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%.

🙄

They thought it was; it turns out they are not in the castle, they are in the stable block, because Ruairi made a mistake.

I am still trying to get over Kate having consented to travel with neither Phoebe nor Jakob. Or did Lilian not say she would just have to share with Kate, when Leonie told her about sharing with Helen? And was it not Kate and Helen who went shopping?

Ok so it’s even more of a farce than first thought. Farce not in the show but in the writing room

I just can’t get over how badly they’ve messed it all up

anyway lucky Brian

Sensible Brian, I think. Him having gout has never been mentioned before.

I suppose he might have been put on bumetanide for his heart; that is well-known to cause gout (among other nasty side-effects, and difficult interactions with other drugs).

@WitcheryDivine , Depends how you define near. Given that they were going up the M6, and Sunderland is the other side of the country (although probably at the narrowest point), it was hardly on their way.

👀

Brian has a case of strategic gout I suspect.

Perhaps more than 1 bunk bed per room? Sofa beds in the living room?

Can't imagine Jakob enjoying Blackpool.

Has Kate put Dane in the forgetting cupboard? Perhaps she believes that what happens in the castle/stables stays in the castle/stables.

Oh whoops is she really in Sunderland?! I’ve had Carlisle in my head the whole time.

They're not that far apart, about 70 miles, I think.

I thought Brian's gout was 'convenient '. It'll never be mentioned again.

Why aren't Tony and Pat going? Surely Tony has no excuse not to go.

Tony has gone. He spent the afternoon fishing near the castle with a rod he borrowed from Finlay.

Pat stayed at home with Tom and all four of Peggy's great-grandchildren who are descended from Tony (apart from Johnny, who was lost at sea some years ago).

Every couple of years, I have the dubious pleasure of sourcing a house suitable for a big multi-generational/nationality holiday in the UK (Landmark Trust and NT are usually safe options). Any sane person pays scrupulous attention to floor plans and step-free access to bathrooms for the ones more inclined to need them at night.

Jakob, like me, would need to know what had been booked.

Any sensible person would, especially if the booking had been made in a hurry, without consultation, and from a pub. (And by an unreliable flake.)

Sounds like they're in Mar Lodge, and have been stuck in the bunkhouse in the old stable block, that used to be hired out to climbers and horse holidayers, but a few years ago, they stopped doing that, because it was too lucrative as overflow for wedding parties. My pony had an incident there with a pipe band.

What with Ruairi's utterly unfounded confidence in being fit to be a farmer while knowing feck-all about it; steamrolling over others' objections about the booking; buggering up the booking and oversleeping, is he being written in as a complete drop kick or have the SWs not been keeping track of what they write?

We need to know more about that!

I am ignoring all the idiocy because we have been treated to a few minutes of Mark Bonnar. I hope he will appear in every episode this week.

@Trivium4all

My pony had an incident there with a pipe band.

What a delightful sentence.

I expect Helen will have a few snogs under the Scottish stars with the charming Finlay, and will realise that Dane isn't really what she wants. Heartbreak all round because she can't make a new life in Scotland. She'll return to Ambridge because Henry is destined to be a farmer and there has to be some drama in years to come around MySon getting his inheritance.

I’m picturing that the pony was kicked out of the pipe band after getting drunk and rowdy with some visitors at the castle ball.

So that was Mark Bonnar! Knew he sounded familiar. He and Helen are so going to shag in the crrrroft aren’t they, cue much tedious handwringing about Dane. Will she try to import him and his sheep to Ambridge only for him to realise he has a career the call of the highlands to get back to.

Trying to think what the Traitors thing will be - I reckon they’ll all vote on who gets to share a room with Hazel ie a fate worse than death and it’ll be Ruairi.

How long is it since the last ridiculous accommodation fuck up? Was that Christmas?

Ooh speaking of Christmas surely they will get snowed in and have to deliver Phoebe’s baby in the stable?!!

It’s not as if Ruairi doesn’t have experience of bedroom situations with old[er] women to fall back on.

You know I thought that but the whole thing was too grim to type out 😂

So Robert’s daughter Leonie has gone on the holiday, but not either of Peggy’s blood relatives connected to her. Riiiight.

It's all bollocks, but I need to know about the pony and the pipe band.