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The Archers star June Spencer has been with the British radio soap opera
since its debut in 1950. |
Actress June Spencer: "The creator of The Archers thought he was God"
As the Radio 4 soap opera celebrates its 65th anniversary, June Spencer, the actress who plays Peggy Woolley, spoke to
Telegraph about the first ever episodes in 1950.
“We doubled like mad in those days,” recalls Spencer. “As well as Peggy, I played the Irish Rita Flynn, using an accent I borrowed from my landlady.”
Spencer, now 96, doesn’t hold back on
The Archers' creator Godfrey Baseley. “I can’t say he was greatly loved. He was a very abrupt man and he could be very dictatorial. He thought he was God. He wasn’t very popular but he knew what he was doing when he invented
The Archers.”
The show, originally billed as “an everyday story of country folk” but now described as “a contemporary drama in a rural setting”, has become a national institution and the world’s longest-running active soap opera (second only to
Guiding Light for total longevity), with more than 17,800 episodes in the bank.
Downton Abbey series finale wins Christmas Day ratings battle in the UK
The final episode of
Downton Abbey beat
Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas Special to win the battle of the Christmas Day ratings, as 6.6 million tuned in to wish a fond farewell to the Crawleys.
Downton went head-to-head with an hour-long special of
EastEnders in the 8:45 p.m. time slot, but even a shock car crash involving the Mitchell and Beale families only captured the attention of 5.7 million fans. It still triumphed in the war between the soaps, with
Coronation Street pulling in an average of 5.6 million and
Emmerdale 4.3 million.
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Drake posted a photo on Instagram of his reunion with Degrassi
co-star Andrea Lewis with the caption, "Forever my ting.. |
Drake can’t stop smiling after reunited with his Degrassi girlfriend, Andrea Lewis
Jimmy and Hazel, together again. On Thursday, Drake reunited with his former
Degrassi co-starm Andrea Lewis, who played Hazel Aden on the show. Jimmy and Hazel started dating in Season 3, and lasted until Season 5. They met in detention, and were dating when Jimmy was infamously shot, which ultimately caused tension in their relationship. Things ended because of Jimmy’s attraction to Ellie.
Cord cutting is gonna suck in 2016, but it’ll get better
If you’re willing to break the law, you could supplement a meager streaming video service by torrenting pirated copies of your favorite shows. But with the feds cracking down on torrent trackers, that might not be an option for long, even if you’re willing to risk it. Or you could try staggering your subscriptions. Subscribe to HBO Now for for the few months that Game of Thrones is on the air, and then cancel and switch to Hulu. Subscribe to Sling TV in the fall for Monday Night Football, then cancel when football season is over. But that sounds like a hassle.
Such is the plight of the cord cutting couch potato in 2016. It will probably get better. The Federal Communications Commission is looking into Comcast’s data rates. Eventually, the advantage of exclusive deals with specific streaming providers may not be worth it for studios. For example, instead of going exclusive with Netflix, Marvel might make its superhero shows available on Netflix, Hulu and YouTube simultaneously, so you won’t need so many subscriptions.
Twitter says new measures "have tackled trolls"
Twitter has clamped down on internet trolls by introducing a series of measures over the past year, its European head Bruce Daisley has said. Speaking to
The Independent ahead of Twitter's 10th birthday, Daisley said more effort had been put into user safety than any other issue.
"The measures we've taken correlate directly with a reduction in the amount of bad behavior," he said.
A series of high-profile users have quit Twitter, citing online abuse.
The newspaper reports that the site has been targeting suspected so-called internet trolls - people who use social media accounts to abuse others - by asking more users that they identify themselves through phone verification.
Days of our Lives alum Jade Harlow stars in movie inspired by real tragedy filmed in Massachusetts town
A feature film inspired by details of the Christa Worthington murder is planned for release this summer following a month of filming this fall in Provincetown. Harlow (Sheryl on
Days) will star in Denton Harbor as a character meant to resemble Worthington.
In Part 2 of WE LOVE SOAPS TV's 5th Annual Indie Series Awards Red Carpet Show, Michael Goldberg chats with Split lead actress nominee Lisa Roumain; He's With Me nominees Darcie Siciliano and John Cramer; The Bay nominee and Days of our Lives actress Jade Harlow; Justice Woman creator and star Vanessa Verduga; Indie Series Awards judge Michele Kanan and presenter Sean Kanan, soon returning to the The Bold and the Beautiful; My Synthesized Life nominee and Emma Approved actor Brent Bailey and Emma Approved star Joanna Sotomura; and Twenty Five nominees Jessica DiGiovanni, Brennan Caldwell and Josh Duboff.
Jade Harlow is leaving DAYS OF OUR LIVES and the role of Sheryl Connors. The role was always planned to end after four months. 
OWN Announces Four New Shows Including Lindsay Lohan Ducmentary Series and Tyler Perry Drama
THE BAY's summer special, DARKSIDE OF THE BAY, continues today with a new webisode. While Lianna (Jade Harlow) and Will (Derrell Whitt) contemplate their next step, Manny (Ignacio Serricchio) encourages Marly (Martha Madison) and Zoey (Taylor Stanley) deals with her story-hungry colleague, Nathan Perkins (SCOTT BAILEY).
WE LOVE SOAPS TV caught up with THE BAY stars Lilly Melgar (Janice) and Jade Harlow (Liana) on the red carpet at the 39th Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The actresses shared their thoughts about the show's Emmy nomination, working on a web series, playing mother/daughter and more.
Actress Jade Harlow is best known to soap opera fans from her run as Jessica Bennett on the NBC series PASSIONS. She's also appeared on 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN as well as films such as Old Man Music and Prey 4 Me. She has now been cast in the upcoming indie soap REALITY BYTES from Tristan Rogers and Kate Lang. Harlow recently spoke with We Love Soaps about her life, career and her entry into the world of web series.