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.

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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 can remember nothing about how Leonie and James got together.

Leonie and her sister Coriander are the children of Robert's first marriage to Bobo (yes, really). Lynda was Robert's secretary before marrying him. Whether she was the other woman or not has never been specified, as far as I can recall. Lynda's relationship with L & C has always been a little strained. L&R moved to Ambridge after their marriage from Sunningdale, which is presumably where L&C grew up. Coriander is more amenable than Leonie. We haven't heard from her for ages. She has a son called Oscar. Can remember nothing about her partner or job or anything else, but the internet says her partner is called Justin Bamford and she is now around 48. Leonie has always been hard work. She has/had her 50th birthday this year.

James is Lilian's only child. His father was L's second husband Ralph Bellamy, the Justin of his day - rich, ruthless landowner. He owned half of Ambridge. He and Lilian moved to Guernsey for plot/casting tax reasons but after he died Lilian moved back to Ambridge to be close to her family. James was either grown up or at boarding school by then. He made an appearance in Ambridge a few years ago and was absolutely repellent.

Leonie and James have one child, Mungo, who is now about 11. Leonie wanted to call him Mowgli, so he had a lucky escape.

Is Robert looking after mungo?

He is probably living with wolves.

@Bruisername , James is.

Oh. I’m confused why leonie went and not him? Also confused about hazel

think it’s probably best I don’t listen this week and pretend the holiday didn’t happen!

None of it makes any sense. It's not what we were told it was going to be after Peggy's death. Nobody in Ambridge seems to remember this. About half of the people on the holiday have no blood tie to Peggy and some of those who do are not there, but nobody cares. If I started to dwell on this, I would be very cross, but instead I have decided to wait for the Mark Bonnar bits and do my level best to let the rest wash over me.

Leonie has gone on the Scottish jaunt because she is sick to the back teeth of being the default parent.

I’m not sure she and James are married? (But, like Natasha, she is the Mother of An Archer, so is exercising her clan privilege.)

I am quite excited at the prospect of her leaving him and moving to Ambridge with Mungo.

Being default parent vs holidaying with your in laws

When you put it like that @Bruisername ... have I mentioned how much I love being the deafult parent?

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
I can remember nothing about how Leonie and James got together.

I don't think we were ever told that. They appeared in Ambridge being mysterious about who each other was (referring to each other as "Jay" and "El" to all the various parents) and it was extremely tedious. Not quite as tedious as Anna Tregorran's partner Max turning out to be female after several weeks of circumlocution during which she was never called "she" or "her", but very nearly.

I only get through holidays with my in laws because I can focus on the kids and leave DH to it. The thought of going on my own is horrific!!

Just had an A&E doctor ring; had a wonderful, comforting Scottish accent.😋

Scottish accents are the best.

This one was. North of Edinburgh perhaps. Told him it was very comforting!

Very wise course!

I think Leonie moving back would be quite fun - there to upset Lynda and Lilian. Mungo could be a naughty fun child.

I wonder whether there is a whole cohort of older actors with no one a bit younger (but not super young, of Leonie's generation) to naturally hand over to. @AskingQuestionsAllTheTime do you by any chance already have a spreadsheet of character DOBs?

I think it would be good for them to return but I feel Mungo should be a sensible child who really doesn’t live up to his unusual name. Like a Saffy

but unfortunately Henry has taken that position in ambridge

More like a group holiday with a bunch of strangers. 1 MIL, fairly easily avoided as I can't imagine Lilian on a strenuous hike of Three Peaks challenge level.

I'm still assuming there will be a Terrible Remembering and the funds for the holiday will never be released because it didn't fit the criteria

Doesn’t the money go to charity in that case? At least something good would have come of the fiasco

This is hilarious - will they ever get there??

No, because Phoebe's in labour!!!

I loved that episode despite having personal experience of visiting Blackpool at Christmas- unless it's had a massive rebuild in the last 2 years it's a grim run down desert town with a stiff chill wind off the sea. I think they may have driven south to the Channel Islands by mistake (or just anywhere other than Blackpool really)

Is it supposed to be a tie-in with Strictly?

(There’s just been a mention of Blackpool on Front Row. Is it all over TV?)

Agapornis
AskingQuestionsAllTheTime, do you by any chance already have a spreadsheet of character DOBs?

I'm afraid I don't: and even if I had had one in the past, they have stopped giving DoBs for the likes of Joy and Mick and Rochelle and Vince and Leonard and Justin and Amber and Wayne and Azra and Akram and Denise and Martyn and Hannah and Jakob and the rest of the recent blow-ins who have failed to blow back out again. Even Jolene, and Harrison, have no dob given in the characters website.