General Chat

It has occurred to me that The Archers was begun as a way to instruct farmers in particular so it is really an instructional programme that has now shown the correct way to deal with an emotionally abusive partner.

Well, that will sort the buggers out then!

Make them think twice before they start their emotionally abusive capers anyway.

;-)

Although I used to listen to the Archers years ago, I only occasionally catch it now. A few of those episodes were about Helen & Rob when we said we 'didn't like' him.

One question. Is Helen related to any of the older Ambridge families, and if so, how?

I haven't listened to it for many years, I used to listen to the "omnibus" edition on a Sunday while at the allotment.

That or The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

Helen is the daughter of Tony and Pat Archer and Tony is the son of Peggy and Jack Archer who had the Bull.

Thanks Sharron :-D

remember this? anyone.............




Sid Perks (Alan Devereux) cheats on his wife Kathy (Hedli Niklaus)


Fans of the rustic radio soap The Archers have reacted calmly after the show's producers broadcast an episode featuring a steamy shower scene.
A spokesman for BBC Radio 4 said only three fans had rung up about the scene involving local flirt Jolene and adulterous landlord Sid Perks - and one of those had asked for more of the same.

The long-running drama has caused controversy in the past with a series of strong storylines.

But this one could well shake off the sometimes staid image of the soap for good.

Jolene, played by Buffy Davis, was heard taking a shower with married Perks (Alan Devereux) after they have just made love.

Series producer Vanessa Whitburn said the couple were not supposed to be having sex and she said: "Reports of sex in the shower were the figment of fertile imaginations."




Ambridge flirt: Jolene (Buffy Davis)


She said: "It was a passionate and sensitive storyline."

The Conservative MP for Canterbury, Julian Brazier, has accused the programme of going too far.

"People still look to the BBC as a bastion of standards in public broadcasting and it's very sad to see one more part of the organisation clambering on the bandwagon of the cheapest kind of populism," he told the Sunday Telegraph.

"People started to get a bit suspicious of the programme's agenda when one of the characters went to a Gay Pride rally."

But Archers fans seem to be more open-minded than he suspects. Previous "scandals" have drawn very few complaints from the soap's 2.5m listeners - roughly equivalent to more glamorous TV shows such as Friends and ER on Channel 4 .




Sid has already been heard sharing pillow talk with Jolene


In April 1997 listeners heard Debbie Aldridge call landlord Simon Pemberton a "bastard", while he dubbed her a "bitch" - but only three complained.

Previous eyebrow-raising storylines featured a doctor having sex with a patient in his surgery in August 1998.

Meanwhile, in 1999 the action moved to the Glastonbury Festival for the birth of Kate Aldridge's daughter. Sound effects were recorded at the Somerset site then played down the line to London in time for that evening's episode.

Also last year, a jury cleared teenager Tommy Archer of destroying genetically-modified crops on his uncle's farm.

Once, many moons ago, when Saint Shula was putting it about, only in a saintly manner you understand, there was great moral debate about whether she should be put on the pill.

Well it looks like the present story line as a long way to run yet!!

theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/05/the-archers-abuse-storyline-helen-rob-radio-4-tony-hall