Who’s Who in the Archers 2009

Now in its tenth edition, Who’s Who in the Archers has become a perennial favourite among the show’s listeners. It’s the first point of reference when those niggling questions arise, such as:

How old is David Archer?
What does Jessica do at Lower Loxley?
Where does Derek Fletcher live?
Who works at Jaxx Caff?

This essential pocket guide provides an A-Z listing of the key characters and places from Britain’s best loved, and most enduring, radio drama. It will help you master the intricate and tangled web of relations in Ambridge, uncover the secrets behind the most recent feuds and scandals, and gain insight into the most up-to-date happenings on the show.

Complete with full Archer family tree and an index of character forenames, Who’s Who in the Archers is an indispensable guide for long-standing fans and newcomers alike.

A former senior producer of The Archers, Keri Davies became a scriptwriter for the show in 2003. He also runs the The Archers website. He lives in Birmingham with his wife and three sons.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

This book is published to accompany the BBC Radio 4 serial The Archers.
The editor of The Archers is Vanessa Whitburn.

Published in 2008 by BBC Books, an imprint of Ebury Publishing. Ebury Publishing is a division of the Random House Group Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009.
Addresses for companies within the Random House Group can be found at www.randomhouse.co.uk

To buy books by your favourite authors and register for offers, visit www.randomhouse.co.uk

Events in Ambridge are constantly changing, but we have done our best to make Who’s Who in The Archers 2009 accurate at the time of publication.

Official Archers Website: bbc.co.uk/archers, to listen again to Archers episodes, including podcasts and an audio archive of the last seven days. The site also features daily plot synopses, news, information, a map of Ambridge, a detailed timeline, archive moments, quizzes and chat.

WE’RE DELIGHTED THAT our handy guide to the characters and locations in The Archers has reached its tenth edition.

The book takes into account another exciting year in Ambridge, including Alan and Usha’s controversial marriage, the effects of TB in Oliver Sterling’s herd and the new baby – indeed the new building – at Willow Farm.

On BBC Radio 4 (92–95 FM, 198 LW and on digital radio and television). Transmission times: 7pm Sunday to Friday, repeated at 2pm the next day, excluding Saturdays. An omnibus edition of the whole week’s episodes is broadcast every Sunday at 10am. It can also be heard worldwide via podcasts or the BBC iPlayer (go to the Archers website: bbc.co.uk/archers).

Nearly five million every week in the UK alone. The Archers is the most popular non-news programme on BBC Radio 4, and the most-listened-to BBC programme online.

Five pilot episodes were broadcast on the BBC Midlands Home Service in Whit Week 1950, but The Archers’ first national broadcast was on 1 January 1951. Episode 15,674, broadcast on 1 January 2009, makes this comfortably the world’s longest-running radio drama.

The creator of The Archers, Godfrey Baseley, devised the programme as a means of educating farmers in modern production methods when Britain was still subject to food rationing.

Not any more. The Archers lost its original educational remit in the early 1970s – but it still prides itself on the quality of its research and its reflection of real rural life.

The Editor, Vanessa Whitburn, leads a ten-strong production team and nine writers as they plot the complicated lives 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. Each writer produces a week’s worth of scripts in a remarkable 13 days.

Actors receive their scripts a few days before recording, which takes place every four weeks in a state-of-the-art studio at the BBC’s premises in the Mailbox complex in central Birmingham. Twenty-four episodes are recorded digitally in six intensive days, using only two hours of studio time per thirteen-minute episode. This schedule means that being an Archers actor is by no means a full-time job, even for major characters, so many also have careers in film, theatre, television or other radio drama.

The Archers’ signature tune is a ‘maypole dance’: ‘Barwick Green’, from the suite My Native Heath by Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood.

Episodes are transmitted three to six weeks after recording. But listeners are occasionally intrigued to hear topical events reflected in that evening’s broadcast, a feat achieved through a flurry of rewriting, re-recording and editing on the day of transmission.

The characters in this book are listed alphabetically by surname or nickname. If you only know the forename, this should help you locate the relevant entry.

Abbie Tucker

Adam Macy

Alan Franks

Alice Aldridge

Alistair Lloyd

Amy Franks

Annabelle Schrivener

Ben Archer

Bert Fry

Bob Pullen

Brenda Tucker

Brian Aldridge

Bunty and Reg Hebden

Caroline Sterling

Christine Barford

Christopher Carter

Clarrie Grundy

Clive Horrobin

Daniel Hebden Lloyd

David Archer

Debbie Aldridge

Deepak Gupta

Derek and Pat Fletcher

Ed Grundy

Eddie Grundy

Edgar and Eileen Titcombe

Elizabeth Pargetter

Emma Grundy

Fallon Rogers

Freda Fry

George Grundy

Graham Ryder

Hayley Tucker

Hazel Woolley

Heather Pritchard

Helen Archer

Ian Craig

Jack Woolley

Jamie Perks

Jennifer Aldridge

Jill Archer

Jim Lloyd

Joe Grundy

Jolene Perks

Josh Archer

Kate Madikane

Kathy Perks

Kenton Archer

Kirsty Miller

Lewis Carmichael

Lilian Bellamy

Lily and Freddie Pargetter

Lucas Madikane

Lynda Snell

Mabel Thompson

Mandy and India Beesborough

Marshall Latham

Matt Crawford

Maurice Horton

Mike Tucker

Neil Carter

Neville and Nathan Booth

Nic Hanson

Nigel Pargetter

Oliver Sterling

Pat Archer

Peggy Woolley

Phil Archer

Phoebe Aldridge

Pip Archer

Rachel Dorsey

Robert Snell

Roy Tucker

Ruairi Donovan

Ruth Archer

Sabrina and Richard Thwaite

Satya Khanna

Shula Hebden Lloyd

Sid Perks

Stephen Chalkman

Susan Carter

Tom Archer

Tony Archer

Usha Franks

Wayne Foley

William Grundy

ALICE IS THEBrianRuairi DonovanGrey GablesKate MadikaneAmbridgeChristopher Carter