The Archers

Thanks*Katy*, became clearer last night. Must admit to only half listening these days, such poor scripts and so boring most of the time,. So, Brad has sprung into existence fully formed and a brilliant teenager, never mentioned previously by his Mother. At the same time, George has reincarnated into something pretty nasty - nothing like who he was named for. Is this some sort of deliberate attempt to introduce younger characters???

Brad is Tracey Horobin’s son, never heard from before but apparently a sound lad who’s heading for A levels and a brilliant scientific career.

Okay, please someone.....WHO is Brad?? I am confused.

Was George always so obnoxious? His bullying of Brad and insulting comments about his grandfather Eddie and Oliver this evening revealed him as a greedy and thoroughly unpleasant young man.

Thought it showed a lack of imagination on the writers’ part. As did Natasha’s scan visit - did we really need all the detail?

What is the general opinion of Steph, Beth and the Break-up party? It all seems to be getting silly and I am seriously thinking of giving up on TA!

Tracy did talk about how she is just about managing and would be on the breadline if she didn’t get another job . They’ve mentioned labour shortages on the farm ( but haven’t blamed Brexit).

Slightly lost the plot here - haven't listened for a while - does Oliver live with the Grundys? And how is Cathy suddenly on the scene and apparently the centre of everyone's universe?

They are already setting characters up for the "cost of living crisis". They will play the long game building on the established characters. I am looking forward to hearing the characters develop.

I had been listening to The Archers since childhood and was a self-confessed Archers addict before the lockdown soliloquies which I disliked. I stopped listening at that point so I don’t know the current storylines. I was both a fan and a lighthearted ridiculer via Mustardland and Twitter Omnibus Tweetalongs.

One of my criticisms of long-running TV and radio dramas is that they are often insular to the point of unrealistic. I imagined Ambridge, in terms of work and love, as having a deep moat around it guarded by a locked drawbridge. So having Debbie Aldridge go to work abroad added some much-needed realism. It may have been done to accommodate Tamsin Greig’s acting career but, in terms of the the long-term story arc it did demonstrate that this was a farming family with business interests beyond Home Farm and local contracting work.

As for Ukraine, I believe the episodes are written and recorded months ahead of broadcast. Occasionally they will edit to introduce a few lines about a topical event but by and large the writers steer clear of politics and world events.

Will Ukraine start to be mentioned soon. Episodes are usually written and often recorded several weeks in advance. I know t that they sometimes, 'add in' a quick few words to do with something which happens, but may have hoped that the current war would have been ended before they needed to include it.

I do listen every evening - not sure why - I have very little sympathy or empathy with any of the characters. But, yes, I am pleased it is returning to Friday evenings next month.

Nothing has been mentioned (and probably far more relevant for many listeners) about the huge increases in living costs in this country. Everywhere I go I hear people complaining about their fuel bills, and come across so many people really frightened as to how they are going to cope. So, hopefully, the SW's will catch up on that also pretty soon.

Think they are just so terrified of including anything that may be too political. So, except for the very occasional passing reference, Brexit has not been mentioned, whilst the impact on farming communities has been enormous. Hardly 'An everyday story of country folk' any more!!!

Poor value Farzanah what on earth do you mean by that?

I think we are discussing from different perspectives and it's simply not worth continuing.

I still think Debbie should be got rid of DaisyAnne as she is poor value. Ukraine hasn’t even been mentioned on the Archers, which would have brought Debbie to the fore I imagine.
They tend to keep away from topical subjects. Of course I’m not trying to devalue your relatives history, Debbie’s not real!

……….Sorry should have posted a warning before I said that ?

good news re. six episodes in June

It doesn’t fit into my listening time, too many other things going but was an avid listener in the era of Dan and Doris along with Joe Grundy. When it really was used as a reminder to farmers that now was the time to plant potatoes or barley.

Good to hear its still popular.

eGJ

SIX episodes back in June! HURRAH ?

That is good news eGJ

Although I don't like Peggy as a person, I do agree that she brings a very particular dimension to the stories. I knew she must be late 90s, as she met Jack (Archer) during the War when she was in the ATS. She has always brought that 'outsider' perspective. Probably because it is the same actress (I think there was another for a few years, but June Spencer was the original) I think Peggy has remained very consistent. You can especially trace a lot of her character to those difficult years of coping with Jack's illness / absence and bringing the children up whilst running the pub. In fact, I think that dynasty more interesting than the Brookfield lot.

SIX episodes back in June! HURRAH ?

It's historically very common for farming families to spread abroad. We can see that Brookfield cannot support all the children of the farm with jobs. This has always been true. Large families would send a son abroad to work and then buy cheap land in the countries of the Empire. Another son or cousin would then join them and work building up the new farm. He would save and then buy land and the whole process would begin all over again.

In my family history, we have "cousins" in Canada, America, South Africa and Australia all started by farming families. I am sure this is now modernised with family members going into none farming or farming-related jobs. Of course, families of 13, like my grandfather's, are very rare now So, please don't suggest you kill off those who are not appearing. It feels like you are killing off my family.

Did you know Hungary shares 135 km of border with Ukraine? Debbie may yet become an important character again.

Brian mentioned her when looking at the Home Farm partnership problems that have arisen because of Alice’s pending divorce. However, I’m sure I spotted Debbie on a fam when in Hungary a couple of years ago?!

Farzanah

Yes why hasn’t Debbie been in touch??
Why on earth do they keep her in the script, is it because she is a well known actress I wonder? They should kill her off.

Do you kill all your relatives, who live and work overseas, off? That's what happens in families and the script writers of The Archers are not ones to go for a five minute thrill.

Go Kathy!

Yes why hasn’t Debbie been in touch??
Why on earth do they keep her in the script, is it because she is a well known actress I wonder? They should kill her off.

Just looking ahead. What changes will Alice's divorce settlement make to the Aldridges, I wonder? And why hasn't Debbie been in touch? Hungary (where she is supposed to be) shares a border with Ukraine. They could, at least, refer to a few phone calls.

eGJ

I mean Grey Gables being sold and all those redundancies

I had expected changes but more on the lines of could the coffee shop keep going.

If this changes lives around us it will be reflected on the Archers. I suppose some hotels have had to rethink what they are going to do and it will allow them to follow some of the difficulties people, in general, are feeling. Like the characters, could we ever have guessed we would live though such times?