Pam's Fotothing

Today we've been on a tour of the BBC studios in "The Mailbox" building in Birmingham, to see behind the scenes of the BBC radio and television.

We were shown round the recording studios of the programme "The Archers", which is the oldest soap opera in the world, since it started in 1951 and has run continuously ever since.

The studio is full of artefacts used for different sound effects on the programme. This area contains everything they're ever likely to want to portray in a kitchen. If the characters in the radio play are having a cup of tea, then an assistant will actually make and pour a cup of tea to create authenticity! There's an Aga cooker here; these are quite commonplace in farmhouse kitchens, and the sound of cooking (or warming up the newborn baby lambs) has to be right.

(English readers will probably understand what I'm saying; others may be completely puzzled!)