Dumteedum Live, Birmingham Town Hall - Review

Bang on time for the 3pm live recording of Dumteedum - the weekly podcast for fans of the Radio 4 drama legend that is The Archers - but a day late for the weekend of related merriment organised for the subscribers.

Members of this fan club - one of many - were treated to a tour of the Mailbox, where the daily series is recorded, and dinner before a night out in a club with at least one of the scriptwriters joining in.

Sunday morning saw the group taking a guided walk along the city’s canals before descending on the hall for a 90-minute homage to this great British institution.

Those of us who hadn’t been throwing shapes in Reflex or marvelling at the inventiveness of the studio sound effects were still made to feel very much part of the Ambridge family.

With voices raised, we dumteedumed along with the best of them before hosts Lucy Freeman and Roifield Brown started the recording of the show which has fans all over the world. One of the audience had even travelled from Michigan for the celebrations.

Lucy gave us her irreverent and hilarious take on the week’s goings on, before we heard choice tweets, Facebook feedback and uploaded comments from listeners.

One had the audacity to criticise Lillian’s character for sounding too much like Julie Walters - did he not know that this was being heard in Birmingham - and no-one knocks our Julie.

Also up on the stage was Keri Davies, one of the scriptwriters and Charlotte Martin, who plays Susan.

Their insight and reflections on characters, storylines and forward-planning were both fascinating and hilarious, highlighting the joy of sharing in something so universal.

The afternoon was over too soon, but, thank heavens, we’re never more than a day away from an episode of The Archers - and now that I’ve found it - only a week away from the next Dumteedum podcast.