Archers thread #202: How are you finding your visits to Ambridge? Fill in your feedback forms 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 think working as a hotel receptionist is a perfectly reasonable career choice for a graduate from a family with a stately home, 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-12-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!

Thanks for the new thread!

Just checking in...

Aw @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g ❤️ I’ve been there and know how hard it is . Wishing your Mum peace .

Many thanks for new thread and sending hugs @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g ❤️

Keira is very much Susan's grandchild rather than Clarrie's, isn't she? Interfering little besom!

Thank you @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g
You are a wonderful daughter

Thank you for new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g, appreciate you taking the time to do this. Been there myself, wishing you strength and for your mum, no pain.

What a boring episode tonight.
Teenage falling out/making up (Keira - yawn) and a highly contrived embarrassing conversation between Fallon and Lily.
I'd like to add that being vegan is not ridiculous. I'm not myself (like my cheese too much!) but have a family member who takes it seriously.

Thanks Gasp - sending love ♡

Checking in.
Wishing @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g strength and peace to her mother

Sorry to hear this @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g. your travels up country have become a part of this thread and I am sure we will all be thinking of you and the GaspMother. Wishing you both very strength in the coming days xx

I can’t bear the dynamic between Lizard and Fallon- it really is very Upstairs Downstairs. It’s excruciating. Fallon seems so far removed from the ballsy businesswoman she used to be and is very cowed in front of the Lizard who has deluded herself into thinking she is the Duchess of Devonshire and running Chatsworth. I like the social commentary that underpins their exchanges- it was (slightly heavy-handedly) reinforced by Fallon and Joelene’s discussion on whether J was the target audience for Cruck Barn activities.

Had Khalil given up becoming a vegan by the end of the episode? I was bored by his and K’s scenes and slightly tuned out but thought itt was very believable that a teen would for be a vegan for five minutes and give up at the sight of a chocolate brownie.

Thank you for the thread @gaspI hope you are able to get some sleep at the moment- even if it is very broken. I seem to remember at times like this there is a lot to be said for napping in the day if you can. Thinking of you.

Fabulous title, @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g!

Godspeed …

Sorry about your mum @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g .

New one here but I listen to the Archers since about the time Fallon told Harrison no babies and Lily finished with her older boyfriend.
Sorry for Lynda and surprised she isn't looking into the proof a bit more before excepting Montys blame, or Im just wishful thinking.
Not interested in the younger set ie Kahil and keria very boring and unbelievably written I think.
Whats up with Lily. She threw herself at Harrison and Im surprised she just stopped it at a kiss, she had him in her sights alright, and now she is so jumpy around Fallon. I hope Fallon finds out and slaps her face, even though she and Harrison have spilt sort of, and she should slap Harrison as well. That would make for some excitement, because Elizabeth would sack her straight away.

These observations are spot on! My brother gave up being a vegetarian when he and a friend went climbing in the Lake District and ran out of all food except bacon, IIRC. He was slightly older than Khalil then.

Thanks again, everybody. On a train. As is traditional, there has been a problem but I'm on my way now and thank goodness no ferries are involved these days.

Welcome, @AgentKim!

It’s a good point that Fallon’s new job comes with a carpet of eggshells. Apparently it will be ok to irritate Freddie (as his mother has no respect for him) but she’ll have to watch her step with Lily, and who knows how much further the net might spread? Maybe she’ll have to treat Vince with kid gloves too.

Actually, in ye olden days when there was some complexity to stories, Elizabeth would have faced some strong reaction from her brother for poaching Fallon from The Bull. That was lacking here.

AgentKim

Sorry for Lynda and surprised she isn't looking into the proof a bit more before excepting Montys blame, or Im just wishful thinking.

I'm sure it is wishful thinking but you're not alone.
Quite a few posters here were adamant it wasn't Monty and obviously didn't understand the science behind DNA evidence.
There's a book by Jodi Picolt called "Perfect Match" in which DNA profiling gets it wrong (I won't explain the plot in case you read it and I spoil it). Or Monty may have an identical twin that made his way to Ambridge...
But I think Lynda isn't looking into the proof more because, once she'd calmed down and considered things and had DNA evidence explained to her, she's a bright woman and understood the truth, no matter how unpleasant.

It sounds like your period of listening is the opposite of mine - we should get together and fill each other in on the gaps 😊

I might be misremembering but didn't the B & B guests say that Monty was found with blood on him?

Yes your right. Im sure someone said he might have got out and found the sheep already dead and was sniffing around them. But I expect it was Monty but I was hoping for a last minute reprieve for him and Lynda, but I dont think there will be one now.

I think it’s fairly clear that Monty dunnit, but I thought they were foreshadowing some sort of brain disease that had caused his change in character when he wouldn’t get out of the car at the fete. But maybe they forgot about it. Who knows these days.

the Lily-Harrison thing is the most ridiculous storyline and seems like a desperate stretch to create some actual drama. Has she ever expressed any interest in him at all?? And isn’t there quite an age gap? ‘You’re beautiful’ is quite forward and isn’t something I’d ever previously imagined anyone could say about Harrison - are we now supposed to believe that he’s been strutting around like an Adonis while all the Ambridge ladies go weak at the knees?

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g and sending love and light for your travels north and your mum’s onward journey.

Restless night for me and I must have started listening about 7 times on Sounds but kept nodding off. Says much for the calibre of the episode. Fallons ideas from the cruck barn sound tedious in the extreme.

Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g sending love and strength to you and your mum

Another excellent point. Kenton and Elizabeth are heard far too little. Both incredibly irritating characters and all the better for that. The sibling tensions in the Brookfield Archers are the most interesting thing about them, other than the real farming stories, on the odd occasion we get them now.

As a lifelong listener I love the Archers and its tales of everyday farming community life have got me through many traumatic periods but even I am finding it tedious at the moment and full of pointless nothing moments. I always appreciate an obvious public education script line, on occasion they've been toe curling but this tale of Monty has been badly done imo. To use a rescue Doberman to illustrate that a beloved pet can do such things was stupid, had it been a cockapoo for example it would have been better by far. I know many where I live and not only do their owners frequently not have a clue but the dogs themselves are absolute loons and will chase anything and kill it given half a chance.