Post by krwListening to the DumTeeDum podcast this morning one of the hosts has
recently had a chat with Keri Davies (former producer and scriptwriter
of the parish of Ambridge, although we all know he does not really exist).
Apparently at one point (presumably before the Tucker cull etc) there
were 90 "live" characters - which explains why we don't hear from them.
This strikes me as a high number - and wondered if any of our record
keepers might have some idea of the current number?
I am not sure how they qualify "live" - eg does James Bellamy count?
Leonie and the other one?
Anyone know?
I will have a go at answering this. It will be tricky without a proper
definition of what a "live" character is, but I'll try.
So far this year the credits have listed 71 different characters. (This
includes the coming week, in which Anisha, Usha and Phoebe all appear
for the first time this year.)
Of these, there are 4 characters that I don't expect to hear from again
(such as the doctor who was treating Nic, and Shiela Dillon).
We have also heard 3 children, who are not credited (Henry, Jack and Kiera).
That gives us 70 characters who must surely be called live, though, on
second thoughts, one of these is Nic, so perhaps not.
They also include some characters who are new (to me) this year: Olwen,
Ellis, Andrew, Beverley, Russ, Jake and Hannah (was she really around
before, I don't recall her). Some of these characters may disappear
without trace, or fall silent, before long, but they could potentially
be long term characters and I would be inclined to call all of these
live characters, for now, but you may think otherwise.
How far back should we look though? I've already pointed out that 3
characters are about to speak for the first time this year, and my
definition of live could certainly include others that we haven't heard
from yet this year.
There are 11 known characters that spoke last year, but have not done so
yet this year. They are:
Carol Tregorran, James Bellamy, Leonie Snell, Lucas Madikane, Matt
Crawford, Miranda Elliot, Rob Titchener, Stephan, Tracy Horrobin, Ursula
Titchenor and George Grundy (uncredited)
I reckon that about 5 of these are likely to be heard from again in the
not too distant future and could be called live. Others we may not have
heard the last of, but don't expect to hear from soon.
If we go back to 2016, we find credits for other characters who have not
spoken since. These include:
Alf Grundy, Andrew Eagleton, Anna Tregorran, Bruce Titchener, Charlie
Thomas, Debbie Aldridge, Dorothy (Dan's girlfriend), Hayley Tucker, Jess
Myers, Kaz (Helen's prison friend), Richard Locke, Sacha Locke & Wayne
Tucsan.
I would expect to hear from a few of these in due course, but does that
make them live characters?
If we go back to 2015, we find the last performance of Brenda, Mike and
Vicky Tucker, plus Abbie (uncredited). Also Hazel Woolley & Kathy Perks.
We probably can't call any of these live, much as I would like to hear
from some of these again.
As for the likes of Jamie Perks, Coriander Snell and Lewis Carmichael, I
have not yet worked back to their last appearance, and I couldn't call
any of these live characters, even though an appearance from any of them
would not cause a great deal of surprise.
My conclusion is that there are a little over 70 live characters at the
moment, possibly appoaching 80.
--
CaroleT