Columnist lays into farming folk

27 February 1998

Columnist lays into farming folk

JACK MCLEAN in The Scotsman says the death of John Archer in a tractor
accident in the Radio 4 soap was long overdue.

He comments there have been “a bloody sight more fatalities caused not by
tractors but by eating the chickens, cows, eggs and every damned thing the
farmers never even thought about in their pursuit of filthy lucre than accidents.”

He adds that he looks forward to the Sunday when he does not endanger himself
with apoplexy listening to the impertinence of everyday country folk. “John
Archer is only a start,” he says.

Meanwhile, the programmes editor Vanessa Whitburn upset fans when she
described the storyline in which John Archer died, as “fun”. A BBC spokesman
said she used the expression in terms of developing the storyline and giving it
dramatic impact.

• The Scotsman 27/02/98 page 19 (Opinion)
  
  
• The Times 27/02/98 page 10