The Archers spoilers thread #11: Can't wait for 7.02pm? Join us here!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Spoilers thread for The Archers on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. All Archers listeners are welcome here, whether you post on our main Archers thread or not. There's just one rule: please keep all spoiler-related discussion in this thread and do not spill the beans on the main Archers thread.

We usually add the BBC teasers and cast lists for forthcoming episodes as they become available, plus the Radio Times and Daily Mail previews when possible. Feel free to add anything else you come across, e.g. cast news, scriptwriter tweets!

Right, the good people of Mustardland have come up with the goods, for which much thanks - if anybody here posts over there please could you pass my gratitude on to dondy? At last we know something about next week. Also, a late teaser for this week:

Daily Mail Weekend Magazine Archers Update - January 4th-9th
At the start of a new year, relations in Ambridge are still tense, there's a mysterious visitor to the Bull, and Jolene's at the end of her tether.

11th January 2026 - 16th January 2026
Sun 11/1 Helen makes a surprising offer, and Azra offers the benefit of experience.
Mon 12/1 Alice receives a surprising request, and Akram has a dilemma on his hands.
Tue 13/1 Brian has reservations, Meanwhile, tempers flare at The Bull.
Wed 14/1 Susan treads carefully, while the Aldridge clan go into battle.
Thu 15/1 Chris struggles to keep his cool, while Ruth faces an impossible task.
Fri 16/1 One resident faces a shocking truth, and Kenton digs himself a hole.

Radio Times - 10th to 16th January
The ructions caused by the New Year’s “event” continue. Relations are strained and one person’s attempt to make amends falls on deaf ears. The staff at the Bull are under pressure after a mysterious man arrives in Ambridge. Kenton starts acting erratically and when he tells an outrageous lie, Jolene reaches the end of her tether. The Aldridges have a tense stand-off, the Carters are confronted by a face from the past, and Akram faces a dilemma.

Brian Aldridge - Charles Collingwood
David Archer - Timothy Bentinck
Helen Archer - Louiza Patikas
Jolene Archer - Buffy Davis
Kenton Archer - Richard Attlee
Ruth Archer - Felicity Finch
Alice Carter - Hollie Chapman
Chris Carter - Wilf Scolding
Susan Carter - Charlotte Martin
Ruairi Donovan - Arthur Hughes
Jakob Hakansson - Paul Venables
Kate Madikane - Perdita Avery
Akram Malik - Asif Khan
Azra Malik - Yasmin Wilde
Reginald Turnock - Trevor Fox <<<<<<<<<<<<<<who he?

Writer - Sarah Hehir

Trevor Fox is a British actor whose first credit on IMDB is from 1992, so I think he is probably in his 50s. He is from Wallsend, i.e. his native accent is going to be broadly similar to those of Ruth and You Know Who. Oh dear. Still, based on the fact that Amber's Dad was played with a Peckham accent by an actor whose own accent is Welsh, who knows what this guy will come out with.

Good sleuthing Gaspode.

Trevor Fox has an online CV in which it says he does RP and Geordie accents. His playing age is 55-62.

On the basis that the Archers tends to be overly “Joyful”, could he be her ex-husband?

From the north east, he might be Shula's friend and companion in

if I say missionary activity some of you will put a bad construction on it, won't you.

Though some of you are young and don't remember that phase of Shula's life.

I'm sure he's a very nice gentleman, but it's a pity his name isn't Tunnock.

More likely to be an acquaintance of Joy's.

Yes they seem oddly fixated on the corner of England, with Joy, Rochelle (I assume), Shula, Ruth and the late Heather all coming from it, while it is treated as unfathomably distant, a place from which nobody makes a day trip to Ambridge.

Bit of a trek for a day-trip to Ambridge, and I think Our Rochelle's kiddies live with their dad not too far from Ye Olde Bypasse, because didn't Mick go off to find them at some point, having nosed around in Joy's address-book? Who knows where Rochelle is serving out her ASBOs these days ... and (more to the point) who cares?

Ruth came to Ambridge from Harper Adams (about 60 miles away) and Heather was visiting Ruth. (A fairly recent HAU graduate of my acquaintance did his work experience in Dorset.)
Joy came from Newcastle and might have lived nearer in between. Rochelle was visiting Joy.

Shula needed to be sufficiently far away from Ambridge to not come back often, and Sunderland is, I think, the 3rd northernmost city in England. Truro is probably the city furthest away by road but doesn't have a large population.

For Joy and Ruth the locations might have been decided after the parts were cast.

About four hours from Ambridge, more or less the same as Belfast from me. I'd be more inclined to treat it as a weekend trip, but know it could be a one day there and back again trip if necessary. Much nearer than the recent trip to Scotland.

I've driven up there a few times from near London and it's a long journey.
I think Newcastle is about 100 miles from Edinburgh, or about 60 from Scotland.
The recent holiday was to somewhere near Aberdeen or Inverness, via Carlisle, a stretch of about 250 miles. From Ambridge to Inverness would be about 471 miles.

Wallsend is not far from Joyland. The name is probably from Hadrian's Wall.
Prudhoe is not far but not near IYSWIM.

The Amber's father actor is from Porthcawl. The 'cawl' is pronounced 'cowl' and probably refers to cawl-y-môr (sea kale).

Cawl is soup so I thought I'd share a recipe that looks healthy. I've not tried it but it looked good.

Leek and potato soup (Cawl cennin)
30g butter
1 onion
3 leeks
2 potatoes
800 ml veg stock
salt & pepper

Melt the butter. Add sliced leeks, diced potato and chopped onion.
Soften the veg. Add the stock, put the lid on the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
Blend it if you like it smooth.

Serve with crusty bread, or with cream and croutons.

What I'm curious about is, given that Matt is Ruth's real life OH and Amber's father is Natasha's RL DH, is there a similar RL OH of Joy's?

Can somebody remind me why/when Miranda wasn’t stinking rich enough (to the extent she/Brian couldn’t use cash or mortgage a few things) to buy Home Farm(house) with cash?

I wish the Editor CBA’d to have a but of continuity (or awareness of house prices in “not London”).

KnittedFerret
Cawl is soup so I thought I'd share a recipe that looks healthy. I've not tried it but it looked good.

Cawl is very good, and also works with ham stock rather than vegetable stock. But if I use vegetable stock it's a standby of mine when I need to feed vegetarians.

I don't eat pig meat 🐖. I don't eat soup either, but might if I made it chunky and ate it with something.

As pp 'cawl' is soup not 'leek and potato soup'. That just happens to be a soup recipe I saw recently. I'm being pedantic but it's a bit like using scone to only mean a sultana scone. I'm a cheese scone person. (sings a Hall & Oates song).
The recipes after it were vegan stews. Not in the slightest bit spoiler related.

I'm a bit bored with TA right now. I posted a long post on another thread. Feel free to correct it.
Page 2 | Returning to The Archers after years away and have various questions! | Mumsnet

But ‘other’ threads about The Archers are not allowed! It’s just wrong.

I knew there was something wrong with the ‘Miranda buying Home Farm house’ let down yesterday. She’s supposed to be enormously rich - why indeed would she need to sell one house in order to buy another? Like ordinary, little people.

Nonsense, Totters! It's a handy place for those less addicted than we are to catch up.

But ‘other’ threads about The Archers are not allowed! It’s just wrong.
I'd agree but the main thread would be filled with summaries, then they'd get asked again and again on other threads.

This thread might be a good place:
For Archers fans: a guide to acronyms on the long-running discussion threads (and any other meta-thread questions you may have) | Mumsnet

I know it's pedantic but I live relatively near Porthcawl and I've never ever in my life heard anyone say the end syllable like "cowl", it's always said "call". That's when people are speaking English which the vast majority do in this area, not many Welsh first language. People who speak in the local accent may somewhat shorten the first syllable so it's more like Pth rather than with a long "or" sound.

That's when people are speaking English which the vast majority do in this area, not many Welsh first language.
My aunt lives not far and she claims that where she lives doesn't have a Welsh name. The town's name is a corruption of the Welsh name, but the English one sort of makes sense. She's lived there nearly all her life.
When I visit her I don't hear any Welsh.

I should have said that 'cawl' is pronounced 'cowl'. The place name depends on who's saying it.

That's quite surprising that where she lives doesn't have a Welsh name. The Welsh government appears to insist that everywhere that has an English name has a Welsh name in addition to the English one, even if nobody ever refers to the Welsh one. Maybe they thought the English name was Welsh enough. They don't make places with Welsh names have an alternative English name.

I live near many places which have a secondary Welsh name as well as the main English one on signs, and no English speakers ever call them the Welsh names. But of course the Welsh first language speakers might do to each other but the ones I've heard still refer to them with the English name.

I've never heard even Welsh first language people call Porthcawl "Porth cowl", it's always the "call" sound at the end.

I always thought Cawl was a specific type of Welsh stew/soup which contains lamb and vegetables, well it has been when I've eaten it.
Appeared to have strayed very far from the Archers. But Amber's dad coming from Porthcawl explains why he had such a terrible fake Cockney type of accent, the actor really overdid it.

@Rosamutabilis ,it does have a Welsh name. The English name is a corruption of the Welsh name, which is what my post said. Without giving the actual town name, a comparison might be Barmouth. Barmouth makes sense because it sort of sounds familiar - Bournemouth, Portsmouth etc, but Barmouth is a corruption of Y Bermo/Bermaw, how the locals refer to Abermawddach.

I had the reverse elsewhere in Wales. I referred to a village close to the border and was laughed at because I used the English name. The Welsh name is a corruption of the English name but the locals use the Welsh name but anglicised, and it sounds a bit silly . There is an English village that also has the same name. I don't know how the people in the English place name say it.

Some British place names are fascinating, or at least I think they are. Dorset has some good ones, and possibly inspired Trollope, who might have been the inspiration for the names Borsetshire and Borchester.

'Cawl' is the word for soup. Mushroom soup is 'cawl madarch', vegetable soup is 'cawl llysiau', but if you don't speak Welsh 'Cawl' is probably assumed to be a meat and veg broth, and soup is called soup. A bit like if you saw beans on a menu, you'd assume baked beans.
A friend originally from Llanelli would use 'cawl' the same as you. I'll have to ask her to say Porthcawl.

Are there any Borsetshire-specific recipes? Not food, but something like a local version of a stew, pie or cake?

Amber's father's accent was weird. Possibly because we knew that he's Mr Natasha. I'm trying to work out why Joy is so prominent and might be barking up the wrong tree but suspect that her SO is a bigwig in the TA team.

That’s the only possible reason for J*y, @KnittedFerret…

At least yesterday's spoilers thanks to @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g suggest that the current TA storyline might become less dull.

Speaking of dodgy accents, where's Dane? Not that I really care, I'd prefer another dishy crofter.

@TottersBlatantlyTowardsTheBaileys , I like Joy, but she's omnipresent and has been for years but we still don't know anything about her, and I'd prefer it if Rochelle had never existed.

Reginald seems an odd first name for a man of the actor's age. So's Trevor come to think of it. And just why is he from the North East?

I wonder if Emma’s decision will be that it’s not safe for George to return to Ambridge? She may want to send him to stay with some distant friend of hers.

Putting the mobile into their mobile home probably isn’t an option given the enmeshed Grundy clan infrastructure, so I’d hope it wouldn’t mean the rest of the family leaving, too.

There's Auntie Rosie in Great Yarmouth.

Apologies for being as omnipresent as Joy.
Given that Borsetshire is loosely based on Worcestershire, I can only suggest Borsetshire Sauce. This is pretty much the same recipe as the more well-known Worcestershire Sauce but the anchovies are replaced with amchovies.
(You'll need to summon the Ambridge Environmental Fairy for those).

Trevor Nelson is in his early 60s, and a colleague had a baby called Reggie about 10 years ago, and the baby was named after his granddad, so maybe I'm wrong about the names.

Did the police actually arrive today as the spoilers indicated? They managed to sneak past me if so. But that could just mean I was distracted by a cat or something.