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!

Are you sure about that? Paul is going to be there.

Thanks Gasp.

Reading and occasionally listening.

Agree re Akram being written like a 1970s sitcom. Throwing shade didn't really fit with the age either. Where have all the researchers gone?

Rauiri's arrogance in thinking he's got it on a partial experience at Berrow's is very him.

My very first summer job in the early 70s was in a small pork products factory - pies, sausages, black puddings, etc. Nowadays its methods would be classed as hand-made.

One day the owner's son, mid-40s, came in to look over the place. He was called Mr John, to distinguish him from his father who was accorded the surname. I heard from an old hand that he had trained in every job in the factory in his youth, a requirement by his dad so that he would now how well a job was being done because he'd done it properly himself. Very paternalistic, but he knew his stuff and the staff respected him over and above his ability to have them sacked.

Rauiri is a weasel.

I think Ruairi's idea of farming is striding round the acres in a tweed jacket and cap with a broken shotgun under his arm, This is absolutely spot on. He can’t be arsed to put in the effort and more to the point he doesn’t think he needs to. V believable in fact when you think of what we know about him so far - happy to prostitute himself to make a fast buck. Compare and contrast with Adam who was willing to graft at Bridge Farm and also to come back and get Brian out of a hole with the promise of nothing. Also compare and contrast with Freddie - another silver spooner - who actually has an inheritance for which he has no competition, but has still been prepared to get his hands dirty and toe the line with Vince at the abattoir. I don’t like Ruairi, but I love the way he is being written.

Alice! Stoppit! The

@AskingQuestionsAllTheTime :
"Oh, were the things they reclined on called couches? People generally seem to do so when describing such scenes, but what's the Latin for it? Hmmm."

Clina. The triclinium (three couch room) was the formal dining room.

Rex is far too old to be hanging out with all the young 20-somethings anyway. A night out for him would, in reality, be a few pints and a bite to eat eg with Kirsty (who is 40+). Ruarhi, Paul and Lily are more in the shots-and-cocktails bracket. Talk about worlds colliding. Alice should have just said that’s not what she was thinking and backed out immediately. If she wanted a night out with her half-brother then she could organise it anytime.

I like Rex too, he is serious sometimes and has fun sometimes.

Martha beat fat Rosie in the pancake race... (if it had been a race towards pancakes that may have been very different)

Rauri (sorry, i am NEVER going to spell that correctly) was being an absolute Dick to Neil. He thinks he's going to waft in and out of the dirty jobs, prior striding about the farm in Hunters, barbour and flat hat... and Brine is going to keep him with the pigs long enough that it is too late to do the stockman thing. (my advice to anyone at any job ever: if someone offers you a qualification - take it. Take the certificate and add it to your CV)

There is just no spark whatsoever between Alice and Rex, and the sooner she realises it the better. The trouble is that that leaves the door open for the horrible prospect of Rochelle's return.

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Rex seems to be mostly pointless these days. Can somebody remind me why he appears to be without any "Fairbrother money"? I thought the Fairbrthers owned half of Ambridge at one point.

I've not listened this week, but is Zach(?) suggesting that Stella would be "marrying down" or simply likely to get bored with the humdrum of being a (small) farm spouse?

Re Fat Rosie, I'm going off on a bit of a tangent here, but we are currently watching the new BBC adaptation of Lord of the Flies (which I would recommend, not an easy watch, but extremely well done). It did cross my mind that one of the challenges of the casting process must have been finding 30 boys of various ages who could not only act but would also look plausibly like boys born in the 1940s, i.e. skinny and muscular. The brilliant young lad playing Piggy is probably plumper because he will be on steroids for life after having two kidney transplants before the age of 12 - one from his Dad and one from his Mum.

I imagine Alice and Chris are very hot on Martha eating a good diet and getting lots of exercise. Rosie appears to have been palmed off to Jill a great deal of the time so has inevitably spent a lot of her life sitting on the sofa eating lemon drizzle cake and flapjacks.

Very good question about the money. I suppose it's either been lost because of poor investment or lavish spending, or went on care costs at the end of Robin's parents' lives, or inflation has eaten away at it, or it's all tied up in Robin's business and perhaps his home. He would have inherited everything if I'm reading this article right, because Grace predeceased their father and her mother was already dead. He's obviously decided not to pass any on to his sons to help them get started in life. I seem to recall a lot of angst about that when they first arrived and were running their egg business together, and then later when Toby started Scruff Gin and Rex wanted to move into pigs. https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fthearchers%2Fentries%2Fba53b38a-a4a8-4e08-82e3-843cb84db29a

Incidentally, I am shocked all over again at the picture of the two Fairbrethren there. I have no clear mental image of Rex but Toby, from the very start, always looked like Stephen Mangan to me. The actor doesn't.

I live in hope that Rex will have another visit from his father. I suppose it would be too much to expect Robin to move to Ambridge and become a principal character. I feel Herc Robin could have much to offer me us.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g, It was millionaire shortbread actually. You think i got this size by eating lemon drizzle cake? Granny Jill's flapjacks are offensive weapons (don't tell her, it might give her ideas), but those generous slabs of millionaire shortbread are just the ticket for a growing girl like me. I've got to keep my energy levels up, it's hard work watching films like Pollyanna and Brief Encounter all winter.

I have no clear mental image of Rex but Toby, from the very start, always looked like Stephen Mangan to me. The actor doesn't.
Definitely not for me. Both fair-haired, probably more like Luke Treadaway and Joe Alwyn. Ruairi is more Ben Wishaw.

@Brefugee . might thinking of it as 'Ru air i' help?
In IPA it's ˈroʊ.əri - Roo-uh-ry not Rory.

It is misspelt so often on here.

Not picking you up on it particularly because I appreciate some people just don't 'get' names, but in general it does come across as 'can't be arsed because it is Irish'.

thanks - i simply CBA to put any effort into The Archers (so my apologies are to other thread members, rather than the character and especially not the writers)

I am matching their energy... (the SW)

(that last bit was unnecessary. but FWIW my name is 100% irish an i manage it just fine, because i can BA with my own name.)

I’m not sure why Neil was confused/disappointed. I thought he was in on this being a work experience kind of deal, not a potential career?

Couldn’t tell whether Rex was swerving out of a date or just oblivious. And didn’t Alice propose that they split the list of bars to get through them, why were they together?

I’m not the most avid of listeners, but some basic attempt at continuity would be good…

@Brefugee , I specifically said that I wasn't particularly picking you up on it personally and you confirmed that it was a CBA but then you said that what I said was unnecessary.

I thought Rex was deliberately swerving a couple 'date' with Alice by roping in other people. When they got back together after finding the missing watch she suggested going somewhere together to celebrate and he said something about meeting up with Kirsty. He's not interested.

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Rex is far too nice for Alice. I want him to end up with Kirsty.

Is there anyone who isn’t too nice for Alice? I reckon maybe if Kim Jong Un decided to give up dictatoring to take on a farm near Ambridge then he may just work

What about the guy in the golf club who was horrible to Zeinab? He and Alice would get on like a house on fire!

Alice is destined to get back together with Chris. I like Chris but it is his destiny.

I think Rex is completely oblivious and will be flabbergasted when Alice gets to the point where she has to spell it out for him. I suspect he would say she’s out of his league (lol) and hasn’t considered even fancying her. I like Rex, but I don’t know if that’s just my teenage obsession with rugby boys coming out. I concede that at times he is somewhat dull 😂.