Overview
- Radio 4 has scheduled a New Year’s Day slate that includes a 45-minute drama at 7:15 p.m. exploring the New Year’s Eve attack, followed at 8 p.m. by the first Radio 4 transmission of The Archers Podcast hosted by Emma Freud.
- Current cast members Timothy Bentinck, Felicity Finch, Daisy Badger, Ben Norris and Wilf Scolding will recreate the original 1951 opening scene, stepping into the roles of Dan, Doris, Grace, Philip and Jack Archer.
- Episodes of The Archers will now remain available on BBC Sounds for five years after broadcast, a major extension from the previous 30-day window.
- BBC Archives teams have begun digitising 2,500 episodes from 1959 to 1969 to further preserve and broaden access to the programme’s history.
- First aired on January 1, 1951 and now exceeding 20,000 episodes, the series is the world’s longest-running daily radio drama and continues to reflect social change through its storytelling.