Archers thread #195: Run, Amber, run! Discuss The Archers here.

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Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

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Emma spoke sense to George and Amber tonight. Goodness only knows where this storyline is going. I can't see George being Father of the Year. Oh dear.

Over to you!

Except for his personal sales operation, obviously.

Oh, and turning up in person to threaten Jolene in a public place under the CCTV, and incidentally tell her his name, which until then I don't think she had known.

Eh? So it was Lillian that clattered George over the head with a wine bottle? IIRC she was in charge of doling them out at The Bull on NYE...

On the matter of the horse box, £5k for something that's clearly a wreck? I mean, I know 3.5t go for more than 7.5t on the basis that fewer people nowadays have got a licence for the bigger ones (they changed the automatic entitlement in 1997) but that's a ridiculous price. They're clearly indicating it's a newer model if it's got electric windows and an ABS sensor (mine is quite old and hasn't got a sensor for anything ) so why on earth isn't she going for something older but decent which she can tart up but doesn't require a shed load of work? It doesn't need to be as structurally sound (e.g. floors and walls that will withstand a horse's weight) if she's only putting a hairdresser's chair in it. Electricity might be an issue though; most will have electrics running off a leisure battery unless it's got a generator.

All that said, I'd quite happily live in a horse box conversion, Paul Lamb (the Westcountry Hedgelayer) has the most amazing set up: https://www.instagram.com/p/DN512qujKP2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

George really didn't sound like George when Lillian answered the door. He went from bellowing through the door to sounding more reserved. Was that even George right at the end, I listened again and can't decide. It did sound a bit like him but it was odd.

Whatever is going on I think Amber and Emma both know the truth. I think George said something when he was semi conscious. Always thought it was odd who they were both so keen to push the Marky theory based on no evidence.

Re. The horsebox, on this occasion I'm prepared to let any lack of realism go because I just love Chelsea and it's about time she had something really positive to focus on. Go Chelsea! O

That ‘two Ambridge front doors being knocked upon simultaneously’ was another device the SWs have come up with to delight us and draw us further into The Mystery.

Was anyone delighted…??

Just LAd a further three times to the ending. The last voice really really didn’t sound like George
Were there three doors being knocked upon?
And did mystery male voice call on Jazzer or Lilian?

Oops sorry, can answer the last one, the voice said “Lilian, can I come in?” 😂

See this is what I was wondering. Was it a three door ending? And who was that voice if it wasn't George, maybe Chris? And when are the sw going to wrap this up and stop trying to write some sort of Johnathan Creek meets Ambridge.

I think it will be revealed by Friday given the number of trailers every day on R4 saying something like " who attacked George, find out every night this week".

If it was two different doors, did they actually get two different doors to bang on for the sound fx dept, the way Davies had the boring board of doorbells?

Just LAd, and that did sound more like Chris at Lilian’s door. I reckon there were 3 doors 🙄 - beer at Jazzer’s, Chris at Lilian’s and George at …..

Why did Lilian sound so shirty, though? Just to throw us off the scent? God this is annoying.

I love Chelsea’s plan, flawed as it is. I wonder if she’ll go viral with Amber filming the fixing up and be a massive success. I do understand why Tracey is so worried but her reaction was heartbreaking. Compare with Ruairi’s entitlement and Brian’s mind games. Fascinating.

A day or two ago George talked about making a wicker Moses basket for the baby. The last time he was planning wickerwork it was coffins. Are we being set up for a heartbreaking/heartwarming/heartlessness-inducing story with wickerwork container/s at a funeral?

Just listened again - to me it sounds like George bellowing “I know you’re in there” but it then sounds almost like Ruairi saying “Lilian can I come in?” Although what he would have to do with it is anyone’s guess!

I thought it sounded like David at Lilian's door.

Can I just say - I haven’t listened yet this week but the analysis and commentary on the thread is so intriguing…

which, sadly, may well be what the SW are after. I hope not but fear so.

I don't think either David or Ruairi would have yelled "Ain't no point hiding" so I think that's George at Lilian's door. If I were her I definitely wouldn't let him in after his threats last time they had a 1-1 discussion.

I love Chelsea and her horse box plan and I love the fact that with the magic of radio we’ll be able up picture it as the most perfect pamper wagon - it can be exactly what Chelsea wants it to be. And I loved Jazzer taking it for a test drive and the way he has become a father figure to Chelsea. And I love the idea of Chelsea saving up with all her various jobs in contrast to all the silver spoon youngsters in the village inheriting farms and stately homes. This is a great, slowly developing plot, watching a once-irritating character develop and evolve. A much more satisfying listen than the George whodunnit which feels more forced at ever turn. It’s disappointing because George goes bad was a carefully developed slow-burner, but the introduction of Amber with flip-flopping character tendencies has completely ruined it for me.

I have listened a few times now and none the wiser . Hopefully we will
know “whodunnit “ by the end of the week . Don’t feel particularly excited about it , as think the SWs lost a lot of momentum by the story arc . We have gone now for weeks with a few breadcrumbs doled out . I am not sure that it has been very successful, as I think it has been dragged out so long that most listeners are quite apathetic about the storyline now .
Yes Amber seemed on edge , but agree with others that she could just be worried about who it may be ( Brad / her dad ) without knowing who actually did it .

When Alice and Fallon were talking earlier , I couldn’t at first work out who Alice was talking to and only further into the conversation , Fallon’s accent changed and I realised it was her .

I think there were three separate door-knockings:

• Jazzer's beer delivery man
• George, wherever
• David, at the Dower House

It was George at Lillian's. Confirmed by the BBC Sounds plot summary

I love the idea of Chelsea saving up with all her various jobs in contrast with the various silver spoon youngsters in the village inheriting farms and stately homes

When you put it like that … Yes, it’s beautifully contrasted. Not so much perhaps with Pip, because farms do have to be passed on, but more so with Josh complaining about ‘only’ 30 acres and a tumbledown cottage.

(There seems little point in speculating about LL inheritance. The SWs seem terrified of addressing it, so I won’t be surprised if it’s handed over to Meg for a new and improved donkey sanctuary.)

But my general impression of the old days (50s / 60s 70s) based on hazy memory and occasional flicking though Archers books, is that there was much more social mobility via patronage. From Doris inheriting a cottage from a former employer, all sorts of people got a leg up because someone older and wealthier who believed in them offered them a loan, or a piece of land, or a few livestock - and the grateful recipient became a pillar of the community. Why isn’t Chelsea approaching her buddy Martyn Gibson to get Borchester Land to invest in her?

Does England have an equivalent of our Local Enterprise Offices? Chelsea would be dream client.

www.localgov.ie/national-programmes/local-enterprise-offices

god that thing when she was wittering on - was proud of him saying "shut up"

that door knocking thing at the end? LAZY WRITING - god so annoying.

back in the day, basket weaving was one of the activities offered to people in institutions for people with poor mental health etc.

When i was in the army, if anyone gave the slightest inkling of a mental blip the cry would go up "send him on a basket weaving course"

so - wrongly or rightly - that is what i associate basket weaving with.

George is a very good actor, isn't he! For the past few episodes I have been expecting him to thump Amber as you can sense his annoyance growing as she witters on.

I'm pretty certain I had a basketmakers badge at Brownies/Guides; I seem to remember we had to soak cane in the bath for hours before each session so that was sufficiently pliable to not crack.

Wasn't George going to make cardboard coffins, though?

Could have been cardboard I suppose - wicker would be easier to source materials for.