First broadcast on 1 January 1951, The Archers is the world’s longest-running radio soap opera. It chronicles the lives of its residents (both two and four-legged) of Ambridge village.
Now marking its 75th anniversary, BBC Radio 4 is releasing special programmes to honour this special milestone.
- Queen Camilla, Glastonbury and a potato masher: 19 things you (probably) didn’t know about The Archers
- Guide to The Archers: locations that inspired the series
The modern-day Archers cast have recreated the opening scene from the first episode – the original recording of which no longer survives.
Timothy Bentinck, Felicity Finch, Daisy Badger, Ben Norris and Wilf Scolding play Dan, Doris, Grace, Philip and Jack Archer, gathering in the kitchen of Brookfield Farm to ring in the New Year.
You can watch the re-enactment on the BBC website.
Originally created to educate farmers and the public on agricultural issues, The Archers has since evolved to cover contemporary topics such as economic challenges faced by farmers, climate change, domestic abuse, alcoholism and modern slavery.
BBC Archives teams have also begun to digitise more than 2,500 episodes of The Archers from 1959-69.
Listen to one of the earliest surviving clips below, which was first broadcast on 5 January 1959. In it, Dan and Doris Archer (played by Harry Oakes and Gwen Berryman) are talking in the kitchen at Brookfield farm.
A new live production will also tour around the UK in 2026.
Set within a reimagining of the Ambridge Flower & Produce Show, The Archers: Live at 75 will feature interviews, a pub quiz from The Bull and live performances from a rotating cast of Archers actors.
It will be hosted by comedian Angela Barnes and also feature a BBC archivist and a live sound-effects specialist.
The tour will run from June-November 2026.
Top image: the cast of The Archers re-enact the first episode of The Archers. Clockwise from top - Wilf Scolding, Ben Norris, Felicity Finch, Timothy Bentinck, Daisy Badger. Credit: BBC
