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Posted by U2392637 (U2392637) on Saturday, 23rd December 2006
..are, i think, very unusual names. (i have only ever heard them in the archers and never in real life). by comparison, david's and elizabeth's are really ordinary. it would seem particularly odd for parents to name their first two children, shall we say, so exotically and not the next two. (might make more sense the other way round).
anybody got any explanations/theories for this?
Magic mushrooms
Discussion:
Why do Kenton and Shula have such unusual names?
Messages 1 - 18 of 18
Message 1 - posted by Scot Mum (U6160873) , Nov 3, 2006
Please bear with me - I have only been listening to The Archers for 10 years. I have wondered about this for mst of that time!
Message 2 - posted by M® Legs™ (U2373018) , Nov 3, 2006
it's because Jill was abducted by aliens and impregnated by them. they hypnotically programmed Jill to name her offspring in this way. all will be revealed in a future episode timetabled for broadcast on the 1st April 2009
This is a reply to this message
Message 3 - posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) , Nov 3, 2006
Hello Ela-Mac, this is a fairly regular question on these boards so I am able to give you the definitive answer.
Jill is a native Londoner, from the NW suburb of Kenton. On moving to Ambridge, marrying Phil and having his children she realised she had left her background behind her and insisted on this name in memory of it.
When they discovered they were having twins they had to think up a second name. They spent their honeymoon in Israel where Phil had his camera stolen. The Israeli policewoman who helped them in this siuation was called Shula. They named their daughter in gratitude for this.
I have been listening to TA since 1951 so I can remember these events. Other people, newer listeners to TA may try to give you other versions. This is the true one.
This is a reply to this message
Message 4 - posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) , Nov 3, 2006
People may come here and tell you all sorts of nonsense about things like throwing alphabet bricks on the floor and picking out letters at random. Don't believe them (think about it does that sound like Phil and Jill?).
This is a reply to this message
Message 5 - posted by Scheherezade with holly berries and red and green ribbons (U2212013) , Nov 3, 2006
Reggie, I lived in Kenton Middlesex for many years, and cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that anyone would want to remember the place, even less name their child after it!
This is a reply to this message
Message 6 - posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) , Nov 3, 2006
Well Schez there's no accounting for taste or the whims of Archers scriptwriters is there? Can you imagine him having been named Kilburn?
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Message 7 - posted by Scheherezade with holly berries and red and green ribbons (U2212013) , Nov 3, 2006
I suppose he could have been called Hendon. After all there's this chef called Heston! But nobody in their right mind would call their child Slough, would they?
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Message 8 - posted by M® Legs™ (U2373018) , Nov 3, 2006
or Mudchute!
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Message 9 - posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) , Nov 4, 2006
Schez - nor could one imagine him being called Neasden or Willsden (but Brent would be a possibility). As I said before who are we to second guess the SWs (on second thoughts what else are we here for?).
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Message 10 - posted by Scheherezade with holly berries and red and green ribbons (U2212013) , Nov 4, 2006
Reggie I know someone who had a son called Brent! That doesn't sound too bad, actually.
But as for second-guessing the SWs, may I point you in the direction of my very rare venture into Fantasy Land?
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Message 11 - posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) , Nov 4, 2006
Schez, I've seen it. I'm just very, very scared.
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Message 12 - posted by Scheherezade with holly berries and red and green ribbons (U2212013) , Nov 4, 2006
That's nothing, Reggie! You should only see the belated Hallowe'en e-card I've just sent off to my grandchildren! It even made me raise my eyebrows!
Off to bed now, work in the morning. Sleep well - don't have nightmares about Nov. 7th!
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Message 13 - posted by jenny (I believe in Father Christmas) lately (U2264457) , Nov 4, 2006
It was a typo - they should have been called Kenneth and Sheila.
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Message 14 - posted by RosieT (U2224719) , Nov 4, 2006
Hello, ignore my cos and the other frivilous people. This is from "The Archers Ambridge Voice No. 7 Winter 2002." It is on page 7, and has fans memories of the Name Game. After discussion, it continues:
"With all these theories floating around, it seemed best to approach who else but mum of the babes Patriia Greene (Jill Archer):
I know the writers were keen to use names that had never been used before. Indeed, building blocks were thrown around - although what children's toys were doing in the house at that time I've no idea*. Anagrams of the letters were made into names. We thought we were being so original with Shula - until the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú was inundated with Shulas telling us that wasn't the case. And during recordings we've been fluffing the name ever since!"
*seems obvious - a ift from someone for the approaching children.
from
Also:
thankyou, rosie.
it would seem that i am not the first to be puzzled by this!
This must indeed be the most frequently asked question. Rosie was very restrained in not posting Mike's Law of Mustardland No. X re this subject.
I said about 2 or 3 years ago it ought to be in the FAQs, but I guess it still isn't?
It was a TA quiz question in Edinburgh, and I think most of us were sad enough to know it.
Alma.
Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:16 GMT, in reply to special someone in message 5
Spesh it is a favourite question - although recently it has occurred less frequently than posts from bright sparks suggesting an Archers podcast.
Bella once made up a longish folktale about a Russian peasant and the gates of Kiev or something [err.. maybe she was a Ukrainian peasant-woman - first cousin to Baba Yaga anyway!] Unfortunately I've forgotten the punch line.
Sure you're not thinking of Csaba and his grandmother who hid escaping prisoners under her skirts in the sprout fields, pet?
, in reply to message 8.
Posted by JennyDarling Long Gone (U250754) on Saturday, 23rd December 2006
I am ancient enough to have been listening to the very episode in which the Naming of the Twins is executed (no, not the twins being executed, remember I am a pedant!)
, in reply to message 9.
Posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) on Sunday, 24th December 2006
Same here JD which is why I doubt some of the more outrageous explanations of the naming ie alphabet bricks.
, in reply to message 8.
Posted by Lizaveta Nikolaevna (U2265953) on Sunday, 24th December 2006
That was the bit that the SWs nicked from Günter Grass, wasn't it?
, in reply to message 11.
Posted by ExTAlistener (U3058291) on Sunday, 24th December 2006
Yes, and later Csaba admitted as much...
, in reply to message 12.
Posted by JennyDarling Long Gone (U250754) on Tuesday, 26th December 2006
Sorry but it definitely WAS alphabet blocks. And Kenton was not the first choice - the letters thrown up for his name spelled Blain - and Jill wouldn't have that as it meant a spot or blemish (come to think of it, that name would suit him!). So they sort of chose Kenton. But Shula was chosen by blocks.
you missed out an 'o' and an 'l' in the last word quoted above!
, in reply to message 13.
Posted by Dusty Substances (U1474929) on Tuesday, 26th December 2006
Good grief ... how close did Kenton come to being known as 'Git Wizard'? Dx
Tue, 02 Jan 2007 08:38 GMT, in reply to special someone in message 1
Spesh, bad luck for missing out on the "First "Why Shula and Kenton?" posting of 2007" award."
Better luck for 2008!
I would be interested to know (yes, really, I am THAT sad) how likely it is that a typical selection of alphabet bricks thrown into the air would spell anything recognisable at all when they come down. It just goes to show that deeply implausible storylines are not a new thing.
Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:41 GMT, in reply to Dragonfly in message 17
The "alphabet blocks" scenario was a subtle comment on lack of credibility of the "intelligent design" hypothesis, and inspired Richard Dawkin's excellent work "The Blind Watchmaker".
A seminal example of Art influencing Life.
Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:39 GMT, in reply to carrick-bend in message 18
a subtle comment on lack of credibility of the "intelligent design" hypothesisÂ
Was it?? Dang all these years and I thought it was a reference to linguistics and neo-Platonism. Are you sure you weren't thinking of the Mechano experiment when Phil tried to assemble a fully-functioning tractor in the dark after the generator failed?
Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:06 GMT, in reply to petal jam in message 19
I thought that that was a proto-performance-art piece, myself, but then, I wasn't listening to it with your classical references to hand!
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