When June Spencer celebrated her 100th birthday in 2019

When June Spencer reached her century, she celebrated the occasion in the studio she loved, joined by cast, crew, family and friends, and a pretty big cake! June played the redoubtable Peggy Woolley for over 60 years until her retirement in 2022 at the age of 103.

June admitted she has little in common with her character, except for a love of cats and gardening, and described Peggy as a "nice old thing" with “not much of a sense of humour."

She said: "Peggy's quite narrow-minded in some things. When Ambridge had a female vicar, she disapproved to such an extent she wouldn't go to church… I wouldn't say no to a woman vicar. But she's got her head screwed on in the right way. I'm very fond of her."

In 1950, June had been a busy radio actress for seven years when one day whilst queuing in the BBC Birmingham canteen, a voice said: “You’re going to be in The Archers, aren’t you?” June’s response was: “Am I? What are The Archers?”

She admitted she was rather put out at being told by a stranger that she had apparently been cast - before she had been asked if she would like the part!

June met the man who was to become her husband when she was 17 years old, at a dance hall on the East coast. June remembers he used to quip that he’d ‘picked her up at a sixpenny hop’.

When The Archers started, Peggy was a young woman with two little girls. She featured in many important storylines including the harrowing account of her husband Jack Woolley succumbing to Alzheimers. It was particularly personal for her as her own husband, Roger, also had the condition until his death. The storyline began a year after her husband passed away.

She says: "To start so soon after Roger's death was hard. It gave me wonderful opportunities as an actress, of course, but it was difficult."

Away from Ambridge, June’s gardening won her awards at village horticultural shows for her roses, and she enjoyed the peace and quiet of her second home in Spain. In 1991 she was made an OBE and in June 2010 she received the Freedom of the City of London. In 2017 June received a second honour from The Queen.

When asked by Archers Editor Jeremy Howe what she would like for her 100th birthday June responded quick as a flash “to be recording an episode please!” The Archers team responded with a specially written scene for Peggy which marked June's time in Ambridge in a unique fashion.

June described acting as "the breath of life to me." "I love acting so much.” she said.