the window.
It's funny but it wasn't that long ago when Tracy was queuing up at the food bank for custard cremes, now she can afford a big shop, must pay good at the Bull.