So it seems Matt has turned his back firmly on Ambridge – and on Lilian. We spoke to Kim Durham, who created the part in 1997 and has played him ever since. And we look back at some of Matt’s story highlights – or lowlights...
Kim was surprised to realise how long he had played the role. He said: “ I’ve loved every minute of it, made great friends and felt the guy deep in the grain as he’s developed over time. But with all the many interesting changes taking place, it seemed a good time for both me and the writers to give Matt a bit of a break. He’s a maverick and a chancer and it’s never going to feel right to have him too firmly embedded in the Borsetshire soil. It also gives me the opportunity, in the short term, to pursue other projects.
“My leaving actually happened at the beginning of July of last year, which is why people haven’t heard much of Matt recently. I’m sorry about that but storylines have to be planned as much as a year or more ahead, so it can sometimes be difficult to perfectly synchronise these things.
“But wherever Matt goes, I can’t help thinking that his home – and his heart - will always be in Ambridge. So, who knows?"
Archers editor Sean O’Connor added: “I’d like to thank Kim for creating a fantastic character in Matt Crawford, one of Ambridge’s great likeable rogues, and wish him all the very best for the future.”
Matt Facts
We first became aware of Matt when Brian Aldridge joined the board of Borchester Land (BL), which had bought the Berrow Estate in Ambridge. The chairman, Matt was a dyed-in-the-wool urbanite who had very little time for country ways.
Read the full story of Borchester Land
Matt and Lilian
Matt was married to the high-maintenance Yvette, but that didn’t stop merry widow Lilian Bellamy setting her cap at him. They embarked on a tempestuous affair and by 2005 Yvette was demanding a divorce. Matt went to great (and illegal) pains to hide much of his wealth, including dubious property deals; selling a Jack Vettriano painting and hiding the money offshore; and paying his friend Stephen Chalkman as a ‘consultant’. Chalkman kept only a small proportion of his large salary.
Eventually shot of Yvette, Matt was able to devote himself to Lilian – as much as this man once described by Debbie Aldridge as a ‘weasel’ could devote himself to any other human being. Theirs has been a volatile relationship, often wracked by the stresses of Matt’s fondness for a shady deal.
Matt’s mother
One reason for Matt’s near-sociopathic striving might be down to his family background. Adopted as a baby, he always felt he had nothing in common with his adoptive parents whom he left at 16. Lilian traced Matt’s birth mother and persuaded him to meet her. But it was not a close encounter, and Matt was left feeling that in the end you are on your own.
Gambling
A ruthless poker player, Matt had no compunction in taking compulsive gambler Alistair Lloyd for thousands. He even bought up Alistair’s IOUs, so that he could pressure the vet into ‘blood doping’ a racehorse. When the horse was later injured, Matt insisted that Alistair destroy it so that Matt could claim on the insurance. This was a step too far for Alistair, who was forced to re-mortgage his house to pay Matt his £60,000 debt.
Cat and Fiddle
Lynda Snell has never forgiven Matt for snapping up the redundant Cat and Fiddle pub, turning it into luxury flats rather than the heritage centre she had planned – especially as his main motivation was to get one over on Stephen Chalkman, who was also vying for the building. Matt made a packet on the deal as well, of course...
Anaerobic digester
When Adam Macy and his sister Debbie Aldridge conceived a plan in 2007 to build an anaerobic digester at Home Farm, they tried to keep Matt well out of it. But when they needed the Berrow Estate to supply crops for the digester, Matt exploited his position. He demanded that Borchester Land own a portion of the company. Once on board, Matt pushed for a much bigger digester, against the wishes of the original partners. Eventually, they found themselves ousted altogether, as BL hooked up with a rival digester project in Loxley Norton.
The biggie – fraud and prison
In 2009, Matt finally sailed too close to the wind. He and Stephen Chalkman were prosecuted because their loan company Chalkman Crawford Capital Partners Ltd (C3PL) had been trading while insolvent. Matt lost his place as chair of BL and his reputation as a canny businessman. Desperate to prove himself, he rifled his and Lilian’s money to finance a doomed shoe import project.
In October, Matt whisked Lilian to Costa Rica. But it wasn’t for a holiday. When they got there, he announced that he was going to stay. Lilian was torn, but couldn’t abandon her whole life. And as it turned out, neither could Matt. He joined her on the flight home and made his trial with minutes to spare. He served nine months of an 18 month sentence.
Paul
Unfortunately, while Matt was in prison Lilian became close to Matt’s half-brother Paul. When Matt discovered their affair, he sent a heavy round to warn Paul off – which probably contributed to Paul’s fatal heart attack a few days later.
Amside
After prison, because he was disqualified from holding a directorship, Matt wanted Lilian to front a company. Amside would buy, improve, sell and rent domestic property. But she insisted on being fully involved, with Matt only an employee – albeit a very hands-on one.
This has been Lilian’s saving grace. While Matt has fled – again to Costa Rica – with all their joint money, and sold anything of value, Amside is her company. She may face a bleak future without her ‘Tiger’ but she still has some income to keep her in gin.
Keri Davies is an Archers scriptwriter and web producer.
Learn more about Matt, Lilian, BrianAlistair, Lynda, Adam and Debbie – and the actors who play them – in our Who’s Who
