The Archers and Camilla – A rant

Strange title?  Not radio related?

Correct.  No apologies though.

I listen to The Archers, I’ve listened to The Archers for more years than I care to remember and I like it.  For fifteen minutes a day my mind goes to Ambridge and I think it’s great.

For a while now the press (specifically the BBC website) has been running articles saying that Camilla would be appearing on The Archers.  Now I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s true to say that most people in the UK probably aren’t great fans of Camilla Parker Bowles and I had no real excitement about this.

I listen to The Archers in the car on my way to work and I actually run a week behind the actual shows because I listen via podcast and it’s just convenient for me to do it this way, hence I’m always a week behind on the storylines except for the events at New Year which were promised to Shake Ambridge To The Core when I made sure I was listening at broadcast time.  But I digress.

In the couple of weeks lead up to the appearance of Camilla the show was full of comments about “The Duchess”.  Get real, BBC.  Nobody, and I mean nobody refers to Camilla as “The Duchess”.  Even Susan “Jailbird” Carter called her “The Duchess”.  No.  I doubt anyone in the UK would know who the Duchess of Cornwall is without having to rack their brains about it but everyone in Ambridge knew without having to be reminded. In the real world the conversation would have been:

“The Duchess of Cornwall is coming to Grey Gables next week”
“Who?”
“The Duchess of Cornwall”
“Huh?”
“You know.  Camilla”
“Oh”  *walks away, disinterested*

In the end, her appearance was absolute rubbish.  She sounded wooden and forced and although I have no idea behind the reason for her appearing on The Archers I doubt she won over any fans by doing so.  The whole minuscule story line was unrealistic and badly written.

I don’t want rubbish like this in The Archers, I want it to carry on the way it has been, the way it always should be: An everyday story of country folk.

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  1. Agreed! One of the things which often destroys the verisimilitude of the programme is when *all* the characters use the same name, or term, for something. It just grates. It’s not natural.

    The one I particularly remember is from a while back when Elizabeth Archer was due for heart surgery. Everyone, every single character, referred to it as her “Operation” (in awe, with a capital “O”). Not her “op”, “surgery”, “procedure”, “heart op” or potentially a half dozen other minor variants. Argh!

    VW, are you listening???

    p.s. yes, this *is* radio-related. I’ve seen the masts at Droitwich (a.k.a. the Home of Radio 4) and I confirm they do exist. Got a nice strong signal there, too 😉

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