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
Chris Aldridge Chris Aldridge Chris Aldridge is a continuity announcer and newsreader for BBC Radio 4. After studying mathematics at Bedford College (University of London), he joined the BBC in 1985. He worked in the production and archiving departments of Radio 3, and became a newsreader at Radio 5, before becoming a Radio 4 staff announcer in 1995. During 2002, he spent a year away working in training new staff, before returning to the station as a senior announcer alongside Harriet Cass, taking over from Peter Donaldson. He sometimes reads and presents the Six O'Clock News on BBC Radio 4. He is