Most people who read this blog do so for technology content of some sort (although I have to accept there may be some stalkers too…). Readers seem to tolerate my occasional rants and wandering off to a bit of photography or motoring from time but I’m not sure there are very many fans of The Archers subscribed to my RSS. Or maybe there are?!

I’ve been listening to “the world’s longest running soap opera” for a few years now but the fact that Auntie Beeb makes it available as a podcast is a huge advantage. Now I don’t have to be close to the radio (or digital alternative) at a certain time and I don’t have to inflict my daily catch-up on family members who are less interested in the goings-on in Ambridge (although I was amused and maybe slightly concerned a few years ago when my son, then aged-about-4, started to repeat “for more information go to bbc dot co dot uk slash archers” and danced around to the “dum di dum” theme as I was listening in the car!)

My Archers addiction is only a few years old though (I did listen for a while on the radio a few years before that), but I sometimes start to wonder what a certain reference might mean, when the day’s script hooks back into something from the distant past. So I was especially pleased to receive a copy of The Archers Archives in my Christmas stocking.

Produced for the Archers 60th anniversary (so not covering the last couple of years), this book walks though all of the major events since the programme’s inception, including interviews with the actors and actresses who play the major parts, as well as key members of the production team.

There’s some interesting information on the BBC website but I thoroughly recommend the book to anyone who enjoys the Archers and is intrigued to know more about the history of Ambridge and its community.