The Archers Q&As - at BBC Birmingham
Andrew Smith
Assistant Producer, The Archers
Joanna Toye with Nikki Tapper
As part of BBC Birmingham’s recent Open Day, The Archers put on three Q&A sessions. Two writers (Keri Davies and Joanna Toye) and actress Sunny Ormonde (Lilian) chatted to listeners young and old…
The event was hosted by Nikki Tapper – BBC Local Radio broadcaster and self-confessed ‘Archers Superfan'.
You can find a full round up - as it happened - on Twitter...
Keri Davies
Keri has seen and done it all in Ambridge – from Press to producing, web-work to writing, taking in plenty of directing along the way...
What we learned:
- Life can often influence art: his (and friends') real experiences and stories have ended up in Archers scripts (divulge your secrets to Keri with caution!).
- He's a "Welshman by stealth" (he actually grew up in Wiltshire).
- Keri feels he "fell in" to writing. Well he certainly makes a regular splash!
Joanna Toye
A veteran Archers writer with a number of books to her name (which she happily signed)...
What we learned:
- Everything is documented in the Archers archive - but the best way to get to know the Archers world is by listening to the programme.
- Jo has always been obsessed with stories and writing - as a child she kept a stash of her own stories under her bed.
- One of her top rated storylines is the affair between Brian and Siobhan.
Sunny Ormonde (aka Lilian Bellamy)
She’s Sunny by name and nature, but the actress stresses that Lilian's longevity is down to her 3-dimensionality – she’s outrageous, sure, but not 24-7: there’s vulnerability and emotion beneath the mask...
What we learned:
- Having been warned that she might sound too young for the role of Lilian, Sunny developed the famous cackle to give the Editor something to remember her by - and boy did it work!
- Farmer's daughter Sunny was introduced to the world of theatre (and Judi Dench) in Stratford by an inspirational English teacher.
- Sunny also teaches acting for radio, so she knows her craft from both sides of the mic.
