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.

@JudyCoolibar a swift resolution would obviously make more sense - but I can’t help feeling that some bright spark amongst the creative team has seen the potential for The Ruairi Secret to be deployed as a tool - all year long - to scupper plans and poison relationships. Whoever comes into the secret will be forced to lie and dissemble and behave in ways that frustrate everyone who loves them.

The best thing about this evening was NuRobert having a bit of a pop at the ghastly Lynda. I was hoping he'd suddenly burst out with "Oh, FFS woman! Not everything is about you! Nobody can stand you and, by the way, remember when I spent weeks staying with one of my daughters when James Bellamy abandoned her? (Frightful man, but she richly deserves him.) Well, I was actually shacked up with the woman I've been seeing for 20 years and I'm off!"

Old Robert would never have done that.

If the script had been in the hands of a better writer, Real Robert might have done much the same thing. He did sometimes rein Lynda in.

I was nearly enjoying the Amber / Brad storyline and then it ended so abruptly. Not even a hint of its return, unless I’ve missed something.

I think the Amber/Brad ‘moment’ will come back to haunt them. Perfect cue for the revival of George’s misogyny….

If they’re planning this, would be much more exciting if they’d slept together and Brad could potentially be the dad.

I think it’s necessary to the plot that Amber and Brad didn’t sleep together. His reaction, when it comes, will be disproportionate.

And the ‘history repeating itself’ with uncertainty over who the dad is needs to be in George’s head.

Good point.

Is there a more unconvincing relationship than that of Brian and Miranda? Her plaintive “but I’m your life partner” - or words to that effect only served to highlight just how flimsy this plot is. I’m much more interested in Tom and Natasha’s bank account - and I can’t believe Helen is already moving out before the SWs have explored the reality of both families living cheek by jowl in the Beechwood house. TomTash really are life partners - and in a world where Helen doesn’t have one and therefore relies on Tom to fulfill that role. So many missed opportunities for drama there.

I think Miranda’s arrogant assumption she has the right to know personal details about Ruairi, an adult, because she considers herself Brian’s partner, is staggering. I don’t like his character a lot of the time but surely Brian could just say R has a right to privacy?

I just don't see the point of Miranda as a character other than to stick her oar in other people's business.

I think George's misogyny will step up after the initial novelty of having HIS baby wears off. I think it will be girl and George will be disappointed as he wants a son. I don't think we've seen the end of Brad and Amber.

Side note, what IS Brad planning on doing with his Maths degree? Is he second or third year now?

I agree Miranda’s attitude to Ruari is awful.

Why doesn’t she just chill out and move in at her own pace and let Brian follow on when he’s ready? Completely artificial pressure.

On a side note… Miranda is clearly very wealthy. I wonder whether they have considered the implications of marrying/not marrying. I think she’ll outlive Brian but if not, I’m looking forward to a distant relative inheriting Home Farm… or perhaps she’ll give it all to charity.

No one’s allowed to inherit anything significant in TA any more!

Quite why the SWs ceased to understand that it is inequality and its consequences that make a fictional society interesting is a mystery.

Their extreme aversion to portraying privilege and elitism has turned a once entertaining show into dreary, meaningless sludge.

(The only place where anything valuable is being passed on - to the detriment of others - is Brookfield. But who cares? They’re now a side issue, almost completely removed from the rest of the village.)

I agree with that, Totters. I was reflecting earlier that when I first started listening properly on my own account, as opposed to having occasional episodes washing over me in the kitchen when I was growing up, I liked the fact that the social and financial position of every family was extremely clear.

Lower Loxley, Woolley, Aldridge and Bellamy families - very wealthy
Brookfield - very comfortably off
Bridge Farm - much less well off than Tony's female relatives, which was a very enjoyable plot element, as all of them had benefited greatly from marrying wealthy men rather than making their own way
The Bull - owned and run by various people, never easy money, but usually in profit
Neil and Susan, Mike and Betty - working hard, aspirational, doing reasonably well, but not as well off as anybody with the surname Archer
Grundys - lurching from scam to crisis to yet another ill-advised shortcut, always struggling, much but not all of it their own fault

There was a lot of snobbishness in the village, which was entirely to be expected. I've no idea why the BBC has now decided to pretend everybody's the same.

Are the BBC afraid of being accused of stereotyping farmers as rich landowners? Particularly with recent controversy re inheritance.

Anyone else notice Natasha's little comment about their rent money nest egg? So that's why they've been allowing Helen to take her time over moving, she's been enjoying seeing the £££ roll in.

I was delighted to hear Natasha again. Well-drawn character, well acted.

I do hope Brian and Miranda sort things out...As much as Brian flailing around in a panic about Ruairi's situation is painful to listen to, I do think it's in character with stuff he's done in the past. As for Miranda wanting to know what is wrong, I don't think that's unreasonable, since it directly affects her. Brian saying that Ruairi is extra vulnerable, but simultaneously that nothing is wrong, but also simultaneously that this apparently harmless, groundless vulnerability means that he can't move in with Miranda, is just so self-contradictory. It's obvious to her that he's lying, and in her situation, I'd be really irritated, too. If, on the other hand, he could just say plainly, "Yes, something IS wrong with Ruairi, but I can't tell you what it is, because I'd be breaking confidentiality", then she might have an easier time accepting this.

I also find it irritating that the SW seemingly can't address the inheritance issues properly. Chopping up the inheritance among all the children might seem fairer, but as centuries of this being required in various continental countries means you end up with loads of splintered skinny fields, and nobody has enough to make a proper go of it. And the argument that taxing the inheritance at the originally proposed rates is likely to disproportionately harm the smaller/medium farms, ultimately concentrating even more wealth in the hands of the large landowners, seems reasonable enough to deserve thoughtful treatment at the hands of the SW, and not just a footnote.

Those us who fall over can't bear it, either.

And the sexism of giving Shula and Elizabeth's inheritance is breath-taking! How can the men take their inheritance from Jill and Phil, but the women have had theirs swiped by Dave and the Production Team?

Is there a more unconvincing relationship than that of Brian and Miranda?

Pip & Stella?

I know time is probably not on their side, but Brian and Miranda haven't actually been seeing each other that long. It seems quite early to decide to buy a house that suddenly appears to be entirely dependent on the one who isn't paying a penny towards it, AFAIK, and even to move in together. None of it makes sense.

Miranda, end of life Partner, really.

Or nurse with a purse, as it’s often called on here

Has Miranda completed on Home Farm(house), or just exchanged?

Presumably Miranda is mid-late 70’s, like Lilian, so I wonder what the plan for this storyline is? What is to become of it in 5-10 years time?

I feel particularly annoyed with the Editor at the moment, thanks to the unlikely storylines all year, but at least we’ve had a reprieve from “Beechwood Chronicles”.

They were talking about exchange and didn't mention completion, unless it's happening on the same day, which is what happened with the house I sold last year.