The Archers turns 70
The Oldie Magazine|January 2021
Programme assistant Gill Powell taped Grange Farm’s turkey chicks, printed Phil Drabble’s Nature Notes – and made one awful mistake
Phil Drabble
The Archers turns 70

In 1989, in a BBC Pebble Mill boardroom, I walked into a job interview unlike any other. I was asked, ‘What car does Eddie Grundy drive?’, ‘Name Peggy’s cat’ and ‘On a romantic night in, what music would Shula and Mark listen to?’

For a 20-something undergraduate who listened twice a day to The Archers, and again to the Sunday omnibus, it was a dream come true.

I landed the role of programme assistant. A few years later, in 1991, I helped celebrate their 40th anniversary. On 1st January 2021, this radio institution will be 70.

During my first week, producer Niall Fraser introduced me to the cast, with a warning: ‘Never call the actors by their character name.’

A white-haired chap, immaculate in a cream suit, looked me up and down. ‘And who the hell are you?’ muttered the inimitable voice of my favourite character, Nelson Gabriel, played by Jack May.

‘I’m Gill,’ I said. ‘You must be Jack.’

His eyes twinkled; an unexpected friendship was formed. It was always a joy to spot him and the fabulous Margot Boyd (Mrs Antrobus) in the BBC Club, tucking into egg and chips, washed down with a wee dram or two. Mollie Harris (Martha Woodford) presented the production team with bottles of her home-made sloe gin every Christmas.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2021 من The Oldie Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2021 من The Oldie Magazine.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.