The Archers: the true story: the history of radio’s most famous programme

__The Archers__ is the longest-running radio serial in the world and certainly the best-loved. How did it start? Whose idea was it? How did it achieve its pre-eminent place on British radio? Its first trial episodes were heard on the Midland Home Service in 1950 but, appropriately for a mighty oak, its seed had been long in germination. In this definitive account of how the programme was born and how it evolved William Smethurst, who for eleven years was first writer and then editor of __The Archers__, has delved deep to write a book no Archers' fan should be without. Smethurst reveals the behind-the-scenes dramas that listeners never heard, and the truth behind many rumours and legends which have long puzzled Archers' addicts. What was the real reason why Grace Archer was killed in 1955? What happened to Doris Archer’s secret sister? Why did radio chiefs complain about Dan Archer’s ‘indelicacies’? What was the plot that nearly killed Peggy Archer? Why was Princess Margaret unhappy at Grey Gables ... ? Over forty-five years __The Archers__ has presented ‘an everyday story of country folk’ attempting to reflect the reality of farming life through characters whom we get to know as intimately as members of our own family. This is the story of how that was achieved. Unauthorized by the BBC, William Smethurst’s detailed research and many interviews with those who have worked on __The Archers__ has enabled him to write a highly entertaining ‘insider’s’ story of a broadcasting phenomenon. __The Archers: The True Story__ is illustrated throughout and includes historic photographs specially taken by Picture Post's star photographer Bert Hardy in 1950, most of which have not been reproduced in book form before. Shipped from UK, please allow 10 to 21 business days for arrival. The Archers, hardcover, Very Good, clean, tight, unmarked, not ex/library. Dust jacket minor shelf wear, in Very Good conditions