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All together now: "Dum dee dum dee dum dee dum, dum dee dum dee daa daa". Yes, Mosaic have joined with Level 9 to produce a game based on the Radio 4 soap opera which was topping the ratings long before Eastenders.

Rather than casting you as an Archers' character - which would have led to a fairly mundane puzzle-solving game with Ambridge as a setting - you take the role of scriptwriter. There are four separate games, and you control the life of a different person in each: wealthy estate-manager Jack Woolley, spoilt young woman Elizabeth Archer, would-be country singer Eddie Grundy and aging wine-bar owner Nelson Gabriel are the chosen four. For people unfamiliar with the show - like myself - there is a complete list of characters you may encounter, their personalities and relationships with each other.

This is not a "true" text input adventure. Instead, you are presented with a situation, and must choose one of three different options as to what your character could do. The selection may lead to a whole, complicated sub-plot developing, with more choices to be made, and you can indulge in outrageous story twists. Problem is, you are constantly being judged; on ratings performance, the opinion of Radio 4's controller, and listener reaction to the serial's realism and moral standards, or lack of them.

I have never listened to The Archers (must do so sometime) but found myself becoming engrossed in the lives of these people. I also found myself frequently laughing out loud, which is a very rare effect for the game to have on me. I simply loved having the power to create interesting and amusing situations. I expect Archers devotees will enjoy the game even more, being able to determine the lives of their favourite characters.

The game has two main flaws. The first is that the Spectrum isn't quite sophisticated enough to handle the number of continuous plots that it's required to. The game doesn't always realise when one action makes another impossible. So immediately after I had sent Higgs the gardener to the asylum, I was given the option of using him to help Jack. There are other illogicalities. Sometimes a major plot decision is taken - like Eddy Grundy's wife leaving him - and nothing else is heard on the matter - or she suddenly appears back with him! More memory to prevent such faults would have been available by leaving out the graphics, which are down to the usual, hilariously hopeless Level 9 standard.

The other main problem is than this costs £10, yet each game can only last two or three hours before you've seen everything it has to offer, and the result of every decision. I think, for most people, this life-span is just too short for the asking price. But, if you can afford it, or you're a true Archers fan, this will provide a good deal of fun for a day or two - perhaps ideal for an older member of your family on December 25.