Your problems solved | 24 November 2007

Q. I am a fan of The Archers but my listening pleasure always dips whenever one of the villagers makes the offer of ‘a coffee’ to another Ambridge resident. I feel the producers of the soap are failing to serve their loyal audience as it deserves, and are also missing an audio trick, in that they persistently omit any information about the nature of the beverage provided even though we live in a very caffeine-conscious age. For example, I would expect the Grundys to be a Nescafé family and the Aldridges users of cafetières, but there is never the happy sound of beans being ground in Jennifer’s Aga kitchen, and meanwhile Ruth, who is always bringing refreshments to Deevid on his tractor, would presumably have a Thermos, but again, we are never told! How can I obtain release from my tortured aural imaginings whenever ‘a coffee’ is mentioned on the show?

R.