By Monica Chard
…So says Shepperton’s Carole Boyd, whose alter ego, Lynda Snell, has provided us with such an entertaining character on air for the past 35 years of The Archers.
Lynda Snell is one of the village stalwarts. She will always rise to the occasion when a cause needs a champion. With her superior attitude and blind determination, she is the character who always manages to cajole vil-lagers into taking part in one of her projects; the Christmas pantomime, the village fair, or the campaign most recently against the change in name of the much loved village pub. But she also has a soft and sensitive side and will do anything for anyone. Like her or loathe her, Lynda Snell gets things done, makes her presence felt and the village would be incomplete without her.
Villages thrive on community spirit, getting things done, creating events and groups to bring us all together, to fight against plans or threats which will spoil the integrity of our locale. Ambridge has a lot of Shepperton about it, indeed Carole has been known to refer to Shepperton as Ambridge on Thames!
We spoke to Carole recently about art imitat-ing life, or the other way around. She told Shepperton Matters that she developed the character of Lynda Snell over many years, based on observations of people she has met along the way throughout her life, often in-vesting Lynda with attributes she really doesn’t like: “she is a snob, a social climber. She is bossy and self important. She is devoid of a sense of humour and is totally delusion-al” says Carole. But the character has proved to be a much necessary cog in the wheel of Ambridge, the fictional village where The Archers is set. Villages nominated her for an MBE, which she was duly awarded in the 2021 New Year’s Honours list.
So when news of the MBE got out, imagine Carole’s surprise at being congratulated her-self on the honour. “What’s this about an MBE. Carole? What did you do to get that?” Carole explained patiently that no, the MBE was for her fictitious character, her alter ego. But living with such a character for so many years, of course must be akin to having a split personality. Carole is most definitely not Lynda. She is nothing like her. But to hear her transform in an instant from Carole to Lynda is quite something. The slightly nasal whine of Lynda Snell is easily recognisable and when Carole was talking to a friend on the phone on Waterloo station one evening and slipped on her Lynda voice, the effect on fel-low commuters was instant and she instantly mobbed by fellow passengers!
The Archers is the world’s longest running soap opera and this year celebrates 75 years on air. Soap operas allow us some comforta-ble escapism from the daily treadmill, which explains their popularity. We observe the lives of others, albeit an exaggeration of what is normal (think EastEnders!). Then we go back to our own lives. But start to look around at Shepperton and the characters who live here, the driving forces of our own vil-lage. They are alive and well! That is what community is all about. Thank goodness for the Lynda Snells of this world. I wonder what she would make of the Eco Park! She would probably have arranged a sit in on the roof by now.