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Last week, I reviewed the 2018 holiday special of Call the Midwife. Tina reviewed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a prequel to the Harry Potter series. Gaele reviewed The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson. Jean reviewed Jim at the Corner by Eleanor Farjeon. Becky reviewed the book 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff.

I read The Canterbury Tales in high school. Do you know that some of them are pretty raunchy? Really, rather shocking to this small town girl.

At the same time, I got a kick out of getting away with something. For weeks, I carried that book around the school because it was a classic. I even got praised by adults who had no idea what was actually in it. A more modern book with the same themes would have been met with disapproval or an outright ban.

That was a long time ago. I thought that all I remembered was The Wife of Bath’s tale (which I’ve re-read once or twice) and a couple of the raunchy bits. It turns out there were a few more memories that lurked in my brain.

The Canterbury Tales, as portrayed by the cast of The Archers, is currently available at the BBC Radio 4 website.

The Archers, the world’s longest running soap opera, is about the rural community centered around the fictional village of Ambridge. They put on a show every year around Christmas time.

This year, that show was a retelling of eight of The Canterbury Tales. The entire show was broadcast in two one-hour radio specials. I remembered the dilemmas in The Franklin’s Tale and the puzzle of The Knight’s Tale just before it was revealed.

Part 1 of The Canterbury Tales is available for a couple more weeks and Part 2 will be available for another week after that. They originally aired on December 29 and January 5 on BBC Radio 4.

There are inside jokes for long-time listeners, like me, but I think people will enjoy this as a radio performance even if you aren’t familiar with The Archers characters.