Archers, The Family Ties 1951-1967

Joanna Toye

Nov 2012 · BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Miriam Margolyes

About this audiobook

The first fascinating part of Joanna Toye's delightful trilogy about life in Ambridge. Covering the years 1951-1967, Family Ties introduces the main characters: Dan, Doris, Phil, Christine, Jack and Peggy and their children, Walter Gabriel, the Fairbrothers and Tom Forrest. The early years are action-packed: Phil's courtship and marriage to Grace and her tragic death; his subsequent marriage to Jill and the birth of their children; Jack's drinking problem and later, the birth of Jennifer's illegitimate baby. Miriam Margolyes, a life-long Archers fan, brings the characters and the village of Ambridge vividly to life in this abridged reading.

About the author

Joanna Toye has been associated with The Archers for virtually all her working life either on the writing or production team, where she was Senior Producer. She first wrote scripts for the programme in the 1980s, returning to the writing team full-time in 1999 and writing episodes as varied as the denouement of Ruth’s near-affair with Sam, the visit of the Duchess of Cornwall to Ambridge, and the recent Brookfield fire. Jo co-authored The Archers Encyclopaedia, has written five novelisations about The Archers, and wrote The Archers Miscellany, which celebrates the extraordinary mass of detail accumulated in the programme’s archives over 60 years.