Camden News: Ambridge | The Archers | The Butcher of The Beeb | BBC Radio | Gerard Mansell

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Camden News - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 15 May 2008

David Hendy, Piers Plowright and Gerard Mansell, the so-called ‘Butcher of the Beeb’

‘The town of Ambridge was ripe for destruction’

‘Butcher of the Beeb’ reveals his plan to axe The Archers back in the ‘swinging’ 1960s

IT is the wholesome Radio 4 show that has stood the test of time, famously telling the “story of everyday folk” from the fictitious farming village of Ambridge as they gossip over country stiles.
But it was revealed for the first time on Monday that a secret plan was drawn up in the 1960s to put The Archers – the world’s longest running and probably most famous radio drama – out to pasture
If a director general known as “The Butcher of The Beeb” had got his way The Archers – and its infectious signature tune – would have been halted in its tracks four decades ago.
Highgate-based BBC Radio director Gerard Mansell owned up at a lunchtime lecture on Monday that it was his idea to remove Ambridge from the schedules, as he recalled how he didn’t think the radio show was reflecting the massive social changes that made the 1960s swing.
Mr Mansell, the former head of the Home Service and later the deputy director general of the BBC, said: “When I first started my instinct was to get rid of The Archers.
“I wanted to abolish it completely.”
He was being interviewed by BBC producer Piers Plowright at the Highgate Scientific and Literary Association and was joined by Radio 4 historian David Hendy, whose book, Life On Air, charts the history of the radio station.
Mr Mansell said when he took charge of Radio Four he felt the programme “was ripe for destruction.’”
He added: “I felt it had gone on for far too long, and that it simply belonged to a different society than the one we were then moving towards.”
The admission will shock the legions of fans who have religiously tuned into The Archers, which has broadcast more than 15,000 episodes.
Mr Mansell said he campaigned long and hard to get it taken off the airwaves, but was eventually persuaded by BBC colleagues to let it continue – even if a regular post bag full of listeners’ grumbles made him wonder whether he had made a mistake.
He said: “We once had a TV script writer come in and each episode had car crashes and infidelity.
“It did not prove to be popular with the listeners.”
It was one of many wholesale changes he oversaw during his time – and other ideas were just as unpopular.
Mr Mansell said: “I was dubbed “The Butcher of the BBC”. I got a lot of flak over scrapping the Home Service and the Third Programme [which became Radio 4 and Radio 3].”
Despite the fervent dedication of Radio 4 fans – it is listened to by nine million people each week – Mr Hendy warned the BBC faced an uncertain future, with discussions over the licence fee set to change the way public service broadcasting is financed. He said The Archers and the Shipping Forecasts had a place in “Britain’s cultural consciousness” but added: “There are serious difficulties afoot. The fee is set to be questioned and perhaps shared out among other broadcasters.
“This is the biggest danger to the BBC – that it will wither on the vine due to financial and political neglect.”

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