Patricia Greene

Set in the fictional Midlands town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the city of Birmingham, this soap opera follows the staff and families of a doctor's surgery.

In the business end of a kitchen, a polyglot staff strives to cope with a superhuman task. A microcosm of the world, the kitchen looms around and encloses its workers; they include Peter, the German cook, who is in love with waitress Monica, and constantly asks her to leave her husband. The pressure of the day becomes unendurable, and when Peter realises that Monica does not mean to divorce her husband his grief and pain cause him to run berserk!

The Archers is the longest-running soap opera in the world. The radio drama has been broadcast nationally since 1951 and has now survived for more than 10,000 episodes. But does Ambridge exist? How real is Eddie Grundy? What was the truth behind Brian Aldridge's nasty accident? And how was a furry white rodent involved?