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.

Miranda’s voice makes her sound like one of the women who wore headscarves and cried at railway stations in 1950s films. But at least it’s distinctive I suppose. When an experienced adult like Brian suggested backing out of the house purchase after exchange I’m surprised she didn’t call a doctor to get him assessed

She seems very family minded.
i find her voice a bit much but I like her in her new, softer persona.

It might be an interesting story if it had been written with any logic at all. But it wasn’t, so it’s hard to invest.

Miranda can live wherever she likes, so of course she could live there without Brian. But as you say, @BeatriceBatchelor, it was clearly all about buying into the Aldridge clan - in which case why on earth weren’t they buying the place together? And the ‘humiliation’ she spoke of could only be in front of Justin and Lilian - so perhaps after all spiting them was her motivation? I never believed that Brian would want to live in any woman’s house for free, anyway - it’s not him at all.

And there’s surely no way any functioning human would leave it to that point to say they’d - what, changed their mind? Or never intended to go through with the plan? Its ludicrous. But also desperately sad, even for Miranda, who’s never seemed quite real.

The children and grandchildren she barely knows? Who are unlikely to feel well disposed towards a woman living with their father in their late mother’s former home?

@wizzler Miranda’s voice makes her sound like one of the women who wore headscarves and cried at railway stations in 1950s films.

Not really surprising, given that she's Celia Johnson's daughter!

I have always found Miranda-Brian an unconvincing partnership.

They often seem to want to develop stories using existing characters rather than bring in new ones, which can make everything feel a bit incestuous.

Anyway - I can’t imagine why a bright woman like Miranda would think that the home Farm project was a good idea. The chances of it not upsetting any of Jennifer’s family (regardless of what they say) are frankly nil.
And Brian is an old man. Why would they want a huge house? Why would she want to move in with him and potentially end up as his carer?

But plot wise… Assuming it goes ahead, I wonder who will inherit the house….. maybe that’s the long game on this one. She’ll go first, leaving it to Brian, and then we can have another inheritance fall-out story.

I find myself wondering, again and again, when the creative team decided Ruairi and George should be the New Princes of Ambridge. (Neither of them actually an Archer!) I’d assumed poor Johnny was defenestrated to leave room for George’s expanded position across the Bridge of Doom and the (in fact negligible) repercussions for Bridge Farm - but now it looks as if every farming or farm adjacent male under 30 is being guillotined to make way for those two.

Is it just for the anniversary year, or will any repercussions echo down the decades? (Not that TA has decades …

Anyway - I can’t imagine why a bright woman like Miranda would think that the home Farm project was a good idea. The chances of it not upsetting any of Jennifer’s family (regardless of what they say) are frankly nil.

This. The house where your current partner had a long and generally happy marriage (with major upsets)? It'd be one thing if Brian had never left and she moved in with him, but going back?

Was Miranda's purchase of Home Farm down to envying Jenny over the years with her beautiful Home Farm, Brian and family and now she can have it?
What would Jenny be thinking from beyond the grave?!

The children and grandchildren she barely knows? Who are unlikely to feel well disposed towards a woman living with their father in their late mother’s former home?

I didn't say it was logical - any of it!

But Miranda seems close to Alice and Riuari. Wasn't she included on the trip to Scotland?None of the family have raised actual objections to the relationship or the move, though Riuari belatedly saying he couldn't move in was a red flag.

Maybe she looked into the future and saw a lonely old age might be avoided if she became part of the chaotic but close Aldridge clan.

The plan should really have been that Miranda moves into the house first with B retaining his bolthole and then slowly moving in over time. The whole plan to move in together on day one was deeply flawed. At the end of the day, it is her house, not theirs.

Miranda is a tough cookie. She would have had rational, rather than emotional, reasons to buy the house and would not flinch at B saying he didn’t want to move in anymore. She would know that, in time, he would soon get used to spending time back at the old place.

Their relationship is actually still pretty embryonic- the whole Bridge subplot wasn’t that long ago. It works because it is largely convenient- I would hardly call it a great love affair and moving in together feels premature. I suppose there’s little time to lose at their age…

Great post @JoelenesParrot

Haha, very few storylines on TA are logical at the moment!

If she has bought such a large property with the intention of gathering the children around then I think she’s made a mistake. If they visit they are likely to spend almost all of their time reminiscing about years past and the ghost of Jenny will hang heavy. But I can’t see any of them spending much time there except Alice. Ruairi seemed to almost have a panic attack at the thought of moving in, Kate will be dismissive and scathing about the new interiors and Adam just about tolerates Brian at the best of times so will probably give the place a wide berth.

There’s a reason why rare-breed sheep are rare breeds - they are not commercial. They generally look cute, and are probably well adapted to the climate from whence they originated, but they do not make money. I’m trying to persuade dd2 to have some herdwick sheep - they look so adorable, but apparently they take two years to mature and make no more than mules (cross breeds, not equine) do at one year.

So I guess I’m with Brian on this, although I’m not sure he is really in a position to dictate to George what he does with the money.

I don't think Miranda has any particular interest in "gathering Brian's children around". Let's face it, it's not as though they are particularly interesting! I think she just wanted to settle down with Brian in more space and comfort than he has at the moment, the house came on the market and she snaffled it.

If he allows Ruairi's nonsense to put the kibosh on it, more fool him.

Ooh is Ipswich the one where they all have to do rescuing from water etc? If so it’s BRILLIANT.

For some reason I thought Miranda had children. Potentially I got her mixed up with the random lady coming to buy shares from
Justin‘s pop up share shop who was talking teenagers with Tracey.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , was he the Warren Tofficer?

@DeanElderberry , I like Miranda's voice too. It's distinctive.

@Eastie77Returns , Haha, very few storylines on TA are logical at the moment!
We're posting about scones, it's that bad.

Yes, the rescuing from water, the 400 quiches etc. Warrant Officer was Phil Davis.

Thanks. I'll have to re-listen.

Yes - this is it exactly. It’s just so unbelievable - as was the whole sale of Home Farm in the first place. And I still can’t see what was achieved by it - I find it the strangest storyline. The idea that Brian is living in reduced circumstances, but instead of buying a suitable home for himself in his dotage, which he could easily afford, he’s moving back into the old marital home (now remodelled beyond recognition) as a lodger! I feel the SWs have completely lost the plot with Home Farm - this whole mess was completely unnecessary. I would have much preferred Brian and Jenny to have stayed, Brian could have rattled around after her death and then moved someone (preferably not Miranda) in.

Didnt know that ! That’s funny

It was mentioned upthread.

RuairiDonovan · 24/03/2026 19:25
I only heard her say a few words and posted. ...
I knew that LF/ME was the daughter of Celia Johnson...

Sorry, forgot to clear the quote.

Justin said something recently about being really glad he didn't have children, so I assumed Miranda was fine with it too.
So I don't believe she wanted to be enclosed in the bosom of all Brian's offspring and bought Home Farm because of that.

It's always been such a bizarre storyline, as noone in their right mind surely would want to move to the previous home of their boyfriend's deceased and revered wife with most of the late wife's children living very near.

.