Heather Pritchard: Mistress of Marmalade and Beloved Mum of Ruth
Andrew Smith
Assistant Producer, The Archers
Tagged with:
Hexham Abbey, Northumberland.
As David, Ruth and family prepare to mark the passing of Heather, we take a brief look back and offer up one of Heather's memorable moments (featuring one of her great passions: marmalade...)
Distance and illness prevented Heather from being a regular visitor to Brookfield. However, she was much loved by the Brookfield Archers, a rock of support to Ruth in some of her darkest times, and with gifts of her amazing home made marmalade and cakes (source of an ongoing friendly rivalry with Jill) her rare visits were much anticipated and always appreciated...
Read Heather Pritchard's biography in our 'Who’s Who'.
Before Margaret Jackman took over the role in 2014, Heather Pritchard was played by Joyce Gibbs, who sadly passed away this year. Joyce played her from 1999 and was last heard on air in March 2013. Joyce also played Christine Barford (nee Archer) from 1962 – 1968.
Here's a photo of Joyce, relaxing with Sunny Ormonde (aka Lilian Bellamy) during a cast photoshoot in 2006.
Joyce Gibbs (Heather) with Sunny Ormonde (Lilian) in 2006
Heather and Jill (and Phil): friendly rivalry:
It's fair to say that Jill has a bit of a jealous streak. We don't think she ever really saw Heather as any kind of serious threat, but despite their friendship listeners have often been treated to glimpses of their rivalry in the kitchen.
Here’s a passage from The Ambridge Chronicles (Joanna Toye & Karen Farrington), which perfectly demonstrates the (ahem, friendly) rivalry between Jill and Heather…
"When Ruth’s mother, Heather Pritchard, came to stay at Brookfield in 2003, she discovered that she and Phil had a shared passion – for musicals. Soon they were enjoying, if not enchanted evenings, then musical afternoons, and trotting off to concerts together. When married to Solly, Heather had never impinged on Phil and Jill’s relationship, but, newly widowed, could she really pose a serious threat to Ambridge’s lodestar couple? Heather’s gentle prattle about Phil being the perfect ‘date’ (‘He treated me to a programme and explained all about the arias!’) didn’t go down at all well with Jill and when both grannies turned up to collect the children from the school bus, Jill, who’d abandoned the church flowers half-done to be there, suggested coolly that Ruth draw up a rota. There were more tests for Jill’s blood pressure when she discovered that Phil had swanned off to the library on a quest for Rodgers and Hammerstein CDs, and when he forgot to mend Jill’s hen coop in favour of showing fascinated Heather his veg plot. But things really came to the boil when Heather challenged Jill on her home territory, the kitchen, by making some marmalade. Over the Glebe Cottage breakfast table, it turned into a sticky situation.
Jill kept her own counsel. But at breakfast a few days later Phil seemed to have come, at last, to his senses…"
Phil compares Jill and Heather's marmalade (2003)
Heather and Solly:
Heather’s husband Solly was a reasonably successful toilet paper manufacturer. He was a proud man who wasn’t short of money (offended when Phil offered to pay for the drinks at Ruth and David’s wedding). Solly and Heather were very proud of Ruth - and of Solly’s success. Their pride on occasions embarrassed Ruth. Speaking of embarrassment, David and Ruth’s wedding guests might still remember Solly’s speech, extolling the virtues of toilet paper.
Solly died in Oct 2002. Heather had been looking forward to them spending their retirement together and enjoying more time with the family...
