Thursday, 11 March 2010

Radio Dramas

The Archers-

The Archers is the longest running radio drama since 1950, there are six episodes a week and it is broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 at around 19.02pm. It is very popular as it is the most listened to non-news programme on Radio 4. It is set in the fictional village of Ambridge in the county of Borsetshire. The storyline is mostly based on the family of the Archers who own a farm but contains other families aswell. The Archers often base their episodes around real time so having shows to do with what is going on in reality on the present day. The series is often based upon the class of the different families within the village.

I have listened to a few episodes of The Archers and from this can identify the certain conventions of radio dramas they use. At the start of the drama it starts off with the theme tune which is called "Barwick Green" which is an upbeat maypole tune. This gives the drama recognition for the listener even if they do not know that the show is going to be on. They also often mention names to whom they are speaking to just to clarify the characters names and so it is easier to understand and it can get confusing if you cannot see what is going on. The Archers also use alot of fades and sound effects when settings change to ensure to the listener they know what is going on in the drama. The use of accents and dialect in The Archers is also important as it allows listeners to differntiate between characters even more and make the series seem more relalistic, it also can differentiate between the different social classes of the different families. Also in one particular episode i listened to i spotted that it use the technique of self reffering by reffering to Radio 1, im sure if i listenened to more of the episodes that i would find alot more self refferential parts.

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