Terry O'Reilly

And like Dick Barton, each episode would only be 15 minutes long.

As The Archers found its footing, the writers hit on a formula.

10% farming information, 30% general information about the countryside, and 60% entertainment.

The radio series revolved around the lives of three farmers who live in the fictional village of Ambridge.

First and foremost was Dan Archer and his family, who farmed efficiently with little money.

There was Walter Gabriel, who farmed inefficiently with little money.

And there was wealthy businessman George Fairbrother, who intentionally farmed at a loss for tax reasons.

In an era where radio numbers declined due to the introduction of television, the show did remarkably well on the BBC.

Soon, the Archers began to attract millions of listeners.

In 1954 and again in 1955, the Archers won the National Radio Awards Most Entertaining Program of the Year.

It was now attracting a peak of 20 million listeners weekly.

Throughout the 1960s, the show was still very popular with 11 million listeners per week.

But by the mid-70s, the Archers began to struggle.

The BBC seriously considered cancelling the show.

In 1975, female writers were brought in for the first time and the show found a second wind.

The episodes became better than ever and began tackling contemporary themes like rural drug addiction, family breakups and the decimation of foot and mouth disease.

The Archers is still running on BBC2 this day with six new shows every week.

It has produced over 20,850 episodes as of this writing.

And each installment is now just 13 minutes long.

What began as a radio show dedicated to farmers is now a contemporary drama in a rural setting.