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.

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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%.

Ed will feel duty bound to warn Amber as essentially he does have some decency if not much brain.
She will leave George.
George will stalk her.

but then her parents will be proved right!
will they be able to bit their tongues?

Who cares?!

I suspect it's been made clear that Amber isn't destined to be in TA for a long time, otherwise the previous actor wouldn't have walked away from the part so quickly.

I suspect that TV pay may be more than radio pay, though I don't know. It'll probably do more to boost her profile, anyway.

So, that’s Carly’s role explained!

Why is there no one who can throw George a lifeline outside Ambridge? Like when Will was distraught and Brian got someone else to offer him gamekeeping work in another county.

I doubt Brian would piss on George if he were on fire, so Brian is out of the reckoning. Who else? Well, there is always Alf; maybe George could take on being a carer for his 81-year-old great-uncle.

I think I need it explaining!

William was mentally ill, not a manipulative scrote. None of his family members seem bothered by his joblessness nor inclined to suggest he tries outside Ambridge. Rural public transport can be an issue but round here people cycle or ebike into town, anything up to ten miles.

Yes, I get how you feel.

I thought all we had to look forward to was the tractor parade (obviously will work well on radio) and a(nother) domestic violence story.

But today we learn that Eddie has a(nother) daft plan. I really can’t think how it will turn out … so will definitely keep listening.

What happened to Clarrie’s sister Rosie who lived - was it in the south somewhere? Seem to recall she was ill at some point (hip?) and Clarrie had to go and stay with her. Is she still alive? Even if she isn’t, does she have any family who might take him in, or at least help him find a job?

Rosie Mabbott lived in Great Yarmouth, I think.

Why should Rosie, in her mid-seventies, be expected to take responsibility for a twenty-year-old whose family are unable to cope with him, and who has made his home village too hot to hold him, such that he is unable even to apply for work there let alone get any?

Because he’s faaaaaaaaaaaaamly. And no one in Great Yarmouth was harmed by his activities.

She wouldn’t have to be responsible for him, just give him a base, or a point of contact.

I hope she lives in a bungalow...

Just so.

If she provides him with a base, that will be where the police come when they want him for affray or whatever else. Her friends and neighbours (who don't have the Ambridge immunity to worrying about Grundys) will judge her by him.

And in any case, is he allowed to moved away from home while he is on licence? I genuinely don't know the answer to that, but I thought he isn't in a hostel because he is with one or both of his parents, and I am not sure a great-aunt would count as Close Family. Has she even met him?

What IS Ed's fab plan? I am very confused: is it to graft random parts onto the broken washer to make it pluck the turkeys? Surely not?

Why is George suddenly so bothered about Maaarthurrr? Not remotely believable that he’d give a flying fuck about seeing her or not. But plot, I suppose.

Good to know the unfortunate brat is still the subject of pass the parcel.

I'm imagining some Heath Robinson machine which will have horrendous turkey-trashing consequences.

That was my thought. So remote I'd forgotten they were related. I suppose it's just more evidence that George will not have the unfettered goodwill of Ambridge after he's done his time.

In some ways this is good, as it shows the hurdles an ex-con can encounter so when George goes postal we'll all get it.

The thing I don't get, is why George wants to push through with the wedding when he knows there's no money for it. He does stupid things but he is intelligent, yet there's no suggestion by him to do a registry office as it's cheaper.

Bloody SWs.

how is poultry plucked industrially?
they surely don't have an army of retirement age rural women doing it as a cottage industry?

It’s possible. My husband works with a company who has rows of middle aged (plus) ladies folding samosas. They did try mechanising it but very quickly returned to the ladies. I’ve hand plucked turkeys. It wasn’t easy. I understand a hot bath helps (pre plucking for the turkeys, post for the plucker - and after a shower too!).

Im in a quandary, I felt sorry for George because Chris was a bit OTT, but then I thought about what George did to Alice and can understand Chris's stance, but George wasn't a threat to Matha so he could have had a quiet word with Emma to say "don't do that again".
But no, he had to take Martha away even though the child was enjoying herself and George had left.
Wouldn't a washing machine smash every bone in a turkeys body? Mind you I did look up turkey plucker and they do look like the drum of a washing machine.
If Carrie has Arthuritus then that's not just going to go away with an ibuprofen. Talking as a RA sufferer myself, not being able to grip is a nightmare. You end up with sore banana fingers, which I have at the moment because I was picking up all the leaves from a neighbours garden that had covered mine. Grrrrr

Im in a quandary, I felt sorry for George because Chris was a bit OTT, but then I thought about what George did to Alice and can understand Chris's stance, but George wasn't a threat to Matha so he could have had a quiet word with Emma to say "don't do that again".
But no, he had to take Martha away even though the child was enjoying herself and George had left.
Wouldn't a washing machine smash every bone in a turkeys body? Mind you I did look up turkey plucker and they do look like the drum of a washing machine.
If Carrie has Arthuritus then that's not just going to go away with an ibuprofen. Talking as a RA sufferer myself, not being able to grip is a nightmare. You end up with sore banana fingers, which I have at the moment because I was picking up all the leaves from a neighbours garden that had covered mine. Grrrrr

Oops sorry I didn't mean to press that twice.

Please can someone put me out of my misery.

I listened daily for about 20 years but it got too silly and tedious so I gave up. But yesterday I listened again and now I need to know - did George push Ed down the stairs deliberately (he’s a out-and-out baddie) or was it really an accident (he’s basically a daft but misunderstood and unlucky goodie)?

It was somewhere between deliberate and an accident; it would have been just a push if Ed hadn't been at the head of the stairs. But it was the chilling way George tried to pass the blame to Poppy, leaving her books everywhere, saying Ed had slipped on one.