Archers thread #197: Runs, Ambridge, runs! 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 find it credible that Kate, who changed continents twice to get away from her own children, has now morphed into Grandmother of the Year, 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.)

Well, Finlay may have made good his escape, but we're all still stuck inside the Borsetshire forcefield. The cricket team is rising phoenix-like from the ashes but will now be The Bull's team, not Ambridge's. Will Alice and Rex make a go of things? Will George cope with a month off the booze? Will the real Brian Aldridge re-appear? Will we hear a bit more about farming? We did get a lambing scene the other night, which was good.

Over to you!

P. S. The pointless new AI title generator MN has introduced in spite of absolutely nobody ever asking for it wanted to call this thread something like Discuss The Archers here, no spoilers. I won't be following its suggestions.

I feel cheated that Josh has been bundled off with such haste - and just as it felt as if his character was finally being developed. He’s seemed absent for so long - even when he was actually in Ambridge- that it feels like he’s been brought back in only to be written out (rather like Carol Tregorran). And what about his hens? It all feels very unsatisfactory - the whole Brookfield inheritance story is such a wasted opportunity when you think of some of the drivel that’s been inflicted on us (Brian and Miranda for a start!). Pip as the golden child with Josh frozen out has been in the pipeline for so long and now it’s been put to bed in a single episode - it all goes to Pip (and Stella!) and the worst that can be said is that Jill and Leonard (also silent for this purpose) can’t manage a hot chocolate because they’ve eaten too much sticky toffee pudding. Unbelievable!

I want to know who is feeding the chickens this morning.

Why on earth would someone going travelling want to clutter up their luggage with a diary?
Is Ruth really that out of touch? And surely Josh already has the headphones he wants anyway. I imagine him as being quite interested in tech and gadgets. Terrible gift options- of course he would rather have the cash (although that would be about £20 if he was to receive a cash alternative to a travel journal)…R and D really are the limit.

They should get him a book of first-class stamps so he can send postcards home. 😉

I really hope Josh will be mega successful in Patagonia and will come back just to wind up Pip with how glad he is that he didn't get saddled with the farm.

Patagonia isn't exactly prime farming country, I wonder what he plans to do? I can understand his looking at the globe and choosing a spot as distant from any members of the extended Archers clan as possible, but beyond that?

Though I like the alternative suggestion that he's going to work for the outdoor clothing company.

To be fair they sell some nice stuff. I used to get quite a bit from there.

Maybe he'll strike oil. Don't tell me that's unrealistic it's no worse than anything else going on.

He might do very well, he has demonstrated an ability to manage a business. He wouldn't need to travel very far from Borsetshire to avoid his ghastly family, make a comfortable living, and be happy.

And be ready to come back when a disaster engulfs Brookfield and wipes out the rest of them.

Patagonia! He really wants to get far, far away doesn't he! Assuming the Josh actor has made a sudden decision to leave TA? I wonder if we will ever hear from Josh again or maybe he will be recast. There was so much potential over the years. Would have loved to see him thriving in contrast to Pip facing the realities of owning the farm.

Patagonia is mostly ranching style farming isn't it? Cattle and sheep. Can Josh ride?

The inheritance stories are all so disappointing. I’m still reeling from Peggy. All those years of her smugly talking about her financial advisor being on speed dial and all the attention seeking over the £500k for rewinding and it looks as though she wasn’t worth more than many people with a decent property in the south east. Certainly not ‘my financial advisor takes my calls night or day’ territory.

I think we can take from this that the Bridge Farm Archers won’t provide any better SLs. Just give it all to Helen now and be done with it. Tom can have Tony’s model railway as his share and be grateful for it.

And the Fergie tractor!!

When Ben (with a mouthful of porridge) was explaining Azra what Josh is planning to do in Patagonia, he said 'it's a working holiday, farming research trip linked to eco-tourism, food gardens, bee-keeping all that sort of thing, all quite low-tech'

Not hearing from Josh felt, to me, like he'd checked out already, mentally fed-up with the place and gone.

Bridge Farm seems to be shaping up much better - Tom does veg and livestock, Natasha has the cafe and her fruit juice, Helen does dairy and shop - the question there will be who moves into the farmhouse. If Helen ever moves out of Beechwood, I can see Tom and Natasha being very happy there. It would make sense for Helen to find somewhere Pat and Tony would be happy to move into when the time comes, though I know Tony has his heart set on an eco-house. Things seem to be happening much more organically there (if you’ll pardon the pun!), but still realistically and with plenty of opportunity for points of tension.

Can you farm penguins? It seems a bit cruel to harvest their eggs but it would be right up Josh's avenida.

Sorry Kirsty. And Rex.

Monty Don lets rip: ‘Rewilding? It’s b!!*ks’

https://www.thetimes.com/article/adbcc3ec-67b6-4b2f-bf2b-b584d96893d7?shareToken=380a1814e0c837385506f30a33147ba2

Is it Josh who is/was played by Celia Imrie’s son?

@ScaredOfFlying , yes.
@TottersBlithely , ta 4 the link. Will read it.
I think it's a pile of Thomas the tank too.

This is what happens where I'm from. Incomer buys farm. Good agricultural land. Sprays it with glycophosphate then lets it rewild.
Result: fields of thuggish weeds.
Incomer sells up.

New person converts the farm outbuildings to 'airbnb' .

Yes - I can see he’s in a film in post - production. But I wonder what else is going on in his life.

Maybe he simply felt fed up with having to play such a one dimensional character and the SW just not making the most of him.

The most we've heard from josh in years was his outburst at Pip. I really enjoyed that and it showed he's a really good radio actor, clearly wasted on the character of Josh, it's a shame.

Has he definitely left the cast or we just speculating?

Like others have said, such wasted opportunities for interesting story arcs.

Pure speculation on my part based on how quickly he's supposed to have organised this trip. Surely this sort of thing would usually take a few months of planning.

Surely this sort of thing would usually take a few months of planning

In RL, yes. But in soaps they just pack one suitcase, leave their keys on the table, say ta-raa and get in an Uber.

He may have left the cast and may be leaving for good, but i'm fairly sure that he's going to be held back by the Felpersham by-pass force field.

I agree with this. His character has been poorly developed over the years - maybe this was due to his lack of availability. He is a much better actor than Pip so maybe it’s just that he’s had more work out of Ambridge. What’s astonishing is that having had no discussion for years about inheritance, it was all decided in afternoon! The hours and hours of tedious Joy/Mick and Rochelle we’ve sat through, the imaginary Wolverhampton incident, scam week 🤦‍♀️, Neil the foundling, episodes devoted to whether Helen’s framed poster boyfriend Lee should move to San Francisco…and yet this story, the very heart and soul of The Archers, is dashed off as if it were of no more consequence than an inquiry about the availability of garibaldis in the village shop.