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How will you fare with these Archers questions specially chosen by Archers fan and lockdown quizmaster Kate Crichton?

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic brought life as we knew it to a halt. With production of The Archers unable to continue in its usual way, the number of episodes per week was reduced. In the absence of an episode to listen to live on Friday evenings, a group of Archers listeners decided to continue staying in touch via social media.

Kate Crichton was among them and she volunteered to host a quiz. “At the start of the pandemic everyone wanted to help out and this was something I could do to help out,” she says, “I didn’t expect it to go on for over a year, and then for over two years!”

Her husband Jim came up with the format: 10 questions, one per minute, with answers given at the end. In total it lasted the same amount of time as a daily episode of The Archers. The questions were posted on Twitter under the hashtag .

Her weekly quiz led Kate to meet new people, some of whom helped her with information to write new questions and on occasion step in to host the quiz in her place. “It built its own momentum and it became obvious people were enjoying it,” Kate reflects. “A wee community built up around it and people made friends around it. It seemed to meet a need and I didn’t quite realise how much it did until I was getting comments back saying it was the highlight of the week.”

Despite listening to The Archers for a long time, Kate has learned a lot about the world of Ambridge through hosting the quiz. “I’ve also learned how to set a good quiz question,” she says. “A good question is one you think you must know the answer to but then you can’t remember it or there’s a trick in the question which gets you thinking”.

By the time The Archers returns to Fridays on 3rd June there will have been 113 quizzes. Here is a selection of some of Kate’s favourite questions.