Judi Dench and Archers cast urge BBC to keep Radio 4 drama in Birmingham

Judi Dench has joined more than 100 current and former cast and crew of The Archers in calling on the BBC to keep recording the Radio 4 drama in Birmingham.

The actor, a one-time guest star on the programme, is among the signatories of a letter to the BBC's director general, Matt Brittin, urging him not to move production out of the city where the show has been made for 75 years.

It emerged this week that the corporation planned to stop recording the rural community soap opera in Birmingham for the first time in its history. Staff were told last week that the BBC had dropped plans to build a bespoke radio drama studio at the Tea Factory in Digbeth, its new Birmingham headquarters, as part of a £500m cost-cutting drive.

Production staff will still move to the Tea Factory, but the broadcaster is now looking for an existing studio in which to record the show. The West Midlands is included in that search, though there is no guarantee The Archers will be recorded in the region.

'Born of the very fabric of the place'

The letter, also signed by current and former editors, scriptwriters, sound effects workers, programme advisers and the unions Equity and WGGB, says: "The Archers leaving the Midlands is akin to Corrie leaving the north-west, or EastEnders the south-east. It is born of the very fabric of the place, and deserves to stay at home."

It adds that removing the recording of The Archers from the Midlands and divorcing the production team from the cast "will have a tangible impact on the quality of the programme and represents an existential threat to its future."

The signatories highlight the show's history and heritage. The Archers is set in the fictional West Midlands village of Ambridge. "A flagship show deserves flagship facilities, from which both the BBC and the city of Birmingham would benefit for decades," the letter says. It ends by pledging solidarity with colleagues and the region and a wish to safeguard the programme for future listeners and artists.

Dench played the character Pru Forrest in a cameo for the 10,000th episode of The Archers in May 1989, appearing alongside the guest star Terry Wogan, who played himself.

BBC: no decision yet

In an email to staff last week, a BBC executive said the decision was made after careful consideration and as part of the corporation's wider drive to reduce costs. Options were being explored to identify suitable studio facilities, the email said, including potential opportunities in the West Midlands and across other parts of the UK. "To be clear, no decision has yet been reached," it said, describing The Archers as "a jewel in the BBC's crown".

A BBC spokesperson said the corporation recognised and valued the programme's longstanding relationship with the West Midlands, and that the production team would remain in its current home in the Mailbox before moving, as planned, to the Tea Factory in Digbeth in early 2028. The BBC said it was assessing its existing studio facilities around the UK as well as external options in the West Midlands to find a more cost-effective solution that also maintained the programme's high production standards.

Source: The Guardian World.