The Archers (BBC Radio 4)

[mikelyons]

I've been listening to THE ARCHERS on BBC Radio 4 (via TuneIn) and on Apple Podcasts and was surprised there wasn't a thread for it on SON. Is anyone else listening to the world's longest running soap opera?

[YRBB]

Wow, I never expected to see a thread for The Archers!

 

I listen! (But I'm a little behind)

[I Am A Swede]

June Spencer: Last original Archers cast member to retire

 

 

[vetsoapfan]

I've never actually listened to The Archers, and know very little about it, but after enjoying a plethora of old-time American soaps on radio, I've been toying with the idea of searching TA out and giving it a try. I wonder how far back available episodes on the internet go. Ideally, I'd like to start from the beginning, but I doubt I'd have much luck hunting down episodes from 1951.

[DRW50]

I've tried to look a few times and there were just a handful I could find from that far back. I hope more are out there...

[vetsoapfan]

Do you know from what year a more consistent batch of episodes may be available?

There's not a lot out there of TGL from 1937-1949, but A TON of material exists from 1950.

[DRW50]

It's hard to tell you as organizing is so scattershot. This playlist has an episode from the '50s and one from the '70s and '80s.

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There are some episodes here, the few I saw being from the '80s.

https://www.youtube.com/user/RandomRadioJottings/videos

Reading this reminded me that the BBC did not start archiving The Archers until 1994, which would shock me if I had not already heard about the terrible practices of the UK outlets (like Crossroads episodes being junked well into the '90s).

https://missingepisodes.proboards.com/thread/3103/missing-archers-episodes

As shown in the link, some vintage episodes were put out on sale...not sure if they are around to buy or find now.

[vetsoapfan]

Thank you so much for taking the time to send me those links, @DRW50.

Aren't many episodes of even classic Dr. Who missing, because the BBC was careless/indifferent/stupid and didn't archive them all? I keep reading about the continued hunt for that series' "lost" episodes. I don't even watch the franchise, but the situation infuriates me, LOL. I would have started watching if long ago if all the episodes were intact. I hate missing huge sections/periods of TV shows.

It's tragic, too, that so many classic films have been discarded, lost, and/or left to rot and are now lost forever.

https://www.messynessychic.com/2013/04/10/the-lost-films-hitchcock-gatsby-and-oscar-winning-movies-that-vanished/

Since finding a treasure trove of newspaper comics (from the 1930s-40s) in my grandmother's house years ago, I've been avid to read vintage strips like Mary Worth, but  nothing seems to be available. I know Little Orphan Annie was preserved, because hardcover books have been released, with strips starting from LOA's debut in 1927. I've bought the first six. I wonder if Judge Parker, Apartment 3G, Rex Morgan, and other soap opera newspaper strips have been saved.

It's a bummer that The Archers' history is lost, but it doesn't really shock me. Complain as fans are wont to do, we are very lucky that soaps like Dark Shadows and The Doctors have been kept AND made available to us.

[DRW50]

Yes, many DW episodes were junked, and some that were saved were saved only because of filing errors or because the titles of episodes made someone think they were news or documentary. So many shows being junked, and films, radio, etc. hurts my heart. Like the story about Colleen Moore donating all her films for preservation, only to later learn after donating them that they had been rotted away. Every day I check to see if some media has been recovered, even for some movie I'm never going to see. 

I used to read all about the old newspaper strips and wonder about whether they were saved. I would guess they are on microfiche somewhere, but so much stuff has been left out decaying or is accidentally destroyed, who knows. 

It doesn't help that most material is so hard to find. I know someone on Twitter who posts old Gasoline Alley strips but if there are any books they're hugely priced.

[vetsoapfan]

Even the classic, original film version of Lost Horizon no longer exists in its entirety. Judy Garland's full-length A Star is Born is gone too. Both films were chopped up after release to shorten their running times, and the excerpts got destroyed. Yes, efforts have been made to restore these classics, but they are still not 100% complete.

Poor Colleen Moore must have been devastated upon learning that the films she had donated for preservation had been handled carelessly and ended up destroyed. From what I understand, several of her films still do exist, but a huge number of them have been lost. ARGH!

I was pleasantly suprised to discover that the complete run of Little Orphan Annie newspaper strips had been archived. The copies are pretty good too, considering they begin from 1927 prints. I wanted to continue buying the hardcover books, but they became too expensive. I just have accept the fact that I cannot find, get and collect everything I want.

[AMCOLTLLover]

U can read all episodes from mid 1995 to 2022. 

[vetsoapfan]

Read what, from 1995 to 2022? Scripts of The Archers?

[AMCOLTLLover]

I don’t know if the archive site is still available for the scripts but the recaps from the daily episodes from mid 1995 to 2022 are still available online

[vetsoapfan]

Thanks!