The book of the Archers

326 Pages·1994·30.17 MB·English

by  Patricia Greene

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CAN. $35.00
The everyday story of country folk in the village of
Ambridge, Dorsetshire, is the longest-running
daily serial in the world. It currently grips the
imagination of millions of radio listeners who tune in
regularly to BBC Rad/o 4 to enjoy its dramas -
agricultural and otherwise. To satiate the curiosity of
every Archers fan - from incurable addicts to those who
manage to hear it only once in a while - here is an
encyclopaedia compiled by three long-standing
members of the cast who play Jill Archer, Brian
Aldridge and Kathy Perks.
Drawing on The Archers' extensive archives, including
thousands of index cards kept on the episodes, and the
authors’ considerable experience of the programme, it
gives a description of the characters and places which
have appeared in the series since it began in 1951.
Who was the father of Jennifer Aldridge’s’s first child?
What were the names of Lynda Snell’s pet Anglo-
Nubian goats? When was Snatch Foster banned from
the Bull? Where did Mark Hebden pop the question to
Shula Archer? What is the epitaph on Captain’s
headstone? Who was the barmaid at the Bull who had
an affair with George Barford? Here are the answers to
these questions and many more. Do you recall the time
when Nelson Gabriel was the alleged boss of a mail-
van robbery or the circumstances of Jethro Larkin’s
death? This book refreshes the memory on storylines
and supplies a wealth of information, from the name of
Nigel Pargetter’s teddy bear to the details of Clarrie
Grundy’s wedding dress.
The Book of the Archers is the most authoritative book
on the programme yet, capturing all the ingredients
that have won it its unique place in listeners’ hearts.
The book will be indispensable and a joy for anyone
who has ever enjoyed The Archers - and is a wonderful
tribute to an outstanding series.
£14.99
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THE B O O K OF THE
A R C H E R S
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T H E B O O K OF T H E
A R C H E R S
Patricia Greene, Charles Collingwood
AND HEDLI NlKLAUS
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MICHAEL JOSEPH
London
MICHAEL JOSEPH LTD
Published by the Penguin Group
27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ
Viking Penguin Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 182-190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
First published in Great Britain October 1994
Second impression November 1994
Third impression November 1994
Text copyright © Patricia Greene, Charles Collingwood and Hedli Niklaus 1994
The Archers logotype © 1993 British Broadcasting Corporation
The Archers and The Archers logotype are trademarks of the British Broadcasting
Corporation and are used under licence
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photo­
copying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the
copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
Typeset in Meridien
Designed and Printed in England by Butler & Tanner Ltd. Frome, Somerset
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 7181 3849 X
The moral right of the authors has been asserted
c d
Authors' Note
6
Illustrations Acknowledgements
6
Alphabetical List of Entries
7
The Archers' Family Tree
320
AUTHORS' NOTE
In the preparation of this book we have been fortunate to have been able
to draw not only on our own knowledge of The Archers as members of the
cast for many years, but also on the BBC's extensive archives. Our work
became a voyage of discovery for each one of us, and we hope that you will
have as much pleasure in reading it as we have had in writing it. We began by
piecing together the lives of some of Ambridge's better-known characters, but
became more and more absorbed in tracking down those incidental stories
and personalities which give the series its rich texture and help make it so
real. We increasingly felt that we were uncovering not simply a set of bio­
graphical details but also an intriguing picture of the social changes during the
decades since the programme began.
We have included as much information on each character as we could in
the space available, but our choice has of necessity been selective. We have
checked all the facts to the best of our ability. All known details of births, mar­
riages and deaths are included at the beginning of each entry and actors'
names are given at the end. In some cases a detail that you might like to
know, such as what happened to characters after their disappearance, or a
character's surname, has not been included because it is not available - indeed
has never been invented. Some characters for whom there are entries, such as
Godfrey Wendover and Shane, have never actually been heard; others, par­
ticularly in the early years, were played by members of the cast in addition
to their normal roles, and many were not credited in the records. In all these
cases no actor's name is given at the end of the entry; nonetheless, they are as
much part of the programme as characterslor whom actors' names do appear.
The storylines are up to date at the moment of going to press.
The views expressed on the characters are our own. All characters have
their own supporters and detractors and you will not always agree with our
assessments; but that is part of the fun, and should lead to some enjoyable dis­
cussions among the fans of the programme.
We are grateful to Vanessa Whitburn, the editor of The Archers, and her
team for allowing us access to the source material and for their help and
advice; members of the cast who have assisted us with information; Jerry
Johns, Donald Steele and Nick Green of the BBC Press Office at Pebble Mill for
their patience as we went through all the photographs we could find, old
and new; and Leon Tanner, Louise Page and Chris Hawes, without whom this
book would never have materialized.
Patricia Greene, Charles Collingwood and Hedli Niklaus
MAY 1994
ILLUSTRATIONS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors and publisher are grateful to Bob Arnold, who kindly loaned
the photograph on page 121; and to BBC Picture Publicity for permission
to use all other photographs in this book, all of which are BBC copyright, with
the exception of that on page 36 which is from the authors' collection.
6
by Richard's side and played as much of a
^DAM S, MR
part in church life as she could. She had a
surprise windfall when her great-aunt Alice
Sid and Kathy Perks discussed their intended left her a small end-of-terrace house in
purchase of the Bull in July 1993 with the Felpersham, but it turned out to be worth
free-trade manager at Shires Breweries, Mr far less than they had hoped.
Adams, in the hope of getting assistance in After a spell in the village shop she
the form of a loan. became Dr Matthew Thorogood's reception­
ist. Unfort-unately she was unable to resist
the odd careless indiscretion or 'confidential'
DAMSON, DOROTHY leak, and it became increasingly difficult for
her to combine her two roles, receptionist
b. 14 Jan. 1945; 1 son, 1 dtr and vicar's wife. But before she could begin
to solve this conundrum, Cyril, Bishop of
During the fifteen years she spent in Felpersham, had suggested that Richard
Ambridge, Dorothy never played the role of move to a new parish in County Durham. At
a submissive vicar's wife. With two growing first Dorothy refused to leave Ambridge, but
children it was hard to make ends meet on Richard persuaded her to visit the new
her husband Richard's stipend, so she began parish before they made a final decision. She
to look for part-time employment. Her first realized that she was being offered a new
job was helping in Carol Tregorran's market challenge and to his great delight she agreed
garden but in 1976 she left there to work in to go. Amongst the flurry of farewells the
Borchester at the 'Gear Change' boutique. family were given a lunch at Home Farm
There was a gear change for Dorothy herself and a leaving party at the village hall, where
when in October that year she took over the they were presented with a cheque and a
running of the village playgroup. rose bowl.
Busy as she was, she always stood loyally Heather Barrett
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