Editing The Archers (section)

==Fan clubs==
Two organisations dedicated to the programme were established in the 1990s. Archers Addicts was the official body, run by members of the cast. The club had five thousand members<ref>Clive Aslet, et al [http://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/article/453925/Why-we-love-The-Archers.html "Why we love The Archers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307215143/http://www.countrylife.co.uk/property/article/453925/Why-we-love-The-Archers.html |date=7 March 2012}}, ''Country Life'', 7 May 2010.</ref> and an online shop where Archers memorabilia was sold under licence. It closed as a club on 31 December 2013 but still has a Facebook page and Twitter feed. Archers Anarchists was formed sometime later,{{when|date=January 2021}} objecting to the "castist" assumptions propagated by the BBC, and claiming that the characters are real.

The [[usenet]] [[newsgroup]] uk.media.radio.archers<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/uk.media.radio.archers |title=uk.media.radio.archers on Google Groups |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=22 January 2011 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/uk.media.radio.archers |url-status=live}}</ref> (referred to as UMRA by its users, who call themselves umrats) has been running since 1995. Its users include experts on subjects covered by the programme, such as the many aspects of farming, the running of small businesses, [[Change ringing|bell ringing]]; lengthy discussions ensue – as well as light-hearted matters, and plot speculation. Various gatherings occur where umrats come together. The first was a series of about ten annual barbecues.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leverton.org/blosxom/Usenet/Umra/Umra%20Barbeque%202000/ |title=UMRA 2000 barbecue |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323030827/http://www.leverton.org/blosxom/Usenet/Umra/Umra%20Barbeque%202000/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first was attended by [[Carole Boyd]] ([[Lynda Snell]]). They have included participants from Europe and the Americas. It has nicknames for many of the main Archers characters,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ambridgereporter.org.uk/nicknames.html |title=UMRA nicknames and related matters |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323092332/https://ambridgereporter.org.uk/nicknames.html |url-status=live }}</ref> such as S'aint for Shula. (There are nicknames for most of the regular characters.) Due perhaps to it being initially more accessible in academia, the discussions can be quite detailed, though UMRA considers itself to be a friendly and welcoming group, where in particular [[flamewars]] and the like are not welcome. Despite the general decline of usenet<ref>discussion on the decline of usenet[[Usenet#Decline]]</ref> with the advent of trendier media such as Facebook and Twitter, UMRA remains a very active newsgroup compared to many. Its one-time T-shirts<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/bbq2002/bbq0208.htm |title=UMRA T-shirt, 2002 |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=27 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627034238/http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/bbq2002/bbq0208.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> and mugs bore the legend (in yellow on "Barwick Green", of course) "An everyday story of internet folk."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/index.htm |title=UMRA logo |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=23 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323092402/http://www.clothandclay.co.uk/umra/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Academic Archers, founded in 2016, is a community of fans who share an academic approach to the programme. It organises an annual conference at which papers are presented which draw on academic expertise along with enjoyment. Papers from these have been published as ''The Archers in Fact and Fiction: Academic Analyses of Life in Rural Borsetshire'' (2016, Peter Lang:{{ISBN|9781787071193}}), ''Custard, Culverts and Cake'' (2017, Emerald: {{ISBN|9781787432864}} and ''Gender, Sex and Gossip: Women in The Archers'' (2019, Emerald: {{ISBN|9781787699489}} ) The group aims to be "curious, generous and joyful".<ref name=academic>{{cite web|title=Home page|publisher=Academic Archers|url=http://www.academicarchers.net|access-date=7 April 2019|archive-date=6 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206215608/http://academicarchers.net/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=rosefield>{{cite news |work=[[New Statesman]] |last=Rosefield |first=Hannah |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2016/03/what-we-learned-first-academic-archers-conference |title=What we learned from the first academic Archers conference |date=28 March 2016 |access-date=7 April 2019 |archive-date=7 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407071716/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/observations/2016/03/what-we-learned-first-academic-archers-conference |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=tickle>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/13/archers-conference-ticket-radio-4-ambridge |last=Tickle |first=Louise |title=The Archers academic conference: hot ticket for Radio 4 fans and insurgency experts |date=13 February 2018 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=27 October 2021 |archive-date=16 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016180806/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/feb/13/archers-conference-ticket-radio-4-ambridge |url-status=live }}</ref>

There are four weekly fan podcasts about ''The Archers'': ''All About The Archers'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Podcast list |first1=Acast |title=Podcast summary |url=https://shows.acast.com/all-about-the-archers |website=All About The Archers podcast |publisher=cast |access-date=17 July 2024}}</ref> ''DumTeeDum'', ''The Cider Shed'' and ''Ambridge on the Couch''.<ref name="f500">{{cite book | last=Korfmacher | first=A. | title=Fan Podcasts: Rewatch, Recap, Review | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge Advances in Fan and Fandom Studies | year=2024 | isbn=978-1-04-008715-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-SoHEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 | access-date=2024-07-11 | page=133}}</ref><ref name="i270">{{cite book | last1=Courage | first1=C. | last2=Headlam | first2=N. | title=Fandom Culture and The Archers: An Everyday Story of Academic Folk | publisher=Emerald Publishing Limited | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-80262-969-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0sxuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16 | access-date=2024-07-11 | page=16 | archive-date=9 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809143718/https://books.google.com/books?id=0sxuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT16 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="n497">{{cite book | last1=Miller | first1=B. | last2=Collingwood | first2=C. | title=For the Love of The Archers: An Unofficial Companion: Revised and Updated | publisher=Summersdale | year=2022 | isbn=978-1-80007-791-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1KuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT277 | access-date=2024-07-11 | page=277 | archive-date=9 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809143718/https://books.google.com/books?id=s1KuEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT277 | url-status=live}}</ref>