The Archers

BBC Radio 4

3.9 (7.8K)
DRAMA
UPDATED DAILY

Contemporary drama in a rural setting.

1 DAY AGO

21/02/2025

WRITER: Keri Davies DIRECTORS: Jessica Bunch & Dave Payne EDITOR: Jeremy Howe Helen Archer…. Louiza Patikas Jolene Archer…. Buffy Davis Kenton Archer…. Richard Attlee Natasha Archer…. Mali Harries Pat Archer…. Patricia Gallimore Tom Archer…. William Troughton Tony Archer…. David Troughton Mick Fadmoor…. Martin Barrass Clarrie Grundy…. Heather Bell Emma Grundy…. Emerald O‘Hanrahan Tracy Horrobin…. Susie Riddell Joy Horville…. Jackie Lye Alistair Lloyd…. Michael Lumsden Khalil Malik…. Krish Bassi Zainab Malik…. Priyasasha Kumari Kirsty Miller…. Annabelle Dowler Fallon Rogers…. Joanna Van Kampen Robert Snell…. Michael Bertenshaw Celia Sparrow…. Toni Midlane

13 min
2 DAYS AGO

20/02/2025

Robert is taking Khalil out to reward him for spotting Constanza the llama’s injury, and he has high hopes for a great day out. Zainab tags along to the annoyance of her younger brother. They arrive at Arkwright Lake and both are disappointed to find that the treat is birdwatching at the hide. Khalil particularly is unimpressed, and cold. He loves animals close up, but not birds at a distance. Zainab, however, gets more drawn in and enjoys herself. Robert says they’re welcome to visit any time. Zainab admits that this won’t be often, but doesn’t rule out another visit. Jolene reports to Kenton that Wayne has been offered a regular guitar gig at a bar in Panama, which he visited when docked on the cruise. The two of them offer Fallon her dad’s job on a permanent basis, but Fallon feels she needs to think it over. Kenton realises that Fallon’s been hit with the news that her dad is moving to the other side of the world, and also that working in the kitchen of The Bull might well not be her dream. He talks to her again and offers more incentives; she’d be part of the management team and one day could possibly buy into the business. This is food for thought, and Fallon agrees to call Harrison to discuss it. Later, she has great news for her mum and Kenton – she’d love to accept. They celebrate their new partnership.

13 min
3 DAYS AGO

19/02/2025

Helen visits Celia Sparrow about the milk deal with trepidation. Their last encounter was when Helen deliberately gave Celia’s cheese a low score at a food fair. Now Helen hopes for a fair price for their waste Montbeliardes milk. Celia makes Helen sample her cheeses, so that she can taste how the milk will be used. One of them is the Cordwell Cream that Helen marked down in the competition. Helen has to agree it’s excellent. Using this as leverage, Celia offers way below the recommended rate for the Bridge Farm milk. Helen pushes for more but has no luck and they agree on a disappointing price. Later, Helen and Tom reflect on the deal. Helen recognises that her previous behaviour has cost them dearly. Tom reassures her; it’s a short term deal and better than nothing. They both agree they need to come up with something big to get business back in the shop and Tearoom. Tom’s sure they’ll think of something. At The Bull, Tracy and Fallon discuss Wayne’s valuable skills, and fear customers will go elsewhere when they discover he’s to be sacked. They ambush Jolene with a plan: a soufflé Pancake Day promotion. Wayne would be the perfect person to cook this difficult style. Jolene reluctantly agrees that he would – adding that she’d been hasty in her decision to fire him on his return. Still excited by the promotion, Jolene receives a text from Wayne. She’s furious as she reports to Fallon he’s not coming home – after all they’ve done for him!

13 min
4 DAYS AGO

18/02/2025

Joy and Mick are dazzled by the opulence and tech at Home Farm. As they look round, closely followed by the robot vacuum cleaner, Joy marvels at the white and shiny kitchen. A bearded dragon in a tank freaks her out, but Mick promises he’ll take responsibility for feeding duties. Joy needs a cuppa, but everything in the house is operated from a master controller, which they can’t find… With no heating or cooking facilities, they’re forced to snuggle under a duvet with takeaway pizza. This isn’t quite what Joy expected. Kirsty confides to Fallon it wouldn’t surprise her if the sale of Beechwood fell through. Fallon tries to reassure her. Fallon admits she’s starting to miss Harrison. She’s hoping to take her mind off it by focusing on getting her dad’s job back for him. Clarrie can’t work out why Bridge Farm has failed its cleanliness tests. As far as she’s concerned everywhere’s spotless. She hints that the blame might lie with Chelsea, but later apologises to Pat for her meanness. She shouldn’t have said it. Pat tries to rally her; it’s been an awful time for everyone. Later Helen points out some dirt on a freezer to Clarrie. Clarrie’s affronted and they bicker. Pat interrupts them with the news that Summer Orchard has had a cancellation from a longstanding customer. This situation is destroying everything. Finally Helen receives good news; they have a taker for the waste milk. But then she discovers the offer’s from Celia Sparrow.

13 min
5 DAYS AGO

17/02/2025

It’s half term and Khalil is bored at Ambridge Hall. Robert’s plan to get him to reorganise the library books isn’t going down well with Khalil, so Robert suggests he helps feed the llamas instead, (which cheers him up). Khalil notices a graze on Constanza’s leg, so Alistair is alerted and Khalil watches with interest as the injury is treated. Zainab joins them and is unimpressed as Constanza spits in indignation. Robert observes Khalil has an affinity with animals. He’s grateful to Khalil for spotting the cut leg, and suggests he might have something in mind as a thank you treat. The Tearoom’s open again, and everyone’s exhausted and grateful not to have to do any more deep cleaning. Emma remarks to Clarrie that Chelsea in particular feels there are other things she’d rather be doing. Emma reports that Keira’s had a letter from George. She’s still had nothing though. Clarrie reassures her – it’s a start. Natasha suggests to Clarrie that with the no work in the dairy perhaps Clarrie could bake for the Tearoom, while Susan helps with some planting on the farm. Clarrie’s miffed at the inference that she’s too old for outdoor heavy work – Susan’s no spring chicken herself! Alistair remarks on the smell in the Tearoom, leading Clarrie to suggest putting jars of herbs out on tables to freshen things up. Natasha thinks it’s a nice touch. Their momentary optimism turns to despair when they discover Bridge Farm’s failed the lab tests. They’ll need to deep clean all over again. It’ll take days.

13 min
6 DAYS AGO

16/02/2025

The clean-up at Bridge Farm continues. Helen expresses her gratitude to Joy for her help. She’s welcome to stay in the farmhouse as long as she needs. They speculate as to whether everywhere still seems to smell, or whether they’re imagining it. Helen reckons they’ll know tomorrow, when the Tearoom reopens. Joy worries that Rochelle might come back and find the house in a state. Helen’s surprised Joy hasn’t told Rochelle about the sewage leak. Joy brushes it off. She thinks Rochelle might be having trouble with her phone. Tom’s concerned his dad’s taking on too much. He seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders and isn’t even up for celebrating his birthday. Tom resolves to have a word with him. Helen tells Susan she can’t find anyone yet to take the waste milk for their calves. Susan senses the strain they’re under and offers to bake Tony a birthday cake, which proves a huge success. Mick has great news for Joy – he’s found somewhere for them to stay. She can’t believe it when he takes her to Home Farm. The owners have gone away, and Mick’s secured a house-sitting gig. Helen and Tom report that Tony was cheered by their birthday gift of an airbrush, and an interesting hat from Jack and Henry. Joy and Mick return with their news – they’ll be out of the Bridge Farmers’ hair by Tuesday. Susan feels a smidgen of envy, but the others are delighted things are looking up.

13 min
14 FEB

14/02/2025

As Harrison packs his bag to leave for Yorkshire, he and Fallon reassure one another that they are doing the right thing. Harrison calls in to see Alice, to ask her to look out for Fallon. Fallon surprises Harrison as he departs with a Valentine’s gift, even though they’d said they wouldn’t exchange them this year. They embrace as he leaves. Fallon is soon joined by Alice who has brought a beautiful basket of heart shaped goodies – from Harrison to Fallon. Khalil compliments Lynda over breakfast ahead of her cricket magazine interview. They discuss first impressions, and how Khalil no longer sees Lynda’s scars. Khalil recalls a teacher who patronised his mum at parents’ evening because she was wearing Asian clothes. But they follow his dad’s advice, that there are people who see beauty in difference, and people who see a threat, and to steer clear of the latter. Lynda suggests to Zainab that she should approach other family members to help rebuild a collection of family photographs, and she decides to ring Adil, who is happy to help. Later, Khalil and Zainab ask Lynda about the interview and she says that she decided not to go, as Lawrence did not see the beauty in difference. The experience has made her reflect on her own prejudices and she confides in Khalil that this possibly clouded her first impressions of him. Lynda reminds Khalil of his own grandmother, which is why he thinks they get on so well, and Lynda delights in his quote from Casablanca, confirming their firm new friendship.

13 min
13 FEB

13/02/2025

Jolene is furious when she hears about Wayne’s menu lies. Fallon defends her father, arguing that he was trying to save The Bull money but acknowledges that she would never mislead her own customers. Jolene is adamant – Wayne should be sacked. Fallon pleads for a second chance for him, but Jolene has had years of experience of Wayne and has had enough. If he is sacked, it will not be Fallon’s fault for exposing him, he did the damage himself. At Ambridge Hall, Lynda meets Lawrence to prepare for tomorrow’s interview with the cricket magazine. Khalil arrives home from school and is keen to walk Monty. Lynda explains that The Maliks have been welcomed to stay because of their home being affected by the sewage spill. As Khalil returns from his dog walk, Lawrence is heading for his car and asks if any more of his family will be arriving, as he heard that not just The Maliks, but his uncle had also stayed at Ambridge Hall. He reminds Khalil that Lynda should not be taken advantage of. Khalil explains that they are paying for their rooms. His sister Zainab, who has been to see the damage at Beechwood, reports that most of the family photos are now in the skip. Khalil tells her that he sometimes misses Solihull and she picks up on his unease following his exchange with Lawrence. Furious, Zainab confronts Lynda and tells her to keep Lawrence away from her brother. Lynda is sure that there’s been a misunderstanding. But when he returns to collect his glasses, Lawrence makes flippant remarks about race to Lynda.

13 min

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3.9

out of 5

7,828 Ratings

Archers is good soup🐀

11 Jan

StOrwellians

I like the Archers because it is good soupth
Too woke!

15 Feb

The Hucks

Too woke!
Not what it was

1 Feb

DorsetDryad

After being a faithful listener for 40 years, in the last 12 months the writers and story editors have pushed my patience to the limit. Shallow treatment of complex farming and rural issues, sidelining most of the core cast, and self-indulgent ‘theme’ weeks have finally made The Archers unlistenable for me - Panto week was the last straw after suffering through the Christmas Carol and Scam Week misguided diversions. I don’t know who this show is aimed at anymore or what it’s trying to do.
It’s excellent!

22 Jan

JammieCrumpets

I love listening to the Archers, really brightens my day