Radio analysis- traditional

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06mtqsy

The drama is set in a stereotypical English village called Ambridge but this
village is made up and the listeners dont know where the village would be so all
the characters have a summerset accent to put a geographical pin point on the
drama which makes it easier for the listeners to imagine.
At the very beginning the theme tune ends and automatically you hear a mans
voice, its assertive and slightly out of breath. There is the sound of birds in the
background which tells us hes outside. Piecing together we understand that hes
doing work outside. The drama has been running since the 50s and long-time
listeners will know that it is a drama based around a farming village. The context
of the conversation we know he is in stables with the technical horse riding
jargon, such as the word stirrup which is a piece of equipment used on a
saddle. The sound of a big thump implies the heavy saddle being dumped on
something this sound effects really helps set the scene because now we know
why hes out of breath; because hes lifting heavy things and doing hard work
hence him being out of breath. In traditional dramas, the actors try and use a lot
less pauses and silences in their acting because if you think about it, how often
are you speechless in everyday life. Postmodern dramas use silence a lot
because of the surreal story lines. Silence traditional dramas tend to only be
used for showing the listeners the end of a scene. As with silence, music has the
same place in line for traditional dramas. The archers has a theme tune that it
has used ever since it started but that is only ever played at the beginning and
the end. The only other time the archers ever plays music half way through the
drama is if they need it for aural signposting, such as if they are at a village fate
and there was a band playing, well they would put the sound of a live band under
neither the sound of people chatting in the background and then the main
characters in that scene talking. They editors would put the band in the
background because they would realistically be the loudest. In this specific
episode of the archers they do not use any music as sign posting. The ambience
in the beginning scene is caused with words and back ground noise. The
background noise of birds chirping in the back makes it seem peaceful and
idealistic world. Whereas the topic of words send this world twisting and tangling.
The lady is saying sorry and starts stuttering. The tension for first time listeners
wandering what shes apologising for. The panic in her voice and what she saying
makes contrasting atmosphere, it makes a panicked and scared atmospheres
because she doesnt know if the man will accept her apology. These two
contrasting atmospheres create a certain fire that intrigues the listener. These
two atmospheres to usually sit together because they are complete polar
opposites and making them work together as a way to confuse the listener on
how her apology will be accepted and this feeling for the listener creates tension
in the whole story.
It takes around a minute for the listener to realise that he isnt talking to
himself, we hear a ladies voice and she is saying sorry for something that she
said in a previous episode. The fact that they only referenced to how the
argument happened not to the reason why the two characters had an argument
but the words about the other day which implies that it must have been

serious as they havent seen each other in a while or it was such a big fight they
were scared to bring it up in case, it ruined their relationship. With no hints to
what the fight about tells us that the last episode ended on a cliff hanger and as
soaps usually do will always end one at the end of the weeks run of episodes.
Which is does. With the drama continuing from the past episode and tends to
end on a cliff-hanger as well apart from these two conventions the story follows a
linear narrative for half an hour an episode. Being a realistic drama the aural
signposts are far and few. Unlike with postmodern dramas which create aural
sign posts with silence, accents and the sounds of the environment. Traditional
dramas mostly use background noises and accents. The back ground noises of
birds and the sound of tractor engines running. This tells that they are clearly
doing work on a farm. We know its a tractor engine because its louder than the
usual car engine and in context of what the drama is about it makes sense for it
to be a tractor and Setting the scene, these both complement each other by
explaining each other. Why have a tractor? Because its on a farm. What do
farms have? Tractors. The drama was originally created in World War 2 as an
informative drama to help farmers grow to stop rationing. It hasnt changed its
format since, it is still targeted at farmers but as the stories progressed, the more
people have opened up to the drama. Originally it was Soule targeted at farmers
of any age to help them with their crops and livestock but the average listener
these days is middle aged and middle class men and women. These unexpected
listeners are drawn to the drama because it isnt full of death and teenage
pregnancies like more dramas that flood the airways these days are. The archers
is about small problems in a quant village where the dramas thrive from family
matters or farming problems that affect the farmers life. These problems are
relatable because the dramas can be transferred into the listeners everyday life.
They might have a child who could have had a phone call home from school or
they are deciding to quit their job. All these situations are viewed and sometimes
solved in the archers. The moods are always created with the use of characters
voices and aural sign posting. For example if the mood were shocked and sad
then the actors voice would drop and have more breaks/silences between each
word/sentence and could even have a stutter. Take the beginning scene again
the lady is apologising to the man about bring up a touchy subject at the dinner
table the other day. The mood of the scene is meant to be sorrow and
sympathetic. The lady has a lot of direction in her voice mixed in with stutter
because she is nervous about bring it back up and the direction means her
apology. the sympathy come from the man; his speech is a lot softer, patronising
and carries each of his words out a fraction of a bit longer to emphasise that he
does forgive her like it was nothing.
The story has been progressing like another soap, multiple circles of friends and
families that have all kinds of different situations and as the years go by and
stories drift along, characters and circles die of in the most realistic ways
possible (because its the archers and it is the least imaginative drama ever)
either they move house, die off or grow up and marry and start a new circle of
friends and families. In this specific episode though the story follows a linear
narrative from a previous episode which ended on a cliff hanger, this episode
also ends on a cliff-hanger. Most radio dramas, both traditional and postmodern
tend to follow the same formula; introduction-conflict-solution. The archers on
the other hand skips the introduction, we learn over time who all the characters
are from all their stories in different episodes. In this episode and Im sure the

majority of the archers the solution is placed in the bringing of the story and a
new introduction and conflict in the middle and old.
In the archers there isnt any narration or direct speech because both of these
things would break the style of the drama. It is supposed to be as realistic as
possible and breaking the flow of conversation with narration then it will stop the
purpose of the drama reaching the audience. The reason why people listen in
everyday is to keep up with the characters lives and the drama that comes
along with it. If they had a narrative with the story which hand held the listener
through the plot then it would make the actual story and acting redundant.it
would just be a bed time story otherwise. There is also no direct speech to the
audience as it was originally created to inform farmers what to do with their
crops in the 1940s at the height of rationing, the lack of direct speech makes the
listener think a lot more about what theyre saying because there is sense of
wanting to learn something theyre not meant to, I feel its a bluff from the
director when dramas do this to the audience, when they draw us in through I
feeling breaking the rules. This feeling comes from the fact the listener feels like
theyre eves dropping the characters lives and the drama. This means the
listeners do learn. In the present, the drama doesnt use direct speech or a
narrative because if it did then it would loose some of its legacy and credibility.