Archers thread #193: Christmas in Ambridge! Don't expect any wise men (or women). Discuss The Archers here.

[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 a couple of acquaintances to clean and tidy your house without your permission, 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/5457344-the-archers-spoilers-thread-11-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.)

What do we think - best Christmas ever followed by a nice quiet New Year? No, me neither. We have the tractor run to look forward to , and then whatever they've got lined up for the 75th anniversary of the first ever episode - New Year's Day 1951. I can't imagine that anybody involved with the programme then expected it would still be on the air 75 years later. I wonder what they would make of the current direction. The lack of farming content would be a surprise, given that was the whole reason for devising the programme in the first place.

Over to you!

Ooh am I the first to make it over here?

Thanks Gasp

Yes, the first of many, I hope!

I'm here! Thank you!

Thank you! 🎄

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Thanks, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g .
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all posters a striking absence of Joy this Christmas season.
Fat chance, obvs, but the thort is there.

Thanks for new thread

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Checking in with a Christmas wish for the reincarceration of Georgie boy

My Christmas wish is the return of Russ ♡

Excuse me, I think I just threw up a mince pie from 2021

Checking in. Thanks for the new thread Gaspers.

My Christmas wish would be for Freddie to get his inheritance. Usually I'd be frothing about the sidelining of daughters, but Lily is so fecking dreadful I'd avert my eyes for once.

Thank you @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
It's going to be the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER 🎄🎄🎄

(isn't it?)

Fanks for the fred @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . I wonder how long this one will last, with all the festive frivolities!

My Christmas wish would be for Freddie to get his inheritance

Oh yes!

And if he meets resistance from the Trustees, hire a SHL and see them in court. Elizabeth would be mortified with the press coverage of ex con drug dealer heir!

My other Christmas wish is for Kirsty and Rex to marry and adopt a sibling group and to live happily ever after.

What's an SHL, please?

Shit Hot Lawyer as recommended by Mumsnetters after someone has followed their advice to LTB.

Leave the bastard.

Hi. My Christmas wish is that George ends up back in prison before he kills his uncle. Also that Brad dosnt fancy Amber and she has got the wrong end of the stick.

I don't want George back in prison, I want him to get support to rebuild his life and live with purpose. A job, a girlfriend, supporting his grandparents as they age.

And speaking of aging, I'd like Jill to die. I miss her character and find it creepy the way TA has their elderly characters go silent when the actresses either can't or don't want to continue. Patricia Greene's warbly voice didn't bother me and I think they should feature her as an old, ailing woman rather than pretending she's thriving with her much younger, healthier boyfriend. David and Ruth having to deal with a mother who has falls, frequent hospital appointments and other needs would be more realistic than them dealing with the demands of Esme and her cows.

That is so very true, @BeatriceBatchelor.

I would like Freddie to get his inheritance but he doesn’t seem too bothered about it at the moment and appears to be thriving under Vince’s tutelage.

I suspect George will find out about Amber’s feelings for Brad as well as Emma’s ill advised interference in his relationship and the Grundy’s Christmas will descend into carnage and chaos.

At least Lily mentioned Freddie’s inheritance. Lizzie seems to be AWOL these days (or maybe she turns up in the episodes I’ve missed).

Elizabeth was last in the cast in the week of 4th May this year.

I think they are keeping Jill alive so that Paddy Greene can become a soap actor of such long standing that nobody can hope ever to overtake her record. It's 68 years so far. William Roache (Ken Barlow) is the only one in with a chance, after 64 years in Corrie. He's a year younger than Patricia Greene, born in 1932. Barbara Knox (Rita Tanner) is the next longest-standing; she was born in 1933 and joined Corrie in 1964, so she has a bit of catching up to do; both the Corrie actors took breaks, too, and I am not sure how those are counted.

Speaking of Elizabeth (loosely), I have just listened to a 1989 adaptation of Persuasion on BBC Sounds. Amongst the cast were Alison Dowling (Elizabeth), Patricia Gallimore (Pat), Hedli Nicklaus (Kathy) and Carole Boyd (Lynda). I think they were all in The Archers at the time, so there appears to have been some binge casting!

I suppose I’m off topic, but there’s an Archers routine from 1960 at 14 minutes in.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0009srp?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile