The Archers New Zealand 1981 -- 1982


The Archers 1981 Actors Norman Painting (Phil Archer), Chris Gittins (Walter Gabriel) and Judy Bennett (Shula Archer) talk of the development of the BBC radio serial which originally began as a way to convey information about farming to radio listeners. It completed 30 years of continuous broadcasting at the end of 1981. Judy Bennett describes what was like to come into the serial as a newcomer. They say there has been never been bad blood in the cast for the 30 years of the programme. They talk about reaction in 1955 to the death of Grace Archer, their 'mind pictures' of the `Bull' pub and `Brookfield' kitchen. The cast listen to the serial to check on their characters. The Archers 1982 21 July New Zealand Reporter John Blumsky interviews BBC producer William Smethurst [via telephone from Birmingham] about the long-running radio serial "The Archers." He talks about writing the scripts and keeping the programme current. Due to the cost, which has trebled over the last year, New Zealand radio listeners will be hearing their final episode on 30 September 1982. Mr Smethurst talks about writing a special 'final episode' to wrap up the series for New Zealand.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.