The Archers on Radio 4 is the world's longest-running drama series. In common with many soaps it has an extensive cast ofcharacters, each of whom rise to prominence then fade into the background as storylines ebb and flow.
In an attempt to discover who speaks up the most, at the start of 2020 I began counting how many episodes each of the characters appeared in. Totals ought to even out over the course of the year, I reckoned.
Alas 2020 has proved no normal year. The actors' monthly recording session last took place in mid-March, after which the number of weekly episodes was duly trimmed from six to five. The BBC's backlog of new episodes alas finally dried up at the end of this week. The next three weeks will therefore be filled by repeats of classic episodes, and after that we're promised new-style internal monologues which probably means a very different format.
This means I've been forced to end my Archers survey after just four months - that's a total of 99 episodes. But I can announce that Ambridge's most frequently appearing characters have been as follows...
38: Kirsty 37: Lynda 29: Philip 27: Lillian 25: Alistair, Robert
Kirsty and Lynda are by some distance 2020's most-heard characters, with Kirsty just managing to nudge into the lead during Thursday's episode. Both Kirsty and Lynda have been at the heart of two major storylines - the explosion at Grey Gables, an upcoming wedding and/or the renaming of the pub. Philip and Robert appear prominently as their respective partners. Lillian's only had three weeks off since the start of the year, while Alistair's lofty position is mostly a result of his father's historic child abuse storyline.
23: Roy, Freddie 20: Jim, Emma, Tracy
Completing the top ten are a motley crew, and not necessarily who you'd expect. Roy's clearly been set up to play a key role in Kirsty's wedding denouement next week, a tightly-plotted outcome which'll sadly never take place. Freddie's 23 appearances contrast with his twin sister's one. Emma and Tracy have also had a lot more to say than usual, although alas we'll never discover whether Tracy's cricketing tactics would have helped win tomorrow's match against Little Croxley.
Next come several of the characters whose names cause non-regular listeners to roll their eyes. Twins Shula and Kenton have had pub names, dead peacocks and Anglican ordination to discuss. Josh and Jazzer are the highest-placed farming folk. Oliver's only here because his hotel kitchen blew up. Gavin dates the list somewhat because he's unlikely to be back in 2021.
11: Kate, Johnny, Ruth, Ben 10: Adam, David 9: Jakob 8: Brian, Helen 7: Tom, Justin, Harrison, Phoebe, Rex 6: Lee
Finally we've hit the dynastic core of farm-based characters, each of whom has appeared in about 10% of episodes, i.e. not quite once a week. The Archers has been relying a lot more on non-agricultural stories of late.
5: Jill, Eddie, Natasha, Neil 4: Elizabeth, Ian, Susan 3: Peggy, Alice, Chris, Fallon, Fiona, Leonie
Here are those making an occasional appearance, which for several of these characters is unexpected because they're usually at the centre of the drama. Only five Eddies, four Elizabeths and three Peggys in 99 episodes? It's plainly not been their time to shine.
Here are the hardly-used... those who've appeared no more than twice in four months. Tony, Jennifer and Clarrie are the unexpected trio, each at the heart of their families but seemingly with nothing to say. I've split the once-only characters into two rows, first the regulars and then the mostly one-offs. If you can identify more than one of the bottom row, give yourself a clap. How nice to see confirmation that Lily and Russ have been almost entirely absent of late.
0: Pat, Debbie, Rúairi, Leonard, Will, Usha
Finally, six of the suspiciously silent. Where is Pat Archer, and why haven't we heard from her in months? How can Ed Grundy have had several recent storylines while his brother Will has had none? Debbie's seeming inability to make contact with her family is frequently passed off by sleight of hand. Such is the deviousness of the soap opera writer that certain ill-disposed characters can disappear for an extended period without us even noticing.
As an aside, I can confirm that every episode of The Archers contains either five, six, seven or eight named characters. Limiting the number of characters per episode makes it easier for the audience to identify who's speaking (and, more importantly, cheaper for the BBC to record).
A typical omnibus episode contains about 20 characters (this year's range is 18-24).
Finally, because I've long wanted to untangle this, here are the number of character appearances by dynasty.
Team
Jill
Brookfield
The Bull
Greenacres
Lower Loxley
Archer
Archer
Lloyd
Pargetter
20+
Alistair, Jim
Freddie
10-19
David, Ruth,
Pip, Josh, Ben
Kenton, Jolene
Shula, Jazzer
3-9
Jill, Rex
Harrison, Fallon
Elizabeth
0-2
Leonard, Toby
Lily, Russ
Team
Peggy
Bridge Farm
Home Farm
Dower House
Archer
Aldridge
Elliot
20+
Lillian
10-19
Johnny
Adam, Kate
3-9
Peggy, Helen, Lee,
Tom, Natasha
Brian, Jakob, Phoebe, Ian, Alice, Chris
Justin
0-2
Tony, Pat, Henry
Jennifer, Debbie, Rúairi
also
Grange Farm
Grey Gables
Beechwood
Ambridge Hall
Ambridge View
Grundy
-
Miller/Moss
Snell
Carter
20+
Emma
Roy
Kirsty, Philip
Lynda, Robert
Tracy
10-19
Ed
Oliver
Gavin
3-9
Eddie
Leonie
Neil, Susan
0-2
Clarrie, Will
Roman
As for the other thing I've been counting religiously since the start of the year, this too has been royally scuppered by coronavirus. I'll spill the data I've collected so far once lockdown starts to ease.
