FIRST OFF . . .

Britons and Russians are talking politics, poetry and life styles this week during “The Time ... The Place,” a series of live satellite-TV programs linking studio audiences in Moscow and London. The series kicked off on Sunday. “Do you have to queue for goods?” asked the British, saying they were surprised at how well dressed the Soviet audience was. “Yes, we queue,” replied Moscow, “but we can get anything.” The Russians asked how Britons job-hunted and what farmers did in their spare time. The last question went unanswered--there were no farmers in the mostly London-based audience. Some British participants were especially amused by their Soviet counterparts’ reaction to commercials shown on the program, saying they saw jaws drop in the Soviet audience. An estimated 200 million viewers saw the first broadcast, according to a spokesman at Independent Television, which plans to air similar broadcasts every morning this week.