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Tuesday, January 13

The Archers


I've been quite busy of late, what with this that and the other but before we know it, ABC Wednesday is back for another round....16 would you believe. Basically a group of us post a weekly contribution with a particular letter of the alphabet. The group is scattered all over the globe and has been going for 8 years. I am humbled to think I started it off all those years ago and it is still going strong to this day, now with Roger  at the helm and a great team. myself just being part of the team.  Friendships have come about this project as well as visits and meet ups. I sometimes have a theme for each round - last round was based on my garden this round however I am just going to see what pops up!

A then has to be The Archers. I listen to this programme every day. We don't watch any soaps on TV, this is the nearest to it I suspect. We live in a farming community and I can identify with some of the issues. I listen to Radio 4 most of the time - I don't  like a quiet house and some music stations have a lot of adverts between the songs. Definitely a Radio 4 fan and most certainly an Archer's fan!

This is how the BBC introduce the programme.
First of all, what exactly is The Archers? Well, it's a radio soap opera set in the fictional English village of Ambridge. It aims to provide essential drama from the heart of the country.
So what does that mean you'll be hearing? Ambridge is a twenty-first century village, with all the pressures of modern rural life. You'll become involved in the characters' personal and business struggles, their love affairs and all sorts of village activities from saving the local shop to the annual fete. There are plenty of lighter moments too.
These characters then... Several of the main families are farmers. At the heart of the programme are David and Ruth Archer at Brookfield Farm. David once had cause to regret employing a handsome cowman, but they're pretty stable nowadays.
Their cousins Pat and Tony Archer farm organically at Bridge Farm. That's a dairy farm as well, but they also keep pigs and grow vegetables. They sell their own yogurt, ice cream and cheese.
At the opposite end of the farming scale are well-off Brian and Jennifer Aldridge at Home Farm, which is the biggest in the village. That little boy who lives there is Brian's son from a torrid affair. When his mistress died, amazing Jennifer agreed to take Ruairi in.
The Archer family is related to the Aldridges, and to several other Ambridge families, including the Hebden Lloyds - she runs a riding school and he's a vet.
If that all sounds a bit posh, there are lots of less well-off characters too. Most of them live and work in and around Ambridge - on the farms, in the local pub The Bull, at the village shop, at Grey Gables hotel or St Stephen's church.
Those sons of the soil the Grundys are particularly good value, both for the scrapes they get in and the fact that Emma Grundy isn't Ed's wife, as you might think, but the ex-wife of Ed's brother Will.
You can look up all the current characters in the Who's Who section of the Archers website.
By now, I expect you're keen to know how you can hear the programme, and it's very easy to start, because the episodes are only thirteen minutes long. They're broadcast on BBC Radio Four every day, Sunday to Friday at seven p.m. And they're repeated the next day at two p.m. - except on Saturdays.
Or if you want to catch a whole week's worth in one go, there's an omnibus edition, on Sunday morning at ten a.m.

Over on Facebook there are a few Archer's groups, I am a moderator  of the Ambridge Addicts Group. We discuss current story lines etc. and all in all often the drama far surpasses anything which occurs in the programme.

16 comments:

  1. i never knew you were such an archers boffin. we listen most days as radio 4 is our station of choice during the week.

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  2. I have a friend who has been listening to it since it began and has rarely missed an episode - getting various people to record it when he is on holiday. Am I the only person who has never heard it?

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  3. I lisrened to the Archers from an early age in 1950s. My sister and I danced around the living room to the music before going to bed. As a grownup I listened for years, But gave up around the time Nigel died. I couldn't stand all the cooing and gooing over Helen's baby. I have since then sort of kept up with what;s going on from various sources but it seems to be changing an awful lot lately. I keep wondering if I should start listening again.

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  4. I've heard references to The Archers many times over the years but I'm not a big radio fan so it's something I've never listened to.

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  5. Livind in another country... i don't know that program.

    But i do want to congratulate you with this photo-meme's birthday. Still going strong, although i joined recently. I hope it wil continue.

    Greetings

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  6. I hear comments about this show quite often
    Not sure if I could get this in Tucson. Listening to radio is fun.

    cheers, parsnip

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  7. Sounds like a great escape. :-) Oh, angryparsnip is in Tucson too!

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  8. Hi Denise, I used to be an Archers fan but went off it after they tried to embrace the 21st century too vigorously. I feel I am missing out now after reading all this so maybe I shall tune in on Sunday for a catch up. It's since I've had my health problems and Ian has taken over the kitchen to do his 'Chefie' stuff!
    I do like Radio 4 too.
    Congratulations upon your achievement of creating ABCW, I've really enjoyed participating and even helping as part of 'the team', quite an honour!
    Thanks for the up-date on The Archers, I enjoyed reading it,
    love Di xx
    ABCW team.

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  9. You ought to go on Mastermind me thinks!
    Thanks for visiting my humble blog, fortunately I won't have to resort to a CCTV camera to see which hen has laid, as the 3 of them all lay different coloured eggs (Loopy laid one enormous pale olive green egg this afternoon, in the same patch as the other eggs found on Saturday!)
    Waiting impatiently for the walk-in run and new coop to arrive. Then in Mid-March 3 new pols arriving.......might have probs identifying which of the 3 new hens laid which egg then lol!

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  10. thanks for the opportunity to participate in the meme those many years back now (the middle of Round 5).
    Could be an interesting TV programme!

    ROG, ABCW

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  11. Totally new to me...I tend to avoid talk radio although hearing a soapy serial might be akin to listening to an audio book methinks♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/artsy-folks/

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  12. Sounds like interesting listening...
    I had never heard of The Archers before.
    Have a great week!

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  13. ah! The epic Archers. ^0^
    I wish I could listen to radio4 all day, i love radio dramas!
    unfortunately, i can only download it and then, really missed out on its daily series.

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  14. Thank you, Mrs Nesbitt for starting ABC. It's a huge amount of fun.

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  15. Sounds interesting -the Archers
    I watch Hindi soap on Indian TV especially the ones by Ekta Kapoor, the Queen of Indian Soap.

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  16. My goodness!!! You mean The Archers is STILL going? Love your blogs Denise especially photos of Yorkshire. Love to Sadie and Bing....and all those chooks.

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Thank you for your comments, always nice to know somebody has taken the time to let me know what they think.