The Archers Feed

Lynda's Sleeping Beauty

2017-10-18T18:15:00+00:00

Lynda has dug out her script from the last time Sleeping Beauty was performed in Ambridge. I can only admire Lynda’s impeccable filing because the production dates back to the early 1990s. What’s more it nearly never happened…

Initially Lynda wanted to put on an improvised Sleeping Beauty with a European feel (at the time there were French visitors in Ambridge) but unsurprisingly it didn’t work. So, Lynda set about writing a Sleeping Beauty panto.

After a row over the Christmas Concert that Lynda was planning to run concurrently with the Sleeping Beauty production, Lynda announced that the pantomime was cancelled! Instead, Jill and Clarrie took up the reins for the Christmas Concert, thankfully saving Ambridge from being bereft of a festive performance.

Lynda’s Sleeping Beauty did see the light of day a few months later in March 1994. It was performed as a fundraiser and a village rallier after the death of Mark Hebden. It got five curtain calls and Lynda was proud of all of the cast.

Backstage gossip

• Helen auditioned to be Sleeping Beauty – Tony said it was only because she wouldn’t have any lines – Lynda thought she was rubbish
• Bert was deserving of a most versatile actor award for playing Dame Swaddle and the King
• Joe was the front end of Daisy the pantomime cow. Betty and Marjorie persuaded Lynda to be the back end
• Emma, Chris, Brenda and Mo’s daughter Becky took part in the children’s dance number, Dance of the Snowflakes (though Brenda would have preferred to do a rap)
• At rehearsal Bert broke the spinning wheel which was a family heirloom lent by Jennifer
• After watching the dress rehearsal together, Mo - keen to make her advances on Neil - put her arm around him (Susan was in prison at the time)

What happened with Ian's friend Madds?

2017-09-15T18:10:00+00:00

Stunned at Ian’s desire to explore surrogacy, Adam reminded Ian of his devastation when things went wrong with Madds.

Madds is – or was – Ian’s oldest friend. In 2006 he cut all ties with her after she called off plans for Ian to father a baby with her.

Their friendship began while Ian was training to be a chef in Belfast and they went on to share a flat together in London. In 2006, after being out of touch for a while, Madds visited Ian and Adam. She was their first house guest at Honeysuckle Cottage.

During her stay Madds poured out her troubles. She was single (recently split from Dermot), in her early thirties and eager to have a child. Just before The Archers’ theme music rang out at the end of the episode she said to Ian; “Dermot’s off the scene, but I still want a baby, more than ever. And I’d like you to be the father.”

Ian was thrilled but Adam was furious. Adam felt the decision to have a baby was for him and Ian alone. He was sure Ian would see it the same way once they had discussed it properly, but they only argued.

Meeting in secret

While in deadlock with Adam, Ian met up with Madds in secret. He was sure Adam would come round to the idea eventually - he just need more time. When Adam opened a letter from a fertility clinic he was angry that things had been progressing behind his back. But Ian fought back - Adam needed to get over his childish possessiveness. Only after Ian moved out for a short spell did Adam admit that he didn’t find the situation easy but was happy for Ian to father a child.

Madds had to go abroad for six weeks of work. Ian worried that Adam might change his mind in that time while Adam hoped Ian would change his! Nevertheless, Ian started his registration to become a sperm donor at a clinic in London and mulled over spare room redecoration ideas for Madds and the baby.

New found bliss

Back from her work abroad, Madds visited Ambridge again. Ian was bursting to tell her how the plans had been progressing but Madds beat him to it with her own news. While away she had fallen in love (something Adam had warned Ian about). He was called Oz, he was a camera operator, and she had never been happier.

Ian quickly realised this meant their plan to have a baby was no more. So wrapped up in her new found bliss, Madds didn’t realise how hurt Ian was and even suggested he would be the favourite uncle if she and Oz had a baby.

A few months later Adam found a torn up Christmas card. Ian admitted it was from Madds but their friendship was now in the past.

Dogs of Ambridge

2017-07-19T16:18:01+00:00

Ruby is the latest name bestowed on an Ambridge animal. The puppy, which was left on the doorstep at the Dower House as a mischievous birthday present for Lilian from Matt, has far from cause trouble between Lilian and Justin. They have welcomed her into their home and after a short while of being referred to as Pooch has been named Ruby, after Lilian's birthstone.

And with that "Ruby the dog" earns her place in The Archers’ archive. All scenes that have some significance to Ruby will be tagged with her name in case they ever need to be recalled in the future.

In days before the electronic archive, the animals were kept track of in the same way as the humans. Their lives may have been considerable less eventful but that doesn’t mean they weren’t any less important!

It appears in the 1960s there was a plethora of faithful friends in Ambridge!

Through the 1980s Mrs Antrobus kept the numbers up with her pack which included Georgina, Bettina, Pippa, Portia and Tara. Unsurprisingly, Mrs Antrobus became known round Ambridge as the "dog woman".

Look at that face!

Arguably the dog with the highest profile (though perhaps Scruff has taken that crown now that he is immortalised in gin!) is Captain. So much so that he had his own set of index cards.

With Biff and Tig quietly soldiering on at Brookfield and Holly perpetually shut out of Grange Farm, all is fairly quiet in the dog world of Ambridge. We wait to see how Ruby shakes things up! With her breed yet to be identified on-air, who knows how she will change as she grows up!

Jill returns to where she first met Phil Archer

2017-06-29T10:47:15+00:00

Volunteering at the pop-up Happy Friends Café has extra significance for Jill because it is on the site of Mitchells, the Borchester department store where she met her future husband.

While the audio of the episode in which they met hasn’t survived, we can be sure that Jill isn't mis-remembering because their meeting is recorded on Jill's first archive index card. The card also tells us that while Mitchells was where Jill first laid eyes on Phil it wasn’t where Phil first saw Jill.

Patricia Greene’s first words as Jill, which appeared in the same episode, were, “and now I’ll show you the fifteenth use to which this very versatile little household gadget can be put…”

While in Mitchells with his sister Christine, Phil recognised the household gadget demonstrator. Remembering her from the church fete where he had caught her on his cine camera a few days before, he went over and struck up conversation. Jill refused to have lunch with him but “half-heartedly” agreed to see him at the Borchester Show.

Initially, Jill told Phil she could never see herself marrying a farmer. But Phil persevered – ringing her boss to ask for her address! About a month after they had met he asked her to marry him. Jill told him it was much too sudden but promised to think it over.

She came back to Borchester to get to know Phil better and after some time she agreed to marry him. They would be no engagement and the wedding would be as soon as possible. Phil’s mother, Doris, was rather wary of the match. Nevertheless, the couple were married in a quiet ceremony in a church in Crudley (where Jill was raised) on 16 November 1957.

A rare hand-written archive index card, most of them are typed.

Carole Boyd's Favourite Lynda Moments

2017-05-26T13:00:00+00:00

I still can’t quite believe that Lynda Snell has been part of my life for over 30 years and is celebrating her 70th Birthday – terrifying! But also rewarding to play someone who arouses such strong, conflicting reactions. She is supremely irritating, self-regarding, humourless and smug and yet, deeply vulnerable, well-meaning and human. And we all know someone just like her! In fact, discovering Lynda can be quite cathartic for everybody, including me!

Here are some of my favourite moments from Lynda's life in Ambridge.

Dame Edna

I love the irony of placing Lynda away from Ambridge, on a great theatrical high, only to be completely overwhelmed by the glamour, absurdity and charisma of Dame E! Recorded at the Birmingham Hippodrome, Lynda became the butt of some of Edna's jokes but with typical bravura, she reveled in her delusion of having upstaged a superstar!

"Alternative" Lynda

Ever in pursuit of the next good cause, Lynda became obsessed with Feng Shui. As she sought the right “chi” she constantly moved the bedroom furniture for Robert to trip over!

Then there was the time Lynda embraced essential oil therapy and ended up massaging Joe Grundy! It left him rather bewitched, bothered and definitely bewildered! She confidently assumes the role of healer and spiritual know-all – so often to be repeated.

Don Giovanni

This is a classic case of Lynda’s ill-founded claim to be Doyenne of the Arts and Cultural Crusader, born to save Ambridge from the encircling gloom of Eddie Grundy’s Country music.

When a singer for a production of Don Giovanni at Lower Loxley failed to turn up to rehearsal, Lynda was keen to step into the breach but the director rejected her desperate bid to take over the role! Nevertheless, she gallantly brazened out her hurt and embarrassment by criticising the soprano’s "rather thin" voice!

We all snigger behind our hands (along with the Grundys) but there’s a sense, uncomfortably perhaps, of the pathos just under the surface.

The return of Scruff

This saw Lynda in the raw. Scruff had been missing for months since the great Ambridge Flood – probably dead, though no-one dared suggest it... She painfully bottled her feelings, hoping it’ll all be alright, but dreading the truth.

On her first Christmas Eve without Scruff, Lynda sat by the fireside with Leonie while the bells of St Stephen’s rang out. All was peaceful, except for the silent grief in her heart. (Scruff is almost a metaphor for child she never had.) Suddenly, she heard a sound outside, opened the door – and unbelievably, a whimpering Scruffy came to her slowly, out of the dark. Lynda was overwhelmed and even though Scruff was only heard on tape, he could just as easily have been in the room!

Grundy Moments

Many of my favourite moments as Lynda are with the Grundys. Rollicking roughshod over Lynda’s airs and graces, they establish an ongoing basis for some wonderful run-ins, with Lynda getting increasingly irritated and hysterical as Joe and Eddie casually take advantage of her.

A particular favourite was the shepherd’s hut saga – enjoyed as much for the way the writers pushed the bounds of absurdity ever further as each character struggled to outwit the other.

Eddie and Lynda test the strength of his carpentry!

Robert Moments

Dear Robert, the only person in Ambridge and the world to understand Lynda – and still love her!

She tends to drop her "role-play" mode when they’re together and becomes an almost frilly little girl, safe in the understanding that he “knows the truth” about the real Lynda.

She was in tears for nearly two weeks when she thought he’d left her. "P'raps he's gone to Wales", ventured Joe Grundy. "Wales!" screamed Lynda, "We don’t know anybody in Wales!" I had a lot of fun delivering that line!

The SSSI at Grange Farm

2017-05-17T10:52:31+00:00

Purple Knapweed, Granny's Apron and Meadow Saxifrage

These are some of the species found in the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Grange Farm.

Designated in 1989 by the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC)

When the NCC first expressed an interest in the meadow at Grange Farm Joe grumbled that “the bureaucrats would stop him doing what wanted with the land”.

But when Shula pointed out he would receive compensation if it did become an SSSI he changed his tune and crowed about his prowess as a conservationist!

Not only did money come in from the NCC but Joe also earned a bit extra by running tours for pensioners and school children.

Oliver’s responsibility

Since Oliver bought Grange Farm in 2000 the SSSI has been his responsibility.

Lower Loxley’s meadow

Lower Loxley has some of the same species as Grange Farm’s SSSI because when Nigel created a grassland there in 2004 he used some of Oliver’s hay crop in order to get an old meadow mixture of varieties.

Phil and Jill's early days

2017-01-19T16:22:24+00:00

Elizabeth and Jill’s trip down memory lane inspired a search through The Archers audio archive for the early days of Phil and Jill’s relationship.

Phil first spotted Jill on 8 July 1957 at a garden fete. He’d taken his cine camera along to make a short film called “The Great Garden Fete at Ambridge”. While filming he saw a girl he didn’t recognise – she was blonde, with a kind of urchin haircut, and she was wearing a yellow dress. He pointed out the stranger to Carol and said he thought she was a peach!

(When Patricia Greene was first approached to join The Archers she was given the description "sexy blonde in the tea tent" for her character Jill.)

Over the following months Phil and Jill got to know one another and on 16 November they were married. Phil was just over two years widowed from his first wife Grace. Nevertheless, as Elizabeth has tried to impress on her mum, he was truly in love with Jill. They were married for over 50 years until Phil's death in 2010.

(Find out about the golden wedding anniversary gift for Phil and Jill that went wrong)

The earliest surviving audio of Phil and Jill together is from before Elizabeth was even a twinkle in their eyes, her older brother David had to come along first. The audio is from January 1959 when Charles Grenville was about to take over from George Fairbrother for whom Phil was general farm manager.

We hear Phil express his doubts to Jill about staying on in his job but Jill gives him some tough love. “You know more about Fairbrother Enterprises than anybody else connected with it. You built it up. Don’t you dare turn your back on it at this stage, the very idea!” she tells him.

Phil acknowledges she’s talking “a lot of good sense”. Then, their conversation turns to a new addition to the family… "Archer Offspring Number Three".

Debbie's déjà vu: why does Rob rattle her?

2016-12-21T15:50:10+00:00

Rob has been roundly shunned by the community in Ambridge ever since the full horror of his abusive relationship with Helen came out at her trial. And yet, the thrill of hearing Rob lose face is yet to be worn off. The short shrift he got from Debbie at the Borchester Land Christmas party was a particular delight. For once, Rob was left speechless!

Listen to Debbie shun Rob

Debbie deftly dropped into her short conversation with Rob that he reminded her of an ex-partner of hers. “He was charming as well, until he hit me of course.”

Debbie can now see the similarities between Rob and her violent ex-partner is Simon Pemberton, who inherited the Estate from his father Guy in 1996. In the early days of Debbie and Simon's relationship, David joined the two of them on a farm walk but became excluded from the conversation and felt very much the gooseberry. Shula was horrified to learn that Debbie and Simon had become an item (Shula’s relationship with him had come to an end within the last year).

When Simon attacked Debbie

Simon cut a dashing figure but he was also hard-headed and Debbie found it hard to feel close to him. One evening, when they were alone at Home Farm, there was an awkward air between them and Simon suggested they went to bed together to help them both relax. This spurred Debbie to tell him she could never love him and she asked him to leave. Angry Simon lost control and physically attacked Debbie.

Two weeks earlier Simon had lost a tribunal to force the Grundys to leave Grange Farm. There had been a disastrous fire in their milking parlour and Simon wanted to get rid of them on the pretext that the blaze had been caused by their own neglect.

When Brian found out what Simon had done, he was furious. He tracked Simon down and told him to never darken his door again. Simon denied everything and said he intended to be away from Ambridge for some time.

At first, Debbie was reluctant to report Simon’s violence towards her. Then, a conversation with Shula, in which she revealed that Simon had also hit her, persuaded Debbie to go to the police. Simon was arrested and then charged. He pleaded not guilty was given a conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £200 in compensation. As he heard the sentencing, he was seen to be smiling. Nevertheless, it spelled the end of his association with Ambridge.

Get the details of organisations that offer information and support regarding domestic violence

Tamsin Greig and Timothy Watson at the recording of Debbie and Rob's conversation.

What’s the history between Elizabeth and Richard?

2016-11-28T10:52:19+00:00

When Archers listeners were asked whether Elizabeth should take Richard on a mini-break 70%* of those who voted said she should. If only Elizabeth would be so definite.

Rewind a few months and it looked like Elizabeth and Dr Locke were gearing up for a summer of love. However, the temperature never seemed to get beyond luke-warm and now, disappointingly, it seems to have plummeted.

Though, to discover that the person you liked may have also been stringing along your married sister while also making a pass at you would surely put anyone off!

This isn’t the first time Elizabeth has had her head turned by Richard. Back in 1992, when he first arrived in Ambridge, a 25-year-old Elizabeth took interest in the dashing doctor.

A lovelorn Nigel – who had already patiently waited in the wings during Elizabeth’s relationship with Robin Fairbrother – lamented Elizabeth’s fondness for Richard. But nothing was to come of it. At that time, Richard has his eye on Debbie.

Find out more about Richard Locke

Elizabeth eventually married Nigel on 29 September 1994. It was altogether a happy union – apart from that time Nigel ended up in a Spanish prison but let’s not go there – Nigel was besotted with Elizabeth and together, as well as having twins Lily and Freddie, the two of them grew the Lower Loxley brand.

Nigel’s unexpected death in January 2011 was a huge blow to his wife and the whole of Ambridge. In the years that followed, Elizabeth focused on her children and running Lower Loxley. But in 2013, Elizabeth became close with Iftikar Shah, the cricket coach who also tutored Freddie in Maths. They shared a kiss after having dinner together one evening but immediately it didn’t feel right for Elizabeth. A couple of months later, Freddie’s tutoring was complete and Ifty walked away from Ambridge.

The following year Elizabeth embarked on a more eventful liaison. While at Greenbury Fields Festival, gathering research for her own Loxfest, Elizabeth got together with Roy. At the time, he was her employee and he was married. Fair to say it wasn’t going to last! And once Freddie caught the two of them hugging, Elizabeth decided – for the sake of her children – she had to call it off. But what had happened couldn’t be undone nor kept under wraps and as a result Roy lost his job and his family. His ex-wife Hayley and their daughter Abbie now live in Birmingham.

Listen to Hayley confront Elizabeth about the affair

Richard’s reappearance must have been an interesting prospect for Elizabeth. A familiar face, which takes her back to her 20s, and yet he is unconnected in Ambridge. (If we look into Richard’s past there are actually a number of old ties with Ambridge residents but that’s for another time!) Is now the right time for Elizabeth? And is Richard the right man?

* You can take part in a different Archers vote every week.

The curse of Blossom Hill Cottage

2016-10-28T15:08:18+00:00

Over the last couple of years, Rob’s insidious manipulation of Helen has been a skin-crawling listen. The psychological torment he inflicted predominantly took place out of sight of anyone else. When Helen was where she should have been safest, her home at Blossom Hill Cottage, she was in fact in the most danger. Then came the fateful night that resulted in Helen stabbing her abusive husband and if you look closely some blood stains still remain, despite Ursula’s rigorous clean up.

The recent horror that has unfolded at Blossom Hill Cottage could be convincingly laid at the feet of Rob Titchener. However, a look back through The Archers archive reveals a spooky number of fearsome events have taken place at that cottage. Could the picturesque thatched dwelling possess a potent evil power of its own?

December 2013: the party from hell

In an attempt to settle into Ambridge life, Jess hosted a party at Blossom Hill Cottage. It didn't go well and at the end of the evening Jess’s untouched salmon fell to the floor. The disastrous event became the talk of the village.

January 1995: rats!

Not long after Usha moved in she discovered the cottage had a rat infestation. Luckily, Bert was on hand to put down bait.

April 1995: gruesome vandalism

Usha found Blossom Hill Cottage trashed and defaced with racist messages. The following month, while she was on her way to have dinner with Shula, masked attackers threw acid in her face from the back of a motorbike.

August 1992: the boy in the attic

The alarm was raised when 9-year-old Will didn’t come home one night. He’d been locked in the attic at Blossom Hill Cottage by Kate. When he was found, Kate faced serious trouble but she remained resentful and unrepentant.

December 1983: engulfed in flames

No one was hurt in the fire but a lot of damage was done. Peggy and her cat Sammy temporarily moved to Home Farm. While they were there, Sammy clawed the sofa. Could a malevolence in the air at Blossom Hill Cottage have rubbed off on the cat?

April 1983: burglar Ben

While in her early 20s, Shula developed a crush Ben Warner. Feelings quickly cooled, however, when she caught him burgling Blossom Hill Cottage. At first she tried to protect him but eventually gave his name to the police.

(Thanks to Mustardland for putting us on to the curse evidence. Anyone know a good exorcist?)

New collection of archive Archers material

2016-10-26T12:48:39+00:00

"Of course, that’s not what happened at all," said Ysanne Churchman with a smile. "Would you like me to tell you how it really was?" You bet we would! Sean O'Connor, former Editor of The Archers, and I had gone to see the 91-year-old actress precisely to hear her side of the story.

"Dead girls tell no tales," she’d said enigmatically to reporters after her character Grace Archer’s sensational death in a fire at the riding stables on 22 September 1955, a death which had had listeners weeping in the streets, jammed the BBC switchboard and wiped the launch night of ITV off the next day’s front pages.

Sean and I sat back and listened to Ysanne and by the time we left her flat we had not just the title of the Radio 4 drama I was to write to mark the 60th anniversary of Grace Archer’s dramatic demise, but a set of astonishing revelations.

The CD/download release of the play and the original omnibus of the week of Grace’s death couldn’t be better timed, coming so soon after Jill banned Pip’s boyfriend Toby from her birthday tea. Jill’s excuse was that she hadn’t personally invited him – nothing to do, then, with the fact that Grace, nee Fairbrother, was Phil’s first wife, and Toby’s the son of Grace’s half-brother Robin. Fairbrother ghosts still stalk the lanes of Ambridge, it seems.

There’s a third CD/download in this new collection as well, which reflects Ambridge in happier times. A compendium of Christmas scenes in which Ambridge residents remember events of the past. They include long-dead characters such as Sid and Polly Perks, Walter Gabriel and Tom Forrest but also a new generation – a baby Debbie Aldridge and a sulky teenage Shula Archer, played then as now by Judy Bennett.

Dan and Doris Archer feature as well, of course, in cosy domestic scenes. As Dan brings Doris a cup of tea on Christmas morning, she remarks that it tastes good. "You know why that is, don’t you?" he replies. "It’s made with love." Aww. Just like The Archers itself.

Joanna Toye has more than 30 years of experience in writing The Archers

The Archers' over-sized family photo

2016-10-13T10:49:15+00:00

As a golden wedding anniversary gift, Phil and Jill's children organised a family portrait photograph. It featured the couple’s children (David, twins Kenton and Shula, and Elizabeth) and grandchildren (Pip, Josh, Ben, Dan, and twins Lily and Freddie). Ruth, Nigel and Alistair were also in it but Kathy, Kenton’s partner at the time, was not included. Nor, was Meriel, his daughter in New Zealand.

When it came to ordering the print Kenton made the error or ordering in inches when he thought it was in centimetres. As a result the photograph was huge and its subjects almost life size.

When Phil and Jill got the portrait home to Glebe Cottage, they found it was too big for above the fireplace. They decided the best place for it was by the staircase but then after a great effort to hang it, Jill decided it looked preposterous from the bottom of the stairs. It ended up on display in the conservatory.

When Carol Tregorran moved into Glebe Cottage seven years later the giant photo was still there. At her request, Kenton removed it and stored it away.