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.

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/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-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.)

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!

I would like to know where George stayed when he was shown out by Emma etc, and where did he get the money to pay for his drink. He must have had enough money to get drunk.
I wish he had been found dead to be honest, more exciting ( sorry George fans), instead he has got a headache and it seems he is just as horrible. He will use this to get back in with his family and guilt everyone so we will be back to square one with his nastiness, but it will be even worse.

When he showed up at House Horrobin, the day after being thrown out by his family, George apologised to Amber for his unkempt appearance, saying he had spent the night ‘on a mate’s floor’.

(I must admit I was surprised - given that no mate at all deigned to attend his Welcome Home from Jail party.)

I think this week has been more of the bilge we were fed in 2025. Inconsistent, unbelievable twaddle.

I'm not a medical expert, but we know that they say talk to unconscious patients. But George could easily be muddled and confuse Neil & Jazzer finding him with those who hit him.

I am not finding myself invested in this much. A bit like the 'selling Brookfield' plot which was ridiculous as it obviously wasn't going to happen. It is either going to be someone I don't care about, or unbelievable (unless Harrison).

i think George did hear the voices before being clonked on the head. Didn’t he say something like “who’s there? You don’t scare me” or some such line?

I think @JanFebAndOnwards has it. I'm already starting to feel fed up with being played with as a listener. All the constant "clues" that probably aren't even clues. Jazzer completely not behaving like Jazzer would in a crisis particularly annoyed me as I'm not convinced he actually knows anything, was just more smoke and mirrors.
I think as Archers listeners we are used to knowing information that the characters are yet to discover which is part of the fun, yet with this we are just as in the dark as they are.

I can't help thinking about how after the crash, George
a) deliberately (and presumably with considerable physical effort) made sure Alice would get the blame, and then later on
b) pretended to suddenly remember seeing someone else fleeing the scene AND made sure to imply this was a particular real person, rather than some mysterious unidentifiable stranger.

Now personally, I thought the crash was stupid and unfortunate, but I would have said George more or less redeemed himself immediately by saving everyone. It's the lying and blaming others for MONTHS that I wouldn't be able to forgive.

And now here he is, claiming not to have seen anything useful, and Amber and Emma (anyone else?) are pushing him to tell the police it was Markie's gang. Hmm.

Mick wiped the footage. He works in security. Did he set it up at the Bull? And he’s not calmed down about George. He did it to cover for Harrison who is also still angry and now has PTSD or other issues from his undercover job.

Sadly I think this storyline is just beyond the abilities of the writers. It's easy to set up the scenario but far more difficult to bring it to a sensible conclusion.

I do think George could have been hit over the head by an unknown person any day of the week without all this hoo-ha. It slightly failed to shock.

If anything the shocking thing is the clear shift in focus - as a statement of intent for the next era of TA - away from Brookfield, Home Farm, Bridge Farm, Lower Loxley, to Grundys, Horrobins, Carters and everyone on their coat tails. I imagine the BBC’s new young TA audience will struggle to grasp how the residents of the old Great Houses actually fit into the picture. (Particularly if Google’s AI continues to invent Ambridge stories and relationships.)

Although I’d be glad to have the unspeakable Muck locked up long term, I wouldn’t be happy for him to have been given a prominent role.

Also wondered if there might not have been a brief power cut at The Bull as everyone left to watch the fireworks? Dunno.

How hard can a beaver whack you with its tail?

Everyone else is a suspect so what not them?

How many cases of wine did Jolene and Kenton get? It can’t be too tricky to do a bottle census ASAP; they are either going to be in the recycling, the fridge or the “give to the next tombola” box.

I’m suspicious of Akram answering the phone to PC Copper (I’ll skip over the implausibility of a policeman explaining to a plumber why they wanted to speak to the publican, unless they are all as daft as Harrison). I think the let’s wipe the CCTV is a red herring.

I still think that somebody trying to kill George would have made a better job of it.

Please let Joy and Mick be paid henchpeople: It would explain Joy’s executive home and ability to heat the hot-tub.

Muck and J*y as ^Mr and Mrs Smith?

Jeez …

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14044212/

What might have been on the CCTV that someone wanted to delete? George wasn’t attacked outside the pub and there must have been loads of comings and goings for the fireworks. Maybe someone thought Alice’s long chat with George was incriminating without knowing the context. I don’t find it credible that any of the characters we know would have followed him, crept up and attacked him with a bottle. Attacked him in the heat of the moment maybe, during an argument, but not like this. I know we’re supposed to suspect everyone, but I suspect no one. If it ends up being like the Mat Crawford Whodunnit then Jill will probably confess on her deathbed - she hit him with a well-aimed flapjack and a beaver ate the evidence.

Dam[n] beavers

I was about to say that Brad seemed to have really struggled with the drone video editing!

she hit him with a well-aimed flapjack and a beaver ate the evidence.

I guess we are assuming that the footage was deleted because of the attack on George rather than some other reason (someone having a snog with someone they shouldn't?) or even just by accident when someone pulled out the plug.

I like the idea of it being Mucky Mick though. He's clearly still got serious 'beef' with George.

Best explanation so far!

The BBC obligingly showed the 1974 Murder on the Orient Express over the festive period so I watched it for the umpteenth time. Best Agatha Christie adaptation for me, with a huge part of the credit for that going to Richard Rodney Bennett's glorious score.

Re bottles - George was clonked at about one minute past midnight on Thursday, which was a Bank Holiday. No bins would have been emptied that day, but they may have been emptied on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Our binmen normally come on Friday and they worked last Sunday and this Saturday because of the Bank Holidays. The police don't seem to have been looking for a bottle till George spoke to them yesterday. I really don't understand why they didn't go straight to The Bull for CCTV footage, or indeed why Jolene didn't think about it till yesterday, but that's Soapland for you.

I saw “Fallon” and “Rob” in ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ a few years ago.

If Jolene/Akram/Kenton/Fallon/Harrison gets put in the slammer for tampering with CCTV, would any of us really care?

Ooh! Thank you for flagging up that Murder on the Orient Express, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. I've just watched the first 5 minutes and realised I've never seen it. What a cast!

Would the pub's CCTV even cover the footpath? In real life CCTV quality is pretty low resolution- at night at a distance (I assume the footpath doesn't start in the Bull's carpark) I'd question what it would capture. I'm guessing someone innocent wiped it just in case their significant other was on it (Fallon or Harrison, maybe Jolene worried about Kenton)

It is fabulous. Lauren Bacall is outstanding. Albert Finney VG as Poirot.

I fear you are all correct and this is all going downhill rapidly. I really don’t want another storyline of someone being in a toxic relationship. I agree that a far better storyline would be Amber being the making of George.

Apologies if I missed it, but did anybody try to talk to Keira to find out why she ran away? Did anybody think to tell the police etc etc?