DumTeeDum - A show about BBC Radio's 'The Archers'

Mammoth Mantle

This week’s podcast is presented by Stephen and Jacqueline.

We hear from:

· Tony in Japan, who is happy that Roy has found happiness;

· Ros who was pleased that somebody actually wanted to take on one of Lynda’s tasks;

· Glyn, who has suspicions about Joy’s past;

· Jade with thoughts on George’s love of animals;

· And finally Gillian, who has been thinking about prison;

Plus: we have the Week in Ambridge by Suey, a roundup of the Dumteedum Facebook group from Vicky and the Tweets of the Week from Theo.

Please call into the show using this link:

www.speakpipe.com/dumteedum

Or send us a voicenote via WhatsApp on: +44 7810 012 881 (07810

012 881 if in the UK) – Open the WhatsApp app, key in the number and click on the microphone icon.

Or email us at dumteedum@mail.com

How to leave a review on Apple podcasts: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/podcasts/pod5facd9d70/mac

Feedback on BBC Radio 4: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1WbP92b6YbpP9j4mwwbtc9Q/contact-us

***

Also Sprach Zarathustra licence

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Duration:: 54m
Broadcast on:: 30 Jun 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from Noom. Like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am. But Noom worked for me. Get your personalized plan today at Noom.com. Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary. This summer, Instacart presents famous summer flavors come into your front door. Or pool. Or hotel. Your grocery delivery has arrived, sir. Now it's faster than room service. No violence in the lobby. Seriously? Anyway, sit back, relax and get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes, starring your favorite snacks, drinks and more. This is a Roy Field Brown production. Find others on Apple Podcasts. [MUSIC] This is a Roy Field Brown production. Find others on Apple Podcasts. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] This is Dumpty Dum, a weekly podcast about the archers and the goings-on of Ambridge. I'm Stephen Bowden, and I really don't think we'll be needing the ukuleles. And I'm Jacqueline Beto. Who like Roy? I like to think that I'm hot on details. And then there's you, our lovely Dumpty Dumbers, buying up all the sports drinks in the shop like multi-colored locusts. Welcome to Dumpty Dum, a place to talk about the things that are happening in our favorite Borsachia village. This week's scripts were written by Liz John on Wednesday's episode was outstanding with both the tribute to Roy and Linda handing over her baton to Joy. Coming up, we have calls from Tony in Japan who is happy that Roy has found happiness. Ross, who is pleased that somebody actually wanted to take on one of Linda's tasks? Glenn, who has suspicions about Joy's past. Jade, with thoughts on George's love of animals. And finally Gillian, who has been thinking about prison. Plus we have the Week in Ambridge by Sui, a roundup of the Dumpty Dum Facebook group from Vicki, and Tweets of the Week from Theo. But before we start talking too much, let's remind ourselves of what happened over the last seven days with a roundup of the Week in Ambridge from Sui. Minding with you, people eat Sui, go in and out here with a roundup of this Week in Ambridge. I found myself singing a clash song this week. You'll know the one. Should I stay or should I go? If I stay, there will be trouble. If I go, there will be double. All inspired by Barclays, inam and departure from Ambridge. It was on, and the money was transferred into all of his bank account. Then everyone in the Grunty family seemed to have an idea about what to spend the money on. So it was off again. Options included the tree surgery business, a new van, or a family holiday, and then editing it, hit the nail on the head. Mortney pulled trees and a side-apress. George agreed with the apple trees, but then said the rest of the money should be spent on a marble headstone for Joe's grave, which I think he's still turning in at Barclays departure. One in the eye for Bert Fry, who presumably has a plain stone one, together with his freighter. So it was on again. Barton beaded a farewell poodle around the village. Multiple people failed to get a decent picture of George and Barclays. Perhaps they shouldn't have got Justin with his fancy phone. Even the law of a bunch of carrots couldn't keep him, especially if he's not allowed to eat them. Poor Susan shared a funny week baking strawberry tarts, philosophising and having a carrots rejected. They will just have to do their best to help the whole family, and that may involve letting Alice get to rock bottom. Alice is refusing to see anybody, but Adam has a key in his spine on her and sorting a post, so that's alright. And Roy is staying in Bulgaria, which seems a fitting end for the character. I hope that Brexit will not skip her things. So, Greg Abel's went into full-on crisis mode, with the emergency protocols that Artil put in place and acted. Our mum and the kid in, they don't exist. Oliver went into freefall, offered a leather job as a paid position, as his assistant, until she goes to university. She agreed, once he signed off her coursework, which he seemed determined to swerve. There was a video sent off for Roy, which sadly we did not get to hear. I'm imagining the two of them eating jammy yogurt and cabbage vine leaves, which I remember having been severe. Harrison and Chris did some male bonding, with some shuffles and coughing and looking away, not quite sure what to say. As they circle around the miscarriage, they're not guilty plea, etc. George turned up with a veg box, then scarpered when they started talking about the not guilty plea. Joy and Linda limbered up for a prize fight over the running of the village fate. Lindy Bottome is not running it, but still wanted to share the benefit of her experience with Joy. Joy has plenty of ideas and has already full steam ahead, which earned her an extra snell sniff. The Stables has a new temporary manager, Carl Otter, starting on new week's time, and a problem trying to wrangle social media. Emma has been online, saying that Alice could have been drunk to take him writing lessons. Justin is going to sort that. Oh, do you? Lindy and Miranda are never going to be BFFs best friends forever, but they bonded over a cup of skinny latte, and full-fact cappuccino, which Albert had extra chocolate sprinkles on for Lindy. Brian is beside himself with worry. He spent yesterday trying to get her into a rehab centre, or get a place ready for her. Lillian promises to keep Alice's job open for as long as it takes her to get better. Susan, it was a bit of a third wheel at the table, so I did most partly out. So let's wave farewell to Barthelby, and have the most excellent week, everyone. I hope it's a good one. [Music] Thank you for that, Sui. So, Jacqueline, how has your week been? I think I probably sum it up in one word, crazy. I have not stopped all week. As I said last week, it's the end of term, as in a school term, but also it's the end of term for all clubs and things like that. Plus, there's been a lot of council work, plus we're building up to the first round of the equivalent of a general election on Sunday, so there's been all this, but we've got big plans that have been given the go-ahead for a tourist attraction on our land over the lake, Passafel Imalayan. I don't know what we call it in English, it's like a walkway. I think it goes nowhere, basically, but you walk out and you can walk over the lake and you walk in the woods on the other side, and then you can come back, and it's going to all go from here. So, it's been funded by the district and the department and nationally, because we're an area of touristic development. It's a big thing, and lack girlida, we're the community's base, and we actually call the commune of girlida. And when it's just one little part of it is very much in the eye of the local authorities to boost it, because it's the big tourist attraction. There we go, so I've been full on with that. Old people's meals, the lot. How about you, Stephen, have you had a calm week? It's been a hot week. Yeah, hot here, as well, yeah. My couch to 5K has reached the point where each session seems to be a 25-minute run. I think it'll turn into a sort of 28-minute run next week and 30 minutes after that. And running, certainly on Tuesday, it was very, very hot, and I was completely knackered by the end of it, but Friday's run went a little bit better, and I'm hoping tomorrow's will also go better than that. You don't run every day. It's every other day, is it? It's three times a week, so I normally do it Friday, Sunday, and Tuesday, but I can always do it on Wednesday if Tuesday doesn't work. Yeah, so it's going well? It is going well, definitely. And in between that, I've been going for long walks, also to generally help improve my fitness and so forth. So anywhere from 12 to 20 kilometres... Up and over the hills, around 10. Oh, you have a hilly area. You live in the hilly areas, too, don't you? Tonight, I wish you were here to in San Gwen this weekend, because we have our annual sponsored San Gwen Walk this evening, which starts from six o'clock, and it's a raised fund for restoring a chapel. And you go along and you pay your eight euros or whatever it is, 14 euros, sorry. 14 euros. And then you have an aperitif. And then you walk three or four kilometres, and then you have your starter. And then you walk three or four kilometres, and then you have a gallette saussis, which is very much a local speciality. And then you walk about another five kilometres, then you have your dessert, and your coffee, and you guess glasses of wine, or cider, or whatever, with each step. In fact, it's a fun evening, especially as it's supposed to be a very beautiful, calm evening like it was last year. So we don't do as many kilometres as you, but we certainly enjoy them. That does sound fun. I'll have to visit San Gwen at some point. In June. June's the time to come, Stephen. Otherwise we're a bit dead. A bit late for that this year, but there's always next year. Yeah, indeed. You'd be very welcome. Yeah, that's probably quite enough about us. Let's get on to the important bit, which is you, our lovely call, the rinderers. And first up, we're going to have Tony. Hello, Tiger. Hello, Jacqueline and Stephen. This is Tony in Japan, calling in for the second time in one month. And like a lot of people outside the UK, I had immense troubles in downloading Monday night episode of the Arcters. I do hope that is simply a glitch. At the BBC's end and has been overcome by the time I try and download the next episode, we'd hate for it to become region restricted. Given the fact there are so many international fans of the Arcters around the world. But after I was able to download it and listen to the episode, I felt that I needed to reply with immediate effect, as Oliver said, due to the fact that we now know that Roy will not be returning to Gray Gables that he has handed in his notice and will be remaining in Bulgaria with a lovely Lexi. A few weeks ago, I did suggest, rather than predict, that Roy be retired given the passing of the actor who voiced Roy being Ian Pepperall. And I know that that was a suggestion that didn't meet with everybody's approval, but on the other hand, I think it's a brave decision for all of the producers and the writers of the Arcters to take. And I do think it is a nice way of handling not only the passing of Ian Pepperall, but Roy as a character, having experienced lots of different and difficult love affairs, he's now able to be with the one he loves. So I'll leave it there. Thanks for listening once again. Bye for now. Thanks for that, Tony. Yeah, it was a glitch on Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I'd listen to the previous evening's Arcters. What a panic when you can't get it. And usually, if it doesn't appear on sound, you can usually find it via the website or something like that. It wasn't available anywhere. And more concerning for those who didn't follow the long conversations we had on Facebook about it, was that it actually was saying on some things, this item is not available. But on others, it was saying, this item can only be listened to inside the UK or is not available outside the UK. So the panic was absolutely profound for those who listened from abroad. Of course, it was the office junior who had pushed the wrong button on Monday night and they corrected it. But I think a sigh of relief by 9.30 on Tuesday morning when we managed to get it. So, yeah, I know what you mean, Tony. It was not a nice glitch. Roy, now it's very interesting. I'm glad he's found love in Bulgaria as well. This is settling there. I think it's completely unrealistic as a storyline because it should be coming back any day now because you're not allowed to stay in Europe more than 90 days out of every 180 if you are not residents. So he'll have to come back at some point, but that will be whitewashed, won't it? I think the post-Brexit Europe stories need a bit more research in the archers, basically. Yes, he could have applied for a temporary visa, which I think would have given him. You have to apply from the UK. You can't apply from the UK. It would have given him three to six months, which I think he could have kept renewing and eventually, assuming that he was able to support himself and met various checks, he could apply for a proper permanent residence. But he'd have to go back to the UK and apply from outside. And of course, it wasn't just his address book, which he left at Grey Gables, but it's all his belongings in will of whom. In the house, yeah, yeah. So it's all a bit odd and there's been no discussion yet. So it will come up with what that means for Kirsty and for Will of Farm. It may be that he's saying, "Well, for the time being, nothing changes. You keep paying your rent and you live there by yourself." But at some point, if he's going to be permanently in Bulgaria, he's going to have to sell Will of Farm, I'd imagine, in order to support himself. Yeah, exactly. I would have thought so. And also, Kirsty, she's not in a high-powered job. Paying the rent on the bills by herself is going to be awkward for her. So, yeah, that's a story that lots of implications. But I remember a few months ago when we first heard that he was talking to Lexi a lot. We talked about, "Would you go there?" And I know you had a very definite view that it would be a poor thing for him to go and stay. Didn't you, because of how important he is to connecting other characters? Yes, and I think that Grey Gables is going to be a difficult place to have storylines running through. If the only people there are Mick, who is only really suitable for rude mechanical-type storylines, Oliver and Lily. Yeah. That's about it. Oh, and Brad, but again, not really. Well, but it's off to the university. Surely he's waiting for his aid in other results now. Yes. So, I don't know what it means for Grey Gables. I think that a lot of people will come to miss Roy as a device, apart from anything else, for having conversations and things going on at Grey Gables. And how did you feel Oliver came across this week? I find it slightly ironic, because when I re-listened, I'd just been watching part of the debate with Trump and Grey Gables. Certainly he couldn't remember his name either. And Biden and Trump. And in fact, Oliver came across a bit like Joe Biden did in some of the scenes where he forgot where he was going. And I know Oliver isn't quite as old as Joe Biden, but there was a parallel there of an elderly man out of his depth with the administration that he has to do. He needed the girl on work experience to help him re-jig his computer so that he had the whole of the spreadsheet on, getting embroiled in all those rotors and things. I think it's a sign that Oliver is out of his depth, masterfully. Is this a sign, though? Is this a pointer that perhaps Ardiil will come back? I don't know whether Ardiil will come back, but somebody needs to step in, because Oliver wanted to walk away from Grey Gables when he brought the other investors in, and now he's back where he was. But with a bigger, flashier hotel and fewer stars. Exactly. I'm also a bit confused about this idea that the margins are wrong, because nobody just margins. I don't think when you print spreadsheets you have margins. It was the print area that was probably wrongly set. That's one of those technical things that Lily could obviously sort out. But when you mention Oliver wanting to walk away and one of the reasons he sold, so his massive share of Grey Gables brings us to the big question, "Who the hell are they? Who are the people?" Yes, we still don't know who the investors are. They have been very mysterious. They have been there. I think they showed up for a few events, but we've never heard them talk. We don't know their names or anything like that. No. But that's one of the many missing people within Ambridge, girls and so on. The girls, yeah. Go back to the girls again. Yeah, thank you for your call, Tony. That was a very good starting point. We're in a little conversation this week. Next up we have Ros. Hello, Stephen and Jackie and all at Dumpty Dum. It was from South Wales. I just wanted to comment on Wednesday's episode, which I've just listened to. And I really liked the after the video call scene, which was a lovely tribute to the actor who played Roy. As well as really neatly wrapping up things for the character of Roy. And I also like the idea of him handing the bat on onto Lily. I can sort of foresee some quite nice dramatic episodes. As Lily eventually becomes manager of "Grava Gables", possibly not for a couple of years. But then is, if you like, there's great gables versus lower Loxley with her mum. I think that has his promise. I like the idea. And the other thing I really loved in that last night's episode was the fact that for one, somebody actually wanted to do one of Linda's jobs and the idea of Joy taking over the fate. I think it's a great one. She has hidden depths, Joy. So there you are. That's my comment about last night's episode. Thanks a lot for all your comments. I do enjoy listening to Dumpty Dum. Okay, bye. Thank you for that, Ros. And yes, I thought Wednesday's episode was absolutely brilliant in both halves, starting with the second half, which was the farewell to Roy. I thought that was done really well. The only thing that just didn't ring quite true was Freddie turning up having bought some Benetza from a delicatessen in Borchester, because I don't think I have ever seen Benetza on sale anywhere. I haven't actually looked out for a specialist Bulgarian shop, but I think that you'd have to be a specialist Bulgarian shop in order to sell that. They're just not a very common form of pastry. And so I don't really believe that you'd just be able to pick them up in Borchester. It's a sort of thing in one made, isn't it? If you're Bulgarian. Yes, I've got a recipe. It's a filo pastry and cheese. Yeah. And you roll up little sausages of filo pastry and then you put them into a round pie dish and bake that. So you've got this sort of spiral of little cheese things rolled up in filo pastry. We do something very similar with filo pastry and cheese and pesto and bits and pieces. And bits and pieces with croissants that make croissants. So a version of a European snack. Yes. And the cheese is very Eastern European. It's a bit like Georgian. That's salty. Yeah. Things which a lot of the Georgian signature dishes are great. I think it was a nice touch bringing Freddy in at the end there with the basket of goodies and the little messages, especially the one to Kirsty. Yes. It was a lovely scene. Was it that? That episode, Wednesday as well, where they brought in all the anxiety about the next Thursday and the general election with Hillary Noakes and her yoga class. I felt like they'd anticipated something and perhaps was a little timely bit in the beginning of a conversation in the shop. Yes. It was just saying that Hillary Noakes was very upset that they had deliberately timed the election to current time with the last of the highlands dancing classes before the competition. Yeah, exactly. Talking about the shop, where the cyclists come from? The mammals. Yes. What is that? What are the mammals? Mammals. Middle aged men in Lycra. Oh, sorry. It isn't with an eye. I wasn't sure. Because we have a lot of them here as well. Yes. They were mentioned I think last week very briefly and then more so this week. So who knows? They might become a bit of a feature. They've come from wherever it was. People recommend cycle routes because Ambridge has been placed on some recommended route. Yes, exactly. It was quite interesting that Jazza was the only interlopo, kind of flitted between several conversations this week, didn't he, with George and Daddy and not nipping into the shop and everything. He was the conduit as we've used Roy in the past. Yes. So maybe Jazza's taking up that role. Possibly, but I think he's a bit too, he's a bit too specific. Yeah. He hasn't got that every man quality that Roy had. And we know how much of a fan you are of Jazza. Let's not go down that route and upset various of our Dunty Dhammers who are huge Jazza fans. Exactly. So thank you for that call, Rose. Next up, we have Glen. Hello, Dunty Dham. It's Glen here calling in on Thursday evening and the highlight of the archers week so far has to be the most monumental Linda Snell sniff we have heard for months, if not years, but isn't Joy playing an absolute blinder over the fate. I am becoming inclined to believe those who suggest that Joy is actually a retired MI5 agent. Rachelle could well be part of the legend and she's just become so much ingrained in Joy's psyche that she appears real to her. I can't really see any other reason for Joy's multiple talents other than that she's actually been trained by the security services. So what else have we had? Well, we had a validation for Roy in archers style with the video call and Prosecco celebration. And I think that was actually quite fitting. It's possible Roy may return recast in some months, or probably years time, but I think that was a very suitable send-off for in Peppero. Quite emotional, but very good. And then finally the flip-flopping over Bartleby. I predict George will be down Felpishum, Nick, within a week or two confessing all. Stay safe in her body, have a great week in Ambridge. Bye! Thank you for that, Clint. Yes, that's sniff. That was absolutely monumental, the sniff this week. But yeah, very much appreciated. I know you enjoyed that sniff as well, didn't you, Stephen? Very much so. Yeah, Clint. I love this idea that Joy has previously been trained as an MI5 agent and the legends included Rochelle and she's carrying on with it. As you know, I've said several times, I identify very much with Joy. And as it happened this week, somebody said to my husband that a meal that I organised for the old folks, there's an old folks club that I organised. I organised a meal that somebody said to my husband, "You're getting this all talented, what was she trained in?" When I heard Clint's call, I thought, "Oh my goodness me, they'll start a rumour now that I was trained by MI5 and I'm just now in secret hiding in the village in the middle of nowhere." Just like Joy, you see, she's not just fear her to me, she's also that person. George, we went to George because Clint mentioned him at the end. Now, he's obviously been confessing to Bartleberry. Do you think somebody else has overheard? Will they really record these things? Will that help with the pushing of George? I don't think that's quite possible. I think that he would have been very careful to make sure nobody was around, and I can't see him recording it, all that being an act, dental recording. So I think it's more about his conscience and that this has been aware of him assuaging his conscience. Just go back briefly to Joy and MI5, though. The language people use isn't quite right. Within the UK, an agent is a source, not an officer. So Joy would have been an MI5 officer in the States, people employed by the FBI are FBI agents, but in the UK, an agent is a source that's an MI5 or an SIS officer runs to get information, not somebody who's actually been employed by those organised agents. It's an Americanism, and I always feel like I want to pick up on that because it's one of these things like judges with gavels and so forth that people tend to misunderstand. Or indeed, wedding services when they say you may now kiss the bride, which is nowhere within the Anglican order of service for a wedding. Yeah, but the vicar isn't supposed to say that. Right, but maybe there's a bit of ad libbing on in everything, in every service, because it's not part of a legal service, but we can add to it. Let's wait until we have the next wedding in Ambridge and see what happens and see whether anybody says something that will irritate me profoundly. Absolutely, but Stephen, who do you think? Let's have it on the spot prediction. Who do you think will be the next wedding in Ambridge? I'm going to have to say Brad and Mia. Ooh, that's a long time down the road than I hope. About four years down the road, I think. Four years? They're only 18. Good mistake. Yeah, they're going to go through university and both get jobs and then they'll realise that they're made for each other, which they probably are. Indeed, but I predict something with Leigh and Freddie beforehand, obviously not together, where he's asexual. But, Lily, I think she will be with his most joying person. In fact, we never talked about Lily following Rosie's call, because she predicts a bit of a grey gable's lower-loxley clash. Lily goes down the line of taking the management role in grey gables, don't she? Yes, that is a definite possibility, and I think that she will feel torn loyalties between lower-loxley on the one hand and grey gables on the other, and definitely put her at odds with Elizabeth. And to some extent, with Freddie, because Freddie is very much lower-loxley all the way, even though he's working at the Abattoir now, he would definitely decide... Well, he's the one who will inherit it, so... It will be his place, and I think that part of the problem that he might have and a point that Lily might well make is that it may be Elizabeth for the rest of her life, it may be Freddie's forever, but it's not Lily's, and therefore why should she put in all her hard work for something that she's never going to own, whereas grey gables is a stepping stone to a more marketable career, perhaps. I suspect there's more money in being a manager of a country house hotel than being in a country house. Yeah, exactly. We did have the reminder of why she went to grey gables in the first place from Freddie in that conversation this week, didn't we? To understand why all the staff were defecting from lower-loxley to grey gables, which the simple answer would probably have paid more. Yeah, exactly. Or they had better conditions of work. Just on the point of lower-loxley, because, you know, what aid is Elizabeth for now, 60-something? I think she's not quite 60. Right. Yeah, I'm sure we can... I'm sure we'll be able to look that up immediately. But it seems something funny in Ambridge that people seem to work much, and it's a part of the whole cast aging. People are working quite hard into their 60s and 70s in Ambridge, which, in real life, they're not sure that that really happens. No, I think they do just carry on and, in a way, people lose track of how old everybody is. Elizabeth, it's 57. Oh, there you are. Then she says she's younger than I thought. But even if she worked for another 10 years at lower-loxley, and obviously running things and doing the weddings and all the rest of it there, they're still becoming more and more precious. So we'll have a future storyline of what happens. Does Freddy take over? Will Lily come back from wherever she is or whatever? I hope Lily doesn't stay at grey gables permanently. I think Lily needs to go off. She's had a failed going off to Manchester with the horrible Russ, and had to come back. She needs to go off and learn about the world. So a stepping stone from grey gables, perhaps to another big chain hotel, somewhere else in the world, somewhere else in the UK, and then come back and manage lower-loxley. It might be a better thing rather than staying. Might not be very good for the cast list, but there you go. That's certainly true. So those are the first few calls and there's a couple more to come. If you'd like to join in by calling us yourself or dropping us a line by message or email, Jacqueline is here to tell you how and all the details are also in the show notes. The first option is to record a message or a plot prediction by going to www.speakpipe.com/dumtydum. Alternatively, you can send us a voice note or a written message via WhatsApp on 07810, 012, 881. If you're calling from outside the UK, start with +44 and drop that first zero. Please keep your call to Maxima for two minutes. Well, finally, we have an email address that you can contact some if you'd rather write to us with your views. Maxima of 250 words, please. The email address is www.dumtydum@mail.com. Do bear in mind. You need to be at least 18 to contribute. Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from Noom. Like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am, but Noom worked for me. Get your personalized plan today at Noom.com. Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary. I have a secret. I wore the wrong foundation for years. Then I discovered Ilma Kiaj. Their AI-powered quiz makes it so easy to find a perfect match. Customized for your unique skin tone, undertone, and coverage needs. 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I haven't listened to all the exes this week. But I'm calling in with a bit of a controversial opinion, probably, about George. It's not so much an opinion or more of an observation. I still think he is a horribly young man and would not want to be friends with him. However, I do think his one redeeming quality is that I think he genuinely cares about animals. And I have a few things in my head that I remember. So remember when the guinea pigs were the guinea pigs? Came to number one, the green, and George first didn't like them, but then once he started playing with them and you could hear him being really kind towards them until someone else observed him and then he pretended like he didn't care. When Jakob said that Bartle will be going to last forever and was going to die at some point and George was audibly quite upset about that. And I don't think that was just to do with him monetizing him. I think he genuinely cares about Bartle be. And this whole Bartle be thinking he's being... I think you can tell he does genuinely care about him. But then that really annoyed me about Tony last week when George was confiding that he was upset about Bartle believing. And Tony basically said to man up and don't be so soft. And I just think that reinforces all this toxic masculinity that George is somehow absorbing. And he needs a more rounded version of what being a man is and that you can be sensitive and caring and that's wonderful. Anyway, I'm running out of time. Okay, bye! Thank you for that call, Jade. I think you make a good point about George, but I would temper it in a couple of ways. If you remember when Lola the guinea pig came round with Poppy, I think it's Poppy's guinea pig, isn't it? Yeah. One of the things that George did was take her around to Chelsea to get Chelsea to do a haircut on poor Lola. And that was really to be mean to Chelsea and was not particularly thoughtful about Lola. And when there were some baby guinea pigs that came off that again, I thought he was motivated most by the idea that Tilly Button wanted to come and see him. And it turned out that she wanted to come and see the guinea pigs with her little cousins. And so I think that George is a bit instrumental when it comes to those love of animals. And of course with Bartle, we know that the instrumentality is around having somebody to confess to or something to confess to. But yes, it's not just about monetizing. And I'm sure he generally does care for animals up to a point, but he does tend to find uses for them, not cruel uses. And if he was a real psychopath, then he would probably be the type that was deliberately cruel to animals. And we haven't seen that unlike various horribins in the past who have been mutilating animals and generally being really nasty. I think attacks on both horses and cattle. Yeah. He's also been quite insistent that they spend the money on something to do connection with Grandad Joe. I found him very, very harsh and irritated and cross with everybody at the beginning of the week, especially Eddie and the photo sequence and all the rest of it. But by the end of the week, of course, they'd come to this conclusion about new cider trees, which is a complete connection to Joe. I find it ironic because of course it's not their land. That's true. But I suppose they could plant something in Grandad's field. That's very true. But then they wouldn't have. There's a lot of implications with that as a plan. But to go on to Jade's second point about the toxic masculinity, I didn't take that away from the conversation with Tony last week. When I took away from that conversation that Tony had with George, and which I felt Tony was extremely harsh with him and extremely irritated with him, it was the contrast between the lenience he showed and the kindness he showed to Adam. And he was hard several times. He was very harsh with George last week. And in fact, George is obviously smarting from that because didn't he say, Lillian said something about having talked to Tony. This is why, what does he say? He's obviously quite defensive. And I think that's part of the carapace that he has, that he's becoming more and more defensive as he feels guilty about everything that's happening to Alice and I'm not finding him any more lovable. I still find him as a horrible character as ever. But they've given him more depth in the last few weeks since the accident, really. Yes, I think it's useful to have a broader picture of the sort of person that George is. I also wonder, Tony's remark wasn't so much about manning up, but I thought it reflects Tony's farmers' view of livestock, in that you can't get too sentimentally attached to particular animals because at the end of the day, those animals are there for a purpose. And in the case of his beloved anguses will go for slaughter. But obviously, but will be, isn't he going to go for slaughter? But I suspect that Tony has this built-in resistance to developing strong attachments to animals. Yes, maybe. I agree with Jade, though, that I think George has been somehow exposed to toxic attitudes and the man not saying hasn't helped him. But I just thought Tony was very fond of Otto, wasn't he? He was. And Otto was a bull, of course, so not, again, sent for slaughter, but kept around for what bulls do. Hehehe. The next and final call is from Gillian, but unfortunately, there was just too much background noise to make it playable, so I'm going to read out what she has said. Hi, this is Gillian from London. I'm calling in with two different points today. The first is around the story of Neil, Susan and Chris, and what it's like for small children whose parents go to prison. I found it really moving, and it's been a really interesting time to see Chris reflect on how he felt as a child when Susan went to prison, and his worries for how that's going to affect him after. And I'm hoping I'm not alone here in finding that quite touching and quite worrying, and a really interesting reflection on what the consequences are for all members of the family when a family member does go to prison. On my second point, has George been confiding in Bartleby? But who is he going to confide in now that Bartleby is gone? Will the guilt get too much for him? Thank you. Oh, thanks for that, Gillian. I'm sorry that your words had to be voiced by an actor, a very unemployed actor, usually. This week, but George, we've talked quite a lot about him and Bartleby, so I think you're right. Now that Bartleby's gone, I think everybody's predicting it's getting too much for him. But to go back to your first point, which is brilliant from the point of view of what happens to small children when their parents go to prison, or for Martha, but now where her mum is absenting herself, I know Chris has made a big thing about them seeing each other every day, and that perhaps gives Alice a bit of hope for getting up and getting out and obviously showering and spending time with Martha. But I found it really fantastic this week, the whole Neil, Susan and Chris, we had a real insight into the mechanics of that family, how they're working. I'm slightly concerned by the fact that there's a problem next week and that it will be Susan who's doing the supervised visits with Alice. Alice, I think that will have an impact on Martha as well, because I can't believe that Susan isn't showing her prejudices and her dislike, but Alice and the person she's become in front of Martha, and I think there may be a confrontation. I think you're right. I think that Susan will find it very difficult not to let her feeling seat through one way or another, and Martha is likely to pick up on that, even if it's not properly expressed. The other thing I noticed, that conversation, which I think was at the end of Sunday's episode, was all about Chris's feelings when Susan went to prison, but they didn't go into any detail about that, and I think long-term listeners may well have forgotten an event, which was what, back in the 1990s, wasn't it? '90s, yeah, easily the '90s, yeah. It was when Michael Howard was home secretary because he made some public comments about Susan being in jail, and if he was home secretary, then that would have been, I think, in the '92 to '97 period under John Major's premiership. Anyway, thank you very much for that call, Gillian, and I hope that next time we're able to find somewhere a little quieter so we can actually hear your voice. It's so much better than bringing in an underemployed actor. So those are the calls. Thank you so much for calling in. We always say this show is about what you the listeners think. So please do tell us how the week was for you in Ambridge, and call in next week. As we've mentioned a few times now, Patreon backers have dumb to dumb, get an ad-free version of the podcast. After positive feedback from our patrons, we're now aiming to make this Patreon version available from around 6pm on Saturday. This is not, however, a guarantee. There may be weeks when other demands on my time, either that I can't do the edits until later, and that might well be the case in two weeks time when I'll be spending much of Saturday at the wedding of one of my nephews. So once we've recorded, I will have very little time until possibly late on Saturday to turn our recording into an actual podcast. Patreons also get a weekly email about dumb to dumb and the archers, and we're looking at more special features for those of you who are willing and able to support us in this way. If there's anything you think we might be able to provide as bonus material, particularly if it will make the difference between backing us and not backing us on Patreon, please do let us know. Now, all the money from Patreon goes towards covering the costs of making the podcast, including the subscriptions for the virtual studio and the editing tools that Stephen uses. We are planning that any extra will go towards a dumb to dumb get together. The more of you who sign up, the quicker we will be able to put a get together together. And patrons will have prior access to tickets. On that note, I'm going to be in the UK, but specifically in Scotland, around the weekend of the 21st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th of September. So if there's anybody in the Glasgow area who wants to get together, I'd like to get together. That will probably be an informal one, rather than one using patreon. Ah, yeah, definitely, definitely just like to meet up with people. I'm staying with Melly McMerry weather. I'm sure she must know other people in the area. People can bust themselves in. So there you are, a Glasgow get together for Dump to Dump in late September. Let's move on to Facebook and give a warm, dumpty-dum welcome to the following people who have joined our Facebook group in the last week. Hayley Marnoch Taylor, Rebecca Wheatley, Cassandra Marnoch Taylor, Katie Vincent. Debbie Colville-Yorge, Melissa Mayday, Tracy Madison, and Tracy Wilmot. And as ever, there were also a few other people with membership requests we had to decline, because he didn't answer the questions. Sorry about that, but we need to know you're a real person. So let's hear what's been going on in the Dump to Dump Facebook group this week, with a round up from Vicki. Hello everyone, this is Vicki with a round up with the Facebook page. The week started with absolute panic, as BBC Sam suddenly appeared to be saying that the archers was not available outside the UK, which it always has been. Sharp messages sent to the BBC were shared and we were very frightened for Jacqueline, but it was all resolved in the end and she won't have to move back to the UK. There was a post from Chris Gibson about Grey Gables, which sparked off several comments. Joanne Smith says, "What does it say about Grey Gables that the best option for assistant manager right now is the work study college student? Was there no weekend or night manager who could be promoted?" Tommy Croson also couldn't believe that a hotel of that caliber wouldn't have a proper deputy manager. Laura Jackson lists the current staff, Oliver, Lily, Nick and Brad, but predicts that a new manager will be hired, Oliver will turn everything over to them and we won't hear much about Grey Gables in the future. The reason for all this is, of course, Roy's sudden departure to Bulgaria to be with Lexie. Darcy Orbinson and Shirley Farron-Dancety raise a glass to Roy and Ian Pepprel, and Elizabeth Bien thinks that the episode with the video call with Roy and his friends was a beautiful tribute. Sara Evans and Jane Antoinette Cratcher had a little cry, and Margaret Clute was also a little teary. Harry Clarke thought it would be annoying for Kirsty to have Roy say, "I sound love, so now I'm going to patronise my best friend by pointing out she hasn't." But mostly we thought it was beautifully handled and leads the way open for Roy to be recast in the future and to return one day. Justin's response to Emma's social media posts about Alice in the Stable to make this go away was discussed. Sara Siegel thinks he will either be extraordinarily charming or sinister. Suzanne Smith and Elizabeth Llewellyn chose sinister. But whatever, he will run rings around Emma. Leslie Hughes suggests Justin might tell his contacts not to employ the new tree surgeon business. And Jonah Tuchmast thinks whatever he does, he will make it a whole lot worse. Elizabeth Llewellyn concludes, "But Justin is the godfather of Ambridge, and Emma will wake up to find Bartleby's head in her bed." Ruth Pearl says she's not a fan of Justin, but he has a point trying to make the stables run smoothly. A post started by Darcy Jorgensen asking why did George change his mind about letting Bartleby go, had a lot of responses. It sounds as if George has been confiding in Bartleby in recent weeks, but I can't think of any way that could be used to get evidence against him sadly. But I think it does show that he is struggling with the situation he is in. Lillian McCarthy says once the truth comes out, Bartleby will be the only friend he's got. Catherine Humphrey wishes she had a pound for every time Bartleby's name was mentioned. She would have been quids in. There was lots more. With us being shared in New York Times article about the health implications of drinking. And Stephen reminded us that it was Phoebe's 26th birthday on Friday. Do go and have a look. Finally, Louise Lawton shared that the BBC feedback programme is going to do an archer's special, although I couldn't see when. The web page for the programme has details of how to contact them with any questions or comments. That's it for this week. Till next time. Bye-bye. Thank you, Vicki, and thank you so much to everyone on the Dumcy Dum Facebook group. And I'll try and put a link to that feedback page into the show notes. So if you want to try and contribute to a discussion of the archers, you'll be able to do that. Now, if you'd like to join the Facebook group, please do. But as we said, don't forget to answer all the membership questions so that we know that you're a real person. Now on to Twitter, where you'll find us at Dumcy Dum. Make sure you include the archers hashtag using a capital T and A. So the visually impaired who use screen readers can enjoy any archers-based tweets. As well as at Dumcy Dum, I can occasionally be found at Wenlock House. And we can both also be found with the archers friends on Blue Sky, where I am at jber2.besky.social. And I am at wenlock.besky.social. So let's find out who has won the Twitter medal this week. Hello, Jacqueline, Stephen and Dumcy Dum is everywhere. It's purple pumpkin here with treats and skits of the week. And my thanks as ever to everyone who tags at Dumcy Dum to make sure we see all the best ones. This week on Twitter and Blue Sky, there were a number of toasts to the departure of Roy and the late Ian Pepperl. Although Serena Blancheflower at all Serene.besky.social was among those who thought Roy, if not Ian Pepperl, would have had to come back to Ambridge to pack up his staff and put the house on the market and could have had a better send-off. Meanwhile River KV at RiverKV.besky.social, along with Brenda Sellin, also on BSky, and Goldilocks on the levels, at Goldilvels.besky.social, shed my concern about what will happen to Kirsty's living situation if Roy is gone. Will she need a housemate or two or will Roy sell the house and make her homeless? Personally, I like the idea she might take in Fallon if Ferris and fall apart, and maybe also Hannah if Stella gives in to living with Pip and Rosie. We need to be told. There were also a lot of people wondering how George's confessions to Bartleby will propel the key storylines. Can Bartleby really talk and will he spill the beans? Steven McBaron at Ambridge 2020 asked what happens if Bartleby's called as a witness. Catherine at CatherineEJR.beSky.social says he must take his secret to the Glue Factory, while Rosie Porty at Porty Rosie has the more pragmatic suggestion that hopefully George has recorded his confession on videos that will then be released by mistake. Meanwhile Mike Hatton at Hatman21C, who provides the amazing character counts for the archers, noticed that there was a right you are and a hello you too from the same character in the same episode, and wondered if this was the first time ever. And our friend Miranda at Apple Android Up has been catching up with some missed episodes and noted so the trials in the Crown Court no idea what a hot girl summer is. Joy is wonderful and the best hope for Alice. Susan is worried but mostly nasty. George is bricking it and Taylor Swift is a dead sir for the fate. Well that's a nice round up so now to this week's medals for Blue Sky's skates and Ex-Posts, all of which we continue to consider as Tweets of the Week. In bronze position it's newcomer Bette at Swiss Cale. Just like election night I'm reserving a good bottle of wine and tasty nibbles for the day the truth about George comes out and the subsequent mayhem in Ambridge. The silver medalist is Bruce the Bunny at BrucetheBunny.B Sky.Social. What the grandies should do with the money to remember Joe is to buy some wholly long johns and a couple of ferrets. And the gold medal goes to JodyB at JodyB.B Sky.Social with a tribute to the late great Freddie Mercury that I can barely do justice but it goes like this. Meg melon, no we will not let him go, let it go. And on that should be tuned for a full note, that's it for this week. I hope to see you all on #TheArchers on Twitter or Blue Sky next week. Thank you for that Theo and congratulations to all who were mentioned in this week's round up. And don't forget we're on Instagram @dumptydum, where we are starting to be more active and on that note please send any of the archers or podcast relevant photos to the Dumptydum email and we'll publish them with credits to you. That's dumptydum@mail.com. And we will be back once again next week and recording at our normal time of crack of dawn on a Saturday morning. So please get your calls in by midnight on Friday UK time as usual. Now as we come to the end of this episode we need to say thanks to all our wonderful contributors and to the team of Dumptydum is behind the scenes. We need to say a great big thank you to all of you who are listening to us too. We love making this podcast and showing our love of the archers around the world. And we must say thank you to Kim Durham and Sonny Ormond for their voices and to our podcasting parents Lucy V. Freeman and Royfield Brown. Thank you so much for listening and joining us today. We are now off to replenish the bench at Blossom Hill. So it's our of wow for me. And it's goodbye from me. Dumptydum@mail.com Thank you for listening for your next trip. Elevate your travel style with Quince. Quince has all the jet setting essentials you'll want for your next getaway. Like European linen, premium luggage options, buttery soft Italian leather bags and so much more. 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