Archers thread #194: Bottled on the Bridle Path! Discuss 75 years of 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 wishthat we'd heard the Reverend Shula preach over the festive period, or other unusual views.

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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 am all Archered out after the excitement of the 75th anniversary yesterday, the special drama (Truth and Lies), the podcast, you name it. Now it looks as if George is going to pull through, the hype seems a bit overdone. So it's over to you!

Do you reckon these drama students would do it for free as BBC has no money for new actors

I'm sure the existing cast has plenty of offspring at the ready.

That or Oliver.

Wow.

They’ve been reading this thread.

Well it’s only taken 20 odd years but the scales have finally fallen for Emma.

I wonder whether it will be in time for George to become a bit less loathsome if they stop pandering to his every whim and swallowing his every insult, or whether Emma has left it too late.

Will won't be able to help himself although the scales have fallen from Emma and the rest of the Family

I think it’s too late. At his very core George is not a good person and I don’t think he can change.

Nic foresaw all of this when he was a child and she warned Will that all the adults in George’s life spoil him and it would end in disaster. Unfortunately it took Emma a long time to come to the same realisation.

It would be good for their CV I suppose.

I seriously don't think you could fall over on a footpath and land on a bottle and cause a skull fracture. Onto a pavement or falling onto rock sure, but a bottle lying on grass or mud - unlikely.

I would love it if Harrison had deleted the CCTV because he'd been snogging another woman in the carpark

Or a bloke...

I don't think budget constraints are any reason for the production team to keep Keira as a silent. They had no problem giving Henry a voice well before his 16th birthday. The budget isn't affected by how many speaking characters they have. If I remember correctly what the BBC and the actors have said about how it's all put together, the actors are paid a fee for each episode they appear in with no guarantee of any future work, far less a salary or retainer. The Editor and scriptwriters have to work out storylines week by week making sure that only a certain number of actors are used so they don't go over budget. If one episode uses more than the usual number, which I think must be 6, 7 or 8, another episode that week will use fewer.

Good to hear the Grundy clan finally facing up to the reality of what George is like. Neil saw it years ago.

Can anyone point me t me to an explanation as to why the Amber actress changed?

I don't think we know but I've seen it stated that she'd left Coronation Street but then (unexpectedly, presumably) was asked to go back. Must have been extremely annoying for the TA production team to have to re-cast at short notice. We didn't even have a gap of a few weeks to forget what the original Amber sounded like. One week it was the first actor, the next week it was the new actor. Very odd.

That was a good episode. Hope Emma sticks to her convictions. I think she's known it for a long time but hasn't wanted to admit it.

I actually had no idea the Amber actress changed, just thought she'd toned down the shrieking!

I don't particularly like Emma (great character, just soooo chippy...), but she is very well acted. I liked this episode, although I was wondering how consistent Will was, in terms of his previous character?

I don't completely get the dislike of Helen. I know of her past, but she does seem to have settled down and grown up quite a bit. The mess about the house, OMG, well. Yes. OK. But as for stabbing Rob being anything like George being clobbered with a bottle from behind by persons unknown, I don't think that makes sense.

I don't buy the Marky theory, simply because of the bottle-clobbering. It seems too un-pre-meditated.

I like Emma and always have. I think she’s flawed but she’s caring, loyal, hardworking and competent. I feel that she hasn’t realised her potential. She had her life messed up by having George so young and with the wrong person, but despite some misguided moments she’s somehow made it work and is able to reflect and change.

Emma has grown on me. She used to be quite petty and vindictive as well as incredibly jealous of Alice for many years. It was quite difficult to believe someone as kind as Neil raised her.

This is interesting, thanks. I assume they were fully out of budget when we spent a week with the norovirus three.

I agree @darker I admire her work ethic, see also Tracey. Although Tracey is a better parent.

Thought it was a great episode last night. They don’t need to have the drama of ‘kicking George out’. They need to set boundaries and stick to them.

That would be totally unethical (and I hope against the BBC rules).

Nobody should be working for free on one of the BBC's prime programmes.

This would undermine the whole employment and career progression of actors. (been there in another field in the arts - the rich kids can afford to work for free, they get the experience> then they get the £ jobs because they have experience - very bitter taste about that :-( )

nobody should be working for free, anywhere, ever - especially not "for the exposure" or to "get it on your CV"

Good ep. Where did Will get the money for a bloomin' gaming chair all of a sudden? and agree with Eddy and Emma that it has gone too far and it must stop.

Loved her saying it is time (finally, halleluja) to prioritise the girls.

Yes it’s so often the siblings that get completely overlooked in these sort of situations, great to hear them being prioritised.

I found Emma irritating when all she seemed to do was moan but then I realised when I went through a difficult time in my life, I probably sounded quite similar! I think she was feeling quite depressed and hopeless and some people, particularly women, verbalise those feelings rather than keep it all bottled up. All she's ever wanted is to have a good quality of life and she's prepared to work hard for it.

They have definitely let things slide with George's behaviour over the years and that's largely down to their guilt and shame over their situation but I think it's unfair to blame it all on themselves. He has other influences in his life. Grandad Eddie for one. The chip on my shoulder attitude and the haves and have nots rhetoric constantly drip feeding. Unfortunately George has listened to this far more than his other grandad Neil.

He's also grown up watching poor Clarrie being treated like an absolute drudge which I'm sure hasn't helped his attitude towards women. He resents successful women as they are even more of a reminder of his own inadequacy. He grew up believing men are automatically above women. He couldn't handle being answerable to Hannah.

We are also led to believe George has spent a lot of time online over his teenage years, gaming and social media. Didn't try at school, he's not stupid, he could have got some good grades if he'd put the effort in. Again, I feel Eddie's influence hasn't helped here either. He just didn't see the point. George has a huge issue with being scared of failure. It's easier not to try and then you can never fail.

He's never really been involved in anything very social, sports or hobbies. Not many friends or girlfriends. So what has he done with all his spare time over the past few years (excluding his stint in prison of course)? A lot of scrolling. We know excessive social media in teenagers/young adults leads to poor self esteem, depression and unrealistic comparisons. Social media has had a huge impact on George Grundy's age cohort. He's of the age where people weren't realising the damage smartphones were doing to the teenage brain. We are starting to wake up to it now but for a lot of people George's age, that realisation has come too late and their mental health has been deeply affected.

disclaimer, am by no means excusing George for the things he's done. But there's always far more to it than "he's just a bad egg". He's certainly not a happy person and he can't find a way out of his own negative mindset.