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Posted by Grandma W (U8616801) on Friday, 27th March 2009
Is the Christmas special of 1988/1989 still available? It was about the Ambridge men going to war and was very moving.
"To the Hero the Spoils" was the book on which it was based. I was kindly lent a copy of the tape someone had made from the radio programme, but it is not available commercially - maybe one for Archers Addicts to consider?
Thank you for that info' - it would be great if it was out on CD and would make an excellent present for my fellow devotees.
Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:32 GMT, in reply to fearlessAlison in message 3
I remember this. It was very good - it opened with a brass band playing Barwick Green at the summer fete. Didn't some of the current actors play their forebears?
VH
VH: I hope you find the following of interest:
The play Ambridge Chronicles
was Adapted by Peter Mackie
from the novel, To the victor the spoils, by Jock Gallagher.
and Directed at Pebble Mill by Philip Martin.
Cast.
Dan Archer, Michael Mullonie.
Dorris Archer, Holly Aird.
Ben Archer, David Lerner.
George Grundy, Trevor Harrison.
John Archer, father of Dan, Ben and Frank, Ralph Lauton.
Phoebe Archer, John's wife, Jillian Goodman.
Frank Archer, Richard Pierce.
Walter Gabriel, Terry Molloy.
Squire Lawson-Hope, Dan's commanding officer, Michael Deacon.
Cedrick Lawson-Hope, killed in war, John Dickson.
Godfrey Winstanley, Simon Cuff.
William Forrest, father of Tom and Doris, Roger Hume.
Percy Hood, Richard Allinson.
Lisa Forrest, Sunny Ormonde.
Tom Forrest, Sam Barriscale.
Josh Harris, William Hayes.
Lisa Scrobey, Susan Jeffreys.
Jessie Plant, Martin Matthews.
Photographer, Jef Searle.
Keith
In addition to my above message, I would agree it would be excellent to hear this play again.
Some while ago I wrote to Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú 7 suggesting they might be able to broadcast it
also the two special Christmas Day editions for 1986 and 1987.
I had a reply saying they thought it was an excellent idea, and they would make enquiries.
I'm pretty sure that I raised this on the board, also, and Mr K thought it was a good idea.
So, please, Mr K, any chance?
Keith
Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:32 GMT, in reply to AddictKeith in message 5
As in the Radio 2 DJ?
Mabel, I confess to not having listened to the play for quite a while, and it's also been a fair while since I listened to Richard Allinson, but I assume they are one and the same.
I notice that in the cast list I incorrectly put an 's' at the end of "Susan Jeffrey".
Keith
Keith
Thanks for that!
Yes, it would be good to repeat this.
For that matter, I don't see why we couldn't have a regular, parallel "vintage Archers" - starting with the earliest recordings extant and proceeding nightly.
VH
Alternatively, an "Ambridge through the ages" special once in a while... afternoon plays?
I would have thought that, if the recordings are still extant, it would be an excellent idea to have The Archers broadcast from the beginning on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú 7. The trouble is, as it's an almost daily serial in any case, they'd never catch up. Perhaps they could broadcast a week's episodes (an omnibus if they did them so far back) each weeknight. They've done this with eg Doctor Who on the cable channels, and it would be fascinating to hear these old broadcasts.
'Ö'
Fri, 01 May 2009 19:27 GMT, in reply to Leaping Badger in message 11
I think there are gaps in the archive, so the distance between the "heritage" epi and the "current" one would close over time, but once they hit the 1980s (or wherever they started keeping every recording) it would stay constant - unless they played a "heritage" epi every night, in which case they'd gradually close the gap. But then it would get out of step with the day of the week.
I don't really mind. I just think they should free those old recordings and let us hear them. As that seeks to be the main role of Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú7, I don't see why they shouldn't.
VH
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