Post by Chloe (admin) on Jan 9, 2024 18:43:18 GMT
• 19:00 Sunday-Friday | BBC Radio 4 (United Kingdom) •
Beginning on 1st January 1951, The Archers is a contemporary drama in a rural setting that has aired on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom for over 70 years. With the demise of the US serial Guiding Light on 18th September 2009, The Archers became the longest-running soap opera of all time.
With over 20,000 installments under its belt, The Archers has also produced more episodes than any other serial drama, exceeding Guiding Light by nearly 5,000 episodes, as well as current US sudster General Hospital, which is still in production. The theme tune, 'Barwick Green', is one of the most instantly recognisable in British broadcasting. The show aired five pilot episodes in 1950, before beginning properly in January 1951. It has five million daily listeners, making it the most popular non-news programme on BBC Radio 4 and often the #1 soap opera in the UK.
The Archers is set in the fictional English village and county of Ambridge in Borsetshire, and is set around the border between Worcestshire and Warwickshire in the southwestern end of the West Midlands. Being very close to the West Country, some characters speak with a brogue more akin to the southwest of England. As The Archers is a radio rather than television soap opera, the actors are largely unknown in public life, only recognisable by their voices rather than their apperances, and otherwise keep a very low profile.
The show aired five, fifteen-minute installments from 1951-1998. After this, a sixth episode was added from 12th April 1998 (Easter Sunday), but the episode runtimes were reduced to twelve-and-a-half minutes, equating to no actual increase in output in real terms. It initially broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and then on the BBC Home Service, before eventually moving to its final home of BBC Radio 4 in 1967. The Archers initially aired in an unsuccessful 11:45 timeslot, but three months later moved to 18:45, and eventually to its most well-known time of 19:00. Episodes are repeated at 14:00 the following day, except on Sundays. Saturday's repeat airs at the later time of 14:45. There is also a Sunday omnibus edition; this traditionally aired at 10:00 but as of March 2024 is broadcast at 11:00.
The Archers' storylines are a mixture of topical events, rural affairs and traditional soap opera plots as seen on TV. These can range from the mundane - such as jam making competitions and rural shows - to current affairs, such as the death of royal family members, with scenes written and recorded close to broadcast - and standard soap stories such as family break-ups, romances or domestic abuse. It has also tackled rural but controversial plots such as badger culling, genetically modified crops and real-world adaptations of foot and mouth disease events.
As with many soap operas, The Archers has several very long-running cast members. Norman Painting, who played Phil Archer, appeared continuously on the programme from 1950-2009 (59 years), which saw him enter the Guiness World Records. June Spencer (Peggy Woolley) appeared in the pilot episode in 1951 until she retired in 2022, however the character was absent between 1954 and 1961. She did 66 years in total (because during Peggy's sabbatical June Spencer played a different character) making her the world's second longest-running soap actor of all time. The longest is Patricia Greene, who has played Jill Archer since 1957. At 67 years, she is the world's longest-running soap character in history