As Ed decides to give up his dairy herd, I talked to Barry Farrimond who plays the much put-upon Grundy.
If you had to describe Ed to someone who doesn’t know him, what would you say?
I think he’s fundamentally a good person who’s been buffeted by the world and by love and by business failure. He’s always coming up against hurdles, which I think has developed him into quite an interesting character. He’s becoming a stronger person, although it’s taken a while.
How has he changed over the years?
He was an absolute tearaway, breaking the law, breaking his family apart and being a destructive influence in the village, to the point where it tore him apart. But after staring into the abyss, he’s managed to turn it all around, slowly but surely. He’s managed to grow a little fledgling business, he’s got himself a nice little family. But once again, things are starting to approach the edge, becoming a little more tenuous. There’s the risk that things will fall apart again.
What do you think about all the troubles that have been rained down on him over the years?
As an actor, it makes it so much more interesting. It’s the only part of my life where I want things to go wrong!
Emma has been a major part of his life for many years. Do you think she’s good for Ed?
There are several schools of thought, but I’m going to go for ‘yes’. Emma has been quite selfish in the past, maybe a bit manipulative. And pushing for a wedding at this point is pretty ill-advised. But ultimately I think they’re deeply in love and destined to stay together, and that can only be a good thing. Finding someone who you love in life is pretty lucky.
You’ve had two Emmas to work with over the years. What was the transition like between Felicity Jones and Emerald O’Hanrahan?
They’re both fantastic actors, and Emerald made the transition as seamless as it was possible to be. I don’t think it jarred with the listeners at all. She picked up the essence of Emma almost immediately. And then the very clever thing she did was to make it her own, over the course of months and years. She’s pulled it much more to Emma being Susan Carter’s daughter. You can hear Susan in the background in almost every line.
And what she’s like to work with?
Emerald’s fantastic. We’re very naughty in studio. I think you’d describe our relationship as professional but mischievous.
What would you say is the biggest challenge that the role has brought you?
I’m trying to avoid the predictable answer, but it has to be when Ed was using crack. I had to do a lot of research into that. Trying to get inside someone’s head when their whole life is falling to bits, but they’re a very active agent in their own downfall. Trying to make that real was a big challenge.
But it’s the same with a lot of Ed’s stories. He’s a character of peaks and troughs. For a while now, things have been quite calm. But when things go wrong, he ends up having a fight with his brother in the middle of the village, or being busted with a load of weed, or off his face on crack. So it’s always a challenge to make it believable.
But I do believe that Ed’s a genuinely lovely guy deep down, even though he makes mistakes. I want to make it so you don’t just despise him.
I think you’ve succeeded in that. He’s become a very popular character. What are your hopes be for Ed’s future?
I hope things keep going wrong for him!
Keri Davies is an Archers writer and web producer.
Learn more about Ed, Emma, Susan and Will – and the actors who play them – in our Who’s Who
