The Archers trial. Unlike television soaps, "The Archers" actors are not held on retainers and work on the series usually for a few days a month. By the nature of the storylines concentrating on particular groups of characters, in any one week out of a cast of about 60, the episodes include approximately 2030 speaking-characters. Most of the cast do acting work on other projects and can disappear for long periods if they are working on commitments such as films or television series. Tamsin Greig plays Debbie Aldridge and has appeared on many television series such as "Green Wing", "Love Soup", "Black
Charles Collingwood (actor) Charles Collingwood (actor) Charles Henry Collingwood (born 30 May 1943) is a British actor. Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, and educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, England, he trained at RADA. He is best known for playing the role of Brian Aldridge in the long-running BBC Radio 4 soap opera "The Archers" since March 1975. He is married to Judy Bennett who plays Shula Hebden Lloyd in the series. Collingwood credits the television producer and director Dorothea Brooking as giving him his break in the medium. Brooking specialised in children's programmes, mainly for the BBC, and cast Collingwood