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%.

Royal Lochnagar Distillery & Visitors Centre, Ballater – Whisky Distilleries | VisitScotland

That's the one, and close to Mar Lodge.

Especially to the actual woman who was pregnant.
And he's had 8 years to deal with it. Everybody who has been bereaved has dreams about the dead person being here, and it's horrible waking up and realising your lovely dream isn't true.
But you don't then spend the whole time in a vile mood taking it out on your nephew, and upsetting the other people in your life who are missing the same person.
It's ridiculous the SW have come up with this now.
It's probably some contrived stupid storyline to make Tom jealous of Helen because she produced 2 sons, as if it was the 19th century.

From the way Tom was talking it sounded as if what might ensue is that Natasha becomes the driving force at Bridge Farm - while he leaves to achieve all his big world aspirations …

(I was actually surprised to hear her mention her own business yesterday - it seemed to have been so carelessly dumped by the SWs.)

I can't understand what Natasha (or any woman) would see in Tom. He comes over as a complete and utter prat.

I would really like Natasha's credit card habit to have not been forgotten about.

It's rather less than sensitive of Tom

...being famed for his sensitivity as he is.

I did rather appreciate Kirsty pointing out that they wouldn't have been together, whatever had happened.

Tom definitely WAS trying it on with Kirsty. She’s old enough to realise the whole “oh my wife’s away/things could have been so different/let me sob on you” thing is a load of bullshit surely?? Absolute low blow to bring up the baby the way he did. How she held back from reminding him he has a wife two healthy girls and she has a houseshare with Kate I don’t know. Tom is definitely the villain.

It’s a while since we had a cheating story isn’t it, do you think Natasha and Justin will get together and she can inherit his zillions and be the grand dame of the neighbourhood? 😁

Tom definitely WAS trying it on with Kirsty. She’s old enough to realise the whole “oh my wife’s away/things could have been so different/let me sob on you” thing is a load of bullshit surely?? Absolute low blow to bring up the baby the way he did. How she held back from reminding him he has a wife and two healthy girls and she has a houseshare with Kate I don’t know. Tom is definitely the villain.

It’s a while since we had a cheating story isn’t it, do you think Natasha and Justin will get together and she can inherit his zillions and be the grand dame of the neighbourhood? 😁

By the way call me a cynic but surely Bonnar is shagging a different tourist every week up, his moves seem so well oiled 😂

Well, I don’t suppose they’re all cheese makers from a farming dynasty? Helen must actually be quite good, or at least intriguing company for him.

(And as we know, if he googles her he won’t find anything shocking under ‘Helen Archer’. So hearing about her past will be an interesting hurdle, if they get that far.)

He surely owns the castle, so has his pick of bunk-bed victims. I do not buy the simple crofter routine at all.

I love love love the idea of Natasha'n'Justin. It would be even better if they nab Home Farm out from Miranda. It would drive ALL the Archers insane.

Let’s not forget Tom has dumped Kirsty not once, but twice. Spectacularly at the altar, but previously to that during their GM crop trashing phase (also referenced last night) when he dumped her for a supermarket rep. He always comes back to her (see their one night stand after Helen’s trial). I thought it was a good compare and contrast with Natasha and Justin - where she was saying how good she and Tom were together meanwhile Tom was literally dreaming of another life altogether! Great to hear Kirsty putting him firmly in his place on that with no prevarication. Also interesting to see it demonstrated that Kirsty - even with no child and sharing a house with Kate - is much happier than Tom is with his lot. The previously go-getting entrepreneur now essentially pulling carrots, packing veg boxes and being forced to pull his weight caring for the twins - with no end in sight. I think if Peggy’s silly holiday has done one thing, it’s to clarify the positions of a number of key characters who have been sadly absent from the airwaves of late.

If I were Tom, I’d be spending my evenings/weekend dragging Henry and Gideon around letting agents and viewings to find a house for Helen that her boys both like!

I suspect Tom quite likes living with his sister - remember their drunken night out together? We haven’t particularly seen any signs of strain (not that the SWs have given us much access to this living arrangement). I think alone with Natasha he’d be even more under her thumb - at least this way there’s some reciprocal babysitting (even when it’s N doing the babysitting so he and Helen can go out).

The issue I would have with tomtash splitting is that I don’t think there are enough two parent families as it is

theres the maliks and tomtash and ednem and iandam. And then single or separated - Alice/chris, pip, will, Helen

then they need a landline. I live in a village with awful mobile reception and 90% of us have landlines. The younger incomers are the ones that don't and they are constantly moaning about it.

Kirsty owns the house, Kate is a lodger
It's not really Mark Bonnar, it's Tom Conti with a different accent.

is that "i no want to make fucky-fucky"???

So good on Kirsty. Tom is a snivelling whinger. Henry is SO going to spill the beans. I'm also up for Justin and Gnasher having shenanegins.

And can we have a little sympathy (a lot of sympathy) for Tony explaining how he was so stoic under the awful thumb of the awful Peggy? Poor Tony.

TomnTash’s courtship (for want of a better word) and their rushed wedding was so bizarre I’m surprised they’ve made it this far to be honest. He was completely besotted with her and overlooked a lot of red flags that suggested they were incompatible - her cavalier attitude to debt was just one example - so I’d be surprised if the marriage survives long term. She could do a lot better.

I think Tom sees Natasha as a trophy wife in an “Isn’t Natasha amazing” sort of way, but I don’t think he’s particularly enjoying his current lifestyle and particularly not at this moment when he’s been left holding the babies and the farm instead of living it up in a Scottish castle (as he was led to believe he might be) or even just cutting loose in Blackpool. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Tom, but I love him as a character.

Absolutely vicious of you to randomly call Jack Gideon in the middle of a chat that has nothing to do with the boy's past or Rob!

😳😝

I've been meaning to ask, any days when Hazel was on air are before my time listening. Why do they all hate her so much?

Nobody's really hinted at that in the last 10 or more years!

I would have to use swear words, @WeNeedToTalkAboutIT…

Brief outline here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/KThJHXKSCg0Q9PfWcBTtn9/hazel-woolley

The thing to know about Hazel is that there is no reason on God’s earth why she would be invited on an Archer family holiday. She is not a blood relation - she was Peggy’s step daughter through her second marriage and Jick left her everything when he died, to Peggy and everyone else’s great surprise. It’s completely nonsensical that anyone should think she might be included - even more illogical than Ruairi organising the whole shebang because at least Ruairi is beloved by the family unlike Hazel.