The Archers Celebrate 70
On 1 January 2021 episode number 19,343 of The Archers on BBC Radio 4 marked 70 years of the world’s longest running serial drama. Jeremy Howe, Editor of The Archers talks to The Cheshire Magazine about the show’s continued success
A reflection of life in rural England, The Archers has grown from its original purpose of educating farmers on modern agricultural methods, to reflecting the present-day - all whilst entertaining listeners with the bucolic ebb and flow of the village of Ambridge.
Jeremy Howe, editor of The Archers says: “Almost daily and in real time, The Archers has tracked life in the village of Ambridge across 70 years and over 19,000 and more episodes. No work of fiction or drama can truly compare to that. As I look back on this incredible legacy, I am looking forward to the next 70 years of The Archers. What an honour to be the editor at such a moment in the life of an extraordinary programme.”
In the past year Ambridge was rocked by an explosion which nearly claimed the life of Lynda Snell at country hotel Grey Gables during renovations. Residents are as yet unaware of the links between this incident and a disturbing case of modern slavery.
Elsewhere, in quieter moments, life continued despite the impact of coronavirus, with Emma Grundy leading the charge to take the annual Flower And Produce show online during lockdown.
As The Archers 70th anniversary arrived, what first comes to mind for Editor Jeremy Howe is one particular Archer soon to reach the same significant milestone: “Early in 2021, Tony, the first baby ever born in The Archers, will turn 70. He’s had so many achievements; he’s become a farmer, he and Pat have forged a really strong business and marital relationship, and he’s turned Bridge Farm organic.
"Across Tony’s lifetime the audience has heard all this. Following a person’s life across three score years and ten in real time has never happened in fiction storytelling before. There are some of our listeners who will have absolutely grown up with him, and the many other inhabitants of Ambridge. Tony and his kind are as real to some people as their next door neighbour or their best friend. I find this both remarkable and humbling.”
Drama and storytelling have been at the heart of Jeremy’s career throughout, from his days as a theatre director to numerous roles across both TV and radio at Channel 4, Film4, BBC Two, Three and Four and of course Radio 4. Jeremy started as The Archers Editor in August 2018 - relatively recently in the context of Ambridge history - and it is a history Jeremy is keenly aware of: “In the church near to where I live there is a list of vicars going back to the 13th century. In a way the editor of The Archers is like one of those vicars - we’re looking after it for a comparatively short period of time. While you are the editor it is all consuming, but you need to be aware that one day you’ll be passing it on.
“Just like Tony Archer, many of the farmers we talk to when researching The Archers have two main goals: making a living from the land and leaving a thriving business to pass on to their children. I think editing The Archers is not dissimilar to that: you inherit an extraordinary backstory that goes on for 70 years. My job, I think, is to make sure that day by day the show is of the highest standard, and to make sure the soil is rich enough for your successors to carry on.”
As the world’s longest running continuing drama, Jeremy is not short of examples which account for its unrivalled longevity. “One of the reasons for the success of The Archers is that the formula is very simple - you can measure, see and grasp it very quickly. Each episode takes place on the day of broadcast so it is, always has been - and I think always will be - the way we live now.
“Having worked over every kind of drama that you can imagine in my working life, one of the interesting things about The Archers is that - aside from drama-documentary - no other drama is as well or thoroughly researched as The Archers. I think that is a direct link between the programme’s origins as a programme about farming and where it is now, except that now our intensive research is spread across everything.”
Jeremy talks fondly of a production team and cast who make significant contributions to this success each in their own ways: “Part of the energy of the show comes from the sheer familial love of everyone who works on it. Do not underestimate how that love and affection has been passed down through the generations.
"All you need to do is sit in the green room and hear how people like Katie Redford (Lily Pargetter) or Ben Norris (Ben Archer) are enthralled by stories from fellow cast members like Paddy Greene (Jill Archer) and Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge). It’s an exchange because Paddy and Charles are just as interested in the stories of their younger fellow cast members too. What you have powering The Archers is this wonderful sense of continuum, not just of the story or archive but of the people making it.”
With an archive of this scale to delve into it is not an easy task to choose highlights, but for Jeremy recent moments that have stood out include Ed and Emma’s troubled start to 2020, and the dramatic revelations from Jim Lloyd’s childhood: “There have been a number of really strong stories in the last year or so. Ed and Emma’s storyline was visceral when they were about to go into Beechwood [the new housing development in Ambridge].
"It cast a spotlight on just how difficult it is to get a foot on the housing ladder when you’re in circumstances like theirs. House ownership is such a goal for so many people and yet it is so expensive. Ed and Emma’s was a compelling story, but one with a happy ending.”
“The historic abuse storyline around the character of Jim was a model way of how The Archers can tackle an issue. The archive is your goldmine, but this ‘gold’ often comes in unexpected places. The interesting thing with this story is that Jim didn’t really have an archive, he didn’t have a backstory. From the research, through to the script and the masterful scenes performed by John Rowe (Jim Lloyd), this sensitive story led us all to understand Jim so much better, and it furnished him with a compelling hinterland.”
2020 set new and unprecedented hurdles in the path of all continuing dramas, especially for those that run to such a clockwork-like schedule as The Archers does: “The interesting thing about this job is you’re speculating on the future. You’re speculating on the future in 10 weeks’ time as well as a year, five years’ time or more. There are ever-present waystations, the Flower And Produce show in September, the Christmas show in December.
"What’s wonderful about rural life is you’ll always have a harvest, you’ll always have spring lambing and so forth. As David Archer said, the sun will always rise and there will always be cows to milk at Brookfield. But this speculation on the future has become particularly critical in these last nine months. During the pandemic is has been really difficult to predict what we will we be doing and when. How will we be able to live our lives in 10 weeks’ time? Will The Bull be open or shut? What tier is Ambridge in etc?”
There are happy times to reflect on too, of course: “The absolute zenith of my time at The Archers so far has been celebrating June Spencer’s 100th birthday. She was in episode one and was in episode 19,343 on the 70th anniversary. This is a phenomenal achievement, and June deserves every bit of praise.”
THE ARCHERS FUN FACTS
The opening line in 1951 was from the character Dan Archer, who said, “And a happy New Year to all”.
The programme is recorded at the BBC’s Birmingham studios in The Mailbox. Prior to that The Archers’ home for many years had been Pebble Mill.
There have been over 1,400 named characters in The Archers.
Almost five million people listen to the Archers every week.
The theme tune Barwick Green is a maypole dance from the suite My Native Heath written in 1924 by Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood.
Phil Archer became a household name on 22 September 1955 when Grace, his wife of only five months, died in his arms after trying to save her horses from a stable fire. The BBC switchboard was jammed for 48 hours after the landmark episode, which reached an audience of 20 million.
The Archers has featured Royal guest appearances from the late Princess Margaret (1984) and Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall (2011).
Because each episode is set on the day of transmission The Archers keeps up with events in the real world. Whole storylines were devised to track the development of Foot and Mouth in 2001, but the show also uses topical drop-ins recorded at short notice – from marking the deaths of royals like Princess Diana, to remarking on England’s performance in World Cups.
For the 10,000 episode the usually silent character Pru Forrest was voiced by Dame Judi Dench
Terry Wogan, Britt Ekland, Alan Titchmarsh, Griff Rhys Jones, Antony Gormley and Colin Dexter have all made cameo appearances.
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