Please can someone come along and explain why people listen to the Archers..?

[DreamingOfThruxtons]

Genuinely don't quite understand the attraction. The characters seem frankly cartoonish, and people with 'country' or 'regional' accents seem (on my limited acquaintance) to be uniformly stupid, venal or both.

Am I missing something? Or everything? Apologies if I offend anyone. Have some in advance, in thanks for your help.

Why do people watch Eastenders or Corrie? Similar stupid cartoonist characterisation. And at least we can listen whilst doing something else ...

Watching with interest as I listen to it and I can't explain why. Habit, maybe?

All you said is true. It used to be quite good and I think I live in hope that it will get better

True enough. Maybe it's that I snobbily expect something else from the sainted Radio 4! It's just that the 'yokels' versus 'nicely spoken and therefore intelligent' thing does slightly wind me up, and as I listen to R4 a lot, but don't watch telly, it's harder to avoid! Besides, a lot of people do seem to enjoy it, so I wanted to understand.

Anyway, thanks.

I have been listening to it for years and enjoy it. I don't watch soaps on tv but I expect people watch those because they like them.

We all have differents tastes, it would be dull if we all liked the same thing.

Having lived in a very rural village in the middle of nowhere as an incomer, it is in many ways remarkably realistic.

Everyone is related to everyone else, lots of village life centred around cricket, the village hall and the WI, you'll always be an incomer if you weren't born and bred, lots of local gossip, incomprehensible accents and local terms for all sorts of things that you have to learn to have the faintest idea what anyone is talking about. And the rich farmer in the big house who fancies himself the squire (I'm looking at you, Brian Aldridge).

It can be bloody annoying, but it's always there.

It's a bizarre combo of comforting, ridiculous and entertainment.

Come onto the official MN Archers thread and meet the addicts - we may be able to explain ourselves. ..or not. ..

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/2493584-Badly-done-Helen-badly-done-youre-as-stuffed-as-a-Grundy-turkey-Discuss-The-Archers-here

I like it's 'soapyness' but at 1 hr 15 mins per week it's not too much of a commitment. It's generally less dramatic than tv soaps, fewer car crashes, murders, that sort of thing.

I like radio as I can see it all in my head, imagine what the characters look like. The radio is always on in our house so it's convenient to listen to.

It has some very long lasting characters so you feel it really could be real, the actors tend to stick with it as it's not too much of a burden for them to do that and other things, and I like the storylines.

I also like the way it's a bit 'niche' and all the jokes about it like the John Finnemore thing and the Jake Yapp Radio 4 in 4 minutes thing.

I always listen to the Sunday omnibus. It's comforting, usually not too ridiculous (although the fair brothers are rather annoying and granny heatherpet conveniently dying in the car was a bit obvious) and I usually do other stuff at the same time. It's not for everyone but I enjoy listening

I don't understand why people like Top Gear but they do. Thank goodness we don't all like the same things, eh?

I also don't agree with the well-spoken = educated/clever and yokels = thick. There are lots of silly/stupid/just plain thick well-spoken people in The Archers (Lynda, the Fairbrothers, poor Helen...) and lots of very clever characters with broad accents (Fallon, Kirsty, Harrison, Ruth...).

My parents listened. I was rural born and bred and grew up listening in the 1960's and have continued to do so for almost 50 years. Have had the odd break, but I have always come back. Don't know why. It's on at a convenient time while I am cooking dinner in the evening. Some of the storylines pull me in, I am genuinely fond of some characters. Others I hate, but that's life eh ?

-I have Radio 4 on most of the time so it's more effort not to listen to TA than it is to listen to it.
-I have been listening to it for a while so there is no escape now! I did go on strike a few years ago but got sucked back in.
-Unlike TV soaps, it doesn't require a big chunk of my time (only 13 mins v 30) and I can get on and do other things whilst listening (only needs aural attention, not visual).
-I do wonder if people will get hooked so much these days. I started when Norman Painting was around and it seemed more grounded then. There are too many TV-style plots now. It's plot-driven instead of character-driven.
-Despite the above moan, it does still seem better than TV soaps (although I haven't seen any - apart from DD watching Hollyoaks - since, um, the 1980s probably so I may be a little out of date). TV sets up a cliffhanger and solves the problem in the next episode. TA sets things up and they run for years, if not decades. I like this slowness, it's more like RL.
-I like the continuity. Most soaps are based on a place so characters blow in and out. TA is based on a family so people are there forever.
-I have a fondness for the Ministry of Information bits that they clunkily shoehorn in. I am educated whilst I am entertained - how very BBC.
-It's located in my neck of the woods.

Thank you, everyone. It actually makes a lot more sense now I've read your responses: also interesting (thanks, KathyBeale) that I may have made some mistaken assumptions on the accent thing: probably partly because I haven't a clue who is who! Might not be so quick to switch it off in future!