Long-running BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers will embark on a national live tour, visiting venues including London’s New Wimbledon Theatre, to mark the show’s 75th anniversary in 2026.
Touring from June to November 2026, this live production produced by Fane will be hosted by Archers devotee Angela Barnes, with each performance will feature a rotating cast of Archers actors, a BBC archivist and a live sound-effects specialist.
First airing on 1st January 1951, The Archers has aired six times a week to millions of listeners who follow the everyday lives, loves, and dramas of the residents of the fictional village of Ambridge, deep in the heart of the English countryside. Over 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, The Archers remains one of the BBC’s most popular programmes.
Set within a playful reimagining of the Ambridge Flower & Produce Show, The Archers: Live at 75 will blend 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 full list of cast appearances will be announced in early 2026 and will feature both much-loved long-standing Ambridge actors and the newer voices shaping the drama today.
The Archers: Live at 75 will play New Wimbledon Theatre on Thursday, September 3, 2026. Tickets for the tour are available here.
Top image: The Archers: Live at 75 artwork (image supplied)