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!

Would the nurse really talk about the baby in that way before actually doing the scan, 'estimated due date, how many are in there'? I would have thought it unlikely incase there wasn't a heartbeat.
But there was and a baby Bonnar on the way too perhaps.

When Helen was talking about Tracey working in the dairy the last few weeks... wasn't it just last week that Susan was showing her what to do, or has my mind protectively just blanked out loads of TA as I listened?

You’re not wrong, @EBearhug. More continuity complaints on the other thread …

Can’t help but wonder whether this week’s original episodes featured Josh setting off for a fun farming year abroad in UAE or similar and they’ve had to do a hasty reshuffle.

Surely Amborge isn’t 12 weeks by their timeline either? Didn’t they say conception round about Christmas?

A reshuffle sound possible. I too think Tracey has only recently started, the audit result was fast, and it is a bit early for Helen to be 'glowing'.

Conception just before Christmas Day would mean ~10 weeks real which means 12 weeks calculated from last period so sounds right.

Helen's glow up is interesting, there was the Scottish holiday (when was that?), the being back with Dane interval, and the second bite of the Finlay.

She's old enough that her timing is probably all haywire anyway.

Okay, I looked it up, they were in Scotland in mid November (why oh why), so that means she could be ca 16 weeks in.

They went in November because What"s-his-spelling could book the holiday for cheap.

Given that there was supposedly enough money for the entire clan to go on holiday, and to pay for an approximately equal number of people to cover their jobs for the required amount of time, there must have been a fair bit of spare change at the end of it all. Half the family didn't go, and of the ones who went, half only went half way to Scotland.

After last night I think they’ve just given up on any semblance of continuity.

Looks like it …

Awful thought - what if the SW doesn’t understand the word ‘glowy’ in the way we do?

But surely up-duffing (ah, nostalgia!) Helen could be the only reason why Finlay would have been brought to Borchester?

I really hope she thinks she’s pregnant but it turns out to be menopause. Sadly all the signs are pregnancy. And it will be their rather predictable compare and contrast to amborge

the sw are way too eastenders for me

If Helen's pregnant maybe it'll be her with the missed miscarriage, there must be a reason why they dropped that in the programme.

I was about to type the same!

After the Fallon business I find the idea of the sw being able to manage a pregnancy SL unlikely

Ruairi is an ordinary, much used, Irish name and the spelling follows the normal conventions. I find people flinging their hands up and exclaiming over it very offensive.

Indeed. It was 'couldn't have managed without you these last few weeks' at the start of the episode, but 'all your help over the last few days while I've been distracted' by the end 🙄 (I listened again to check). Her first training shift was on Wed 25th so I suppose it's been a week and a day.

Perhaps they only pretend they have 1 writer a week, and it's really multiple per episode.

There was a magnificent AI version of Paul's backstory on Mustardland. I'm sure it would save the beeb a lot of dosh if they sacked all the human scriptwriters

Aonghus wrote: ↑March 4th, 2026, 1:32 pm I asked Chat GPT where his grandmother lived which then made up this load of cobblers

Paul Mack’s grandmother lives in Birmingham. In the storyline, Paul grew up there and was largely brought up by her after his mother struggled with addiction when he was young. He often refers to visiting her and checking in on her.

This Birmingham background is part of what makes Paul feel like a bit of an outsider when he first arrives in Ambridge, where he initially works at Grey Gables.

A few other key bits about Paul Mack:

He is the son of Denise Mack, the district nurse.

He returned to Ambridge partly to reconnect with her.

Thanks and acknowledgements to ML

Good Lord!

The 'am I pregnant?' 'No it's menopause' thing happened to Kate.

Good point.

That wasn't quite what happened. Supermum Kate was convinced she was pregnant but found that wasn't the case.
Kate is 48 now but I can't remember when it was. I think she's been back in Ambridge for about 6 years.

Haven’t listened or been on here for a while but having read the last few pages of this thread……what the hell is going on?! Please no more accidental pregnancies .

@Sidebeforeself , soap babies are rarely planned, but in all fairness, Amborge was planned (very quickly), I don't know if baby Peg was, and there don't seem to be any other babies.
The <10s are Sarin and Novichok , presumably planned, and Jack, who was sort of planned.

I forgot Fat Rosie, unplanned, and Marthyr, not exactly planned.

Also forgot the behbeh Fallon wasn't planning but would not have had anyway because of her IUD.

The implication was that she was beginning the menopause