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How are we going to cope without The Archers?

(205 Posts)
Kate54 Fri 01-May-20 19:01:41

Maybe it’s the lockdown but The Archers has become very important to me! The news that we’ll be ‘treated’ to re-runs of past storylines for the next three weeks or so is very bad news indeed, particularly as the inevitable disaster of the Philip/Kirsty nuptials has yet to unfold.
Except there won’t be any nuptials, will there?!
I think I know Philip’s true (evil, obviously) character will be revealed - as it surely must, please God - but do any of you have any ideas? I know a lot of you couldn’t care less but humour those of us who do!

mcem Fri 08-May-20 21:00:04

I've just recently been listening to R4extra's Home Front. Not a substitute for TA but a vast amount of material if you get into the format and enjoy ongoing stories.
I've quite enjoyed the archive episodes of TA.

Franbern Fri 08-May-20 17:42:33

Find it strange not having to tune in every weekday (and Sunday) at 7 pm. Not interested in a selection of archived episodes. Would not have minded if they had run some archived, but a running story.
So , for time being will give this a miss. Will put in my diary to remember to re-start on 25th May.

Alishka Fri 08-May-20 11:25:19

Anyone remember when Joe killed his ferrets when it was thought that the Grungies would move to Meadow Rise? A Masterclass in acting, that epi was.

NfkDumpling Tue 05-May-20 14:08:06

May 25th. I can manage until then.

Puzzler61 Mon 04-May-20 19:38:50

I must tell my best friend - she’ll be a devastated as an ardent fan of the “ everyday story of country folk”.

Greeneyedgirl Mon 04-May-20 19:23:40

Yes it's back 25th May. They are running archive episodes sad until then, which I don't think I'll bother with. ie Kirsty &Tom's wedding.

Hope I can survive for a few weeks without TA.

It will be interesting to see how they will catch up with current life suzie.

NfkDumpling Mon 04-May-20 06:34:39

I didn't realise they were actually stopping it! ? I thought they'd cut one episode a week in order to get into the swing of recording remotely. It is coming back - isn't it? ??

BradfordLass73 Mon 04-May-20 01:02:39

Like garnet25 I've been listening since it began. When I came out to New Zealand in 1973, Mum (still back in Bradford) recorded it on cassette tapes, added her own bits of news and posted it out to me.

I lost touch, not having a radio, for a few years but picked it up again, delighted to hear familiar voices.

Tim Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland aka David Archer, sells off old scripts for charity and I have a couple.

suziewoozie Sun 03-May-20 23:34:38

I’ve found the last few weeks of listening really frustrating because of the disconnect with COVID reality. I wonder how they are going to join the dots when they start again? We’ll need a big catch up on how all the different characters have been impacted. And the Philip/Gavin story will lose momentum. I think they made the wrong decision to carry on regardless really. So I’ve actually found it’s a relief that it’s finished now for a bit ( won’t bother with the repeats)

MawB Sun 03-May-20 23:31:49

I’ll be sorry not to see how the storyline with Gavin ”gaslighting” Roy develops.
What is he hoping to gain from it? Does he think Blake has told all?
Shall I ever know?

AllotmentLil Sun 03-May-20 23:06:09

Ghastly Gavin must get his comeuppance - it’ll be our reward for not having the Archers for weeks/months.
So happy for Ed and Emmer.

phoenix Sun 03-May-20 10:36:03

Waiting for the Kirsty / Philip thing to be resolved will be sooo frustrating!!

And not knowing if ghastly Gavin will get his comeuppance...........

Craftycat Sun 03-May-20 10:24:47

Life without The Archers!! I cannot believe it!
My first memory is seeing my Mum crying her eyes out over Grace Archer dying trying to save her horses from the fire in the stables. I was 2 apparently!
Mum never missed it ( or Mrs Dale's Diary) & although I had a good few years when I didn't listen to it once I was married with kids of my own I found it again & have been hooked ever since.
Dishing up dinner will not be the same any more.
And they are stopping Corrie!

LullyDully Sun 03-May-20 08:21:58

Good for you ramblingrose but you wouldn't deny me my choice of listening to The Archers without feeling gullable surely.

Ramblingrose22 Sun 03-May-20 00:23:21

I used to enjoy the Archers but I stopped listening when they killed off Nigel Pargeter and we had weeks of hearing Lizzie's sadness and David feeling guilty etc etc. It seemed that even the writers had realised that the stories had become too predictable!

I understand why longstanding listeners feel they will miss it so it would be worth looking for other things that you enjoy that you could use the time for instead.

Call me a cynic but I realised a long time ago that soap operas are all the same relly. They deliberately draw you in and all of them simply regurgitate or swop their story lines with other soap operas, just switching the names, accents and locations and updating the language.

Tbh, I haven't missed any of them since I stopped giving them my attention.

garnet25 Sun 03-May-20 00:06:18

Having listened since it started, yes I will miss it. Just hope all the loose ends are tied up and that they find Kathy!

Kate54 Sat 02-May-20 23:14:08

That’s OK! I just got into it because it always seemed to be on while I was cooking. Some of it is pretty inane but occasionally there’s a story line which is genuinely gripping. The Helen/Rob gaslighting story is an example - helped raise the profile of this sort of abuse.
I still couldn’t explain all the family relationships though!

ninathenana Sat 02-May-20 09:25:02

Hand on heart, I have never listened to a single episode of The Archers.

Kate54 Sat 02-May-20 09:20:28

Brilliant!

BradfordLass73 Sat 02-May-20 06:56:24

I would like a big, tough Horrobin to come along and beat the living bejasus out of Gavin.
Then the cops will get wise to Phillip and his campaign of starve and blackmail and he'll be dragged off to pokey.

Blake will be offered a job at Grey Gables which will be saved by community funding....

Kate54 Fri 01-May-20 22:51:41

I think it was Roy’s phone and he’s Kirsty’s best friend which makes it even worse. When vile Gavin put the phone back into Roy’s cricket bag at nets, there were two witnesses and I think they’ll be the key to the revelation. May have been Kenton and Harrison......

LullyDully Fri 01-May-20 21:43:08

I will miss it, a life times habit. I did miss 6 years while we lived abroad. Now 7.00 is my time until 7.15. Come back soon.

silverlining48 Fri 01-May-20 20:59:41

We listen regularly and will miss it to, though it ended on a happy note for one couple but poor Kirsty ..... she really doesn’t deserve it. Oh and I think it might be Gavin messing with poor Wills head....did Gavin make the call on Wills stolen/ mislaid phone cancelling the wedding DJ? We will have to be patient.

Galaxy Fri 01-May-20 20:52:22

Yes I am unreasonably sad about it.

Maggiemaybe Fri 01-May-20 20:17:06

I listen to the omnibus every Sunday, usually while reading the Observer and claiming I can multitask. It's a tradition in this house, but I never know what's going on (though I tend to prick my ears up at catastrophes and deaths). If I hadn't read that we're going to have classic episodes for the next few weeks, I'd probably never even have noticed.