BBC Radio 4’s long-running drama The Archers celebrates its 75th anniversary with a brand new live theatrical experience, kicking off a run of Northern dates in Manchester next month before returning to the North in September after a summer break.
Touring from June to November 2026, the brand-new live production brings the beloved iconic radio drama out of the studio and onto stages across the UK. Hosted by award-winning comedian and Archers devotee Angela Barnes, each performance features a cast of four actors alongside Vanessa Nuttall, The Archers’ live sound-effects specialist.
Joining the tour are eight of Ambridge’s most loved voices, and appearing in Manchester will be Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge), Ryan Kelly (Jazzer McCreary), Susie Riddell (Tracy Horrobin) and Sunny Ormonde (Lilian Bellamy), known collectively as the tours “Produce Cast”. (Other dates will include the “Flower Cast” of Tim Bentinck, Annabelle Dowler, Charlotte Martin and Ben Norris).
READ MORE: 70 years late, Manchester’s “football suffragettes” bag UK TV slot
First broadcast on 1st January 1951, The Archers is the world’s longest-running radio drama. Broadcasting six times a week to millions of listeners, the programme follows the everyday lives, loves, and dramas of the residents of the fictional village of Ambridge, deep in the heart of the English countryside. Over the course of more than 20,000 episodes, the show has chronicled significant social and cultural changes in Britain, dealing with complex contemporary issues alongside the traditional rhythms of rural life, earning its place as a cornerstone of the British cultural landscape. Today, it remains one of the BBC’s most popular programmes and is currently the top on-demand show for listeners of all ages – as well as regularly topping the list of most popular on-demand programmes for listeners under 35 – on BBC Sounds.
Set within a playful reimagining of the Ambridge Flower & Produce Show, The Archers: Live at 75 blends theatricality, nostalgia, comedy and behind-the-scenes insight. The evening will include on-stage interviews, insider stories and gossip, live performances with live foley sound effects of specially written scenes created exclusively for the tour, archive treasures spanning seven decades from the BBC vaults, fascinating demonstrations of the sound-effects artistry that brings the fields, kitchens and barns of Ambridge so vividly to life, audience questions, an interactive pub quiz straight out of The Bull and, of course, a sing-along to the programme’s famous theme tune.
The tour also promises newcomers an accessible introduction to the drama’s world, while giving long-time listeners a rare look into how Ambridge is created – revealing the artistry behind the character work, development of storylines, and the unmistakable soundscape that define the series.
Charles Collingwood, who plays Brian Aldridge, said: “My character Brian would never want to go on tour; he would find it a distraction from the ongoing problems at Home Farm! I, however, am longing to celebrate the Archers 75th Anniversary with enthusiastic vigour. May The Produce Show produce the goods in every way, a show full of fun, laughter and surprises! Roll up Roll up!!”
Angela Barnes (host) said: “I am not just an Archers superfan, I am obsessed with all things Ambridge. So to be asked to host The Archers: Live at 75 is like winning a prize at the Flower and Produce Show and being cast as the lead in a Lynda Snell production, all rolled into one. I can’t wait to hang out with all of my favourite characters and really immerse myself in Borsetshire life.”
Alison Hindell, drama and fiction commissioner, BBC Radio 4, added: “The Archers is one of the BBC’s most-loved programmes and we are tremendously proud of it as it reaches its 75th year. We hope that the live show will give fans even more of what they love, joining in the celebrations with an extra slice of Ambridge life.”
The Archers: Live at 75 will be at Manchester’s Palace Theatre on 7th June, then return in September and October for further dates in Harrogate, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Full details here.
