Archers thread #203: It's Affair Cop! 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 would love to attend Pip's wedding with Natasha and the starry twins, 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.)

Starting the new thread a bit early as I'm not sure I'll have much internet access for the next few days. Fill up the old one first. And then - over to you!

(Credit for the thread title goes to @TripleSulko.)

Wild applause for the actor who plays Chelsea, I thought she was excellent this evening.

I must say though, my experience of living rurally in a big storm is that you're never more than five feet from a man with a chainsaw who will clear the road - sometimes, terrifyingly, by the light of a phone held between his teeth. So the emergency services should get through okay.

All fun and games until someone loses a limb.

I really hope Elizabeth sees Chelsea right after this and gives her a room/van pitch for her business non gratis. More likely that she’ll blame Chelsea for dragging Vince out in the first place - see also her blaming David for Nigel’s poor choice to scramble up on the roof.

All I can think is that any suffering inflicted on Vince is recompense for the awful way he behaved to Chelsea a few years ago.

Well done Chelzz...😂

Remind me what he did? Have no memory of that at all!

Vince told everyone in the Bull that Chelsea was pregnant by Freddy, because he was angry that Freddy had just finished with Vince's daughter.
He was very spiteful and really embarrassed Chelsea who later had a termination. It was quite sad at the time, but Chelsea has got on with her life splendidly.

Vince told everyone in the Bull that Chelsea was pregnant by Freddy, because he was angry that Freddy had just finished with Vince's daughter.

Not Freddie, Ben. (And why is there such enthusiasm on here for a Freddie/Chelsea marriage? Simply would not happen. Freddie’s not a complete idiot. Although Widderbeth rolling around biting chunks out of the Sheraton in her rage might be quite entertaining.)

Very disappointing there has been a chance to kill off Chelsea and they didn’t take it.

Yes, it was Ben, not Freddie! And Vince also called in the loan Brookfield had so stupidly accepted from him - again, in retaliation for the break-up of his daughter’s relationship with Ben.

Speaking of which - I’m sure I heard Beth’s name recently? In relation to the wedding. It made me suddenly hopeful that she and Ben might … find they’ve resolved their issues through increased age and maturity.

I am now fully settled on Chelsea + Josh. It’s going to happen.

Were I the Editor, I would have juggled the past week’s scripts around to make last night’s episode “ the big one” they were hoping that 6 million would tune in for.

Having had all her hairdressing kit stolen before the County Fair, it seems unlikely that Chelsea would abandon it at the bungalow. Great acting, though, so I’ll let the SWs off.

I am still hoping that Josh takes over Esmee’s farm and he diversifies it beyond recognition. Whether that is with Chelsea, I don’t mind, but let’s hear more of the cast members who don’t sound like they are reading from a script.

It was Ben not Freddy but, yes, this was unforgiveable behaviour which seems to have been forgotten.

As far as I can remember, aside from a night of rumpy pumpy with a lass at the Isle of Wight Festival a decade ago, Freddie has been asexual for all of his 26 years. Which is a bit odd, considering that he is probably the most eligible bloke in Borsetshire.

I wonder why they have left him single?

Still don’t understand all the awestruck praise for Elizabeth. She runs a well established, luxury wedding venue. She has staff - presumably trained professionals - to do everything. She wasn’t polishing silver and whisking cream herself. For 200 people.

Would Lily really have spent the evening putting out Wet Floor signs?

It’s unfathomable - unless they’re genuinely writing an asexual, definitely no offspring story. I suspect they’ve just forgotten him.

And it’s so sad to think of. He must feel so lonely and disconnected if it isn’t a situation of his choosing. I know incarceration knocked him back - but, as you say, @Madcats, he’s the heir to Lower Loxley; I imagine he could still have had his pick of eligible young women.

How will Ben feel if Chelsea and Josh get together?

I'm another who has never understood how everyone seems to have forgotten how badly Vince behaved when Josh and Beth split up.

It would be … knotty, @Gladtimeslady !

But while Chelsea seemed to quite like Ben, I’m not sure he ever had any feelings for her beyond friendship. And Ben’s so sensible …

Josh might experience a moment’s hesitation - but no more than that.

And as I’ve always said - it’s what the show is about: manoeuvring people into closer proximity with Archers. Horrobins woven into the Brookfield (Meadow Farm?) Archer dynasty would be incredibly poetically satisfying.

He did plenty - phoned for ambulance and fire service, gave up his clothes to keep Chelsea and Vince warm and dry, phoned Ruth and others, helped to keep Vince conscious. What else could heve have done, realistically?

Wasn't Josh enthusing about AI in farming last week? Are they clearing a path for him to get back together with Esme and become the modern farming whizzkids of the future? The fact that that will annoy David and Pip intensely would be a massive bonus.

Agree completely. It seems very odd.

I guess being in prison and then working for an abbatoir isn’t the most appealing…. But you’d think the Pargeter family would have social connections across the county as well as the Archer connections in the farming world.

I sometime think the scriptwriters try to treat everyone as if there is a flatter social plane than is realistic…

Where did Freddie go to school?

Too much Ruth and Ben talking whilst eating. 🤮

Yay for Chelsea.

I don't think his time in prison would be an obstacle to a relationship. It wasn't for a crime of violence; he can explain the drugs as a youthful mistake. Provided that someone can see that he isn't using drugs now, and he's open that he regrets what happened, I don't think it should be a problem for it.

One of my cousins went to prison following a drunken pub brawl, aged about 20. He completely turned himself around - gave up alcohol entirely, went to AA, has always been open about what happened, and, actually, he's garnered a lot of respect for it.

Freddie has put it so far behind him that his sister is comfortable dating the policeman responsible for putting him into jail in the first place!

Felpersham Cathedral School, with Lily. Dan, Shula's son, also went there. It's a fee-paying day school, academically selective enough that there was some doubt whether Freddie would get in. At 16 he and Lily left and enrolled in Borchester FE College. Not sure Freddie stayed long enough to get any A levels.

New thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/5591016-archers-thread-204-is-vince-mince-discuss-the-archers-here

Relatively calm and told her what needed to happen.
Some people are good at being calm in a crisis. I'm one but pretty useless otherwise.

Anyone else amazed that Ruth deigned to phone Josh back? She only rang back because it was Oor Peep's wedding.

while Vince is recovering from his injuries, Freddie steps in to run Casey Meats- guaranteed.

I am now fully settled on Chelsea + Josh. It’s going to happen.
I said it first.

I wonder why they have left him single? Because he is related to all the young females apart from Chelsea, Amber and the Buttons. There's Mere but she's in Newcastle.
Zainab is not looking outside her faith but Freddie could convert.

If I were young and in a minimum wage job in an abattoir, an eligible bachelor due to inherit a stately home would have seemed a very attractive proposition.

I missed your 🔮@Every1ElseInKnowsley. I bow to your superior prediction skills!

Well sure but having him come back from Patagonia for it all to end in Vince’s death anyway seems a bit much. If they’d wanted a story about avoidable deaths caused by ambulance delays, anyone happening along would have done the job just as well.

IMO it’s going to be all about “Josh saves the day!”