Archers thread #195: Run, Amber, run! 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 think 19 is an ideal age to have a baby with a convict, 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.)

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!

Yes exactly, Brian is many things but not violent. Not strong like a hands-on farmer either. There was so much compare and contrast between Brian and Rob during the Rob years, showing Brian as fundamentally decent, not violent or scary, for all his flaws.

If Ruairi, there’s been no hint that Ruairi knows Brian knows IYSWIM. No secrecy or gratitude.

Who gave Brian the aftershave? Miranda? She’d have no compunction about dispatching an injured animal - could perhaps extend that to George if he said something dreadful to Brian - seems unlikely to be so invested in Alice and the family though.

Adam? He’s hot-headed, probably sees a lot of Martha - is there some mutual childcare there? And would be unimaginative enough to give his step-dad the same aftershave he likes / his husband gave him the year before. I’d enjoy the ‘protecting Jenny’s son as an act of loyalty to her’ aspect of that.

I believe it was Miranda if my memory serves me correctly.

Does everyone else remember when Kate and Jakob looked for their bottle of wine from The Bull and it wasn’t there? Around second week of January.

Would Kate give her dad the same aftershave Jakob likes? Don’t see aftershave as a very Kate gift, she give hand-blended essential oils. Does Spiritual Homes sell a product range?

Jakob can definitely despatch injured animals and be very black and white about doing the right thing - which is why a violent outburst is so hard to imagine.

Is there no way Miranda would give Brian an aftershave she’s also given Justin in the past? Seems odd. Can very much imagine Lilian clunking George though.

This will have been discussed but did the police test the broken bottle for fingerprints?

@lottiegarbanzo I once had a boyfriend who, for my birthday, gave me the same perfume he’d adored on his ex. I was not impressed. And it was vile on me.

(Actually Miranda seems exactly the sort of woman who might attempt to shape a man into her ideal …)

Another for Ruairi, especially as we heard from him this week, with Brian covering for him.
I like Jazzer as a step-dad.

Oh it can only be Ruairi, surely? And it may be that Brian has only recently worked it out, which would be why he has recently cooled towards His Only Son.

I still think it was Keira, and Brian for all his faults does have a tiny bit of a conscience - if he knows it was Keira he’d know that would wreak havoc on the Grundies and he maybe has enough of a kernel of decency to want to throw George off the scent.

Alternatively, he wrongly thinks it was Ruairi, Alice, Kate or Adam and is protecting them

I like Jazzer as a step-dad

But can he do the stuff on the van he's promising Chelsea?

He'd be better off encouraging her to buy a car, get a job in town, gain experience and friends, do some mobile work in her spare time and save up for her glam van.

Hmm … All those times Keira was apparently out with a friend, might she have secretly been meeting some unsuitably older Ambridge boy? Can’t quite connect that plausibly to Brian’s aftershave, but teenage girls often are found to be lying about how they’re spending their time.

I don’t know if Ruarhi is strong enough to tackle George. I think of him as being quite weedy- more reliant on his (dubious) charm and wit than physical strength.

Until I came on here, I was prepared to believe Brian’s confession but after reading all the posts, I now feel very naive and also believe he could be covering for someone. May be he mistakenly thinks it was Ruarhi. I can’t remember where R was on NYE…

The horsebox salon is a great idea but it’s just too early for Chels. She needs an interim step - ideally working in a trendy salon or as a well-connected mobile hairdresser for a few years so she save more and get more experience and contacts. Then she will have the money to refurb a horse box.

She clearly has absolutely no clue how much the conversion will cost and what’s involved which is a shame- but maybe realistic? May be Fallon could advise as she knows about running her own business and start-up costs. Or even Lilian.

Chelsea's saved hard for over a year, this is work that's independant and exciting that fits in with her mindset.

No Harrison for Valentine's Day? Great!

I immediately thought Brian is covering for someone. I thought Alice as she possibility bought the same aftershave for her Dad and Chris , which could be why George smelt it on Martha?

Or it’s Chris as Brian would not bother covering for Chris.Brian thinks it’s is Alice , as she had the motivation to do it and he is a devoted protective father.

Yes it’s Ruari and maybe Brian came upon them. But what was the point of George asking Brian about the games console? Will that later jog George’s memory further in the Ruari direction?

That was utter drivel. Not happy at all

I thought I was the only one thinking that. Complete rubbish. And why does George's voice keep changing?

Yes, I know she's saved hard. Mainly working in cafes not hairdressing. But she's not saved enough to start a business.

She needs cash to fund "work that's independent" and "exciting."

There's an Eaver - she's the beaver Keyurer hangs out with.

He’s been to the Esme school of unreliable accents

The range of accents annoys me but at the same time we need to be able to distinguish characters instantly by their voices. I can understand why thus sometimes feels like a stretch.

I'm going with Chris. Brian could conceivably want to cover for him due to the connection with Alice and Martha. I was also vaguely wondering (on no evidence whatsoever) if Brian might be ill, but hiding it? All the stuff about inheritance, the erratic behaviour and so on. Might he be thinking that he can take the blame as he won't be around for the fallout?

Miranda. I don't think she'd have given the same to someone else but someone might have tried some on and Ruairi lives at Bloody Hell Cottage.

My feeling about this is that everyone suspects someone else but none of them actually did it. With luck, this will mean that whoever it was gets a second, more successful go at George ... when he finally gets out of prison for attempted blackmail. That might be a while, bearing in mind he'll also have to serve the remainder of his previous sentence.