The Archers

BBC Radio 4

4.4 (978)
Drama
Daily

Contemporary drama in a rural setting.

1d ago

30/10/2026

Writer: Shaun Mckenna Director: Peter Leslie Wild Editor: Jeremy Howe Helen Archer … Louiza Patikas Rex Fairbrother … Nick Barber Alan Franks … John Telfer Martyn Gibson … Jon Glover Amber Gordon … Olivia Bernstone Eddie Grundy … Trevor Harrison Ed Grundy … Barry Farrimond George Grundy … Angus Stobie Keira Grundy … Mollie Kruczek Will Grundy … Philip Molloy Tracy Horrobin … Susie Riddell Akram Malik … Asif Khan Azra Malik … Yasmin Wilde Zainab Malik … Priyasasha Kumari Jazzer McCreary … Ryan Kelly Kirsty Miller … Annabelle Dowler Elizabeth Pargetter … Alison Dowling Archdeacon Ray … David Leonard
2d ago

29/10/2026

George arrives at Little Grange to check if Keira has gone to school. He offers to give her a lift, but Keira says the bus is fine. George says it is if she was actually going to school. Keira says all that time in A&E tired her out, and George points out they couldn’t find anything actually wrong with her. George makes her a cup of tea and forces her to talk. She says he’s being horrible. He argues that Will was in a state yesterday and it took an hour to calm him down; Keira knows what happened to Nic and isn’t a kid anymore. Keira says she didn’t mean to panic Will, she just hates school. She can’t bear it. George tries to question why she doesn’t want to go to school. He threw away the opportunities school gave him, and he doesn’t want Keira to do the same. At Rewilding, Martyn Gibson is demanding copies of all the files relating to tree maintenance. He says if there is a claim, they’ll need to prove that BL and Rewilding Ambridge are completely in the clear. Martyn says he tried to visit Vince but got turned away, as did Alan. Rex stalls handing over the files saying he doesn’t know all the passwords. Martyn says they can just call Kirsty to get them. Martyn detects that Rex is being obstructive. Rex confesses that the problem tree was due an inspection, but shoulders the blame saying it was his fault that the inspection was forgotten. Martyn barely controls his anger before leaving. Rex calls Helen in a panic. Helen says he has to tell Kirsty, but Rex says her blood pressure is through the roof and he doesn’t want to add to it. Rex says he will take the fall for the omission.
3d ago

28/10/2026

Zainab thinks her dad is avoiding her. Azra says he’s just on a plumbing job in Penny Hassett. Zainab says she can protect herself and that she’s already dealt with racism, recently from Lawrence at the golf club. Azra says she might have to arrest people she’s sympathetic to, but Zainab says she’s hardly the first Muslim woman to join the police. Azra says she would be the first in the family, to which Zainab points out their cousin Usman is a detective. Later, Azra says they’ll support Zainab’s decision. Will is driving Keira to school as she doesn’t want anyone seeing her on the bus and knowing she’s having to take catch-up classes. Will tells Keira to wave to Alan as they pass but she says there’s something going on with him. News that he got chucked out of Carol’s funeral has spread. Keira says she’s got a headache and pleads with Will to pull over. Will gives her water and painkillers, but Keira says she just needs to lie down. Will wants to check her cuts aren’t sore. One looks particularly red, so Will says they should go to A&E. In the surgery, Elizabeth has come in for an appointment as she’s scared her depression will come back. Between Vince being relentlessly upbeat, Freddie trying to hold down the abattoir and Lily micromanaging, she confesses she feels fragmented and is having panic dreams. Azra asks if Elizabeth always puts this much pressure on herself. Azra advises they start with counselling. She’ll put a list together of counsellors.
4d ago

27/10/2026

Ed calls Storm a “little bruiser” whilst George recounts some of Will’s storm puns. Keira pulls a face at having to go to catch-up classes during half term. Storm then needs changing, getting them off the topic of school. As Ed double checks Keira has everything, she becomes teary and begs not to go. Keira says she’s getting flashbacks and can’t be around people. She pleads for one more day at home to recover as Ed says he’ll call the surgery. Ed and Emma agree she must go in tomorrow but can have today off. George says he’ll teach Keira how to change Storm’s nappy as payment. Confused, Keira plays dumb, but George says he knows she’s just skiving. At Rewilding Ambridge, Helen’s checking on Peggy’s artwork. It has survived. Helen is chatting whilst Rex’s mind is clearly elsewhere. He asks if there’s any news about Vince, but Helen’s vague update brings him no relief. Kirsty arrives, to Rex’s surprise. She’s meant to be resting but has grown bored. Helen says they could grab a smoothie later. Rex had said he would call Kirsty with an update, but he hasn’t. She quizzes him. Rex repeats that everything’s fine and says it’s just boring paperwork, nothing to interrupt Kirsty’s rest. Rex promises he’ll tell Kirsty if anything important comes up. Kirsty goes for a stroll around Rewilding. Helen asks Rex what’s wrong as he’s clearly the worst liar. Rex is worried about the tree that fell on Vince and how it was meant to be booked by Kirsty for an inspection.
5d ago

26/10/2026

There’s chaos in the kitchen at No. 1 The Green with baby things everywhere. Ed and Will discuss baby Storm’s name. Will says he’d be besotted even if the baby was called Donut. Akram proposes a family breakfast as Azra doesn’t have work until lunchtime, but Zainab says she wants to talk to them both. She has been thinking about her future, and she wants to help people for a career. Akram keeps interrupting until Zainab says she’d like to join the police. Akram is worried about the possible hostility she might face from the world and from within the police. He asks who she’s spoken to about this, whilst Zainab says she’s only done research and spoken to them. Zainab says they’re clearly against it. Akram says he’s not but just to take her time with it. Azra agrees that she needs to be sure before she commits. Martyn is visiting Rewilding worried about the tree that fell on Vince Casey. Rex says everything is up to date as Kirsty is always on top of things. Martyn thinks they should be prepared in case Vince decides to sue. Will and Ed arrive to clear the rest of the tree, but any more work will have to wait until Emma is available. Continuing to worry, Martyn asks about the beaver enclosure until Rex pulls him away so the Grundys can focus. Later, Ed finds Rex to talk about the fallen tree. He didn’t want to say in front of Martyn, but that tree was due to be inspected again.
6d ago

25/10/2026

Eddie and George are trying to rescue a turkey. George refers to the turkey as Stormzy as they slowly catch him. When George says he and Amber will be coming to the community orchard later, Eddie doubts anyone will turn up. The Maliks are heading down to the orchard after Akram takes down his broken greenhouse at the allotment. Zainab offers to help but Akram is feeling sentimental. Elizabeth knocks on the door with a bouquet of flowers to thank Zainab. Akram’s shocked to hear how brave Zainab was during the storm. Azra makes Elizabeth a cup of tea and asks how Vince is. Elizabeth confesses that Vince will probably never walk again, something she hasn’t told anyone outside the family. Eddie’s giving a speech to thank everyone who turned up to help and proposes an apple-themed bonfire in the orchard next week. George and Amber debate baby names and Eddie suggests naming him after an apple. Amber likes the idea of a nature-based name. They all discuss the damage. Helen says she was lucky, only the garden fence was damaged. Eddie is upset over the destruction, and Amber says they could plant more trees for the whole village. Akram’s annoyed to hear of Zainab’s bravery from other people. Zainab just says she hardly saved the day. Akram says he just wants to be proud of his daughter. In the car, Amber says she can smell something. George says that was Stormzy the turkey disgracing itself earlier. Amber says maybe that’s it: “Storm” is what they should call the baby.
Oct 23

23/10/2026

Pip and Josh catch up on the way to visit Vince in hospital. Pip can’t believe Josh wound them all up, pretending he wouldn’t be coming back for the wedding. Josh doesn’t yet know if he’ll return to Patagonia. At Lower Loxley, Elizabeth admits to Lily that a long sleep and food have put her in a better place. She feels up to catching up with some work before visiting Vince. Lily admits that she really likes Harrison and hopes they’ll be accepted as a proper couple one day in the community. Elizabeth urges her to spend an evening with Harrison and not to wait around to look after her mum. Pip and Josh comment that Vince is looking better than they’d expected. Vince feels he owes them, and Chelsea, such a lot for looking after him and possibly saving his life. They joke about Pip and Stella’s forthcoming honeymoon in Iceland and Vince seems upbeat. Speaking to Pip and Josh in the hospital corridor, Elizabeth’s more cautious. She feels Vince’s attitude could be bravado as they don’t really know what they’re dealing with. His positivity could all come crashing down. Later Freddie has updated Vince with work matters and Vince makes Elizabeth smile for the first time this week. He encourages her to go and get a cup of tea. But when Elizabeth returns she’s missed the consultant’s visit. They’ve given their opinion to Vince, the worst news he can imagine. They’re not sure if he will walk again.
Oct 22

22/10/2026

Zainab thinks she’s seen Joy’s missing cat Ena on the roof of a neighbour’s house. She borrows a pet carrier from the vets while Harrison fetches a ladder, and they work together to get it down. Harrison is hesitant – not because he’s afraid of heights, but because he doesn’t like handling cats. Joy is delighted - she’ll get Ena fed and checked over and let the cat chat know she’s been found. Elizabeth is on a short visit home to Lower Loxley – Lily worries this this will be her fourth day at Vince’s side but she really needs her to speak to the insurance assessor. Elizabeth doesn’t want to talk to anyone and isn’t really eating. Ian and Oliver have let Lily concentrate on Lower Loxley for now. Lily could do with some help with the insurance claim but Elizabeth is dismissive. She sees Lower Loxley as cursed – nothing good happens there or thrives. Lily suggests she’s catastrophising and is only saying this because Elizabeth is exhausted and in shock. Elizabeth decides to return Joy’s calls and gets upset. She shares that they keep doing tests on Vince but there are no results and it’s so worrying. When Elizabeth leaves for the hospital, Lily breaks down to Harrison. With Freddie tied up at Casey Meats and Elizabeth always with Vince, Lily’s worried about handling the cancellations and responsibility herself. Harrison tries to console Lily as she explains that she can see her mum could sink into depression again. Lily wouldn’t be able to deal with that.

See All (264)

Emma Vallency Freud

Host

4.4

out of 5

978 Ratings

Reunited

Oct 19

Beatr1ce

I am French and lived in England for 29 years, I was hooked to the Archers the last 10 years before I left to come and live in America ; ( one of my favourite part of Sundays was to listen to the omnibus while preparing Sunday lunches) Unfortunately didn’t listen to them for the last 8 years but really missed the show.. a few weeks ago I found it again!! I’m so happy to hear all those familiar voices again. It’s like I have finally been reunited with some old friends 🙂
Sentimental

12/24/2025

Solomoriah

I lived in Scotland for 17 years and loved listening to the Archers on Radio 4. I moved to the States and missed it for a few years, until I started listening to podcasts and voila! It’s great to listening again and the calmer way of life in the village (mostly!). It’s a tonic for today’s increasingly hostile, angry, divided world.
Long time listener!

06/12/2025

letitia posthuma

The last thing I listen to before bed. Absolutely the best !! 😍
A British institution

05/27/2025

lemondrop2020

The Archers is a radio program that has been going on for decades. My grandparents listened to it religiously everyday on the radio and I continue to do so just via the podcast format. Some storylines are better than others but it is a wonderful tradition to hold onto and is a constant way that I connect with my family members that are both alive and have passed.