The Archers is great for covering illness of all variety because when someone gets sick, it goes on for months or even years - just like in real life. Currently they have a dementia story-line which has been brewing subtly up for over a year. They've also covered conditions such as breast cancer and juventile arthritis in a similar, long-term way. Sometimes, as with the farming info, they wear their research on their sleeve and well, it is a radio soap about everyday country folk, it's hardly Chekov. But TV soaps would do well to learn from their methods when it comes to mental and physical illness. It's drama without melodrama, the way it is in real life.

Yes, their storylines surrounding various illnesses have always been well researched and sensitively handled. I was amazed and impressed when the story about Juvenile Arthritis began, as I was first diagnosed with it when I was four. It is such a relief that the characters affected by illnesses aren't just suddenly cured or overcome their difficulties by willpower alone. I'm so sick of programmes that infer that people are only ill because they choose to be! Congratulations to the cast and crew of The Archers!