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 have never had two sofas in one room. If there is a standard it would be a three piece suite but I've never had one of them either.

Yes, micro-aggressions would be more realistic. I seriously haven't heard people of L's background be so openly and blatantly racist in public. It would more likely be snide comments when he was with people of his class he imagined might share his views. And these days he might find that those friends would have offspring married to Indian doctors, African lawyers, etc.

I agree. He would be a bit more subtle although just as nasty. It would be people not of his class who would be more blatant. I know it happens at our local hospital.

and the eating sounds.
bloody hell, in a generally stupidly AWFUL ep, that was the absolute worst

The eating sounds were seriously disgusting. R4 generally doesn’t seem to appreciate how many people are listening through headphones. This doesn’t just apply to TA.

I think Lawrence just exists so people around him can virtue signal.

But there’s no drama in people not being racist, surely?

I find it all quite unsubtle. The Maliks are Pakistani so have to be nothing less than upstanding, gracious and generally lovely at all times. It’s a bit like those films where the black person is a paragon ( see anything with Morgan Freeman in it ) but really exists to be a foil to the white characters. Most the scenes they are in feel somewhat synthetic.

They did "racist" with Mike Tucker, as was discovered when Roy Tucker got caught up with a racist gang at college and thought his father would approve.

And Susan was more than a bit racist about Alan marrying someone who was not white and Christian. (And managed to shuffle the blame for her bigotry onto Shula, who was attacked about it by Usha at Shula's place of work.)

BeatriceBatchelor
I'm intrigued by Asking's aversion to sofas. How many armchairs do you have in your sitting room?

One. I don't think any member of my immediate family has ever had a house in which there were two sofas; one sofa and two or three armchairs has been the usual pattern of seating. But our style of living is not geared to low seating; we both prefer to sit upright. The cat uses the armchair, mostly, because it is low enough for her to jump onto easily and far too low for either of us to get out of without a struggle.

Oh, and we haven't had a telly any time this century, or come to that last century either, so we don't need to lounge around watching it

If by 'virtue signalling' you mean not being racist.

The Laurence story is a missed opportunity, discrimination faced by Lottie and Azra is likely to be far more subtle and underhand than that displayed by his character. It’s pretty much inconceivable that he would behave like that, in such an open and aggressive manner. Particularly given his involvement in cricket. My sons played country cricket for years and many of the teams we faced (particularly from places such as Birmingham) were generally largely Asian.

My local cricket club hired an overseas pro from Pakistan, who’d actually played for the national team years ago (not super famous though). Within a year the entire first team was of Pakistani heritage, and the second team became what had previously been the first team. Everybody enjoyed it though. No one seemed to resent moving down. He coached the juniors, played for the Sunday “fun” team, and was always there at practice sessions. The team maintains a significant number of Pakistan heritage players years after he left.

Other teams in the league however, had plenty to say, not all of it pleasant.

Thinking of the sofas debate. I have a sofa and two chairs ( unmatched) in the front room where I mostly live. The back room - called the family room in AussieSpeak used by estate agents - has two sofas. Like a lot of Australian houses it's stupidly big, and the sofas balance out the space.

Back in the world of TA - how tediously predictable was the ditching of the Australia and Pakistan SLs?

Dr Malik was unprofessional and breached patient confidentiality by discussing Lawrence collapsing at the surgery with her family - totally inappropriate. Unclear if it's just ignorant story writers, Dr Malik being lined up to have a complaint made against her, or showing that she's not coping in her job. A doctor absolutely can't go telling their family the health details of a named patient.

‘Named patient’ 1p extra.

I know Joy can be annoying, but I would have absolutely no objection to her coming round and cleaning my house for me.

Just saying.

I thought Lottie was breaking patient confidentiality telling Alan it was Laurence. If he couldn't recognise the bloke he should have known better than to ask.

I would have been apoplectic to return home and find Joy had been rootling around and poking her nose into my things.

And, I say again, old people cleaning up after young people? Not on this planet. (Unless they’re being paid.)

(Not sure who’s most to blame for this week’s extraordinarily ropey and unconvincing portrayal of young-ish adults - whether the SW, the actors, or the director. Whoever was responsible, they need to stop, or go on a course and learn how to do it properly.)

I agree. I work in the NHS and confidentiality is paramount. But maybe that’s how they do things in Borsetshire.

Assuming Azra’s family doesn’t go spreading the patient’s details around the village she’s probably ok. Lawrence’s collapse was witnessed by everyone in reception so that part was hardly secret. Discussing the aftermath was obviously more problematic.

Although I do think it’s a possibility that if he survives he might wish to sue the surgery for ‘causing’ his coronary episode.

She didn't tell him the name without his having already known it. He said it first: "The man in front of me in the queue: it was Lawrence Harrington, wasn't it?" were his opening words.

Hmm. Borderline. Our receptionist would smile blandly and not deny nor confirm.

I will admit that I did wonder why Alan would know Lawrence Harrington in the first place, but then realised that probably LH spends some of his spare time interfering in the running of one or more of the seven parishes of which Alan is the vicar. (Alan is not vicar of Roserren in the Vale, however. He is responsible for Ambridge, Darrington, Penny Hassett and Edgeley, and also required to help out at Netherbourne, Loxley Barrett and Lakey Green. Neb out, Lawrence!)

I’m in agreement with others that it is highly unlikely that Lottie and Azzra would name patients, as much as they would like to.

That said, we normally have 4 sofas, albeit that we are managing with 3 ATM.

Maybe he's having an argument about it with the other SWs and wanted some audience feedback to prove or disprove a point.