The Archers BBC Radio 4
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- Fiction
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An intense and gripping week of events unfolds in Ambridge. Listen to all the drama here.
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07/06/2024
WRITER: Katie Hims
DIRECTOR: Pip Swallow
EDITOR: Jeremy Howe
Ben Archer…. Ben Norris
Kenton Archer ..... Richard Attlee
Lilian Bellamy…. Sunny Ormonde
Harrison Burns…. James Cartwright
Vince Casey…. Tony Turner
Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass
Ed Grundy…. Barry Farrimond
Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan
George Grundy…. Angus Stobie
Jakob Hakansson…. Paul Venables
Chelsea Horrobin…. Madeleine Leslay
Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye
Freddie Pargetter…. Toby Laurence
Lily Pargetter…. Katie Redford
Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen
Lynda Snell…. Carole Boyd
Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw
Oliver Sterling…. Michael Cochrane
Jason Burntwood…. Ian Conningham -
06/06/2024
Chelsea and Ben prepare for their D-Day performance, dressed in authentic costume. Ben carefully asks Chelsea if she’s ok about doing this play with him, and she agrees. Ben also fills Chelsea in on Freddie and Vince’s discovery last night.
Chelsea does Fallon’s hair and Fallon’s amazed at how much she looks like her Great Aunt in her photo. Chelsea jokes about how much Harrison will fancy Fallon in her vintage look, and admits that she’d like to fall in love, before sharing that it’s weird that everyone knows about what happened between her and Ben – but doing this play has actually been good for them both.
Joy tells Emma about Mick’s work at Grey Gables, and the issue of his motorhome, and Emma complains about snobbery. They share a joke with Harrison, before Lynda introduces her short play performance - a promenade piece. Ben performs as a young soldier, writing a letter home to his beloved before their wedding, in which he dreams about their life together after the war. Then there’s a playful hair-washing scene between Pearl (Chelsea) and Connie (Fallon), which takes a sad turn.
An emotional Emma and Joy congratulate Chelsea and discuss the story – the soldier was killed the day before starting leave to get married, and it was all a true story. Chelsea finds Ben to say well done. Meanwhile, Fallon marvels at how Lynda wrote the play in a day and tells Harrison that she can’t imagine what she’d do if he died. Harrison comforts Fallon and jokingly reassures her he’s not going anywhere. -
05/06/2024
George admits to Emma that he’s keen to forget about his recent heroism, and she agrees not to go on about it. Emma was really worried about George going down a bad path, but now she knows it was just a phase. Emma saw Lilian and wonders whether Alice will be sacked from the Stables for negligence. Ed and Emma talk disparagingly, but guilty George tries to find out more about Alice, admitting he feels a bit sorry for her.
Ed and Emma’s luck seems to be in – there’s an offer of work from a more established tree surgeon, and thanks to George, Bartleby has been asked to lead the County Show livestock parade on Sunday. Ed also sees an email from an Echo journalist who wants to interview George about the car accident. But George has already said no, and Emma offers to email her back. Ed doesn’t get it, but Emma tells him to leave it.
Vince plans to do some detective work following the sacking of Jason. Freddie wants to come along on a stakeout and wins Vince round by offering his more low-key car. They chat about Nigel - Vince wonders whether Nigel would like him. Freddie pays Vince a backhanded compliment in response.
Vince can’t believe his eyes – it’s Markie, the guy involved in the dog attack on Kenton and who then intimidated Jolene. Vince suggests they take his number plate, and some photos, to show to the police. But Freddie takes the initiative and gets out of the car to approach Markie, under cover as someone buying meat. -
04/06/2024
At Grey Gables, Oliver wonders why confused Mick is behind reception – clearly the rota has gone awry, and Oliver misses Roy. Mick needs to smarten up and Lily rebukes him following a complaint from a guest about a comment he made.
Joy phones the hotel as she’s found some expensive missing glasses at the shop belonging to a guest. Mick’s concerned about Joy being back working in the shop, with her arm still in a sling, and surprises Joy with news he’s bought a motor home. Oliver collects the glasses, and some shoe polish for Mick, who will also need to move his motor home from the hotel’s staff car park.
Jakob identifies another horse with Strangles and worried Lilian needs to find some crucial paperwork, but can’t ask Alice again – who swears she filled it in. Can Lilian be confident Alice wasn’t drinking while at work? Lilian doesn’t know, and Jakob feels naïve for being taken in by Alice about her drinking. Oliver wonders how this Strangles issue could have happened and whether it’s human error.
Joy visits Mick in his motor home, which doesn’t look ideal. Joy wants to apologise for how she reacted at her surprise party. Mick knows he shouldn’t have looked through Joy’s address book, and Joy asks that they just agree to keep some things private. Mick explains why he kept his new job at Grey Gables secret, and Joy admits that there are some personal things of her own that she can’t talk about. Mick understands and Joy asks him for a hug. -
03/06/2024
Vince calls Jason and Freddie into his office and confronts Jason who seems totally oblivious to what’s up. So Vince comes out with it – Jason has been stealing meat and selling it on. Jason vehemently denies it. But Freddie encourages Jason to just come clean and he might keep his job. Later, Vince wonders why Freddie looks so miserable – he did well, causing Jason to tell all. Freddie’s sad that Vince has sacked Jason anyway and explains that Jason was stealing to fund a ski trip for his kids. Vince lacks sympathy.
It’s Harrison’s birthday and for a moment his and Fallon’s recent problems seem far away as they share a joke, and he marvels at the results of Fallon’s baking frenzy last night. They admit they didn’t sleep well – Harrison is on the sofa – and agree it’s time to stop this. Harrison loves his presents, especially a book of poetry, and wishes he’d booked the day off work. Lynda has asked Fallon to be in her play, inspired by Fallon’s Great Aunt. As Fallon and Harrison have hardly been talking recently, Harrison realises he knew nothing about the real-life story.
Fallon has a surprise for Harrison, but when he nervously suspects it’s a party he persuaded Fallon to reveal all - it’s a private cinema screening at the Brookfield Barn of his favourite film – Footloose. Harrison laughs – that’s not his favourite film! Fallon’s confused and wants to try and change it, but after some awkwardness Harrison jokes and they agree to watch it anyway, before sharing a tender “I love you”.
Customer Reviews
Grounding
Can tell you how much I love this podcast. You can’t get more wholesome than this. The writers do such a good job at keeping all of the scenarios, realistic, and relatable. They aren’t ridiculously sensationalized. They pink such a lovely picture and I really appreciate it.
The most authentic depiction of farming anywhere
I’ve been married to a fifth generation small scale dairy farmer for 42 years and I can say with certainty that the ag consultants on this show know what they’re talking about. It is, by far, the most authentic and real depiction of farming I have ever encountered, apart from, maybe, the original TV series of All Creatures Great and Small, from the 70s. I’m consistently blown away by everything from the attention to detail, the realistic situations, the veterinary issues, and the financial struggles. Lately, their depiction of land access is of huge relevance! Even though I’m in the US, and the political landscape is different, the struggles of farmers dealing with a messed up food and ag system is universal. This whole program gets it astoundingly right.
60+ years on
When I was a child, I dreaded my mother playing The Archers on the radio (or in the evening if she had missed the earlier airing) because my brother and I had to be quiet. Even worse, was Sunday lunch when the omnibus episode was played and the whole family, including our grandparents, sat listening to the week in Ambridge. Things changed when, after emigrating to the US decades ago, one of the things I looked forward to on visits in the UK was listening to the latest goings on in Ambridge. I am so happy to be able to play the SAME program on Podcasts today. I literally grew up with these families.