{"id":802729,"date":"2026-10-14T21:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802729\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T21:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:42:22","slug":"the-archers-cast-angry-at-bbc-decision-to-scrap-new-birmingham-studio-bbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802729\/","title":{"rendered":"The Archers cast \u2018angry\u2019 at BBC decision to scrap new Birmingham studio | BBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

A cast member of The Archers<\/a> has said its actors have been angered by the BBC\u2019s decision to axe the show\u2019s new studio, in a move that could lead to it being recorded away from its home in Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Ben Norris, who plays Ben Archer in the world\u2019s longest-running soap opera, said the decision risked having a real impact on the quality of the show and placing an \u201cextraordinary burden\u201d on its crew.<\/p>\n

Norris told the Guardian that current plans, which would involve production staff working in a separate location to the actors recording the show, represented \u201cclassic short-termism and doesn\u2019t represent value for money for the licence fee payer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t us actors being averse to change,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very much us wanting to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in production, us wanting to ensure the continued highest quality of the programme for the listeners, the continued heritage of the show, its connection to Birmingham<\/a>, and also for the BBC not to go back on many promises it made to the region.<\/p>\n

Ben Norris, who plays Ben Archer, said the actors wanted to stand in solidarity with colleagues in production. Photograph: Steve Ullathorne<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of all those things that has left us feeling as angry as we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff were informed last week that the BBC, as part of its \u00a3500m cost-cutting drive, had ditched plans for a new radio drama theatre<\/a> at the Tea Factory in Digbeth, the corporation\u2019s new Birmingham headquarters.<\/p>\n

While production staff will still move to the facility, the broadcaster is now looking for an existing UK studio where the show could be recorded. The West Midlands is included in the search, but there is no guarantee The Archers will be recorded in the region in which it has been based since its launch 75 years ago.<\/p>\n

Cast members met on Monday to discuss the announcement. Norris said there were practical problems with the new plan, including the need for last-minute script discussions and specific facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Archers is recorded in a very specific way that is unlike almost all other audio drama,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are very few other studios that have those facilities, and none that are up to the same specifications as our current setup.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The current studio setup] would need transporting, building and striking with any new space we travel to, placing an extraordinary burden on the technical team and incurring extra financial drain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also think it\u2019s a totally false economy. I\u2019ve been told that the additional cost of shipping those people to wherever we ended up would cancel out what it costs to build the new studio within five years, so it\u2019s classic short-termism and doesn\u2019t represent value for money for the licence fee payer at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that while actors were based in different places, there was a \u201cbig Midlands connection within the cast \u2013 either people who grew up or trained there or people who live there now\u201d.<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Every weekday<\/p>\n

Sign up to First Edition<\/p>\n

Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cFor day players, of which the Archers has many \u2013 coming in to play somebody\u2019s midwife, somebody\u2019s mechanic \u2013 those roles often go to local actors and should go to local actors because it\u2019s one of the places that people can start their careers,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the same for the writing team and the production team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision flies completely in the face of the BBC<\/a> and the government\u2019s commitment to pursue as much regionality as possible and to have culture and the economy thriving in every postcode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norris feared listeners would eventually notice the impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re worried about the sustainability of this way of working,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are worried about the relationship between cast and crew, but also their energy levels, their wellbeing \u2026 Maybe we\u2019d get away with it for a bit, but we think at some point the show would suffer and the listeners would perceive that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The performing arts union Equity has said it will oppose the BBC\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

Matt Brittin, the BBC\u2019s director general, said hemet the West Midlands mayor, Richard Parker, on Wednesday to explore opportunities to continue to record the show in the region once it left Birmingham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cast member of The Archers has said its actors have been angered by the BBC\u2019s decision to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-802729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}