Archers thread #196: Run, Rex, 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'd like to marry Pip, 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.)

So now we know who bonked George on the head. Will the stunning revelation lead to anything interesting or credible happening? Answers on a postcard, please!

Will Alice and Rex become an item? Will Amber come to her senses? Has Adam's constant languor and fatigue now removed his ability to speak on air?

Over to you!

🤣 perfect

Maybe there will be a baby bonnar

www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/07/10/aussie-sevens-men-porch-world-cup

the guy on the right in the first still is Rex - although he might be a bit tall

Surely Helen is too old, isn't she late forties?

It's a soap and it's a ONS. She's 47 but the Ambridge tap water does wonders for fertility.

I'd see Rex as more like Andy Ripley, to be honest. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-andy-ripley-of-rosslyn-park-a-member-of-the-england-rugby-team-109860167.html

If she's the one that Saul Enderby keeps pawing in the Circus meetings, she's not having an affair with him, he's a total sleaze and while it's an addition to the text - not in the novel at all - it says something about the role of women.

When I watch it, I have to look away it is so foul. Not helped by Barry Foster playing the disgusting murderer in Hitchcock's "Frenzy". It was made ten years before "Smiley's People" but I think they adopted his slimy menace form the Hitchcock film.

Most livery yards/riding schools round here have tons of space and lots of owners would keep their horseboxes/trailers on site too.

Yes, Enderby is really dreadful and well acted as a sleaze in those scenes! He uses his offers of whisky as a kind of weapon.

Regarding the horse box, ’d imagine in the pub car park it would be a prey to vandalism or just idle / drunken interference.

Besides which, the car park is surely part of what the pub offers customers. There would effectively be an uncountable number of people who wouldn’t step through the doors because they couldn’t find a parking spot.

It's a fairly easy gig for actors, isn't it? They record several episodes in a day, so if they have a storyline going they'll be busy for two or three days, but then they may just disappear into the background for several weeks.

The trouble is I can't really see any credible way for a Scottish crofter to move to Ambridge, and they're unlikely to ship Helen off to the Highlands. Unfortunately.

Why do Helen and Kirsty get all giggly and coy and "nudge nudge, wink wink" whenever an eligible man heaves into sight? It's so nauseous.

Another compare and contrast episode. I don’t think it worked to have two ‘date-night’ scenarios on one night but anyway…Kirsty really overdid being the unobservant gooseberry with Rex and Alice. I actually could start to imagine them as a couple though- they seemed quite twinkly together and the chemistry seemed good. The Alice actress is very strong…

As for Helen and Finlay…he was quite forward asking her to ‘look at [his] room’ so quickly. They really haven’t spent much time together at all. I know we only have 13 mins but they should really have had another couple of drinks in the bar first. Why is he in Borchester btw? I missed that.

‘Coming to see a mate’ is what he told Helen. And that the mate recommended the place he’s staying.

(All that accumulated bunk bed money paying for a four poster in Borchester …)

I thought Helen’s behaviour was entirely in character - falls fast/loses interest when it’s all going smoothly. Maybe the SWs are shipping out Josh and Helen do they can get on with the handovers at Brookfield and Bridge Farm. Helen could actually move to Scotland - no one has joint custody of either of the boys. On the other hand I’m not sure she could function without all the help she has on hand at home. I would miss Helen - she’s a great actress, but I think she’s been under-used lately. I would have much rather heard the tensions between her and Natasha in the house share than than the whole George whodunnit nonsense. The SWs set up the Beechwood situation, but never followed it through for some reason. Maybe the actress has had a better offer.

Yes, all of that, @LillianGish- though I wouldn’t be surprised if Henry stays at Bridge Farm while Helen and the currently silent Jack disappear for a few years.

(Surely Henry is a stronger candidate to take over Josh Archer’s egg business than Khalil?)

All of that! Next thread title is writing itself ...

So thinking about awful (but brilliant) characters - most seem to be female. Helen, Alice, Kate, Lillian. Then there are the awful but not brilliant (Pip being the glaringly obvious).

but who falls into those buckets for the men? Brian is obviously in the former bucket and He who can not be spelt and George in the latter. But do any of the male characters make us want to yell ‘run’ to their potential partner?

As for Helen and Finlay…he was quite forward asking her to ‘look at [his] room’ so quickly

He is so clearly there for a booty call. I suppose they're consenting adults but has he googled her? If he searches Helen Archer will there be a link to the knife wielding Helen Titchener?

Most of the men seem nice, dull or wet.

The male characters who'd make me want to yell ‘run’ to their potential partner -
Harrison, Paul and Justin. I'd avoid Martyn and Lawrence.
I'd also swerve the lovely Chris because of him still being in love with his ex-wife.

Finlay could sell his castle and buy Home Farm. Maybe he'll be the new Rob.

We all wanted to believe he owned the castle, but that's not been confirmed, has it?

is he going to scam Helen out of her cheese money

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , no it hasn't but ...

Yes to Henry as a candidate for taking over the egg business - maybe he and Khalil could do it together. @OrphanBlankly. Susan and Tracey could run the dairy if Helen went to Scotland, but who would run the shop?