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Ruth Archer (previously Pritchard) is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap opera ''The Archers'', played by Felicity Finch. She made her debut in the 15 July 1987 episode broadcast. The character was created and introduced to ''The Archers'' as a love interest for established character David Archer (Timothy Bentinck), whose then girlfriend was deemed unsuitable for the role of mother to the next generation of the Archer family by the editor of the show Liz Rigbey. Finch was cast as Ruth after a successful audition. Ruth is portrayed as being strong willed, determined and loyal. She is also a New Woman and a farmer, traits that made her stand out from the other female characters in ''The Archers'' at the time of her introduction. In later years, Ruth has mellowed and is more open to negotiation. Her storylines have often revolved around her marriage to David and her work on Brookfield Farm. In the early 2000s, the scriptwriters had Ruth and David isolate themselves from the community during a foot-and-mouth outbreak. Ruth was also diagnosed with breast cancer, a storyline which Finch undertook extensive research for and later named as one of her ''Archers'' highlights. The show's 15,000th episode focused on Ruth contemplating whether to consummate her affair with herdsman Sam Batton (Robin Pirongs), after believing David was having his own affair with his ex-girlfriend Sophie Barlow (Moir Leslie). Ruth ultimately chose to return home to her family. The storyline, which had begun in 2004, was heavily criticised by listeners, who inundated the BBC with complaints. Low listener figures were also attributed to the storyline, while the editor Vanessa Whitburn said the backlash helped keep Ruth faithful to David. Critical opinion on the character differs. She has been described as a "much-loved character" and a "cheery supermum-farmer", but has also been called the "most irritating" Ambridge resident and she is disliked by some listeners for being a Geordie. Other listeners hoped Ruth would be killed off during the show's 60th anniversary celebrations. Away from ''The Archers'', the character has appeared in the Rwandan radio soap ''Urunana'', the BBC telethon ''Children in Need'' and has been frequently parodied on the comedy programme ''Dead Ringers. ==Creation and casting== When Liz Rigbey was appointed editor of ''The Archers'' in 1986, she began implementing several changes in a bid to revitalise the show which had become tired.〔Smethurst 1996, pp.220–221.〕 Rigbey brought in new writers, retired some characters and introduced new ones.〔 In his 1996 book, ''The Archers: The True Story'', William Smethurst explained that Rigbey "wisely" decided that David Archer's (Timothy Bentinck) fashion designer girlfriend, Sophie Barlow (Moir Leslie), was not suitable for the role of matriarch to the next generation of the Archer family.〔 During the script meeting to invent David's new love interest, the writers toyed with the idea of making the character Scottish and calling her either Anne, Heather or Thistle to show off her spiky nature.〔Smethurst 1996, p.222.〕 Rigbey also wanted to make sure that everyone liked the character, and eventually nineteen year old, agricultural student Ruth Pritchard was created.〔〔 Actress and presenter Felicity Finch was cast as Ruth. Finch had not listened to ''The Archers'' prior to her audition in 1987 and she tried to learn as much as she could about the history of the show before she came to the studio.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Actor – Felicity Finch )〕 Smethurst thought the decision to cast a Geordie was "odd" and wrote that it harked back to the days when the show would cast lots of Scottish and Irish actors, irritating the audience.〔 Finch's first scenes as Ruth were broadcast on 15 July 1987.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Timeline events in Ambridge – 1980s )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ruth Archer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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