The Archers Podcast will be guest presented this week by actor and writer Ruth Jones, who describes herself as a “massive Archers addict”.
The episode will be available exclusively on BBC Sounds this evening, immediately after the latest broadcast of The Archers on BBC Radio 4.
Joining Ruth for this special edition are Archers cast members Charlotte Martin (Susan Carter) and Wilf Scolding (Chris Carter), along with this week’s episode writer, Sarah McDonald Hughes.
Together, they explore the Carter family’s dramatic history, including Chris’s troubled relationship with Alice and an emotional flashback to his birth in 1988.
The podcast includes an archive clip in which Chris is born with a unilateral cleft lip and initially rejected by his mother.
Charlotte Martin reflects on performing that difficult scene, and Ruth shares a moving email from a listener whose son was born with the same condition on the same day.
Ruth also reveals her two favourite scenes of the week, highlights some of her favourite quirky character traits from the show and poses a few pressing questions about lingering Ambridge plotlines.
“I’ve been an avid fan of The Archers since the early 90s,” Ruth says. “Despite being an actress and writer myself, the thought of actually being in The Archers, or writing it, absolutely terrifies me because in my mind Ambridge really exists.”
The Archers Podcast is usually hosted by Emma Freud, but she is on holiday this week. Each episode offers behind-the-scenes insights, interviews and reflections from cast and writers, and is released weekly on Fridays at 7.15pm on BBC Sounds.
