The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting".^[3] With over 16,700 episodes, it is both the world's longest running radio soap and, since the cancellation of the American soap opera Guiding Light in September 2009, the world's longest running soap opera in any format.^[4]

The Archers is the most listened to Radio 4 non-news programme,^[5] with over five million listeners,^[6] and it holds the BBC Radio programme record for the number of times listened to over the Internet, with over one million listeners.^[7]

BBC Radio 4 Extra has also broadcast, in 2011, two series (26 episodes each) of a twice-weekly spin-off show Ambridge Extra. These were advertised as a trial, and it is not currently known if more will be made.^[8]

Outline[link]

The Archers is set in the fictional village of Ambridge in the fictional county of Borsetshire, in the English Midlands. Borsetshire is situated between the (in reality contiguous) counties of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, south of Birmingham in the West Midlands, although it has been occasionally misinterpreted as Dorsetshire in South West England. Various villages claim to be the inspiration for Ambridge: Ambridge's public house, The Bull, is modelled on The Old Bull in Inkberrow,^[9] whereas Hanbury's St Mary the Virgin is often used as a stand-in for Ambridge's parish church, St Stephen's.^[10][11]

Other fictional villages include Penny Hassett, Loxley Barrett, Darrington, Hollerton, Edgeley, Waterley Cross and Lakey Green. The county town of Borsetshire is Borchester, and the nearest big city is the cathedral city of Felpersham. Felpersham also has a university. Anywhere further from Ambridge may be referred to humorously with comments such as 'that's on the other side of Felpersham!', but characters do occasionally venture further: several attended the Countryside Alliance march in London,^[12] there have been references to the gay scene in Manchester's Canal Street, and a number of scenes have taken place abroad or in other places around the country, with some characters resident overseas in South Africa and Hungary, and other characters have visited Norfolk. Birmingham is a favourite destination for shopping.

Since Easter Sunday 1998 there have been six episodes a week from Sunday to Friday, at around 19:02 (preceded by a news bulletin). All except the Friday evening episode are repeated the following day at 14:02, and all of the week's episodes are re-run as a Sunday morning omnibus at 10:00.

Characters[link]

• Many of the storylines concern the title family, the middle-class Archers, who own and manage Brookfield Farm. The farm has been passed down the generations from the original owner Dan (now deceased) to his son Phil (until his death on 13 February 2010 the oldest surviving cast member), and is now co-owned by three of Phil's four children: David (who manages it with his wife Ruth), Elizabeth and Kenton.
• the prosperous Aldridges, portrayed as money-driven practitioners of agribusiness. Brian, the head of the family, is a serial adulterer,
• the rich and elderly Woolleys, with Jack now badly affected by Alzheimer's disease,^[13]
• the Grundys, formerly struggling tenant farmers who were brought to prominence in the late 1970s and early 1980s as comic characters, but are now seen as doggedly battling adversity,
• the urban, nouveau riche "incomers": pretentious and domineering, Lynda Snell is the butt of many jokes, although her sheer energy makes her a stalwart of village life. She is partnered by the long-suffering Robert,
• the perpetually struggling Carters,
• the newly-remarried milkman and casual farm labourer Mike Tucker, his kind-hearted and stunningly attractive much younger wife Vicky who divides opinion like a knife, his on-site son, Roy, daughter-in-law Hayley and two granddaughters, and his daughter Brenda, an Archer-in-waiting as Tom's intended,
• village squires, the upper class Pargetters, owners of Lower Loxley Hall in Ambridge's outskirts. Nigel, the deceased former head of the family, was keen on environmentalism but was sometimes seen as goodlooking but dim.

Many plots involve the teen and twenties offspring of these families, so new nuclear families come into existence over time. Other distant relatives also reappear. Some characters are well known but never heard on air. Over the years, some silent characters become real, or vice-versa (for example, Mrs Antrobus, "the Dog Woman").

The village[link]

Main sites in the village are:

• Arkwright Hall is a large Victorian mansion with a 17th Century atmosphere. The building served as a community centre for many years, containing a soundproofed room and field studies centre. Later it fell into disrepair, but was renovated when Jack Woolley leased the mansion to Landmark Trust; Architect Lewis led the restoration of the building to its Victorian splendour.
• Bridge Farm is a 168-acre (68 ha) farm previously on Berrow Estate, but now owned by Pat and Tony Archer. The farm became a wholly organic dairy in 1984, in a storyline inspired by a scriptwriter's visit to Brynllys farm in Ceredigion, the home of Rachel's Organic.^[14] In 2003, Tom Archer began producing his own brand of sausage out of Bridge Farm.
• Brookfield Farm is a 469-acre (190 ha) farm that was run by Dan Archer, and then by his son Phil Archer for many years. After Phil's retirement in 2001, David Archer took over the farm, and began focusing production on his livestock. High-quality beef is now sold at the farm gate and elsewhere.
• Grange Farm was a working farm run by the Grundys until their eviction in 2000. The farmhouse, along with 50 acres (20 ha) of land, was sold to Oliver Sterling, who then began "hobby farming".
• Grey Gables, once a country club, is now a luxurious hotel in Ambridge, run by Caroline Sterling, née Bone. The hotel boasts a pool, spa, health club, and golf course. Ian Craig serves as the executive chef in the hotel's upscale restaurant.
• Home Farm is a 1,585-acre (641 ha) farm, by far the largest in Ambridge. In recent years, Home Farm became partners with Brookfield in producing high-quality lamb and expanded into soft fruit and deer farming.
• Lower Loxley Hall is a 300-year-old building located just outside Ambridge. It serves primarily as a conference centre, but also features other attractions which bring in many hundreds of tourists a year. As well as an art gallery, falconry courses and a café, Lower Loxley also boasts a garden and a museum.
• St. Stephen's Church, established in 1281, dates back to Saxon times. The church has undergone many changes over the years, including a number of different vicars. Its eight bells are rung by a group led by Neil Carter.
• The Bull, the village's only pub following the closure of *The Cat and Fiddle* which was later converted into apartments, is perhaps the most recognisable structure in Ambridge. It now opens at 10 A.M. and boasts a coffee cart and two computers. Having leapt into the 21st Century, The "Bull Upstairs" has become a hotspot for many Ambridge locals.
• Ambridge still has a village shop and post office, originally thanks to Jack Woolley's philanthropy. The business is now a community shop managed by Susan and run by a team of volunteers.
• Willow Farm is the spacious residence of the Tucker family. After Betty's death in 2005 the house was split into two to accommodate their son Roy. Its farmland is also home to Neil Carter's pigs.

Topicality[link]

Unlike some soap operas, episodes of The Archers portray events taking place on the date of broadcast, allowing many topical subjects to be included. Real-life events which can be readily predicted in advance are often written into the script, such as the annual Oxford Farming Conference^[15] and the FIFA World Cup.^[16] On some occasions, scenes recorded at these events are planned and edited into episodes shortly before transmission.

More challengingly for the production team, some significant but unforeseen events require scenes to be rewritten and rerecorded at short notice, such as the death of Princess Margaret (particularly poignant because she had appeared as herself on the programme),^[17][18] the World Trade Center attacks,^[19] and the 2005 London bombings.^[20] The events and implications of the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis required many "topical inserts"^{[21][22][23][24]} and the rewriting of several storylines.^[25]

In Jan 2012, the residents of Ambridge voted to vaccinate the local population of badgers to prevent potential spread of Bovine Tuberculosis, rather than instigating a cull. The plotline came within weeks of the Government confirming an unpopular badger cull trial in England in autumn 2012.^[26]

Actors[link]

Unlike television soaps, The Archers actors are not held on retainers, and work on the series for, at most, a few days a month. Most of the cast do acting work on other projects and can disappear for a period if they are working on long-term commitments such as films or television series. For example, Tamsin Greig, who plays Debbie Aldridge, has appeared on television comedy shows such as Green Wing, Love Soup and Black Books. As a result, Debbie manages a farm in Hungary in which her family has an interest while Greig is filming these shows, and then returns to Ambridge when Greig's commitments allow. Because of this, and by the nature of the storylines focusing on particular groups of characters, in any week the series comprises between 20 and 30 speaking characters out of a regular cast of about 60. Greig's situation was similar to that of Felicity Jones who played Emma Carter in the series; Jones, after a period studying at Wadham College, Oxford has moved into large TV parts, such as a starring role in Northanger Abbey. Emma Carter is now played by Emerald O'Hanrahan.

Some of the actors, when not playing their characters, earn their money through different jobs altogether: Charlotte Connor, when not playing Susan Carter (credited as Charlotte Martin), works full-time as a senior research psychologist at the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation; her office is a short walk from BBC Birmingham and thus is able to fit it around recordings.^[27] Other examples include Felicity Finch (Ruth Archer), who also works as a BBC journalist; having travelled on a number of occasions to Afghanistan, and Ian Pepperell (Roy Tucker), who managers a pub in the New Forest.^[28]

History[link]

Starting on Whit Monday, 29 May 1950, and continuing with five episodes through that week,^[29] a pilot series created by Godfrey Baseley was broadcast to the English Midlands in the Regional Home Service, as 'a farming Dick Barton'. Recordings were sent to London, and after some discussion the BBC decided to commission the series for a longer national run. In the five pilot episodes the Archers owned Wimberton Farm, rather than Brookfield.

Since 1 January 1951, five 15-minute episodes (since 1998, six 12½-minute episodes) have been transmitted each week, at first on the BBC Light Programme^[1] and subsequently on the BBC Home Service (now Radio 4). The original scriptwriters were Geoffrey Webb and Edward J. Mason, who were also working on the series Dick Barton whose popularity partly inspired The Archers and whose slot in the schedules it eventually took. Originally produced with collaborative input from the Ministry of Agriculture, The Archers was conceived as a means of disseminating information to farmers and smallholders to help increase productivity in the post-World War II years of rationing and food shortages.^[1] It was originally formulated around the lives of three farmers; Dan Archer, farming efficiently with little cash, Walter Gabriel, farming inefficiently with little cash, and George Fairbrother, a wealthy business man farming at a loss for tax purposes (which one could do in those days).^[30] The programme was hugely successful; at the height of its popularity it was estimated that 60% of adult Britons were regular listeners^{[citation needed]}. The programme's educational remit and the involvement of the MoA ended in the 1970s, but it still contains many storylines and discussions about farming, and has a separate 'agricultural story editor', Graham Harvey.^[31]

Tony Shryane MBE was the programme's producer from 1 January 1951 to 19 January 1979. Vanessa Whitburn has been the programme's editor since 1992. Whitburn is on long service leave from March to July 2012, during which time John Yorke is acting editor.^[32] Since 2007, The Archers has been available as a podcast.^[33] As of 5 June 2011 (2011 -06-05)^[update], the omnibus podcast on iTunes in the United Kingdom was at 37 while the daily podcast was at 89.

Death of Grace Archer[link]

One of the most controversial Archers episodes was broadcast on 22 September 1955, the evening of the launch of the UK's first commercial television station, ITV. Phil and Grace Archer had been married just a few months earlier, and their blossoming relationship was the talk of the nation. However, searching for a story which would demonstrate some real tragedy among the increasingly unconvincing episode cliff-hangers, Godfrey Baseley had decided that Grace would have to die. It was explained to the cast as an "exercise in topicality." The scripts for the week of 19 September 1955 were both written, recorded, and broadcast on each day. On Thursday evening of that week, listeners heard Grace trying to rescue her horse, Midnight, from a fire at Brookfield stables, and the crash as a beam fell on her.^[34]

Whether the timing of the episode was a deliberate attempt to overshadow the opening night of the BBC's first commercial rival has been debated ever since. It was certainly planned some months in advance, but it may well be that the actual date of the death was changed during the scriptwriting stage to coincide with the start of ITV.^[35] Deliberate or not, the episode attracted widespread media attention, being reported by newspapers around the world.

This controversy has been parodied twice: in The Bowmans, an episode of the television comedy programme Hancock, and in the play and film The Killing of Sister George. On the 50th anniversary of ITV's launch, Ysanne Churchman, who played Grace, sent a congratulatory card to ITV, signed "Grace Archer".

In 1996, William Smethurst recounted a conversation with Baseley in which he reveals his real motivation for killing off Grace Archer: Churchman was encouraging the other actors to join a trade union.^[36]

Longevity[link]

The actor Norman Painting played Phil Archer continuously from the first trial series in 1950 until his death on 29 October 2009. His last recording for an Archers episode was recorded just two days before his death and was broadcast on 22 November.^[37] He holds the title of longest-serving actor in a single soap opera in the Guinness Book of Records.^[37] As a script writer, he also wrote around 1,200 complete episodes, credited as "Bruno Milna", culminating in the 10,000th episode. June Spencer has played Peggy Archer/Woolley from the pilot episode onwards,^[38] though not for all of the period since. According to Who's Who in The Archers 2008,^[39] episode 15,360 was to be broadcast on 1 January 2008.^[40] Episode 15,000 was broadcast on 7 November 2006.^[41]

Sixtieth anniversary[link]

The Archers reached its 60th anniversary on 1 January 2011 and to mark this achievement, a special half hour episode was broadcast on Sunday 2 January on BBC Radio 4 from 7pm. The episode had been advertised as containing events that would 'shake Ambridge to the core'.^[42] This phrase even gave rise to the initialism #SATTC trending on the website Twitter during that weekend as listeners speculated about what might happen, and then reported their views as the story unfolded.

The main events in the episode were Helen Archer giving birth to her son Henry and Nigel Pargetter falling to his death from the roof of Lower Loxley Hall. Elizabeth is now struggling with the death of her husband and the family are milling around not sure what to do for the best.

The writing out of the character of Nigel caused much controversy among Archers' listeners,^[43][44] with a large number of complaints variously expressing dismay at the death of a popular character, concerns over the manner of the dismissal of the actor, belief that the promise to 'shake Ambridge to the core' had been over-hyped, criticism of the credibility of the script and acting for the anniversary episode, and a perceived unwillingness of the editorial team to engage with these listener complaints.

Themes[link]

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A recurring theme has been the resentment of the working-class Grundy family towards the middle-class Archers. Labour politician Neil Kinnock in the 1980s jokingly called for The Archers to be retitled "The Grundys and their Oppressors".^[45] The series, however, now deals with a wide range of contemporary issues including illicit affairs, drug abuse, rape, and civil partnerships, inviting criticism from conservative commentators such as Peter Hitchens^[46] that the series has become a vehicle for liberal and left-wing values and agendas, with characters behaving out of character to achieve those goals. However, one of the show's charms is to make much out of everyday, small concerns, such as the possible closure of the village shop, the loss and rediscovery of a pair of spectacles,^[47] competitive marmalade-making, or nonsense such as a 'spile troshing' competition,^[48] rather than the large-scale and improbable events that form the plots of many soap operas. However, there are some dramatic storylines, such as the rape of Kathy Perks.^[49]

Sometimes mocked as a comfortable middle-class series with stereotypical comic yokels, the programme has nonetheless tackled many serious social issues. There have been, for instance: rural drug addiction; inter-racial relationships; direct action against genetically modified crops and badger culling; family break-ups; and civil partnerships.

According to some of the actors, and confirmed in the writings of Godfrey Baseley, in its early days the show was used as a conduit for announcements from the Ministry of Agriculture, one actor reading an announcement almost verbatim to another. More recently the show has reacted within a day to agricultural emergencies such as outbreaks of foot and mouth disease, which affect farmers nationwide when livestock movements are restricted.

Cameo appearances[link]

Many famous people have made cameo appearances on the programme:

• Princess Margaret and the Duke of Westminster appeared in 1984 in connection with a fashion show to commemorate the centenary of the NSPCC.^[17]
• Dame Judi Dench made an appearance as the (hitherto usually silent) Pru Forrest in 1989 for the 10,000th episode. Terry Wogan was featured and Esther Rantzen was responsible for the sound effects.^[34]
• Radio presenter John Peel appeared as himself in 1991.^[50]
• Celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh judged Ambridge's entries in the National Gardens Scheme open gardens competition in May 2003.^[51]
• Radio presenter Chris Moyles appeared in June 2004 as a random customer—and suspected National Pub of the Year judge—in The Bull.^[52][53]
• Comedian and presenter Griff Rhys Jones appeared as himself in July 2004, when he was drafted into Lynda's campaign to restore the Cat and Fiddle pub.^[54]
• Stephen Fry, although not appearing in an official episode, took part in Victoria Wood Goes to Ambridge, a series of five mini-episodes written by Victoria Wood for Comic Relief in March 2005. Also making fleeting appearances were Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellen and Liza Tarbuck.^[55]
• Zandra Rhodes played herself in an episode in September 2006 in connection with a charity fashion show.^[56][57]
• Robert Winston appeared as a fertility specialist consulted by Hayley and Roy Tucker in January^[58] and February 2007.^[59]
• Mike Gatting appeared as himself in September 2007 at the centre of a misunderstanding between Sid and Jolene Perks during the npower Village Cup final at Lord's Cricket Ground.^[60][61]
• Crime novelist Colin Dexter made a cameo in 2010. ^[62]
• Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall appeared on 16 February 2011 in connection with the National Osteoporosis Society's 25th anniversary as well as the show's 60th anniversary.
• Others who have made appearances include Britt Ekland, Humphrey Lyttelton (1956), Anneka Rice, Dame Edna Everage and Antony Gormley (2009).

Theme tune[link]

The theme tune of The Archers' is called "Barwick Green" and is a maypole dance from the suite My Native Heath, written in 1924 by the Yorkshire composer Arthur Wood. An alternative arrangement, played by The Yetties, is used to introduce the Sunday omnibus. In 1992, having used the same recording for many years, the theme was re-recorded in stereo. The original orchestral arrangement was used, but the slightly different mixing and more leisurely tempo led many listeners to consider the new version inferior.^{[citation needed]}

Robert Robinson once compared the tune to "the genteel abandon of a lifelong teetotaller who has suddenly taken to drink".^{[citation needed]} On April Fool's Day 2004 both The Independent and The Today Programme claimed that BBC executives had commissioned composer Brian Eno to record an electronic version of "Barwick Green" as a replacement for the current theme,^[63][64] while the (Scottish) comedian Billy Connolly included in his act the joke that the theme was so typically English that it should be the national anthem ^[65]

English doctors are taught that the tempo of the tune is the rate at which to apply cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). An alternative tune is "Nellie the Elephant", which has the same tempo.^[66][67]

Serious occasions[link]

In the past, a cliffhanger involving a death of a major character or disaster was marked by the traditional closing theme being replaced by the final dramatic section of Barwick Green involving trombones, cymbals and the closing bars of the signature tune. However, this tradition has been dropped in recent years, notably after the death of Nigel Pargetter when the normal closing music was played despite the gravity of the incident, and after the death of John Archer when no music was played at all.

Fan clubs[link]

Two organisations dedicated to the programme were established in the 1990s. Archers Addicts is the official body, run by members of the cast. The club has five thousand members^[68] and an online shop where Archers memorabilia is sold under licence. It also provides a message board where fans of the show can give their views on the programme. Archers Anarchists was formed some time later, objecting to the "castist" assumptions propagated by the BBC, and claiming that the characters are real.

Overseas parallels[link]

In 1994, the BBC World Service in Afghanistan began broadcasting Naway Kor, Naway Jwand ("New Home, New Life"), an everyday story of country folk incorporating pieces of useful information. Although the useful information was more likely to concern unexploded land mines and opium addiction than the latest modern farming techniques, the inspiration and model of Naway Kor, Naway Jwand was The Archers, and the initial workshopping with Afghan writers included an Archers scriptwriter.^[69] A 1997 study found that listeners to the soap opera were significantly less likely to be injured by a mine than non-listeners.^[70]

In Rwanda, the BBC World Service's Rwanda-Rundi service has been broadcasting the Archers-inspired soap opera Urunana ("Hand in Hand") since 1999.^[71][72]

The Archers was also the model for the Russian radio soap opera Dom 7, Podyezd 4 ("House 7, Entrance 4"),^[73] on which the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, once made a cameo appearance.^[74]

The Japanese national radio and TV network, NHK, offers a "morning drama" (asadora) that runs for 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday on television. This slot was established on radio in the early postwar era and moved to television in 1961. Each series lasts six months, i.e. approximately 150 episodes. All centre on a heroine, usually a young girl facing challenges (usually in Japanese traditional social ways) to realize her dream. Programmes have often been used as vehicles for discussion of matters of social concern, such as the foster-child system, and to celebrate the locales around Japan where the series are set.

Books and audiobooks[link]

Reference works[link]

The most recent Archers reference books are Who's Who in The Archers by Keri Davies, senior producer and scriptwriter. This has been published by BBC Books since 2003 and is updated annually for the Christmas gift-giving season.^[75]

• Forever Ambridge — 25 Years of The Archers (1975) by Norman Painting ASIN B0012UT8XM
• The Book of The Archers (1994) by Patricia Greene, Charles Collingwood and Hedli Niklaus ISBN 0-7181-3849-X
• The Archers: The True Story (1996) by William Smethurst ISBN 1-85833-620-1
• The Archers Encyclopaedia (2001) by Joanna Toye and Adrian Flynn ISBN 0-563-53718-3, published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of The Archers
• Who's Who in The Archers 2008 by Keri Davies ISBN 1-84607-326-X
• Who's Who in The Archers 2011 by Graham HarveyISBN 978-1-849-90015-7
• The Archers Miscellany (2010) by Joanna Toye ISBN 978-1-84607-754-8
• The Road to Ambridge (2010) by June Spencer ISBN 978-1-907532-25-2
• The Archers Archives (2010) by Simon Frith & Chris Arnot ISBN 978-1-84990-013-3
• Borsetshire Life (2011) The county magazine ISBN 7811902685144 see borsetshire-life

Novelisations[link]

• The Archers by Jock Gallagher
• Ambridge Summer by Keith Miles (1975) ISBN 0-85523-065-7
  • The Archers: To The Victor The Spoils (1988) ISBN 0-563-20599-7
  • The Archers: Return to Ambridge (1988) ISBN 0-563-20606-3
  • The Archers: Borchester Echoes (1988) ISBN 0-563-20607-1
  • The Archers: Omnibus Edition (1988) ISBN 0-563-36001-1
• The Ambridge Chronicles by Joanna Toye
  • The Archers 1951-1967: Family Ties (1998) ISBN 0-563-38397-6
  • The Archers 1968-1986: Looking For Love (1999) ISBN 0-563-55125-9
  • The Archers 1987-2000: Back to the Land (2000) ISBN 0-563-53701-9
  • The Archers 1951-1967: Family Ties (1998, audiobook, narrated by Miriam Margolyes) ISBN 0-563-55714-1
  • The Archers 1968-1986: Looking For Love (1999, audiobook, narrated by Stella Gonet) ISBN 0-563-55813-X
  • The Archers 1987-2000: Back to the Land (2000, audiobook, narrated by Stephanie Cole) ISBN 0-563-55818-0
• In 1975, Tandem published a prequel novel about Ambridge in the early 1900s
  • Spring at Brookfield by Brian Hayles (1975) ISBN 426165209

Published audio episodes[link]

• Vintage Archers
  • Vintage Archers: Volume 1 (1988) ISBN 0-563-22586-6
  • Vintage Archers: Volume 2 (1988) ISBN 0-563-22704-4
  • Vintage Archers: Volume 3 (1998) ISBN 0-563-55740-0 (contains several "lost episodes" which have been digitally restored)
  • The Archers: The Wedding Jack and Peggy tie the knot
  • Vintage Archers: Volumes 1-3 (2001) ISBN 0-563-38281-3
• Ambridge Affairs
  • Ambridge Affairs: Love Triangles (2007) ISBN 1-4056-7733-3
  • Ambridge Affairs: Heartache at Home Farm (2007) ISBN 1-4056-8785-1

Maps[link]

In addition to books and audiobooks, purported maps of Ambridge and Borsetshire have been published.^[76][77]

Documentaries[link]

An episode of Arena, broadcast on BBC Four on 1 January 2007, focused on The Archers. It was narrated by Stephen Fry and included interviews with current actors and scriptwriters.^[78]

See also[link]

• List of radio soaps
• List of longest-serving soap opera actors

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• The Archers programme on the BBC Radio 4
• BBC Archers message board
• Archers Addicts BBC-approved fan club
• Archers Anarchists "anti-castist" BBC-free fan club
• Saddicts.com independent chat site
• Mustardland independent alternative to the official message board
• The Archers Plot Summaries unofficial summary of each day's events (1995–present)
• Peter Hesketh's Chronology key events 1896–1994
• uk.media.radio.archers newsgroup (via Google Groups)
• The uk.media.radio.archers FAQ the Archers newsgroup wiki

Ross Bagley
LME President Andi Rouse with Ross Bagley
Born	Ross Elliot Bagley (1988-12-05) December 5, 1988 (age 23) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–2004, 2010

Ross Elliot Bagley (born December 5, 1988) is an American actor. Most popular as a child actor during the mid-1990s, he is best known for his role as Nicholas "Nicky" Banks the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air from 1994-1996.

Career[link]

Bagley also appeared with Fresh Prince star Will Smith in the 1996 movie Independence Day, and appeared as Buckwheat Thomas in the 1994 film The Little Rascals. Ross currently attends California State University, Northridge. He also has two younger sisters, Tiffany and Danielle Bagley currently living in Los Angeles, California.^[1]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ross Bagley at the Internet Movie Database
• Ross Bagley at AllRovi

Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga performing on The Monster Ball Tour in 2010
Background information
Birth name	Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
Born	(1986-03-28) March 28, 1986 (age 26) New York, New York, U.S.
Genres	Pop, dance, electronic
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, performance artist, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, activist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Def Jam, Cherrytree, Streamline, Kon Live, Interscope
Website	LadyGaga.com Lady Gaga's signature

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (/ˈstɛfəniː dʒʌrməˈnɑːtə/ STE-fə-nee jurr-mə-NAH-tə; born March 28, 1986), known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to focus on her musical career. She began performing in the rock music scene of Manhattan's Lower East Side, and was signed with Streamline Records by the end of 2007. During her employment as a songwriter for the record company, her vocal abilities captured the attention of recording artist Akon, who signed her to his label Kon Live Distribution.