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!

The writing is very up and down, isn't it? Martin G and Justin E are supposed to be elite business execs but come over as complete buffoons. I have contact with such people at work and that stereo type died out (if it ever really existed) decades ago. A serious Board Director might want to talk about his new car but definitely not its lumber support as a key selling point....

I've nothing useful to say as I've missed the last few episodes, but I hope a quote from TP may help a little:

It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.
I hope she had a good one. She can't have gone far wrong if she produced a Pratchett fan.

Brilliant.

PetulaDark
‘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?

When PC Burns (as he was in the cast-lists then) first arrived in Ambridge – and failed to solve the crime he'd been called in about, something he has been consistent about ever since unless he could arrest an Archer or had been taken by the hand and led to his criminal by an Archer – he gave a talk to the WI and they were all swooning over him.

I always thought of Fallon and Harrison as a handsome couple.

Couldn't Fallon have organised upcycling workshops and music events and the like at The Bull instead of having to kowtow to Lady Archer and her cruck barn?

So that’s clarified, then. Cash in hand from the car showroom + sick pay from Esme. He’s a proper Grundy …

Khalil is unbelievable in the sense of him being utterly unreal.

And the absolute nonsense about Monty had me gnashing my teeth. Utter twaddle, tripe, Coddswallop, etc.

Another wasted thirteen minutes of my life.

Lynda and Robert were not exemplary dog owners, they did not exercise control over Monty, and although I have forgotten the details of Scruff's demise he must have been off alone somewhere. Prepared to be corrected on that.

It will end in tears.

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? It has been referenced before - when he played Jesus in the mystery plays for instance. The problem is he just doesn't sound attractive which is a huge drawback for a radio drama when all we have to go on is his voice. It's not just his tone, it's also his delivery and his hugely exaggerated Lancashire accent (rather like Joy's comedy NE accent). Alan has a similar accent, but much more underplayed and consequently more attractive. It's been a problem for me ever since Harrison came on the scene and the reason why I've never believed in his relationship with Fallon. He doesn't sound sexy so I find its impossible to imagine that he is or that he is supposed to be.
Thanks for the new thread @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g - going above and beyond as ever in such difficult circumstances. Godspeed. Sending love and strength to both you and the GaspMother.

DeanElderberry
I have forgotten the details of Scruff's demise he must have been off alone somewhere

Scruff died of old age in the garden of the house where he lived, quietly going to sleep in the sun and being found by Lynda when she called him and he didn't respond.

It's true he was alone in the garden, but quite a lot of people do allow their dogs to be out in the garden unattended.

I do hope so, and I hope they're the tears of Amber and George.

I loathe this storyline of the rapid transformation of the scummy lowlife misogynistic George into a supposedly kind, loving, multitalented ( in car sales and farming) young man.

I heard a farmer once say that a sheep is a creature that wakes up in the morning and is surprised to find itself still alive. That is what Harrison's voice reminds me of.
keira's voice reminds me of the original whiney Pip.

I think theres quite a few characters who are supposed to be v attractive - Pip, Alice, Chris, Paul, Emma, Nic…. An unusual amount for a village in my opinion!

...hugely exaggerated Lancashire accent (rather like Joy's comedy NE accent). Alan has a similar accent, ...
Only Harrison is from Lancashire and the actor has a strong accent, and Alan's accent is a Yorkshire one. The Joy actor has a strong accent too.

@ExOptimist , don't worry, his true nature will come out in due course.

I feel disaster cascading towards George and Amber - just as it did when Ed’s involvement with Toe-rag Tim led to them losing the house they were about to buy. That poor baby will surely be born into a world of troubles.

@TottersBlankly ... one can only hope that you are right!

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g - what a difficult time in a life. I hope you manage together to your mum in time. It is a great privilege to be with someone when they die.

There best of luck Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g.

his hugely exaggerated Lancashire accent

Spend some time in Bolton or Bury and you'll find his accent isn't exaggerated at all. Not saying everyone there speaks so broadly but plenty of men and women do.

I'd love George to move out of farming and make something of himself in business.

I felt a little impatient with Amber - then remembered how discombobulated I was a hundred years ago when my medic boyfriend graduated and immediately started another degree in engineering.

I heard a farmer once say that a sheep is a creature that wakes up in the morning and is surprised to find itself still alive. That is what Harrison's voice reminds me of. Brilliant analogy. That is indeed exactly what he sounds like @FizzingAda.

@BeatriceBatchelor , I agree with you. I've spent time in Newcastle and Joy's accent would be quite mild there.
I've also spent time in Northumberland and the accent to the untrained ear sounds Geordie, but it really isn't. Ruth's accent is fine and not far from the actor's pleasant mild County Durham accent. The strange soothing voice annoys me as does her strange way of saying Archer as 'Arch-ah'

The accents that grated on me have been Kirsty's mother's and Natasha's mother's, although they are wrong for where the characters are currently based, but we don't know if they are actually from there.
Natasha's accent is wrong for where her parents live, but again, she might not be from there and I love her as a character.

LONG BORING REPLY NOT ABOUT THE ARCHERS, SCROLL PAST IF NOT INTERESTED

@TottersBlankly , I used to work with a software engineer who was from a family of doctors. He had qualified as a doctor then changed career paths. I also know a management accountant who had started at medical school and changed her mind.
She said she'd gone into medicine because she could, and realised it wasn't for her quite quickly, and that there had been pressure to continue with her course.

Update on the date
He responded positively to my suggestion of {nice town} but responded something like 'If we are going to walk around, can I suggest {his_town} instead, we can walk by the river'
I replied, that I preferred {nice town} because it is nicer and it's on the same river. Not heard back.
(In reality, where he suggested is nice but I don't really know {histown} other than I've been there plenty of times but always for a specific reason, e.g. a course or specialist shop (there's only one AFAIK). The town's shops aren't great and I don't know any pubs or bars there. As for the scenic walk, it might be tipping it down. I would not choose to go to {histown} as a bank holiday date, and I'd need to walk to {my-town} station, catch a train to {his-town} then walk from the station.
This would be pretty much the same amount of walking as from my house to {nice-town} .

I have now had a reply, about 13 hours later, '{nice-town} it is then. Can you do Monday instead of Sunday?'

Tempted to reply 'In theory, yes. but as it shouldn't be this complicated I'll just crack on with my weekend'. Obviously, he has a life and the only plans I have for the weekend is to probably mindlessly listen to The Archers again and again and waste hours procrastinating but I don't like feeling like this.

I'm not averse to regional accents in general, it's just that in a radio drama it feels so much more pronounced because that is literally all we have to go on. Ruth's mum was a case in point - professional Geordie, a mantle now taken up by Joy (and don't get me started on there being no explanation whatsoever about why she suddenly upped sticks and relocated to Ambridge). Similarly with Harrison, I feel his accent has become even more pronounced since his move to Ambridge where in reality a move often softens the edges especially since he is not living in a household of Lancastrians. Leonard has a distinctive Yorkshire accent, but sounds more natural and less forced to my ears, likewise Natasha who sounds Welsh, but not like a caricature. I think my point is that the actors don't need comedy accents to make them stand out - lots of characters have distinctive voices that make them instantly recognisable (even when performing in other productions!) I also think that if the SWs want to indicate a character has sex appeal they need to cast someone with a sexy voice (bring me the voice of Anthony Head RIP) David Beckham would have got nowhere if we only ever heard him on the radio for instance.