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Dear Mr K - a quick & snappy query ...
This discussion has been closed.
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Message 1.Â
Posted by Mustafa Grumble (U8596785) on Tuesday, 21st August 2007
Being the sort of person who since leaving his mama's apron string has nonetheless been a loyal and avid listener, like many here it pains me when things "feel wrong".
My query: when there is such an avalanche of criticism, not just of a particular SL (viz. Bertie the Boa) but of a whole slew of SLs (curtailments, character changes, "comedy" etc), does anyone apart from your good self read the boards?
As a writer & senior bod yourself you must surely understand the anguish and anger being expressed, and equally, must be cognisant of the changes that appear to have occurred in recent times - especially the last year or two.
Do other SWs & members of the prod. team get to observe any of the feedback in DTA?
Many thanks,
MG -
Message 2
Posted by Lars Post (U2291030) on Tuesday, 21st August 2007
I agree with these sentiments, Keri, the boa storyline is an absolute load of cobras.
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Message 3
Posted by scorpioPenny (U8530308) on Tuesday, 21st August 2007
If Keri does read this, can something please be done to restore TA to its former glory, and more a story of countryfolk (all of whom we accept have warts), and less of the East Enders drama about it. It is listened to for relaxation not to raise blood pressures.
The SL of the snake would have quite entertaining if it had not gone on so long and as for the Rory SL - it completely beggars belief - it is complete and utter rubbish and far too "soapy" for real Archer fans to accept. -
Message 4
Posted by hiya_loxley (U2274305) on Tuesday, 21st August 2007
Well I think Mr K is in a difficult position. Much of the stuff posted on here is humourous, and many well established posters are actually playing out personnas for their own and our entertainment. How seriously can he be expected to take all that?
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Message 5
Posted by Ella May (U6121028) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Sadly the Archers has turned into a "soap". Originally being an information channel for the farming community, for MAF to remind them of dates to dip sheep or send in their calf"Passports", to warn of a Foot and Mouth outbreak, it is now no more.
Yet during this recent(and ongoing)Foot and Mouth emergency, the Archers took days to even mention it,whilst the farming community were already well battened down. DEFRA now depends on giving warnings by Text /e-mail, yet some smallholders didn't get the news for 3 or 4 days.
On this estate we are still disinfecting our cars and walking through trays. No locals, joggers, ramblers are availing themselves of our facilities.
Not long to go now,(hopefully) but no thanks to this site as an information service.
David and Bert with tractor. certainly didn't go through the hygeiene procedure.
Ella
Ella -
Message 6
Posted by petal jam (U1466691) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 01:11 GMT, in reply to Mustafa_Grumble in message 1
Not Keri , but he has said several times in the past that he does a précis of reactions from the board which is then circulated to the production and SW team. Occasionally he has mentioned that he has forwarded an entire thread.
It is frequently pointed out by posters that mbers are a minority of listeners, however vocal, and that not all mbers opine that TA has varied in quality overall since the mb started out.
[ps I've been reading here for more than five-and-a-half years and there have been messages saying "what fools do the SWs take us for" and "I'm not listening any more" as far back as I can remember!] -
Message 7
Posted by Marilyn Todd TPS (U6760867) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Just thinking how interesting it would be if, wound up by all the sniping and criticisms on these boards, Mr K completely lost it, posting a furious and intemperate message, full of bile. He is modded and subsquently banned from all Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú boards. The newspapers pick up on the story and The Archers gets taken off the air whilst the Prime Minister commissions a Report on the matter.
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Message 8
Posted by cath (U2234232) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Untrue EM.
F&M outbreak announced 10pm Friday evening, three hours /after/ transmission of Friday TA epi.
No TA on Saturday (never has been so far as I am aware).
TA epi on Sunday has topical insert.
How much earlier could it have been?
And btw TA is no longer a programme for farmers. One hopes that farmers are a bit more sophisticated these days and are able to run their businesses without being spoon fed daily tips on what to do by the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú. If farmers and smallholders can't be bothered to check the headline news then that's their look out (and they deserve to go under). -
Message 9
Posted by JoLean (U2258866) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
This thread just shows how different everyone is, and it is impossible to say 'we think this' or 'we think that'.
I loathe, loathe, loathe the drawn-out comedy storylines, and have posted ad nauseum on the subject.
However, I have enjoyed the Home Farm stuff, and think everyone has been entirely in character, and do not think there has been any characters re-written to fit the storyline. The plot might be extreme, but this is a radio drama series/soap, no matter what some of you want to call it. It needs drama. I might love the choice Jenny made (I don't actually, but that's by the bye), but have no doubt it is exactly what she would do.
Like Cath, I think it is unfair to say Foot and Mouth was dealt with badly - they got it in as soon as they could. The weather perhaps was dealt with a bit oddly, but then I loathe topical inserts, and would happily have Ambridge in hot sunshine, while I shivered.
As someone else put it - I want realism, not necessarily reality.
Anyway, I don't think the SWs should use this message board as anything more than they do - some opinions from some listeners. -
Message 10
Posted by Mustafa Grumble (U8596785) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Thank you, PetalJam and everyone else - I really was quite interested to know whether anyone in "the team" apart from Mr Keri read the boards, and therefore observed the feedback in DTA.
My own feeling was that it would be surprising if they did not (any chance of confirmation please, Mr K?); I also agree that those of us who felt strongest would be those most motivated to write in DTA, and that by definition the boards cannot be truly representative.
As it happens I quite enjoyed yesterday's episode, and having forced down a slice of humble pie, have posted to that effect in DTA.
Thanks again, all. -
Message 11
Posted by Penny-has-it (U2257121) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Quite agree, Mustafa.
Posted on DtA on much the same only to be advised to read all other posts re this subject.
Would take me all week I think!. Not only here and DtA but accross at Bull, these SL's are evidently drawing comment.
O.K. So I started a thread where many are allready in operation. Surely the more threads that refer to a subject reflects the ammount of discussion on that subject.
As for Mr K. I understand he is the only Writer who takes much interest in the comments herein.
Perhaps we should flood the boards of "Pick of the week", and get a response from the horses mouth(Ms Whitburn)?
Regards
Art -
Message 12
Posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
I hope the production team don't take too much notice of what is said on the message board because I think it would probably give them a completely distorted view of what the 'average' listener to the programme thinks.
I have always discussed TA with Mrs T., in the way you do as if the characters are real people, before I started reading the message board our views more or less co-incided. We didn't notice the little anomalies (where is the Dylan Nells correspondance sent to?) or the rapid plot developments as if by the intervention of fairies. We took this kind of thing to be dramatic licence.
Since I started reading the board and contributing our views have diverged. For instance Mrs T. still thinks D&R are astute business people, I know they are 'the Dopeys'. She take the rapid development of Ollie's dairy for granted, I know better.
So far has this gone that I rarely read or contribute to DTA for fear of marital schism.
Having said that, while I understand that no major plot lines can be developed in the holiday season I do think the Ambridge Wyrm is particularly toe curling, why can't we have the summer filled with turnip hauling and lamb worming? But there you are my views are completely unrepresentative. -
Message 13
Posted by mike (U2254029) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:50 GMT, in reply to Arthur (The Threadbare Towrag havin' lost his) Crown in message 11
Perhaps we should flood the boards of "Pick of the week", and get a response from the horses mouth(Ms Whitburn)?Â
Art, experience shows that whenever there is a big fuss about a storyline on the board sufficient listeners will write to "Feedback" to guarantee an item. Vanessa usually puts up a stout defence of whatever is being criticised (natural but perhaps not the best tactic). From Friday lunchtime the board will be full of posts indignant about Vanessa's defence of the snake storyline. -
Message 14
Posted by petal jam (U1466691) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:57 GMT, in reply to Arthur (The Threadbare Towrag havin' lost his) Crown
As for Mr K. I understand he is the only Writer who takes much interest in the comments herein.Â
Arthur I think this is a misunderstanding - slightly the wrong way round. Keri is Host of the mb - that is part of his *job* and afiak he was not an SW but Senior Producer when the mb was set up as part of the public face of TA. It is also part of his job to communicate the various flavours of the mb to his colleagues, who presumably also see comments from letters to the production office. What he or they make of the comments here I dread to think!¬)
Your post reads rather as if you think the mb is a place where the programme makers should be seen to be answerable to the listeners. It isn't: it's a space to *discuss* with other listeners and ask questions. One could interpret that as an open invitation to find fault; or it could be a pleasant discursion. In effect it is both. -
Message 15
Posted by DeeKay Bee - Disenfranchised (U236881) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
But what if she (VW) is the person who is channelling the spirit of Mrs Slocombe, I don't think that I could stand a pussy being thrown into the mix! -
Message 16
Posted by petal jam (U1466691) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 12:18 GMT, in reply to DeeKay Bee in message 15
Maybe not with an exotic snake looking for a nice warm resting place!¬) -
Message 17
Posted by Ella May (U6121028) on Wednesday, 22nd August 2007
The possibility of a FM came on Thursday. The confirmation came on Friday true.
As we are not far from the affected are( subsequently 3 m outside the exclusion zone)our farmer posted notices on the Thursday, asking that walkers,drivers etc. would keep away until there was a definate FM outbreak.
I found that he had heard the news from the early morning Farming prog. My point was that although there are many sources of information the Archers site should at least keep abreast of farming issues.Or at least daily happenings.
Not every farmer is Hi tech. Not enough hours in the day
Ella -
Message 18
Posted by jennet_device (U8197637) on Thursday, 23rd August 2007
The fact that we post anonymously may protect us, but it also means that it's difficult to take the boards seriously - would you take notice of anonymous letters?
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Message 19
Posted by cath (U2234232) on Friday, 24th August 2007
Right EM, let me get this straight:
So they wouldn't have heard Farming Today on Friday morning.
< My point was that although there are many sources of information the Archers site should at least keep abreast of farming issues.>
But /all/ farmers listen to TA, even if they're not hi tech so they need the daily tips on TA?
But if the farmers in Ambridge aren't hi tech and don't listen to Farming Today how on earth are they to tell the rest of the country's non hi tech, avid farmer TA listeners, who can't do their own homework but require Graham Harvey to tell them what to do all the time, of a potential unverified FMD threat? It's a bit circular I'm sure you'd agree.
I think we've already discussed the fact that TA is not here now to spoon feed farmers whatever its original remit was. If the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú went round doing expensive topical inserts for every scare there wouldn't be a TA, it would be full of topical inserts.
In any case I suggest that farmers are probably rather more intelligent and savvy than you give them credit for. If they're not hi tech and haven't got a radio in order to listen to Farming Today then they won't be able to listen to TA.
And if they do have a radio I can't imagine that they should need to be told agricultural snippets (topical insert, arrr the farrmers in the south east should harvest their rape today). If they do need that service then they should jolly well go out of business. Fast. -
Message 20
Posted by petal jam (U1466691) on Friday, 24th August 2007
Fri, 24 Aug 2007 10:27 GMT, in reply to Ella May in message 17
Ella if TA had set up a live feed to Friday's programme mentioning the possibility of a F&M outbreak, before the official confirmation, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú would have been criticised for scaremongering. Can't win. -
Message 21
Posted by Keri Davies (U2219620) on Friday, 24th August 2007
Others have already said what I would have in reponse to your points, Ella May. I would just add that the "information/education for farmers" remit of The Archers was removed in 1972.
And that (I was on holiday and had no involvement so I can say this quite honestly) I thought the reaction of the production team to the outbreak was exemplary. I was proud to be their colleague. -
Message 22
Posted by jennet_device (U8197637) on Saturday, 25th August 2007
I used to like the farming information. Three farming facts per episode, wasn't it? It gave one the illusion that one knew what was going on in the country - a bit like reading Arthur Ransome when you've never been near a boat. Or Patrick O'Brian's books, ditto.
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Message 23
Posted by EJ Morgan (U2233032) on Sunday, 26th August 2007
Have a look at other Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Message Boards for real bile. The producer of the ghastly Fi Glover show on Saturday mornings has been engaged in a real spat with various critics (self included) - knickers have most definitely been twisted. Great to see how they shout and scream if we have the audacity to say that we think their programmes are cr.p
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Message 24
Posted by PepperTree2 (U4276855) on Monday, 27th August 2007
I've looked at that thread, and good for the producer, I say. Being able to debate a programme with the producer, what a fabulous opportunity!! Would it work here? I wonder. -
Message 25
Posted by antiquelemonsqueezer (U5585422) on Sunday, 2nd September 2007
Trying to get my head round jennet's remarks about anonymity rendering us unworthy of notice. I never thought my poster-name was to protect me from the programme-makers! And as far as I'm aware our electoral system is conducted via secret ballot which results in new governments and councils.
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