Archers thread #199: Kaboom! The Aldridges are self-destructing, and it's GLORIOUS. 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 drop everything to help Helen create a new cheese on national minimum wage, 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.)

If you haven't heard last night's episode (Friday 22nd May) you really must. It's episodes like that that keep me addicted. Funny how often they involve the Aldridges, the most dysfunctional and also by far the most interesting family in Ambridge. Also very well acted on the whole. How lovely to hear Tamsin Greig in TA, but I wonder if we ever will again.

Some cracking posts towards the end of the last thread, which is here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/5518503-archers-thread-198-josh-sent-to-patagonia-pip-stays-put-wrong-way-round-discuss-the-archers-here

Over to you!

We manage to pay our mortgage each month without selling our old clothes (or other people’s) on Vinted but have absolutely no spare income. There is no way on earth we could afford private school (and for two kids it’s more than our net income!). It seems Borchestershire private schools are much cheaper than round here, but it also appears TomnTash are only considering one year at a time?! The costs increase massively from infant to primary (and secondary, plus uniform and computers and school trips..). Screaming silently every time they open their mouths

Agree the greenhouse is a separate matter. I can’t recall the last time a farm in Ambridge was not able to make whatever business investment it wanted to.

All very odd. Surely the pre-prep's fees were advertised on the website? Did they really go there thinking 'Yes, we saw that, ha ha, but it's us! You won't charge us those fees, will you? You'd be so lucky to have our girls you should take them for nothing!'

He and Gnasher are so childish with money. I don't think Tom is but he's reacting instead of forecasting and budgeting. Natasha lives on the never-never and has been doing so for years.

Pre-prep school near me. (see image)

Sibling discounts

• We are pleased to offer a sibling discount for families with multiple children enrolled.
• For families with two siblings, the second child will receive a 5% discount.

If you recognise the school, please don't mention it or its location.

I'm feeling quite faint at the prospect of shelling out nearly £10k A TERM for the starry twins, and a lot more than that as they get older. How long before Tom says out loud what I find it hard to believe he hasn't been thinking - why didn't Peggy leave all her dosh to him? Or a substantial chunk of it, anyway.

Agree, and Jamie should come back and claim his share of The Bull too.

They have recast in the past when it has been far more obvious (Tom and Pip).

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , the figures are from a school in a leafy Home Counties village where the pupils wear nice uniforms, if that makes a difference.

I've checked another local one (with a headache-inducing website) and the fees are:
Year Group Termly Fees
Reception £4,742.00
...
Year 7 £7,361.00

And another local one:
Reception
£4,852.00 per term inclusive of lunch
...
Years 5 and 6
£5,788.00 per term inclusive of lunch
There will be a termly fee reduction of
£180.00 for a second child
£195.00 for a third child
Breakfast club, Homework club and After School club are charged per session ...

Not sure whether this should be on the spoilers thread instead, but tonight's episode is already on Sounds it seems??

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002x469

I was in Paris in the mid eighties at the same time as Jill and Phil. It snowed for me but they had beautiful spring weather. I suppose with episodes recorded so far in advance they’re bound to get it wrong.

Rex is just too much, too soon. Like her or not, Alice has done really well and he gives her no credit.

How extraordinary. Mistake, or a new regime?

I’ve just listened. (And forgot this isn’t the Spoilers thread!)

Rex has transformed himself into an utter moron.

Thanks for the heads up, @Agapornis. That was amusing, Adam will be furious, and I have now constructed a complex and pleasingly insane series of consequences.

I love it when they get the weather wrong. I am easily amused.

I asked Google AI whether the premature availability was a mistake. At first it tried to tell be this was perfectly usual, but I corrected it and it backed down. Then asked if I’d like to discuss it, since I’d already listened. I pointed out that I discuss it here, and invited it to join us …

AI needs to correct itself there, as that gives the impression that it starts at 7:15, rather than finishes then. Perhaps you could have a word?

It’s often wrong about The Archers … 🤷‍♀️

Ha! It's almost human, then? I'm always amused by how often other posters seem to be listening to characters who are completely unlike the ones I hear.

Other listeners are definitely often wrong! 😁

But at least we know what time it’s broadcast.

(I wonder if the iPlayer mistake happened because someone inadvertently left the AI in charge?)

The Sounds/iPlayer version/file is available right after the 7:03 broadcast finishes, so that's correct - before that time you can only rewind to what's on air. I suspect they accidently uploaded a file at 2:15 instead. I'm fairly sure it wasn't there this morning, but it was this afternoon. Fingers crossed for an accidental upload of the next month 😅 (though I suppose that would require a separate thread and tbh I struggle to keep up as it is)

Also top tip - press the subscribe button in Sounds, and any accidental early episodes should appear under My sounds > Latest.

I liked Brian’s ‘didn’t think he had it in him’ or words to that effect. I quite enjoyed Rex ranting at him, but then I’ve always liked Rex. Or at least until recently when he’s been written inconsistently. I think he’s way more into this than Alice, and he’s trying way too hard (that is pretty consistent tbh).

Same here. As much as I dislike the character distortions the SWs employ, this was an enjoyable moment. I like Rex too.

So Ed will take up vague employment at no negotiated wage for a capricious person like Brian.

BOOP for the scenes with Alice and Brian. You can hear genuine affection between them.

BOOP for the scenes with the Grundys. They actually made me smile. Which is quite an achievement as I can't stand Eddie.

I was reminded about Johnny by this thread, and am thinking how weird it is that the SWs seem to have totally forgotten about him after they took all that trouble to get him brought into the family and be revealed as a natural farmer and a natural Archer, with farmland and farming in his blood, who just loved life in Ambridge so much that he virtually abandoned his Mum. It's even odder after all that they send him off to sea rather than having him get a job on a farm somewhere else.

Yup. I feel exactly the same, @JudyCoolibar.

But - all the Grundy men last night. Just epic. It was so heartening to hear them not quarrelling, not sulking, not backstabbing, or blaming, just gathering to celebrate Ed’s dedication and knowledge - and allowing the next generation to disseminate that knowledge to a wider public. I loved every second.