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==History== A five-episode pilot series started on [[Whit Monday]], 29 May 1950, and continued throughout that week.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5xGwGj4NgfGRJ1B2mFqg6QM/frequently-asked-questions | title= Frequently Asked Questions | work= The Archers | access-date= 16 June 2019 | publisher= BBC Radio 4 | archive-date= 8 May 2019 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190508225856/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5xGwGj4NgfGRJ1B2mFqg6QM/frequently-asked-questions | url-status= live}}</ref> It was created by [[Godfrey Baseley]] and was broadcast to the English Midlands in the Regional Home Service, as 'a farming [[Dick Barton]]'. Recordings were sent to London, and the BBC decided to commission the series for a longer national run. In the five pilots the Archers owned Wimberton Farm, rather than Brookfield. Baseley subsequently edited ''The Archers'' for 22 years. Since 1 January 1951, five 15-minute episodes (since 1998, six 12Β½-minute episodes) have been transmitted each week, at first on the [[BBC Light Programme]]<ref name="Donovan, Paul 1991 p. 8">Donovan, Paul (1991), ''The Radio Companion''. London: Grafton; p. 8.</ref> and subsequently on the [[BBC Home Service]] (and [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] from 1 October 1967).<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC Radio 4 FM β 1 October 1967 β BBC Genome|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio4/fm/1967-10-01|access-date=17 May 2021|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|archive-date=8 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808042433/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/radio4/fm/1967-10-01|url-status=live}}</ref> Early afternoon repeats of the previous evening's episode began on 14 December 1964. The original scriptwriters were Geoffrey Webb and [[Edward J. Mason]], who were also working on the nightly thriller series about the special agent Dick Barton. The popularity of his adventures partly inspired ''The Archers'', which eventually took over Barton's evening slot. At first, however, the national launch placed the serial at the "terrible"<ref>Smethurst, William (1996), ''The Archers: The True Story''. London: Michael O'Mara Books; p.24. {{ISBN|1-85479-689-5}}</ref> time of 11.45 am, but it moved to Dick Barton's former slot of 6.45 pm from 2 April 1951. An omnibus edition of the week's episodes began on 5 January 1952. Originally produced with collaborative input from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, ''The Archers'' was conceived as a means of disseminating information to farmers and smallholders to help increase productivity in the [[Postwar]] era of [[Rationing in the United Kingdom|rationing]] and food shortages.<ref name="Donovan, Paul 1991 p. 8"/> ''The Archers'' originally centred on the lives of three farmers; Dan Archer, farming efficiently with little cash, Walter Gabriel, farming inefficiently with little cash, and George Fairbrother, a wealthy businessman farming at a loss for tax purposes (which one could do in those days).<ref>Norman Painting, ''Forever Ambridge'' (1975)</ref> The programme was hugely successful, winning the National Radio Awards' 'Most entertaining programme of the Year' award jointly with ''[[Take It from Here]]'' in 1954, and winning the award outright in 1955, in which year the audience was reported to have peaked at 20 million.<ref name="The Listener 29 August 1985">''The Listener'', 29 August 1985.</ref> In the late 1950s, despite the growth of television and radio's consequent decline, the programme was still claiming 11 million listeners and was also being transmitted in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref>Smethurst, William (1996), ''The Archers: The True Story''. London: Michael O'Mara Books; pp. 75β76. {{ISBN|1-85479-689-5}}</ref> By the mid-1970s, however, the audience for the two daily broadcasts and the weekend omnibus combined was less than three million<ref>Smethurst (1996) ''The Archers'', p. 144.</ref> and in 1976 the BBC Radio Four Review Board twice considered whether or not to axe the programme.<ref>Hendy, David (2007), ''Life On Air, A history of Radio Four'' Oxford University Press, p. 205. {{ISBN|978-0-19-924881-0}}</ref> The serial's woes at this time were seen to mirror the poor standing of radio drama in general, described as "a failure to fully shake off the conventions of non-realism which had prevailed in the 1940s and 1950s."<ref>Hendy, David (2007) ''Life On Air'', p. 204.</ref> Programme chief Jock Gallagher, responsible for ''The Archers'', described these as the serial's "dog days".<ref>Hendy (2007), p. 204.</ref> Sweeping editorial reforms followed, included the introduction of women writers (there had been none before 1975), two of whom, Helen Leadbeater and Margaret Phelan, were credited with giving the programme a new definitive style of writing and content, although some listeners complained about their radical feminism.<ref>Glenys Roberts, ''London Evening Standard'', London; 17 March 1983.</ref> In 1980 [[Julie Burchill]] commented that the women of Ambridge were no longer stuck with "the gallons of greengage jam old-guard male scriptwriters kept them occupied with for over twenty years"; but were 'into post-natal depression and alcoholism on the way to self-discovery'.<ref>Hendy (2007), p, 207.</ref> By the mid-1980s the Radio Four Review Board noted that scripts, directing and acting was "very good" and sometimes "better than ever".<ref>Hendy (2007), p. 208.</ref> In August 1985 ''[[The Listener (magazine)|The Listener]]'' said that the programme's revival was "sustained by some of the best acting, direction and writing on radio."<ref name="The Listener 29 August 1985"/> [[Tony Shryane]] MBE was the programme's producer from 1 January 1951 to 19 January 1979. [[Vanessa Whitburn]] was the programme's editor from 1992 till 2013. Whitburn took service leave from March to July 2012, and [[John Yorke (producer)|John Yorke]], a former executive producer of ''[[EastEnders]]'', came in as acting editor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2012/02/acting_archers_editor.html|title=BBC β The Archers Blog: Acting Archers editor|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=4 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904053052/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2012/02/acting_archers_editor.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Yorke's arrival prompted charges that the programme was importing the values of ''EastEnders'' to Borsetshire, with fans and commentators complaining that characters were behaving unrealistically simply to generate conflict.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/335079|title=EastEnders formula is failing in Ambridge|author=Simon Edge|work=Daily Express|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=3 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103204615/http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/335079|url-status=live}}</ref> This was denied by Yorke, who wrote that he agreed to take over "on one condition β that it stayed exactly as it was and that I didn't have to change anything."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2012/06/is_the_archers_going_to_get_da.html|title=BBC β The Archers Blog: Is The Archers going to get 'darker and bigger? No.|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161241/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2012/06/is_the_archers_going_to_get_da.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Whitburn was succeeded as editor by [[Sean O'Connor (producer)|Sean O'Connor]] in September 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/leisure/showbiz/10593342.O_Connor_takes_Archers__top_job/|title=O'Connor takes Archers' top job|author=Press Association 2014|work=The Argus|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=29 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229002009/http://www.theargus.co.uk/leisure/showbiz/10593342.O_Connor_takes_Archers__top_job/|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 2016, [[Huw Kennair-Jones]] took over as editor though O'Connor continued to oversee the Helen and Rob storyline until its conclusion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5vFGJHJDWPdPSY77RrmtyQD/meet-the-archers-new-editor-huw-kennair-jones|title=Meet The Archers' new editor, Huw Kennair-Jones|access-date=18 September 2016|publisher=BBC|archive-date=17 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917053407/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5vFGJHJDWPdPSY77RrmtyQD/meet-the-archers-new-editor-huw-kennair-jones|url-status=live}}</ref> Kennair-Jones announced in October 2017 that he was to leave the BBC to work as commissioning editor for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]].<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/entries/cab07c63-5403-42be-b16c-9c74875ee062 | title= Huw Kennair-Jones steps down as editor of The Archers | access-date= 9 September 2018 | publisher= BBC | date= 4 October 2017 | archive-date= 29 October 2018 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181029223638/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/entries/cab07c63-5403-42be-b16c-9c74875ee062 | url-status= live}}</ref> The short tenure of two successive Archers editors led to concerns of a trend of radio drama editing being seen as "training ground" for higher-paid positions in TV.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/11/archers-will-trouble-editors-keep-poached-tv-star-says/|title=Archers will be in trouble if editors keep being poached by TV, star says|date=11 October 2017|access-date=9 September 2018|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|last1=Furness|first1=Hannah|archive-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909150616/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/11/archers-will-trouble-editors-keep-poached-tv-star-says/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Alison Hindell]], the BBC's head of Audio Drama until October 2018, took over as acting editor before<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/13/the-archers-helen-titchner-huw-kennair-jones-bbc-radio-4|title=The Archers: former Sky executive takes over show as Helen Titchener plot ends|date=13 September 2016|access-date=9 September 2018|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|last1=Jackson|first1=Jasper|archive-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909184849/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/13/the-archers-helen-titchner-huw-kennair-jones-bbc-radio-4|url-status=live}}</ref> and after<ref name="Hindell-Howe">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hindell-succeed-howe-r4-commissioning-editor-drama-and-fiction-814556|title=Hindell becomes Radio 4 commissioning editor for Drama and fiction|date=19 June 2018|access-date=9 September 2018|magazine=[[The Bookseller]]|archive-date=9 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909150531/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/hindell-succeed-howe-r4-commissioning-editor-drama-and-fiction-814556|url-status=live}}</ref> Kennair-Jones's time in charge. She effectively swapped roles with [[Jeremy Howe (radio drama editor)|Jeremy Howe]] when she succeeded him as the BBC's commissioning editor for drama and fiction<ref name="Hindell-Howe" /> and he started as editor of the Archers in late August 2018.<ref name="Howe-starts"/><ref>{{cite press release | date = 7 February 2018 | title = Jeremy Howe announced as new editor of The Archers | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/jeremy-howe-archers | publisher = [[BBC]] | access-date = 25 February 2018 | archive-date = 10 February 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180210034408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2018/jeremy-howe-archers | url-status = live}}</ref> Since 2007, ''The Archers'' has been available as a [[podcast]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr/episodes/downloads| title=Podcasts| work=The Archers| access-date=10 February 2008| publisher=BBC Radio 4| archive-date=3 July 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703183537/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr/episodes/downloads| url-status=live}}</ref> Since [[Easter Sunday]] 1998, there have been six episodes a week, from Sunday to Friday, broadcast at around 19:03 following the news summary. Episodes are repeated the following day at 14:02 except the Friday evening episode that repeats on Saturday at 14:45, (from 6th April 2024). The six episodes are re-run unabridged in the Sunday morning [[omnibus (broadcast)|omnibus]] at 10:00. On [[Remembrance Sunday]], the omnibus edition begins at the earlier time of 09:15.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr |title=BBC Radio 4 β The Archers |publisher=BBC |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=12 September 2016 |archive-date=12 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912034634/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qpgr |url-status=live}}</ref> In March 2024, the BBC announced scheduling changes that will see the Sunday omnibus begin one hour later, at 11.00 although the shorter time slot requires the programme content to be edited from the daily transmissions. <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2023/bbc-radio-4-refreshed-schedule-new-commissions |title=BBC Radio 4 announces fresh schedule this Spring|publisher=[[BBC]] Media Centre|date=2 March 2024|access-date=3 March 2024}}</ref> ===Death of Grace Archer=== One of the most controversial ''Archers'' episodes was broadcast on 22 September 1955, coinciding with the launch of the UK's first commercial television station. Phil and Grace Archer had been married just a few months earlier, and their blossoming relationship was the talk of the nation. However, searching for a story which would demonstrate real tragedy among increasingly unconvincing episode cliff-hangers, Godfrey Baseley decided that Grace would have to die. The scripts for the week commencing 19 September 1955 were written, recorded, and broadcast on each day, with an "exercise in topicality" given as the explanation to the cast. On Thursday, listeners heard the [[sound effect]]s of Grace trying to rescue Midnight, her horse, from a fire in the stable at Brookfield and the crash of a falling [[Beam (structure)|timber beam]].<ref name="ep10000">{{cite episode|title= 26 May 1989|number= 10,000|series= The Archers |network= BBC Radio 4}}</ref> Whether the timing of the episode was a deliberate attempt to overshadow the opening night of the BBC's first commercial rival has been debated ever since. It was certainly planned some months in advance, but it may well be that the actual date of the death was changed during the scriptwriting stage to coincide with [[History of ITV|the launch of Associated-Rediffusion]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Smethurst |title = The Archers| year = 1996 | page = 63 |chapter = Dead Girls Tell No Tales |quote = Even this presupposes that the BBC realized the impact that the 'death' would have β and all the evidence is that the BBC was totally taken by surprise.}}</ref> Deliberate or not, the episode attracted widespread media attention, reported by newspapers around the world. This controversy has been parodied twice: in "[[The Bowmans]]", an episode of the television comedy programme ''Hancock'', and in the play ''[[The Killing of Sister George]]'' and [[The Killing of Sister George (film)|its 1968 film adaptation]]. On the 50th anniversary of ITV's launch, [[Ysanne Churchman]], who played Grace, sent them a congratulatory card signed "Grace Archer". In 1996, William Smethurst recounted a conversation with Baseley in which he reveals his real motivation for killing off Grace Archer: Churchman had been encouraging the other actors to join a trade union.<ref>{{cite book |author=Smethurst |title = The Archers |year = 1996 |page = 64 |chapter = Dead Girls Tell No Tales |quote='She was trying to get the actors to join a trade union,' he told the author of this book, in 1995, 'so I killed her off. Very few of the original actors were professionals. I'd taken them on because they were countrymen with natural country voices. But she was stirring them up and trying to get them to join the actors' union, and saying we should only employ union actors, which would have been fatal.'}}</ref> ===Longevity=== The actor [[Norman Painting]] played Phil Archer continuously from the first trial series in 1950 until his death on 29 October 2009. His last ''Archers'' performance was recorded just two days before his death, and was broadcast on 22 November.<ref name="bbc-obituary">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8331558.stm|title=Voice of Phil Archer dies aged 85|work=BBC News|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=29 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229001004/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8331558.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> He is cited in ''[[Guinness World Records]]'' as the longest-serving actor in a single soap opera.<ref name="bbc-obituary"/> Under the pseudonym "Bruno Milna", Painting also wrote around 1,200 complete episodes, which culminated in the 10,000th episode. [[June Spencer]], who celebrated her 100th birthday in 2019, played Peggy Archer (later Woolley) in the pilot episode and continued in the role until 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/radio4/junespencer.shtml |title=Biographies: June Spencer OBE, The Archers |access-date=1 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106073640/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/radio4/junespencer.shtml |archive-date=6 January 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 August 2022 |title=June Spencer: Last original Archers cast member to retire |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62462139 |access-date=8 August 2022}}</ref> ===Sixtieth anniversary=== The Archers reached its 60th anniversary on 1 January 2011 and to mark this achievement, a special half-hour episode was broadcast on Sunday, 2 January, on BBC Radio 4 from 7pm. The episode had been advertised as containing events that would "shake Ambridge to the core".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/27/sopps.shtml|title=BBC Statement of Programme Policy for 2010/2011|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=16 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016083624/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/27/sopps.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> This phrase even gave rise to the [[initialism]] #SATTC trending on the website Twitter during that weekend as listeners speculated about what might happen, and then reported their views as the story unfolded. The main events in the episode were Helen Archer giving birth to her son Henry and Nigel Pargetter falling to his death from the roof of Lower Loxley Hall. This unlikely event provoked interest in the frequency and causes of death in the series. In fact, although the incidence of accidental death and suicide is seven times the national average, the overall mortality rate in Ambridge is almost exactly what would be expected.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.d7518 |pmid=22174323 |title=A series of unfortunate events? Morbidity and mortality in a Borsetshire village |journal=BMJ |volume=343 |pages=d7518 |year=2011 |last1=Stepney |first1=R. |s2cid=46519990}} * {{cite press release |date=15 December 2011 |title=A series of unfortunate events? Morbidity and mortality in a Borsetshire village |website=BMJ |url=https://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2011/12/15/series-unfortunate-events-morbidity-and-mortality-borsetshire-village |access-date=13 October 2018 |archive-date=13 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013172324/https://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2011/12/15/series-unfortunate-events-morbidity-and-mortality-borsetshire-village |url-status=live}}</ref> The demise of Nigel caused controversy among some listeners,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2011/01/nigel_pargetter_-_share_your_m.html|title=Nigel Pargetter β share your memories|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161230/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2011/01/nigel_pargetter_-_share_your_m.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2011/01/the_archers_editor_on_the_60th.html|title=The Archers editor on the 60th anniversary|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 December 2014|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161233/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thearchers/2011/01/the_archers_editor_on_the_60th.html|url-status=live}}</ref> with a number of complaints variously expressing dismay at the death of a popular character, concerns over the manner of the dismissal of the actor, belief that the promise to "shake Ambridge to the core" had been over-hyped, criticism of the credibility of the script (for example, the duration of his plummeting cry caused calculation of the building's height at considerably more than had been imagined); also a perceived unwillingness of the editorial team to engage with these listener complaints.{{Citation needed|reason=a perceived unwillingness of the editorial team to engage with these listener complaints|date=February 2021}} ===COVID-19 pandemic=== Topical subjects have been added to the script, but this was not possible during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]]. Actors were initially recorded in their homes and included references to the pandemic from some of the characters sharing their private thoughts with the listener.<ref name="BBC-29mar20"/><ref name="turner">{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Camilla |title=The Archers becomes latest victim of coronavirus as Coronation Street and Emmerdale to stop filming |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/22/archers-becomes-latest-victim-coronavirus-coronation-street/ |access-date=28 March 2020 |work=The Telegraph |date=22 March 2020 |archive-date=23 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200323163234/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/22/archers-becomes-latest-victim-coronavirus-coronation-street/ |url-status=live}}</ref> From 4 May 2020 to 14 August 2021, the broadcast was reduced to four episodes (Monday β Thursday). Sunday episodes resumed on 15 August 2021. Due to the [[COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic restrictions]], weekly programming reduced to four episodes, omitting episodes on Sunday and Friday. The Sunday omnibus was correspondingly reduced in length. After continuing with pre-recorded episodes and repeating some classic episodes, new episodes started that had been recorded remotely, to a mixed reception.<ref name="Guardian-Lockdown_Archers_review2020">{{cite web |last1=Sawyer |first1=Miranda |author-link=Miranda Sawyer |title=The week in radio and podcasts: The Archers β Ambridge in lockdown shock |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/30/week-radio-podcasts-the-archers-lockdown-episodes-home-recording |website=The Guardian |date=30 May 2020 |access-date=9 July 2020 |archive-date=8 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708132950/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/may/30/week-radio-podcasts-the-archers-lockdown-episodes-home-recording |url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 August 2021, the Sunday evening episode resumed regular broadcast, as did the Friday evening episode on 3 June 2022. ==='Final' episodes=== On two occasions, special 'final' episodes of ''The Archers'' have been produced for the benefit of broadcasters outside the UK who had been running the series but were no longer willing or able to continue. The first was in 1969, for stations in Canada, Kenya and Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Warburton |first=Ken |date=April 2021 |title=''The Archers'' end of series |url=https://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mypension/en/prospero_april_2021.pdf |magazine=Prospero |page=4 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=25 February 2025}}</ref> The second occasion was in 1982, when rising costs meant [[Radio New Zealand]] could no longer afford to continue running the series, and a concluding episode was written and produced for them to end ''The Archers'' with in September that year.<ref>{{cite AV media |people= |last=Blumsky |first=John |date=21 July 1982 |title=''The Archers'' New Zealand|trans-title= |url=https://archive.org/details/the-archers-new-zealand-07-021-82/The+Archers+New+Zealand+07+021+82.mp3 |work= |type=Radio |language= |location= |publisher=[[Radio New Zealand]] |access-date=25 February 2025}}</ref>
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