The hallowed radio show is celebrating 75 glorious years – by stepping out of the studio and on to the stage. We sent the Guardian’s food writer (and Ambridge obsessive) along to meet her heroes and find out more
I’m very careful not to betray my true levels of excitement when I speak to The Archers actor Susie Riddell, before a nationwide theatre tour to mark the rural radio drama’s 75th anniversary. I may be an Ambridge superfan but I still don’t want to scare the horses (nor indeed the cows, pigs or sheep). Riddell’s character Tracy Horrobin (who will be appearing with husband, Jazzer, local lush Lilian and cravat-wearing criminal Brian) is not one to hold back however: “It’s like a dream come true for me too!” she confides, slipping easily into broad Borsetshire. “I never thought I’d see the day that I was interviewed by the Guardian. I’ve seen it in the Bull!”
The Bull, for the uninitiated, is a half-timbered pub on the village green offering ale, artisanal food and, it seems, copies of the Guardian. It’s a thrilling thought: I briefly entertain the idea of rock star turned vegan baker turned wedding caterer turned pub chef Fallon sitting in the snug, poring over my pie recipes in the Guardian. But it’s stretching credibility to believe an old-fashioned village boozer would find room for any reading material more substantial than Farmers Weekly. Riddell concedes the point. “Maybe Helen left it behind?”
