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The Archers returns to the studio as Radio 4 soap abandons ‘dreary’ lockdown format

Long-running programme had altered its format to comply with pandemic regulations

Louis Chilton
Thursday 27 August 2020 15:59 BST
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Royal visit to The Archers

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The Archers has re-entered normal production, having temporary converted to a stream of monologues as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Throughout the summer, the long-running radio soap has featured characters holding one-way phone conversations and talking to themselves, as the actors were required to record their scripts from their own homes.

According to the BBC, listeners had branded the format “dreary” and “uninspiring”.

Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya issued an apology for the change, telling Radio 4’s Feedback programme: “The challenges were tricky for The Archers; I accept totally that some people have not enjoyed the monologues and I’m sorry about that.

“We’re going to start moving back to The Archers we all know and love and I hope that those people, if there are any who have drifted away, will come back to find The Archers... in fine form.”

‘The Archers’ has been broadcast regularly on BBC Radio since 1951
‘The Archers’ has been broadcast regularly on BBC Radio since 1951 (BBC)

When lockdown began, The Archers‘ producers said they were forced to abandon “12 scripts and five weeks of storylines that were about to be written”.

The fact that many of the show’s elderly castmembers would be categorised as ”high risk” for the virus – such as June Spencer, the 101-year-old actor who plays Peggy Woolley – was one factor behind the change.

Studio sessions have now resumed, although the programme is recorded six weeks in advance, so the show may not return to its regular format until October.

Social distancing measures will still be implemented in the studio, with sessions to be limited to just three actors at a time.

“Dealing with the impact of coronavirus has been an enormous challenge,” said editor Jeremy Howe, “but listeners have now started to hear certain storylines resume as well as dialogue.

“As we start recording in the studio again, our aim is to get back to The Archers as it was before the pandemic, but it will be step by gradual step.”

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