By Liz Neale
Last updated at 2:59 PM on 1st January 2011
Fans of the UK's longest-running radio serial are preparing for a shocking plotline this weekend as The Archers broadcasts its 60th anniversary episode.
Rumours have been rife since the show's producers promised a development which would 'shock Ambridge to the core', with speculation that much-loved characters could even be killed off in a bolt from the blue.
The Radio 4 serial started on New Year's Day 1951 and there will be a special double-length episode broadcast on Sunday evening.
New arrival? Actress Louiza Patikas plays pregnant Helen Archer and there are rumours her donor IVF baby could arrive prematurely in the anniversary edition
There are plenty of rumours on what might happen. Archers addicts have taken to internet message boards and Twitter to talk about what could SATTC, as the anniversary edition has been dubbed.
One theory is that single mum-to-be Helen Archer could face a medical emergency if her baby is born prematurely. The character has battled anorexia and after a series of disastrous relationships – her ex Greg the gamekeeper committed suicide – she conceived thanks to donor IVF treatment.
Helen, played by actress Louiza Patikas, is one of the show's least-loved characters. She has fallen out with dad Tony over her baby plans – might something terrible happen before the pair can make up?
One listener on the Radio 4 messageboard said: 'Can't help feeling all the stress he's had in his life might culminate with the SATTC event. I for one would really miss him but the idea that Hell Queen be left to live with her conscience for contributing to his death would go a long way to making up for this.'
But there are other plot lines out there. Thieves made off with thousands of pounds of straw from Ruth and David Archer's farm before Christmas, and there has been talk the criminals could be back in a burglary that might go tragically wrong.
And warring brothers Ed and Will Grundy have never been reconciled since younger brother Ed ran off with Will's bride Emma after a fling right before the wedding.
Nigel and Lizzie Pargetter on the other hand, seem to have the perfect life at Lower Loxley. Is it almost too perfect? Lizzie was born with a heart defect, and it's not impossible the bolt from the blue could strike her.
Editor Vanessa Whitburn – like all the characters and production crew – has remained tight-lipped on what might happen.
'Our listeners hate leaks,' she told The Guardian. 'They're very different to television soap audiences who seem to like them. There's something about radio: you're hearing it for the first time, conjuring pictures in your mind. If you get a leak, you start to do that too early.'
The Archers is the BBC's most listened to radio programme online, and five million listeners tune in each week to the 15-minute episodes.
Whitburn has said there are two parallel storylines involved in the special edition - one that has been developing for several weeks and another that will be completely unexpected.
And she admits that the anniversary episode will be controversial.
'Where I will defend the storylines vigorously is against the "these things don't happen in village life" argument,' she said.
'I brought in a raid on the village shop and a previous editor, William Smethurst, claimed it wouldn't have happened. But I had newspaper cuttings about raids on village shops, and how awful they were. If one did these big stories all the time, it would start to lose its reality, but when we do one of them the repercussions of it reverberate for a long time.'
Six decades of fugitives, thieves and philanderers
The Archers has never shied away from controversy during its 60-year history. Here are a few of the most memorable moments.
Jennifer Aldridge confessed to her family she was pregnant and going to raise the child as a single parent in a 1966 episode of the programme
1966 Housewife Jennifer Aldridge, played by Angela Piper, right, confesses to her family that she is pregnant, is going to have the baby and bring it up as a single parent. Furthermore she won't be revealing who the father is.
1976 Maybe it was menopausal, but when Carol Tregorran (Anne Cullen) was accused of shoplifting it seemed completely out of character for the Ambridge smallholder who ran a successful organic market garden. Fortunately for her, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.
1993 When her brother Clive, a serial criminal, escaped from prison there was serious trouble for shop manager Susan Carter, played by Charlotte Martin. When he turned up on her doorstep, she foolishly gave him a meal, some money and a makeshift bed. She continued to help him while he was on the run for the next three months. Not surprisingly she spent Christmas in jail after police raided the village shop and found her fugitive brother.
1999 A frantic search ensued on Millennium Eve after farmer David Archer (Timothy Bentinck) went missing. He was found the next day by his father Phil, pinned under a heifer in a ditch.
2000 Sid Perks (Alan Devereux), adulterous landlord of The Bull, shared a shower scene with local flirt Jolene (Buffy Davis), moments after the pair, pictured below, had made love. Many fans – including Stephen Fry – still consider it one of the sexiest scenes in the soap's history.
2002 Farmer Brian Aldridge (Charles Collingwood) confessed to wife Jennifer that he was having an affair with Siobhan and that he had fathered a child with her.
2003 Retired businessman Jack Woolley's memory problems started to become more obvious. The retired businessman was eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's and wife Peggy became his carer. Actor Arnold Peters portrayed the cruel condition with a poignancy that brought a huge response from listeners. Also in this year, vet Alistair Lloyd (Michael Lumsden) got into serious financial trouble from gambling that almost tore his family apart when he admitted that he owed 8,000.
2004 Former teacher Kathy Perks (Hedli Niklaus) was raped at Christmas by chef Owen King. At first, she didn't report the assault, but ex-husband Sid forced King from the area. Kathy had previously had to deal with Sid's infidelity and her tearaway teenage son Jamie.
Ah.. the everyday story of Townsfolk who have moved to the countryside...Even Foot and Mouth missed Ambridge. I remember Emmerdale Farm before it became "Emmerdale".. Coronation Street with grass.! Lets have some more farming on the Archers..lets see the farm buildings converted into holiday Lets and the Farmer's children prevented from living in them and moving to the cities to find work.. just like reality in the real countryside....Lets see ther Home helps vanish in the government cuts and some dead pensioners who couldn't afford heating after someone stole their fuel oil...Tom Forest would have told it like it is...Walter Gabrial would have suggested some tips to keep warm , tar oil and brown paper perhaps ? We should encourage our farmers- We are all going to need every one of them this decade.
- JonO, England, 01/1/2011 18:15
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