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!

Thanks for the thread Gasp.
75 years in 75 seconds is great.... Ruth repeatedly saying oohhh noooaaa 😂.

I think the phones have something to do with it/finding out. Why are the SW making such a big thing of Emma not using her own phone?

Oooh! There’s a thought.

Yes, I agree with you. I thought possibly there will be a clue when she finally charges and turns it on. A message with some garbled audio etc

@muddyford yes I heard it that way re the ambulance as well. Immediate dispatch due to Neil's call not that someone else had called one. I'm sorry you've had so much experience of it.

Especially a night like NYE ambulances will be positioned strategically so it could have been very fast.

I like the idea that Jazzer thinks it could have been Brad, explains why he was acting so weirdly. I think Brad was too busy holding Amber though.

I was told that if you dial 999 from a mobile you can't use it for half an hour, so the emergency services can get in touch. No idea if this is true though. It doesn't affect me as we have no sodding signal here anyway.

What, so Emma called the ambulance therefore Emma did it?

I was initially confused by mention of Emma’s dead phone again at the start of last night’s ep. but then realised it was part of the opening sequence just establishing that Truth and Lies was imaginary or whatever.

We could have had another approach to revitalising a soap… which other R4 drama could TA be mashed with??
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c79xygzvpgjo

Am thinking “Under the Stars”, featuring Kate, Jolene and Kenton, and Pat (for her Welshness).

For heaven’s sake, after all that build up I thought we could at least have a few days of George’s life hanging in the balance.

I assume this rules out Markie’s associates as they would have given him a real beating.

That was delightful!

I do think this being an assault rather than a murder changes things. I still maintain it’s too soon for another prison storyline but it wouldn’t mean completely writing the character out. Notwithstanding @RegimentalSturgeonexcellent theory that George could still, to use his words, ‘kark it’.

Someone asked about Kiera on the last thread. Yes, she could be tried and could go into youth custody. Some sort of secure school arrangement would be likely at 14. I think the Judge would be quite sympathetic to her circumstances.

Is being found on the ring road on the way to Darrington far enough away to put her out of this? She’d likely be in foot?

I think the most interesting development of last night is Amber. She is now guilted into going back with George. They are setting up a long haul storyline here. A few threads ago domestic violence was mentioned and I think we are back in the slow build up to that? Brad is going to stay on the sidelines of this for a long time. George will be one of those complaining he has to see his kids in a contact centre and Emma will be there agreeing how unfair it all is.

I’m 100% in favour of a Cabin Pressure/Archers mash-up! G-ERTI could have flown the Archer clan to their “holiday”. Opportunity missed

George could have been clonked with the Talisker Talisker!

Markie associate seems too random. How would they know where G would be on NYE? Kiera also seems a bit of a stretch, yes she ran away but to attack him seems totally out of every character trait we've heard (yes little) of so far.

The whole figure standing over George thing gives room for a wrongful arrest. Likely scenario there is a classic murder mystery device where several people are individually involved. One turns up for a fight and goes, another whacks him and a third comes along and decides to leave him for dead.
looking forward to the u ravelling.

but oh Amber! He’s still a wrong ‘un!

I listened twice, and both times thought that somebody else had already called the ambulance before Neil did.

Makes sense for the "Jazza is protecting someone" scenario.

Yes Amber calm it down.
you can care about him without all of that. Guilt.

Herc I suppose the Markie mate could have been following him waiting for an opportunity?

i've found it all rather rushed and disappointing.
plus ca change and all that.

I’d be beyond surprised if a hitherto totally silent character - Keira - had any involvement with the crime pinned onto her. So I think she can be ruled out. It would be abysmal scripting otherwise - not to mention heaping levels of punishment on the Grundy family that would make all their previous trials seem like a picnic.

Although, given the recent standard of scripting and plotting, maybe I shouldn’t be so hasty….

Posting for a friend who is totally convinced that it was Ed on the grounds that he overheard a drunk George saying that he wanted to apologise to Emma and mistakenly interpreted that as him regretting having done something terrible to Kiara and not that he was sorry for the way he spoke to her in the showdown…It’s a good theory as all other potential motives are just way too flimsy.

Having said that, in EastEnders - and actually IRL - motives for murder generally can be traced back to sex, money, and the highly-charged emotions that surround these things. With that in mind, Hannah, Lilian, Brian, Tracey/Jazzer and even Harrison can all be ruled out. Leaving Amber (possible) Brad (unlikely) as the prime suspects…

My money is on it being Markie-related which is obviously the most boring option.

Huge thanks to @Gaspodethewonderdogfor keeping the show on the road…Happy New Year!

I think Ed is a strong possibility as it would put Emma into a horrible situation and the SW love to do that. I think the long term implications for Amber is a good shout too.

Does anyone know if Harrison is still in Corrie?

But Jazzer appeared to know where George was. Even if he suspected Brad, he wouldn't have known that, would he? Unless Brad told him, of course ...

That was my thought. The Ambridge health fairy is going to give him a full recovery, but he'll spent decades trying to guilt-trip his relatives about how they heartlessly chucked him out and he nearly died.

Hadn't thought of it like that. He'll be put on a pedestal again like he was after the car crash. Although maybe not by the entire village this time.