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.

Btw, I really can’t bear how old people falling over is called ‘having a fall’…

To me, falling over means you can just get yourself up again, but having a fall means you can't.

@JoelenesParrot , Btw, I really can’t bear how old people falling over is called ‘having a fall’…

It's a term used for an elderly person falling to the ground or floor and isn't the same as falling over. If a younger person falls over it's not normally a cause of concern but if it's an elderly person, the fall may be the result of frailty.

Thanks for new thread and background info of Carol Tregorran @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I'm not new but have not been listening enough to know Carol as a character. So maybe that does make me new by TA standards!
So many questions...

When was Carol last heard in TA?

Why does Carol rent rather than own her own home? Presumably her and John used to own a property together?
How can David and Ruth leave Glebe cottage to Ben when it doesn't belong to them? Don't Jill's other children have a share?

I'm not sure how independent Carol is meant to be, does she get out and about on her own?

Does the village still have a WI group? I understand Carol used to run it, would she still be involved?

I've always felt things like this are really lacking in The Archers. There seems to be a real lack of characters being involved in groups other than the cricket team. Young Farmers? WI? Girl Guides? Scouts? You don't hear of any of the children being involved in much.

I'm not sure how independent Carol is meant to be, does she get out and about on her own? Only at night on her broomstick.

I thought it was quite weird that Anna and Helen spoke to each other like they had maintained contact or a friendship over the past 10 years since the court case.

According to IMDB Eleanor Bron's last appearance was 1 episode in 2018, 3 in 2017, about 25 in 2016. Anna was on for a few episodes in 2018 too.

It looks to me as if Carol returned to Ambridge in July 2014. Mentioned in this thread. It was around the time of Loxfest and Roy's excruciating ONS with Elizabeth. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/2128070-Sexy-sex-on-lovely-legs-shearing-sheep-bare-chested-Tell-us-how-you-picture-the-good-folk-of-Ambridge-and-feel-free-to-discuss-anything-else-rural-soap-related?reply=48504683

You’re quite right about the expulsion on YF and the WI from TA … It hasn’t gone unnoticed on this thread!

This article suggests that it’s maybe more than a decade since we had any meaningful YF interaction in Ambridge:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/webarchive/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fblogs%2Fthearchers%2Fentries%2F8624e0f7-00d3-4689-9298-d1faa0011f5c

As for the WI - it’s again quite a few years since it lost its central role in village life. The must recent I can remember was a wonderful female only episode set during a WI meeting - but I don’t recall the year.

This poster again suggests it’s been more than a decade since the WI featured strongly:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2n5F18thTsgqCqph5H0rQfC/a-brief-history-of-the-ambridge-wi

It says Amridge!

The stalwarts: Jill, Peggy and Christine, were really keeping the WI going.

I'm fairly sure I've only heard the WI mentioned as part of the village fete and cakes. I've been listening with full attention (ish) since about 2013.

Warning for anyone intending to listen to the sycophant official podcast: contains brief J*y. Amusingly they say "we didn't know who she was, and suddenly she deals perfectly with this situation" [re Ben's ill health] - but with admiration rather than sarcasm.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
Anna was having some relationship problems at the time. I can't remember how they turned out. Did we hear from her (female) partner? Can't remember that either.

Oh, they were ever so coy about this relationship, with nobody for weeks on end saying she or he, him or her about Max, who turned out to be Maxine and was played in a single episode on 29th August, 2016, by Jane Whittenshaw. She had given Anna the push and turned up only because she wanted a divorce.

I suspect was the reason they stopped being a couple was that Anna had become impossibly boring about defending Helen. The meeting went somewhat along the lines "I want a divorce" "oh no, don't go, I need you to support me in the trial of Helen Archer" "goodbye".

Warning for anyone intending to listen to the sycophant official podcast:

Ha! I only listened to it a couple of times and stopped because I found myself shouting "Shutup! Shutup! Shutup!" at Emma Freud.

what about Ruaridh? when he went suspiciously quiet when he heard Amber was pregnant? have they ever both had unexplained absences at the same time??? or was it just guilt at hitting George over the head?
either way George seems to be advancing his cause everywhere
shame about the dentist lie

I like the podcasts.

I think it was just guilt. After all, he was motherless himself from an early age, though Jennifer did her best as a substitute.

George clearly thought his remark about the baby growing up fatherless had been tactless, so I expect Ruairi was looking totally poleaxed as the idea was put in his head. You'd need to have turned a funny colour for George to notice it.

I like the podcasts too. Love the old clips they find in the archives. One of Bert Fry recently and I'd completely forgotten that Rex had lived with him for a while and formed a friendship.

I took it to be a guilty conscience

Yeah I think Ruairi was processing the timeline and realised Amber would have been already pregnant when he attacked George meaning he could have not only have killed George but also a baby would have been left without a father.

I don't think it can be long before the truth comes out, Ruairi is falling apart. I can't see another character being sent off to prison already though.

I really dont want another prison story line. It’s ridiculous how many have gone to prison from a small village . And it always works out fine too. Nobody’s life ruined by it really.

Is it? I can think of some who have gone to prison from the village I grew up - about 4 and a suspended sentence. Population is only a few hundred.

It's perfectly plausible, some villages have more than their fair share of criminality because people can go under the radar in the countryside for a long time. I just don't think prison is how it's going to pan out for Ruairi.

George is being shown in a more positive light recently. The village is starting to move on and view him as a reforming character. But there are still those those flickers of temper, the dishonesty and, oh yes, he has that recording. If George wanted someone in prison for the attack then why didn't he just go straight to the police with his evidence?

I think Brian could have talked his way out of what he said on that recording on the basis that he was afraid of being attacked if he didn't agree with everything George said.

Also, I assume George is biding his time and planning a little blackmail.

Yes, and I'm wondering if George will have his blackmail plans all lined up only to find out Brian was covering for his son and it will throw him off course. He needs to be very careful, especially since he's already landed himself under the spotlight for his village green piddling.

Oh I don't actually mind the podcast too much - I do enjoy the contrast between the extremely positive opinions on it (hence sycophant) compared to the occasional extreme negative on here.

I liked yesterday's brief intermission on pigs being smart. It feels like farming is a bit more present again.