2023 conference - a mega meet up mash up with DumTeeDum
Meeting across 21-23 April 2023 in Brimingham, at its Town Hall and Symphony
A mash up of the two groups favourite formats, the weekend features the Academic Archers conference, with its usual serious to wry presentations examining life in Ambridge, and Dum Tee Dum podcast recording and special guests.
Friday 21st April – at BBC Mailbox
The Mash Up Big Archers Weekend started with a cosy evening with the One Stiletto in the Grave podcast team of Jane James and Sunny Ormond - aka Lillian Bellamy – talking about the friendships that have happened as a result of being an Archers fan. The audience was made of up of an invited audience of those with a story to share, and we hope to be able to offer a handful of tickets in the coming weeks for others to join. A huge thank you to the BBC for kindly hosting us at the Mailbox.
Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23 April – Symphony Hall
Saturday saw a day of presentations on the lives of those in Ambridge, by the fans for the fans - see below for the full schedule.
On Sunday we met for the all-important and hilarious Live Listen to the Sunday Archers Omnibus – followed by a very special treat, a live recording of that week’s Dum Tee Dum podcast!
Academic Archers and DumTeeDum Mash Up Big Weekend – the schedule
SATURDAY
9 am Doors open
9 - 9.30 Registration Time to find a seat, say our hello’s, grab a cuppa and get settled in
9.30 - 9.45 Welcome From Academic Archers HQ and DumTeeDum hosts
Session 1 - Material Culture: crafting, cooking, and show us your makes!
9.45 - 10 Jacqueline Bertho, Leisure pursuits in Ambridge
DumTeeDum's co-host asks, surely in amongst the good people of Ambridge there must be people doing lots of things we don’t hear about? Looking at how people spend their spare time in Ambridge through the lens of village life.
10 - 10.15 Jean Sheward, An Everyday Story of Country Cooking
Tales from the range - what Archers cookbooks down the ages tell us about how we've lived and live today, from post-war rationing to post-Brexit austerity.
10.15 - 10.30 Craft Corner - show us your makes!
Join in the various craft projects we have on the go during our meet up.
Session 2 - Births, deaths and Jenny Darling
10.30 - 10.45 Katharine Hoskyn & Deborah Miller, She is her Mother’s Daughter! - but does she mean to be?
Through six generations of Ambridge mothers and daughters, are character traits passed on through the generational line?
10.45 - 11 Meg Burton, Death in Ambridge
Are deaths in Ambridge commensurate with the UK population?
11 Thank you, Jenny Darling - a round of applause for Angela Piper & Jennifer Aldridge
11 - 11.30 Tea break - time to refresh your cups and stretch your legs - get ready for a conference barnstormer of a session after!
Session 3 - The Data Set: drilling down into the detail of Ambridge life
11.30 - 11.45 Helen Burrows & Louise Gillies, We told you so! Developments in the Aldridge and Horrobin family fortunes since 2017; looking towards the future
Updating from the Lincoln conference, what do the recent events for the Alridges and the Horrobins signal for the future of Ambridge?
11.45 - 12 David Killen, It's Good To Talk
Who talks to whom in Ambridge? Stats from speaker-diarisation of ten years of Archers
12 - 12.15 Nicola Headlam, Ambridge Networks 2023 edition
A conference favourite, Nicola will talk us through her mapping of the kith, kin and work relationships of Ambridge. Who is king and queen of the village in 2023?
Session 4 - Heard and Unheard: the sounds and silents in Ambridge
12.15 - 12.30 Maggie & Flora Mary Bartlett, Extending the scope: a post-humanist exploration of recent events in Ambridge
Previously we've had interviews with the silent people of Ambridge - now its time to hear from the fauna and flora cast!
12.30 - 12.45 Stuart McNally, Production discourse in The Archers: How to ensure domestic violence is not aurally sensationalised by sound design
How the soundscape to a stabbing was created.
12.45 – 2 Lunch Time to grab a sarnie and to take a visit to Craft Corner
Session 5 - We Need to Talk About…Ben, Ruari, Brian…: the men in Ambridge in crisis
2 - 3 Claire Astbury, ‘How about we have a sit down on this bench': An analysis of how Joy employed effective Mental Health First Aid during Ben's breakdown
Tracking the dialogue of an episode, what does it show us of mental health Frist Aid? Learning from Joy Horville.
Panel and audience consideration of the mental health of the men in Ambridge with our resident psychologists, DumTeeDum's Lonny Behar aka, Witherspoon, and Academic Archers' Karen Pollock.
Session 6 – Bricks, mortar…and a window
3 - 3.15 Nic Maxfield, A local village for local people: why Ambridge does not sprawl
Our perennial favourite subject! This time, going back in time to see who would live where.
3.15 - 3.30 Felicity Macdonald-Smith, Writing to the Bishop: how not to get a Faculty
The definitive on how to get your own window in a church.
3.30 - 3.50 Tea Break Beat the post-lunch energy crash with some caffeine and sugar hit
Session 7 - Early Years, University Years and Twilight Years
3.50 - 4 Corinna Richards, Schooling in Borsetshire and Education in Rural England
What does early years education in Ambridge tell us of schools in rural life?
4 - 4.15 The Saturday Group, Fun, Learning and Farming at the University of Felpersham
Learning more about this esteemed seat of learning (and previous conference venue, no less)
4.15 - 4.30 Rosalind Janssen & Ruth Heilbronn, Lifelong Learning at the Laurels in 2100
Ben, Chelsea and Brad in extreme old age, and medically-advanced rude health
4.30 - 4.40 Show Us Your Makes! Checking back in with the projects in Craft Corner
4.40 - 4.50 Awards Ceremony More hotly-tipped than the Oscars
4.50 - 5 DumTeeDum Berwick Green recording Start your vocal exercises now for this atonal delight
5 – 5.30 Exit
5.30 Doors close
Dinner, at The Cosy Club, from 8 pm prompt
SUNDAY
9.30 Doors open Grab a cuppa and join us back in the venue for…
10 - 11.15 The Archers Sunday Omnibus Live Listen
Feel free to laugh, moan and groan, and tweetalong to the week in Ambridge
11.15 - 12 Break
12 – 2 DumTeeDum Podcast Live Recording
Join Roifield and Jacqueline to record this weeks podcast with special guest, Sunny Ormond
2 – 2.30 Exit
2.30 Doors close