My sound effect of a zip undoing was scratched out : the making of The Archers’ sexiest scenes
From scandalous trysts and winking innuendo to sensitively portrayed trauma, the Radio 4 soap lets us eavesdrop on people s intimate lives
27 December 2020 • 5:00pm
Emerald O Hanrahan and Barry Farrimond as Emma and Ed Grundy in The Archers
Credit: Gary Moyes/BBC
When The Archers’ creator Godfrey God Baseley told his cast, “This is not a drama programme, it’s real life overheard,” the cast may have taken it with a pinch of salt. Listeners, however, took it very much to heart. In the near-70 years since The Archers began airing (it marks that anniversary on New Year’s Day), it has taken in all manner of scandal, but, in true British fashion, sex remains at the forefront of listener thoughts.