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%.

Leonard was masked up and possibly wearing disposable gloves (that's how I understood his reference to looking as if he'd come from Porton Down). I don't know how effective that would be at preventing transmission of the virus. He really is a numpty, though. Ill though the Stables Three are, they're not so unwell that they couldn't pour their own glasses of water. The washing up could have waited, and the recycling definitely could. Odd storyline. There must be something more to come.

I’m surprised Azra didn’t mention Ed’s massive shiner.

Not impressed by Lily sneering about Emma. Shes such a snob.

I was about to say that Lily was obviously ignorant of the ongoing George situation that caused Emma’s miserable demeanour - but really, Lily can’t have forgotten what transpired with her own mother when Freddie was incarcerated. It’s surely more likely that she might privately have wondered how Emma is getting on - so I’m surprised the SW had her expressing such meanness.

Is he going to pass on the virus to Jill and finish her off? Or require ministering to as he did after his fall and thereby incur the wrath of Ruth?

The washing up could have waited, and the recycling definitely could. Odd storyline. There must be something more to come. I thought the idea was that Leonard would do all the clearing up before Shula arrived that no one could be bothered to do. The whole situation served for Lily to clarify how she feels about missing out on LL and for Josh to talk about golden child Pip and the Brookfield inheritance - I felt those were conversation that might not otherwise taken place and it felt like the SWs setting out the situation before moving on to tackle these issues.

Good points. It was good to hear somebody finally saying out loud that Pip is the favoured child at Brookfield.

Leonard will have recycled some important document, possibly Paul's provisional driving licence or Lily's passport.

Lily is her mother's daughter. Fortunately Freddie is more like his father.

Did it really need Leonard popping his head round the door to say "I think Josh might have some similar feelings"? Why couldnt the conversation have happened organically between Josh and Lily?

Not sure how method the actors were being, but lying on the sofa might have contributed to the post-coital voice.

Oooh, liking that thought, @ThreshAcre!

@TottersBlankly , it will mean that Paul doesn't move to a job that doesn't have his mother to drive on his behalf and Lily won't go to Australia.

@Mulledjuice , I liked that Leonard brought up the favoured child. If Josh had said it, it would have seemed like whining.

I thought that Josh and Lily sounded like they were lounging on sofas but if I hadn't known they are first cousins and unwell I might have thought they were in bed.

To be honest I was already losing hope regarding Lily. We’ve heard more excitement and preparation on the rare occasion she goes for a night out than we have for ‘a year in Australia’.

Can’t immediately see it would make a huge difference to Paul. Just a slight delay in starting his driving lessons.

The provisional licence wouldn't be an issue. It's all digital these days, just get a new one sent out.

Losing a passport, one week before you are due to fly... that would be an issue.

I am slightly surprised that the Stables seems to have sofas, plural. Maybe one of them was lounging in a comfy chair.

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime Shula would have had 2 sofas.
She wouldn't have an L-shape sofa IMO.

Sending Leonard round to The Stables is so bizarre, I can only assume that the plan is for he and Jill to catch Norovirus too.

I was wondering whether we'd have a chainsaw massacre over Christmas now that we've established that George knows how to use one. I had visions of him running amok at The Bull.

I'm not overly bothered about what the Maliks do. I had the feeling that Azra and Akram married young, before she moved to England to study medicine so who knows where the "I've always wanted to be a farmer" idea came from.

Josh needs to marry Esme and help run the farm (the thought Pip running Brookfield and Helen and Tom squabbling over Bridge Farm for the next few decades is deeply depressing).

Is it unusual to have more than 1 sofa? Asking for a friend...

I was surprised Shula would have two sofas for herself and Alistair! Did they really need a sofa each? Is the main room in that house large enough to fit two sofas into it if they were not actually needed to accommodate the two people living there?

But then, I don't have even one sofa myself, so maybe I am simply biased against them. Plenty of room, just not the least need for one: armchairs are more comfortable as far as I am concerned.

One sofa on either side of the fireplace is fairly standard in houses with fireplaces, isn't it?

Yes.

A very large room, or teeny-weeny sofas?

Somehow "one sofa on either side of the radiator" doesn't sound so desirable, but are many houses heated by open fires any more?

In the countryside, yes.

I'd expect all the houses in Ambridge to have an open fire or a wood-burner, apart from the newer houses.

Which leads me to wonder whether the house at the stables has central heating. I think I would be surprised if it doesn't.

Do people who live alone, like Shula after she threw Alistair out of her marriage and her life, have two sofas?

I’m surprised the SW had her expressing such meanness.

Oh come now, Totters, this is Lily.

Most older houses have both - central heating, and a fireplace.

Why wouldn't she have two sofas? One on each side of the fireplace.

It probably has central heating, a fire or wood-burning stove and I wish I'd not mentioned any sofas at all. Maybe they have bean bags.