The Archers opera. Under the pseudonym "Bruno Milna", Painting also wrote around 1,200 complete episodes, which culminated in the 10,000th episode. June Spencer has played Peggy Archer/Woolley from the pilot episode onwards, though not for all of the period since. According to "Who's Who in The Archers 2008", episode 15,360 was to be broadcast on 1 January 2008. Episode 15,000 was broadcast on 7 November 2006. 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
The Archers began on Saturday, 5 January 1952. Originally produced with collaborative input from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, "The Archers" was conceived as a means of disseminating information to farmers and smallholders to help increase productivity in the postwar era of rationing and food shortages. 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 businessman farming at a loss for tax purposes (which one could do in those days). The programme was hugely successful, winning the National Radio Awards'