The Archers Feed

Jill and Phil's Valentine's Day Cards

2016-02-08T19:15:00+00:00

JILL: That first Valentine’s Day is so hard. I remember when Phil died...

RUTH: Oh, you found the card he’d written for you.

JILL: Well, Elizabeth found it. But when I saw what it was, it nearly knocked me to my knees...

Phil sadly died before Jill could give him the card she had got for him. So Jill decided to read it to him herself...

Revisit the memory here.

Jill is moved by Phil's Valentine's card - and reads him hers.

Tony and Otto the Bull (November 2014)

2015-11-13T21:45:00+00:00

Pat’s feeling happy about life – particularly seeing Helen with the wonderful Rob (the perfect man in her eyes). She remembers how awful things were by contrast this time last year, when Tony was trampled by Otto the bull.

Listen to a clip of this horrifying moment - warning: potentially distressing content.

Tony Archer attacked by bull

Read our post on how to keep safe with large animals.

Here’s a reminder of what happened…

November 2014:

Helen leaves Henry with Tony for an hour because he has a cold so she doesn’t want to take him to the hairdresser's. Peggy’s using a stick to help her walk, but insists she needn’t see a doctor. Helen takes Peggy back to the farm to get her a support bandage...

Meanwhile, Johnny’s disappointed that Tony won’t let him get the cows in with Ed. The herd’s up in Ashmead. As the cows come into the yard, Johnny takes Henry out to see them...

Just as Peggy and Helen pull up there’s a shout and a cry of pain – Johnny’s knocked to the ground. Henry’s also on the ground, with Ed behind Otto the bull. Tony’s being trampled. Helen cries out to Henry to stay completely still.

Ed tells Johnny to throw him a brush, with which Ed hits the bull. Ed instructs Johnny to get the gate and they steer the bull in. Tony lies on the ground as Helen takes hold of Henry. Ed calls an ambulance. Paramedics arrive and Ed gives them a blow by blow account. Tony can only just speak. Tony says he had to get Johnny and Henry out of the way. They take Tony to hospital in Birmingham in the air ambulance.

Helen calls Pat who rushes to the hospital. Johnny feels guilty for letting go of Henry’s hand (and - he thinks - causing the accident) - he’s desperate to see Tony. At the hospital, Helen feels it was her fault for leaving Henry at the farm. Pat says they need to stay strong for Tony’s sake.

Tony has suffered major injuries - they may have to make a decision about operating. The Doctor talks to Pat about Tony’s spinal injury. They need to do an MRI to work out whether to operate - if they do nothing Tony could be wheelchair-dependent for the rest of his life. Pat checks with Tony and says let’s operate - but it’s not without risk. He could be paralyzed from the waist down. At Tony’s side, tearful Pat tells him to keep fighting, and don’t dare leave her now…

Remembering Grace - and Welcoming Virginia McKenna

2015-09-22T18:13:00+00:00

Virginia McKenna (on the set of A Passage To India, 1965)

On 22nd September 2015 Jill, Peggy, Carol and Christine remember that fateful night (60 years ago to the day) when Grace Archer died rescuing the horses from a blazing stable. They are joined at Grey Gables by Hester, an old friend of Carol's from Bristol.

With the arrival of Hester, we're delighted to welcome VIRGINIA MCKENNA.

“Having been a loyal listener to ‘The Archers’ for many years, it was just amazing to receive an invitation to join them to play Hester. A character from the past, sometimes absent-minded, sometimes with surprising recall. I had the warmest and friendliest of welcomes from Peggy, Jennifer, Jill, Carol and Toby with whom I would be working, and from the Studio Manager and the Director, Sean O’Connor.

Not having worked on the radio for many years, it was a very special day – one I shall always remember.”

- Virginia McKenna

Virginia McKenna with The Archers cast, writer and editor.

Photograph shows (l to r): Lesley Saweard (Christine), Virginia McKenna (Hester), Sean O'Connor (Archers Editor), Eleanor Bron (Carol), Joanna Toye (Writer), Patricia Greene (Jill) and June Spencer (Peggy).

Sean O'Connor, Archers Editor:

"I have long wanted to dramatise the ’behind the scenes’ story of the death of Grace Archer, so was keen to mark the occasion with a special one off drama, which became Dead Girls Tell No Tales. But I was also determined to mark the event in The Archers itself. I discussed the idea with Joanna Toye, who has been writing for the programme on and off since 1984 and is steeped in the history of the programme. We wanted to celebrate this game-changing moment in The Archers, but also move the present day story on - the past intertwined with the present, as many of the best Archers stories are.

We consciously set out to make this week reflective in mood - a musing on the passing of time, remembrance and mortality. Ever since the early episodes of her return to The Archers, Carol Tregorran has reminded the listener of her husband John’s passion for the poetry of Ernest Dowson (‘They are not long, the days of wine and roses’). In many ways, Carol’s function has been to remind the senior characters - and the audience - what they were like as young women - when Carol Grey arrived in Ambridge back in the 1950s...

The Archers - Peggy, Carol and Christine in the 1950s

Photograph shows (l to r): Thelma Rogers (Peggy Archer), Anne Cullen (Carol Grey) and Lesley Saweard (Christine Archer)

So we decided that we would collect the senior characters - those who remained from the events of 1955: Peggy, Carol, Christine - and one whose life in Ambridge would never have happened if it weren’t for Grace’s death - Jill. And they would dine at Grey Gables on the anniversary of the day Grace died, just as Phil, John, Carol and Grace did sixty years before. Carol would even lose an earring, just as Grace did on that fateful night. Our catalyst for this musing about the past would be a visitor to Ambridge, Carol’s friend from Bristol. Joanna came up with a wonderful character, Hester. Is she aware of what she is saying? Perhaps she is a little forgetful or eccentric? How much of what she says is true? But who would play this pivotal character in this special week?

I didn’t have to think for many seconds to wonder if Virginia McKenna might just consider playing the role. But I also knew that she spends much of her energies in her work for the Born Free Foundation, the charity she set up with her husband, Bill Travers. I contacted the Foundation and expected a polite refusal, but Virginia wrote back immediately to say she’d love to play the part.

It was a very special day having Virginia in The Archers studio. As well as her acute reading of the ambiguous Hester, Virginia also brings with her the hinterland of those films for which she is so fondly remembered from her early career: Carve Her Name With Pride, The Cruel Sea, A Town Like Alice and The Smallest Show On Earth. It’s this hinterland that she embodies that was such a treat to bring to Ambridge in our efforts to conjure the ghosts of the 1950s. Much has changed since then, but like The Archers itself, it’s comforting that many things endure, like lunch at Grey Gables where some old friends can reflect upon the past, whilst still very much engaged with the preoccupations of the present."

Grace Archer plaque - 22 Sept 1955

Revisit Virginia McKenna's appearance on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Listen to Virginia McKenna on Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Catch up with Dead Girls Tell No Tales on BBC Radio 4 or download the podcast.

Read an interview with writer Joanna Toye.

Read listeners' memories of the death of Grace Archer.

Joanna Toye on writing Dead Girls Tell No Tales

2015-09-17T15:30:00+00:00

Joanna Toye - writer

With more than 30 years experience writing for The Archers, and with it a wealth of knowledge about Ambridge, Joanna Toye has scripted Dead Girls Tell No Tales - a 60-minute drama which delves behind the scenes of one of The Archers' most controversial storylines...

Dead Girls Tell No Tales is broadcast on BBC Radio 4, on Saturday 19th Sept at 2:30pm. It will also be available to download as Radio 4's Drama of The Week.

How did the idea for ‘Dead Girls…’ come about?

Sean (O'Connor, Archers Editor) and I had talked for a long time about doing something to mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Grace Archer. We thought at first it might be a book, and then it occurred that the idea would be much better done as a play, because there were such fascinating characters to bring out.

How involved were you in the casting and production process?

Sean did an amazing job in bringing the cast together - I can’t claim any credit in suggesting people for roles. I was just responding to emails with ‘amazing’, ‘wonderful’ when I saw the names involved.

I went to the first day of recording and sat in on the read-through and some of the recording. I was fortunate enough to be there for some of the scenes which recreate the 1955 episode, and they were just as moving to hear re-made as it is when you hear the original.

You must have worked with a lot of archive material during the writing process…

I’m used to doing a lot of research for the several books I’ve written about The Archers, so a lot of the story was very familiar to me: I’ve novelised the Phil and Grace romance and her death, and I’ve worked with BBC Archives in Caversham.

How did you cope with the challenge of dramatizing real events and people?

It’s always quite difficult when you’re dealing with things that have really happened but you weren’t there for. So some of what is in the play is known to have happened and in other cases I have had to imagine. So in a sense it’s a drama based on fact.

For me, it was particularly interesting to find out about BBC Management and the Archers production office. I had great sympathy for the writers, as you can imagine. There were only two of them then and they were working under even more pressure than the current writing team does in terms of deadlines.

The programme wasn’t ‘pre-recorded’ at that time but done, as it were, ‘live’. It had to be done at a run and if the cast made any mistakes they had to go back to the beginning. They had endless rehearsal but when they did a take that was for real. Similarly with the writing, they only really got one shot at it. The particular week of Grace’s death was exceptional anyway because Godfrey Baseley - the quite extraordinary and inspirational editor at the time – had told the cast, and indeed the Press, that the Archers was going to be made in London that week , to show that it was relevant and because, of course, he knew that something was going to happen. The writers were writing the scripts on the day – the point of that week was that it featured topical references – and that was the excuse for doing it in London.

What did the Archers team look like in 1955?

It was enormous fun to imagine the script meeting at which Grace’s death was planned – I’ve attended hundreds of script meetings in my time, but this was a much smaller affair. The team then was tiny: it consisted of Godfrey Baseley the Editor; Tony Shryane the Producer; Valerie Hodgetts who was a production assistant/ continuity girl (she had the brilliant idea of starting the Archers archive); and the two writers. The bosses (the ’hierarchy’, as Godfrey called them) would join the meeting for lunch and rubber-stamp the stories. Fascinating.

Was it a mistake to kill off Grace Archer?

I think that for Phil, Jill has been the better wife. Grace, the character, was very headstrong, and quite spoilt. Whether she would have made an adequate farmer’s wife for Phil, down the years, I think is a very moot point…

What are your thoughts on the original Archers Editor, Godfrey Baseley?

Godfrey Baseley was an extraordinary man. I sadly didn’t ever meet him. He was a very big man, I understand, both in terms of personality and stature. The Archers got on-air entirely, really, through Godfrey’s sheer force of personality, and his determination that The Archers had a story to tell. The Archers owes everything to Godfrey Baseley.

What was it like to meet and work with Ysanne Churchman (the actor who played Grace Archer and who can be heard as herself in 'Dead Girls Tell No Tales')?

I think Ysanne was delighted to be involved in the programme. It’s her story that we’re telling. She saw the script before it went into studio and she’s heard the programme as recorded, and I’m happy to say is thrilled with it. When we took the microphone to her flat she absolutely rose to the occasion. It’ll be really amazing to hear her speak again, I think…

Listen to a clip: Joanna Toye shares her thoughts on Godfrey Baseley, Ysanne Churchman and the repercussions of Grace’s death for the nation…

Jo Toye on Godfrey Baseley and Grace Archer

Brian Aldridge - 40 years at Home Farm

2015-07-19T18:15:00+00:00

Brian Aldridge - The Archers

"Why not relax and enjoy yourself. Maybe it's time you retired."

- Debbie.

Retire?!... As Brian contemplates his future - and forty years running Home Farm - we look back at the moment he (and actor Charles Collingwood) arrived in Ambridge.

Young bachelor Brian Aldridge bought 1500 acres of the Bellamy estate, officially taking over on Lady Day…

This wonderful moment from March 1975 was set up by the narrator as follows:

“While Carol (Tregorran) is showing Jack Woolley round her glass houses, she notices they’re being watched from a parked Land Rover. Not recognising who it is, she goes to investigate…

Brian Aldridge arrives in Ambridge (1975)

Read Charles Collingwood on Brian Aldridge.

Find Brian - and Charles Collingwood - in our Who's Who.

The Archers pilot episode - 65th anniversary

2015-05-29T14:14:41+00:00

The Archers pilot - original cast

May 29^th, 1950 - BBC Midlands Home Service broadcasts a new pilot programme, The Archers of Ambridge.

The producer Godfrey Baseley had previously worked mainly on agricultural programmes. He hoped that farmers would listen for the stories, but along the way pick up messages that would help them feed a Britain still subject to food rationing.

The cast are Daniel Archer (Harry Oakes), Doris Archer (Nan Mariott Watson), Philip Archer (Norman Painting), Christine Archer (Pamela Mant), Jack Archer (Denis Folwell), Peggy Archer (June Spencer) and Walter Gabriel (Robert Mawdesley).

Harry Oakes as Dan Archer

Thanks to David Lloyd, who paid tribute to The Archers on Twitter.

Find out more and listen to an Archers medley.

You can also hear a clip from the Archers in 1955 on the BBC's iWonder Guide to the History of the BBC

Browse the 1950s picture gallery on Facebook

Read about the life and career of Godfrey Baseley

The Archers Timeline - updated

2012-01-06T14:50:24+00:00

We've updated The Archers Timeline with the main events from 2011. It's been a busy year, beginning with Nigel's death - and of course Henry's birth - and closing with the emotional upheaval caused by the discovery of John's son Rich.

Along the way Ambridge was visited by royalty and by a rather less welcome Clive Horrobin. Farming was to the fore, with E coli and a mega-dairy proposal creating ripples all over the place. And there were lots more stories, big and small.

The Timeline lists the major events in Archers history right back to the beginning of the programme in 1951. It's well worth a browse to remind yourself about stories you heard in the past - the time when Ed saved Emma's life, perhaps. And go back even further, to discover what was happening in the village before you started to listen - Kenton joining the navy, or Nelson Gabriel going into the casino business, for example.

And if you want an even more thorough summary of Ambridge history, may I recommend the 'diamond decades' blog posts I wrote in the run-up to the 60th anniversary, which contain an even greater wealth of storyline detail.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer

Browse The Archers Timeline
Read the 'diamond decades' blog posts
Picture shows an extract from The Archers Timeline

Everyday stories of university folk

2011-09-20T09:27:34+00:00

One of the activities marking this anniversary year of The Archers is an exhibition at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading. Called Everyday Stories of Country Folk, it marks both our 60th anniversary and that of MERL itself.

The museum is part of the University of Reading, which had a stand at the grandly named Royal County of Berkshire Show this past weekend. Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn went along for a question and answer session with listeners.

While there, she was invited to present a prize in the grand ring. Coincidentally this champion bull came from a farm in Devon, Vanessa's own home county.

The Everyday Stories of Country Folk exhibition is free of charge. You can visit it until 22 December 2011.

Keri Davies is an Archers (and Ambridge Extra) scriptwriter and web producer.

View a photo gallery of the exhibition
Read about the exhibition Everyday Stories of Country Folk
Main picture shows the sound effects table. (l-r) museum director Kate Arnold Foster, Vanessa Whitburn and curator of the exhibition Mark Mason
Second picture shows Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn presenting the prize. Images are used with permission

Museum of English Rural Life - photo gallery

2011-06-29T15:46:19+00:00

I wrote a few weeks about the Museum of English Rural Life's village fete and promised there'd be a related photo gallery soon. It's now up and you can see it here.

The museum is part of the University of Reading. Until 22 December 2011 it has an exhibition called Everyday Stories of Country Folk, which celebrates 60 years of The Archers and, coincidentally, of MERL itself.

There are also a couple of photos of Tim Bentinck (David Archer) in younger days - one very very young - that we've squeezed in rather tangentially - because they are so sweet and he said we could.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.

View the MERL photo gallery
Details of the MERL Village Fete, including map and directions
Read about the exhibition Everyday Stories of Country Folk
Picture shows Tim Bentinck (David Archer) at the exhibition's opening

Village fete - Museum of English Rural Life

2011-06-02T14:19:44+00:00

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) is holding a 'village fete' this Saturday, 4 June - with a big Archers connection.

Part of the University of Reading, the museum currently has an exhibition called Everyday Stories of Country Folk, which celebrates 60 years of The Archers and, coincidentally of MERL itself. The exhibition runs until 22 December 2011 and we'll have a photo gallery of it soon.

Saturday's event aims to conjure up much of the atmosphere of a traditional village fete, with many activities that have featured in Ambridge fetes in the past. Tombola, blacksmithing demonstrations, morris dancers, rare breeds... and the obligatory cake stall and beer tent, of course.

But there's a real-life crossover with The Archers too. Trevor Harrison (Eddie Grundy). will officially open the fete at 11am. Then later there'll be a question and answer session with Trevor, Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn and exhibition curator Mark Mason.

Mark Mason will also be leading special tours of the exhibition.

Admission is free. Sadly I'm at a music festival this weekend, or I'd definitely be there trying to splat the rat.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.

Details of the MERL Village Fete, including map and directions
Read about the exhibition Everyday Stories of Country Folk
Picture shows Trevor Harrison (Eddie Grundy)

What I learned about The Archers

2011-03-05T12:03:25+00:00

Archers scriptwriter Simon Frith spent much of last year working through 60 years of Archers storylines while researching the book The Archers Archives, which was published to mark our 60th anniversary. We asked Simon what had surprised him about his travels in Ambridge's past.

For many UK baby boomers like myself, The Archers was as much as a part of our childhood as The Beano and sherbet fountains. It was just there, a constant and reliable background, with familiar domestic rituals organised around the twice-daily theme tune.

But it's the cosy domestic scenes rather than the big stories that seem to have stuck in my mind - Dan and Doris fretting over their family and livestock, Walter Gabriel's dogged courtship of the disapproving Mrs P. So when I came to do my detailed research of these first decades it came as something of a revelation to discover just how much I'd missed.

A quick look at Ambridge's crime statistics in the 1950s and 60s illustrates what a surprisingly lively place it was during those early years. The fifties began with a violent brawl outside the Bull which resulted in the death of village ne'er-do-well turned industrial saboteur Bill Slater.

The following years saw two more serious bouts of fisticuffs, two cases of gang violence (during one of which a leather-jacketed biker was bitten by Walter Gabriel's dog Butch), several cases of arson and petty vandalism, and one attempted blackmail.

If the village policeman wasn't already busy enough, in 1957 he had a more serious case on his hands when keeper Tom Forrest was arrested for killing poacher Bob Larkin and was lucky to escape a manslaughter charge.

Colourful characters

The village also played host to a number of colourful characters with mysterious pasts, who popped up from time to time. Thriller writer Mike Daley turned out to be an ex-wartime hero with links to the secret service. Valerie Grayson (later to become Mrs Valerie Woolley) was also a former secret agent, posing as his fiancée.

Then there was Charles Grenville's nosey housekeeper Madame Garonne, whom the Borchester Echo exposed as an international diamond smuggler. And perhaps rather more harmless, the eccentric Lady Hyleberrow who befriended Christine and threatened to take her away to Ethiopia.

Also surprising were some of the domestic details that came to light. Other long-standing listeners may remember that the first Dan Archer, played by Harry Oakes, made use of his fine bass-baritone voice to sing duets with Doris for the entertainment of their guests - including, on one occasion, Phil's girlfriend Grace Fairbrother. Not to be outdone, Walter Gabriel would liven up any party with a tune on his euphonium, while it was Tom Forrest's early weakness for custard creams that contributed to him becoming stout in his later years.

Continuity

But apart from these intriguing odds and ends, what came through above all was a strong and reassuring sense of continuity between the programme as it was then, and as it is now. While it's true that by comparison current storylines are firmly grounded in reality, and often grittier, there's still the sense of lives being lived out in real time and of the generations moving on in step with the slowly evolving routine of farming and village life.

As Dan and Doris fretted about the love-lives of their children back in the fifties, so Phil and Jill in turn worried about Shula and Elizabeth's various unsuitable boyfriends twenty-five years later. And now at the start of a new century we've seen David and Ruth agonising over Pip's disastrous affair with the flaky Jude.

Peggy - who was heard in the very first episode as the young, long-suffering wife of the family black sheep - has watched her son Tony mature from a reckless youth in a sports car into a proudly doting grandfather, while she herself has survived many trials over two marriages to become the undisputed family matriarch.

Only "The Archers" could achieve this kind of continuous and constantly engaging story-telling over such a time-scale. Doubtless it's part of the secret that's kept a loyal audience listening over the last 60 years, and - we'd like to assume - will continue to do so well into the future.

Simon Frith is an Archers scriptwriter and co-author (with Chris Arnot) of The Archers Archives.

Picture shows Simon Frith
Discover 60 years of Archers storylines with our timeline, which includes archive images and audio clips
Or browse the storylines in more detail in our Six Diamond Decades articles

Duchess of Cornwall visits The Mailbox

2011-02-16T17:51:34+00:00

On the day of her appearance on-air in The Archers, the Duchess of Cornwall visited the home of the programme, at The Mailbox in Birmingham.

She spent two hours meeting BBC staff, Archers cast members and scriptwriters.

Her Royal Highness plays herself in the programme, as the president of the National Osteoporosis Society. She has supported the charity since 1994 and became president in 2001. Her appearance coincides with the charity's 25th anniversary.

Her scenes were recorded in December at Clarence House, so this was the first time she had visited The Archers studio.

The Duchess viewed a pictorial timeline of Archers history

Helen Monks (Pip Archer) presented her with a bound copy of tonight's script, signed by members of The Archers cast, writing and production team.

Hedli Nicklaus (Kathy Perks) gave her a selection of souvenirs from the official fan club Archers Addicts.

Trevor Harrison (Eddie), Duchess of Cornwall, Rosalind Adams (Clarrie)

Before cutting a celebratory cake, the Duchess said how enjoyable it had been to meet everybody and put names to faces. She thanked The Archers for the enjoyment it had given her for over 30 years. 'I couldn't do without it', she said. 'There have been many times when I've switched on The Archers and felt a lot better.'

The Duchess of Cornwall and Carole Boyd (Lynda Snell). In the background, Sunny Ormonde (Lilian Bellamy)

After wishing the programme the best for the next 60 years, she thanked Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn for her appearance - although she joked that she was not looking forward to hearing her performance.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer

Main picture shows the Duchess of Cornwall in The Archers studio. (l-r) Graham Blockey (Robert Snell), Jasmine Hyde (Leonie Snell), Roger May (James Bellamy), Vanessa Whitburn (Archers editor), HRH Duchess of Cornwall, Kim Durham (Matt Crawford), Sunny Ormonde (Lilian Bellamy), Carole Boyd (Lynda Snell)
Video coverage from The Telegraph in which the Duchess meets her namesake, Archers archivist Camilla Fisher
Information on osteoporosis from NHS Choices
Osteoporosis information from Age UK
National Osteporosis Society

Duchess of Cornwall to appear in The Archers

2011-02-02T19:14:00+00:00

As announced by Caroline in this evening's episode, the Duchess of Cornwall is to visit Grey Gables on 16 February. And we can confirm that the royal visitor will actually speak in the episode.

The brief appearance will be broadcast in two weeks time, on Wednesday 16 February.

Her Royal Highness will feature in the programme in her role as the president of the National Osteoporosis Society. She has supported the charity since 1994 and became president in 2001. Her appearance coincides with the charity's 25th anniversary.

In 'real life', the appearance will take place on the same day as a visit by Her Royal Highness to our studios at the Mailbox. She will meet cast, writers and production team before attending a reception, hosted by BBC chairman Sir Michael Lyons, to mark 60 years of The Archers.

The duchess, a keen Archers listener, first met Archers team members ten years ago. This was at an event at St James's Palace, hosted by Prince Charles, to mark the 50th anniversary of the programme.

As long-standing listeners may remember, this is not the first time a member of the British royal family has spoken in The Archers. In 1984 Princess Margaret made history when she appeared - also at Grey Gables, to Jack Woolley's overwhelming pride and pleasure - in an episode marking the centenary of the NSPCC.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.

The Archers editor on Feedback

2011-02-01T15:46:31+00:00

The Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn discusses the 60th anniversary storyline with listeners Nicky Hillier and Judy Crebbs.

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.

Picture shows Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn
Hear Roger Bolton's interview with the new controller of Radio 4, Gwyneth Williams, on the Radio 4 blog

60th anniversary - cast interviews

2011-01-18T11:23:16+00:00

On 2 January, our sister station Radio 7 featured a series of classic Archers episodes, interspersed with interviews by cast members, with Radio 7's Ben Motley.

If you missed the interviews, here is a selection. They give a fascinating behind-the-scenes insight into the working lives of Archers actors.

Charles Collingwood and Angela Piper on Brian and Jennifer's relationship:

Carole Boyd on making Lynda Snell rather irritating:

Alison Dowling and Richard Attlee (Elizabeth and Kenton) on family relationships and playing angry:

Charlotte Martin on Susan Carter's time in the national spotlight:

Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.

The picture shows Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge) recording in the Archers studio. It was taken by Steve Bowbrick for the Archers week on the BBC Radio 4 blog
BBC Radio 7 presents the best of classic BBC radio programmes
Share your memories of listening to The Archers
Browse through 60 years of storylines big and small