LO 1: Radio Drama - The Archers

Area of research:	Notes:
Purpose	·        The Archers Radio Drama is a regular show which entertains it's audience through a narrative resembling the daily life of country and farmer families.
Form & Style	·        The Archers is a fictional audial tale that may also pass as an audiobook. The show is a very conversational piece and formally performed, giving instant connotations of the type of demographic that tune in to listen to this broadcast.
Content	Listeners are introduced to the show with a popular classical theme tune, namely Barwick Green, instantly connoting a target audience of an older and upper class generation as we associate classical music with a more 'experienced' population. The conversation in the show tells me what the content denotes by analysing its dialogue and accent; the characters talk with received pronunciation, we associate this with a wealthy/posh person.There are also characters that speak with a strong 'farmer' accent, artificial 'wild sounds'
Meaning	This show intends to portray  a rural setting to it's listeners as they may be able to relate to it's lifelike rural narrative or want to be involved with the countryside if they are otherwise unable to access it. From which, this tells us that the Archers; audience may majorly consist of older people, who listen to the program for entertainment.
Genre	·        The Archers is a contemporary Drama, due to it's content being real situations and conversation that one may expect to hear from residents of rural settings.
Target audience	·       Over 5 million people tune into The Archers on BBC Radio 4 with another million accessing the show online, typically by an older audience. This is denoted by the RAJAR figures for BBC Radio 4, the channel that broadcasts this program.
Frequency	·       This soap opera runs for 12 minutes and is released 6 times per week. ·        This connotes and reinforces how popular this Radio Drama is , which has been running for over 53 years.
Production process	·       The Archers is an in-studio broadcast, all Background noises are in fact recorded live during the show called Foley Sounds. These can be for example horse's hooves clopping along road interpreted by coconut shells. ·       This program is pre-recorded and therefore depends heavily on pre-production due to the necessity of a set script. The Archers is broadcast every weekday as well as Saturday at 19:02 on BBC Radio 4; the show is also made available for catch up on the BBC Radio 4 website.