A gay day for 'The Archers'

Britain's longest running radio serial, 'The Archers' has long been thought of as the solid heartbeat of the nation. Broadcast now for an unbelievable 55 years every night of the week, clocking up an incredible 15,000 episodes, it always reflected everything that was 'good and decent' about British values, somewhere that the population could retreat to as an escape from the world that was rapidly changing outside.



When I was a child my mother listened avidly to 'The Archers' - termed then a simple everyday story of country folk. The main characters were farmer Dan Archer and his loyal wife Doris and their son Phil - now the oldest surviving character. When his story-line wife Grace 'died' in a fire in one of the episodes way back in the 50s, the BBC was taken aback by the emotional response. Hundreds of wreaths were sent by listeners to the 'funeral' and it was the first time that the BBC chiefs realised how closely and personally listeners identified with the happenings in the show and how easy it is to blur fantasy and reality.

Its theme music, called 'Barwick Green' has been played, virtually unaltered, since episode 1 and is recognised by every generation of Britons as 'The Archers' music even if they have never heard the show.

Three years ago the Archers broke new and very risky ground. The programme introduced a homosexual couple into the show, a relationship which, of course, would have been illegal all those years ago when the show began and something which the scriptwriters would never have dared attempt without some clear idea that the attitudes of its once deeply conservative listeners had changed.

Next week, new ground is broken when the show features its first gay wedding, the episode on 14th December celebrating the civil union between the two men.



Shows like 'The Archers' do more than any Government polls or statistics to determine the changing views of a country because the BBC keeps an anxious eye on listening figures and listener reaction to any sudden shift in social attitudes. Hardly anyone has complained about the relationship, 'The Archers' is still the most listened to serial on radio and nearly 3/4 million people listen to it over the internet. The scriptwriters have been brave enough and bright enough to infuse new and challenging social dynamics, rather than allow the programme to fester as a Britain of bygone dreams - and more power to their elbow for doing so!