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
Midweek (BBC Radio 4) Midweek (BBC Radio 4) Midweek was a British weekly radio magazine series broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was aired on Wednesday at 09.00 and repeated later the same day at 21.00. It was presented by Libby Purves and each week several guests discussed various topics with her. "Start the Week" and "Stop the Week", also broadcast on Radio 4, employ similar formats, although "Stop the Week" is no longer broadcast. The final broadcast of Midweek aired on 29 March 2017. In 1986, then-producer Victor Lewis-Smith employed cockney comedian Arthur Mullard as stand-in for Purves who was on holiday. The