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Two couples from the Aldridge and the Archer dynasties occupy the top four places in June’s appearances table, with each wife ahead of her husband. We had one newcomer who made one appearance on the first day of the month. Hard to predict whether Sandeep Johal from the Environment Agency will appear again. Her appearance made me wonder about the naming conventions among the editors and scriptwriters. Sandeep Johal appeared, armed with a forename and surname, yet ne-er-do-well drug dealer Ellis, whose appearances so far total five, seems to be devoid of a surname. Maybe Keri Davies or someone else from the production team could enlighten us as to why some newcomers have a full name while others only have a first name. We had a couple of Right You Ares but sadly no Hello You Twos. Three people have been removed from the absent character list, having made their first appearance of the year this month: Phoebe, Anisha and Usha. They contributed to an overall majority for the women in the gender ratio for the first time since we began recording that statistic.
-I was surprised that Jazzer (and a few others) only made one appearance this month. It’s interesting how we perceive characters jumping in and out of the dialogue (and plot) much more frequently than they do. And I didn’t see Jim Lloyd on either list.
-We are assuming Ellis is the nasty guy’s first name; but maybe it’s his last and that’s what everyone calls him. I suspect that Ellis only gets one name because it of the second syllable’s sound: emphasize the final “s” and you get what sounds like a snake in the grass.
-I was also surprised by the note that this is the first month in our recorded memory that women’s appearances outnumber men’s, considering we think of the show as female driven, and I would bet the show has more female listeners. What is the male:female breakdown of the show’s writers?
Good morning, Witherspoon!
It’s interesting how we all have different interpretations of situations that can be ambiguous. You’re absolutely right that Ellis could be the character’s surname, but as I had perceived it as being his forename from his first appearance, I had not even thought of it being the other way round. Could that be a cultural difference? In the United States, are people more likely to use a person’s surname than their forename? I cannot even think of a time where I’ve addressed someone using only their surname, except in jest.
The episodes currently detailed on The Archers website have been written by Paul Brodrick, Mary Cutler and Amanda Whittington. Friend-of-the-show Keri Davies is, as we all know, also one of their number. Maybe other Dumteedummers can add to this list. I shall have one ear listening out from now on to pay attention to the week’s scriptwriter. With all the elements I am currently listening for, including the storyline itself, I need about seventeen ears!
The reason for Jim’s omission is that he did not appear during June, but he has appeared earlier in the year. The Absent Characters list are those that have not been heard at all during 2018. I have amended the post to make that clearer.
Here’s wishing you continuing improving health and a slightly early Happy 4th of July!
Just getting around to listening to DTD 220. Callerinnerer Quilted Bunny had some interesting comments, not about the gender, but simply about the number employed as scriptwriters.
His argument was that having so many writers means that each only gets to write about five weeks per year, thus leading to fluctuations in quality and continuity.
Quilted Bunny thinks there should be a cull of the current crop down to around just five, with Keri Davies being given sixteen weeks per year and the rest having nine.
Apparently, in his conversation with Roifield, Keri Davies indicated that there were eleven or twelve scriptwriters at present. So, can anyone name, and thereby identify the gender of, any of those I’ve not mentioned earlier?
Although it certainly is almost ubiquitous to be called by one’s first name here, occasionally someone is called by their surname, if it’s short enough (no more than two syllables), or if it’s done in either a jocular or pejorative manner. Think of the characters of Seinfeld greeting their postman frenemy with “hello, Newman…” Ellis is evil enough in his own way to only merit one name. And I do indeed wonder if the scriptwriters want us to be reminded of a snake in the grass.
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