A light
soap opera on
BBC Radio 4 that is set inside the British equivalent of the American
Senate,
the Houses of Parliament (hence the name). This topical series, which opens with a
monkey chanting "Auchter! AUCHTER!" in a satirical mimickery of the actual British
Speaker of The House, follows real life events such as the
Foot and Mouth epidemic, and uses superb acting talents to accurately impersonate the politicians such as the nasal
Yorkshire tones of
William Hague.
Recent plots have included the birth of the
Tony Blair's son, the marriage of two
back benchers and
pederasty.
Tragically, ratings have fallen of late, with the show being pushed into later and later slots by other soap operas like
Newsnight and
The Today Programme. Not even the new
General Election plot seems likely to restore its former days of glory, and there are sad reports that the planned
homosexual orgy plot has been
canned due to lack of interest.
However,
just as one door closes, another opens, and in this case this has been the increasing popularity of a new
insightful political analysis programme,
The Archers.