Archers thread #200: Trouble in Ambridge! (All 200 threads could have had this title.) 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 love to be Brian's child or stepchild, 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.)

Over to you!

I couldn't work out who the two youngsters were, to start with. I thought Keira was either Mia or Esme.

I think Kirsty will die in childbirth.

Stop it …

@muddyford I think Kirsty will die in childbirth.

Croak, surely, with that voice?

I'm really struggling with Adam'n'Ian. They are both dreadful people, but I have never quite been able to decide which of them I dislike more.

I would be proud to be your friend, @Gonners . Catch you at the funeral(s)?

Oh, I liked Keira! We’ve heard enough about her over the years that’s she’s landed fully formed and voiced. Pretty well acted as well. She sounded a bit too much like Mia and Esme, but importantly she sounded like Ed and Emma’s daughter.

Thanks for the new thread, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g . 200, eh? I’ve been here since the beginning under various names 😊.

Just stop with the doom mongering re Kirsty and her pregnancy. Things can just be straight forward and, you know, nice and normal. 🤞

I liked Keira and it was enjoyable to hear two of the younger characters being fully formed friends.

Why didn’t Xander go for the afternoon tea with his two dads on Father’s Day?

Thinking of Amber's mum, her finagling about it being OK (subtext it's been agreed, which it hasn't) to phone George if Amber doesn't pick up bodes ill. She will definitely be the one who turns up without texting, having done it already.
George and Amber may have to adopt the often-cited MN solution of not answering the door.

Keira reminded me of Zainab.

Ambridge. The only place in the UK where the children speak just like their parents rather than the kids they go to school with.

I think the saying is Taters in the mould, which meant it was cold out.
Thanks for the new thread Gasp.❤️

I’m annoyed now because I’d previously been firmly of the opinion that there was nothing wrong with Amber’s mum, and that no sensible woman would want her young daughter shacked up and pregnant to a jailbird.

That explains why my DD speaks posh!

Are both babies going to go full term? I hope so.
I am wondering if one of the babies might be born disabled in some way.
Have we had a character needing to use a wheelchair?
(Just to add, the storyline with Bethany feels like a long time ago now).

I felt for Henry having no father on father's day - I thought that was quite subtly done. Tagging along with Ed who was so reasonable about it. Great to hear Keira being so well acted, it's about time she had a proper voice. Will we now find out what the problem was between her and George? I can't work out what's going to happen with Amber and George, but I can't help thinking that if she didn't like being controlled by her parents then she won't like being controlled by her partner. I think that after what happened with Wren, Kirsty will have a straightforward pregnancy and Amber too. The SWs will have enough problems keeping up with Martha's difficulties without adding any more children with special needs into the mix.

My only question is why did Iain and Adam drop their son off at his aunt then go to the father's day tea without him?

Agreed, LillianGish and Brefugee

Cos she speaks like her school friends, I mean ...

I don't like Ian and Adam calling their son Xander. It's such a pretentious nickname. IMHO.

I always wonder is he's named after Lexi or after Adam's bloke Alexandre who dumped him in Africa, prompting the return to Ambridge. Either way a strange choice.

Surely Amber's baby will turn out to be Brad's?? 'Just a kiss' at New Year has been mentioned a few times recently, Brad was pontificating with Kate... it would be a nod to George's confused parentage too.

I think it’s well established that it was only a kiss.

Maybe they were fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Though that character was Zander, I think.

Zander is a predatory fish like a pike.

But if George finds out about the kiss hr won't believe that's all it was there might be a paternity test drama

A mention of Ruairi who has disappeared off the face of the earth. Brian messed things up with Miranda because he wanted to spare Ruairi's feelings, but he might as well have moved into the farmhouse for all Ruairi has been around since then. It still feels like a very convoluted tale - surely there has to be a final revelation about Ruari's role in the bottle attack or what was the point of it all? Is it being saved up as Adam's last ditch attempt against Brian? There are still a lot of dropped threads from that story - why did Keira run away? I feel a bit sad that the SWs are so determined to dismantle Home Farm which always felt like a real place, part of the fabric of Ambridge. The spurious selling off of the farmhouse was bad enough, but now this - it feels like another piece of the picture is being rubbed away like a fading photograph. I'm sure I've said this before, but the places are as important as the characters - almost more important in some ways. Otherwise it's just actors reading their lines in a recording studio in Birmingham.