The Archers The Archers Scriptwriters

Keri Davies

The Old New Boy

Last Updated 12 September 2003

Listeners to on-air credits, and readers of Radio Times listings, will be aware of a new name attached to this week's Archers scripts: Keri Davies. New but strangely familiar, because Keri has been a member of The Archers production team since 1992.

As well as working on storylines, Keri has been responsible to Archers editor Vanessa Whitburn for the marketing and publicity of the programme, so the 50th anniversary in 2001 brought one his biggest challenges, with a year long programme of activities including a reception hosted by Prince Charles.

He's also been a regular studio director. "We all enjoy that; working with the actors and the technical team making the script come alive." He has directed some notable episodes, including Clive Horrobin's raid on the village shop, Roy's beating up after he had shopped his racist "mates", and Jennifer's disastrous birthday (complete with smashed perfume bottle) earlier this year. "The big moments are always memorable, but you can get as much pleasure from a well-crafted comic scene, like Joe Grundy wanting to plug his new telly in at Nelson's shop because there was something he wanted to watch before he got home."

In 1998, Keri escaped briefly from Ambridge to the more humid atmosphere of Phnom Penh to help set up a health education soap ("Lotus on Muddy Water") broadcast on Cambodian radio. He has also worked on Archers Addicts cruises ("someone had to do it") and the CD "The World of Eddie Grundy" by Trevor Harrison, which includes a song written by him. Always involved in music, he currently works as a drummer and DJ.

Over the last few years, The Archers website (this one) and message board had become an increasingly large part of his workload, and in May he resigned as senior producer for a part time job working on the site from home: "It was partly that old cliché, wanting to spend more time with my family". Keri has three sons. They have all been heard on The Archers, and the youngest - Dominic - plays Daniel Hebden-Lloyd.

Some of his old reponsibilities have been taken on by an incomer from Crossroads, Kate Oates.

But the other part of this career change was the fulfilment of a long-held ambition: to write Archers scripts. "Writing has always been part of my professional life, and over the last few years, I've been responsible for our pocket guide "Who's Who in The Archers" (The 2004 edition is out on 2 October) "But scriptwriting is a very different skill, and it's been a really interesting new challenge. I've learned many lessons from the hundreds of scripts that I've worked on in studio, so when I write I'm aiming for the very best of what The Archers can be."