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How did the programme start?
So it’s an educational programme?
Why does the 50th anniversary fall on 1 January 2001?
What’s that dum-di-dum tune?
How many episodes have there been?
How is the show produced and written?
How is it recorded?
Not exactly a full time job?
How far in advance do you record?
What do you do if something major happens after you’ve
recorded the episodes?
How can I hear the show?
How did the programme start?
In Whit Week 1950, the BBC’s Midlands Home Service broadcast
five pilot episodes of a new, experimental drama series: The
Archers. 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.
So it’s an educational programme?
Not any more. The Archers lost its original, educational, purpose
in 1972, but it still prides itself on the quality of its research and
its reflection of real rural life.
Why did the 50th anniversary fall on 1 January
2001? The pilot week was only heard in the Midlands. The
Archers was first broadcast to the whole of the UK on 1 January 1951,
and that’s the date that has always been taken for anniversaries.
What’s that dum-di-dum tune?
It’s a ‘maypole dance’ called Barwick Green from the suite My
Native Heath, written in 1924 by the Yorkshire composer Arthur
Wood.
How many episodes have there been?
Episode 15674 was broadcast on 1 January 2009.
How is the show produced and written?
The Editor, Vanessa Whitburn, leads an eight-strong production team and nine writers
as they plot the twists and turns of the families in Ambridge, looking ahead months or
sometimes years in biannual long-term meetings. The detailed planning is done at monthly script meetings about two months ahead of transmission, after which four of the writers have to produce a week's worth of scripts each in just 14 days.
How is it recorded?
Actors receive their scripts a few days before recording, which takes place every four weeks in Studio 3 at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham. Twenty-four episodes are recorded in six intensive days, using only two hours of studio time per thirteen minute episode.
Not exactly a full time job? Not
for the actors, no, even for our major characters. Many also have
careers in film, theatre, television or other radio drama. Some of
these non-Archers appearances are listed in our Moonlighting
Files.
How far in advance do you record?
The episodes are transmitted three to six weeks after recording.
What do you do if something major happens after you’ve recorded the episodes?
Listeners are occasionally intrigued to hear topical events reflected in that evening's broadcast. This feat is achieved through a flurry of rewriting, re-recording and editing on the day of transmission.
How can I hear the show?
 In
the UK: The Archers goes out on BBC Radio 4 (92-95 FM and 198 LW).
Transmission times: 19.02 GMT/BST Sunday to Friday, repeated at
14.02 the next day (excluding Saturdays). Omnibus edition of the
whole week's episodes every Sunday at 10.00.
On
the Internet: Like most BBC Radio 4 programmes, The Archers is broadcast
simultaneously in Real Audio, and you can listen to any episode
from the last seven days via our catch-up
page.
In
Continental Europe: Radio 4 Long Wave on 198Khz can be received
in many parts of north-west Europe. Also see "Rest of the World".
In
the Rest of the World: The Archers is broadcast by British Forces
Broadcasting stations in various countries around the world, including
Germany, Cyprus, Belize, and the Falkland Islands. If you live close
enough to a British army, navy or air force base you may be able
to "eavesdrop" on the transmissions.
Many expatriate listeners
receive tapes sent by friends or relatives who record the programmes
in the UK. It may be possible to find someone who would do this
for you through our links page.
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Transmission Times
