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!

I think Chris & Martha are held at gunpoint. Alice gets Martha but can't save Chris

My local Waitrose looked as if a plague of locusts had preceded me. They were out of my usual teabags and there was no obvious sign of the 2026 Radio Times.

"At The Bull, the staff try to move on by making plans for an alternative Burns Night celebration - but not everyone is in the mood to paper over the cracks".

I hope Jazzer is okay. (I can't think of anybody else involved in Burns night except perhaps Jim and Lynda?). I get the feeling that Jolene, Kenton and Fallon must all be okay unless the "staff" are shifting celebrations to another venue.

I'm not overly bothered about Chris; the actor usually sounds as if he is reading from a script to my ears (TBF he probably is). There is the weird storyline about his flat not being refurbished, but that could be as much of a red-herring as the obsession with its "oh so steep steps" a few years ago.

That said, doesn't Ambridge have enough orphaned children:
Daniel Archer (not that we hear about him)
Jamie Perks (does he still own a bit of The Bull?)
Amy Franks (possibly written out for ever?)
Johnnie Archer (who might also be dead for all we know)
Lily And Freddie Pargetter
Mia and Poppy Grundy
Gideon

I'm fairly sure there was a spoiler which said that Jazzer wasn't inclined to take part in the Burns Night at the Bull, or wtte. Yes: TV Times 3rd – 9th January "Jazzer is unwilling to help out with Burns Night ... but what's really going on?"

Sounds as if he is ok, just sulking for some reason.

(edited to add: Drat. Sorry. Didn't mean to quote the whole post, pressed send too soon.)

Jazzer must be fine as he's in a R3 Music Night event in May as Jazzer.

That said, doesn't Ambridge have enough orphaned children:
Daniel Archer (not that we hear about him)
Jamie Perks (does he still own a bit of The Bull?)
Amy Franks (possibly written out for ever?)
Johnnie Archer (who might also be dead for all we know)
Lily And Freddie Pargetter
Mia and Poppy Grundy
Gideon
None of those are orphans afaik.

Esme is an orphan.

In the looser sense of having lost at least one parent.

Now I'm inevitably hearing Edith Evans as Lady Bracknell.

Having lost one parent isn't orphaned.
An orphaned lamb has probably only lost it's mother.

Someone who has lost one parent may be said to have been orphaned; as with a lamb having lost its mother, but its father still being alive, just of no particular use to it.

Someone who has lost one parent may be said to have been orphaned;
But they aren't orphaned. Why would anyone say that?

a lamb having lost its mother, but its father still being alive, just of no particular use to it.
I wouldn't quibble about an orphaned lamb not being orphaned because of its father still alive.

Why? Because it is one of the definitions of "orphaned".

And the orphaned lamb has lost only one of its parents (its mother), as you yourself originally posted.

One refers to animals and doesn't apply to humans.

Rams don't generally play any part in caring for lambs. It's a silly argument.

I agree, @CaptainMyCaptain .

Then why are you having it?

I think, like cattle, a lot of sheep are bred by AI (where the I stands for insemination rather than intelligence, obviously) so even their mother doesn't know who the daddy is.

Okay, I chose the wrong word (a negroni might have featured in my day).

A lot of parents do seem to die prematurely in Ambridge.

I'm not having an argument just making a point and will take no further part.

What I said was that someone who has lost one parent may be said to have been orphaned. I was replying to the assertion that someone who has lost one parent is not called an orphan (and why would anyone say that?). Well, maybe because they looked in their dictionary and had one of the following:

Collins:
a child, one or (more commonly) both of whose parents are dead

Merriam-Webster:
a child deprived by death of one or usually both parents

Chambers:
one bereft of father or mother, or (usually) both

Webster:
a child whose father and mother are dead: sometimes applied to a child who has lost only one parent by death

Shorter Oxford:
(the verb) bereave of a parent or parents

And let us not forget the widows in books who exclaim about their poor orphaned children, meaning children of whom they have been left the only parent.

Yes, generally if people say "orphan" they mean lacking parents altogether (or deprive of both parents), but that is not the word's only meaning. That was my only point.

If I may be controversial here and get back on topic, who (if anyone) do we think will be dedded and who do we hope will be dedded?

I haven't bothered to look at the cast lists, because that would be cheating, but I think it will be someone entirely harmless, someone like Ed but probably not Ed. I hope it will be ... well, how long have you got?

I hope it won't be Brad, or Freddie, or Pat, or Brian, or

Um.

The rest, my grief would definitely be containable.

Now I’m picturing a lot of sheep going through counselling about their repeated experiences of virgin birth. “But mum, I’ve never even met a grown up ram! Ive never been in that field where the grass is always greener”

Absolutely no reason for it to be Brian or Freddie, or even Pat really. This doesn't mean it won't happen. I can see it being Brad. If he ends up brain-damaged, though, as some sort of public service broadcast illustrating the perils of getting above one's station, I shall be more than a little bit cross.

I actually hope it's Alice, a character in dire need of being written out.

Brad seems the most likely corpse-in-waiting (in a very real sense we are all etc) and the ramifications of that have potential. He irritates me profoundly, so I’d be very happy to be rid of him, but by that measure his sister needs killing even more.

If somebody does get deaded, can we have Peggie’s Father Crispin back to do the ceremony?

Alan and Usha are so rarely in the programme I would happily have a new vicar in the village. He must be due to retire soon, if not already?

It's just me and the cats at home this weekend so I have looked at the castlist.

There are a few spoilers for 4-9 Jan (so presumably cast mentioned are all alive). Survived (in approx alpha order of surname) we have:
Brian, David, Helen, Jolene, Kenton, Tony, Lillian, Harrison, Alice, Susan, Ruairi, Amber, Ed, Emma, Will, Brad, Chelsea, Clive, Joy, Paul, Akram, Azzra, Jazzer, Esme, Hannah, Fallon

No clue about 11-16 January