Blog posts by year and monthNovember 2009
Posts (32)
Fecundity and mortality on The Archers
At the end of last week I had my annual Archers plotlines meeting. Those present - Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn and two trusty Archers senior producers, the Head of Radio Drama (England) and the Commissioning editor for R4 Drama - and R4's press officer. A few days in advance I get a brown ...
The BBC National Short Story Award
Hurrah! At last. After all the waiting, and the reading, and the deliberating we have at last reached the moment when we can reveal this year's short-list of five contenders for the BBC National Short Story Award (BBC NSSA). These five have survived the turbulent and exacting examination of firs...
Five more perspectives for Archers Week
I'm quite new at the BBC but I've been listening to The Archers since I was a small child. Its characters have been companions for decades. Events from Archers episodes are mixed up with those from my early life in a quite confusing way. I don't listen every day but the fine grain of life in and...
A script with a view
Tim Stimpson is an Archers scriptwriter (the youngest ever). Here he shares with us some of the tricks of his trade, including the unique visualisation above - SB. Whilst episodes written in September are now being broadcast and episodes written in October are being recorded. I'm now working on...
Crossing Continents is back
The message on my voicemail was garbled. Not surprising perhaps, as the producer was speaking over a dodgy satellite phone connection and was not in the calmest of moods. Something about the Taleban, risky flights, the Pakistani intelligence services and an 18-hour road trip through the notoriou...
Being Nic
I was in the studio yesterday recording two episodes for December. The first episode was at 0915 and the second at 1445, leaving me with a chunk of time in the middle to catch up with cast members I haven't seen in ages. It was great to see Ros Adams (Clarrie) as we haven't been in an epidode to...
Tales of the Unexpected - Lives in a Landscape 5 years on
Editors note: Alan Dein is a historian and he makes extraordinary radio features, many of which are on my list of favourites of all time. I asked him to write a piece introducing series five of Lives in a Landscape which is on-air now - SB. "You canna see Canna, it's hidden beyond Rum", explain...
Finding an excuse to go into the cubicle
It's been a strange old day! Having spent a year on attachment covering Sonja Cooper (Sonja wrote a blog post as part of Archers Week yesterday), in our Technical Broadcast's Assistant's role, it's my first day back in my old role of Broadcast Assistant. It's quite a change going from compiling ...
Our Mutual Friend - sound design - Colin Guthrie
Right from the start it was clear that the sound of water would feature heavily in the soundscape of the production - the river Thames could be considered the central character of the piece as so much of the story is woven in and around it. Drownings and near drownings, Lizzie Hexam and her fath...
A day spent producing (and directing) The Archers
A straight hit into studio today after not having been in the office for a week, all a bit of a shock and I gave myself an hour and a half to get into work - I only live 12 miles away! Just as well I did, the traffic is always heavy on a Monday morning, and I got in with 20 minutes to spare; tim...
