Dead Girls Tell No Tales

It's media folklore that the death of BBC soap opera heroine Grace Archer was a ploy to thwart the launch night of ITV on 22 September 1955.

But for the first time, this drama delves deep into The Archers' archives to reveal what really inspired 20 million people to tune in and left tens of thousands of listeners distraught.

Starring Simon Russell Beale, Eleanor Tomlinson and Ysanne Churchman.

Joanna Toye's drama explores the backstage story to a watershed moment in the history of broadcasting which became one of the defining cultural events of the 1950s.

Dan Archer/Harry Oakes ..... Jon Culshaw
Doris Archer/Gwen Berryman ..... Pam Ferris
Phil Archer/Norman Painting ..... Lex Shrapnel
Grace Archer/Ysanne Churchman ..... Eleanor Tomlinson
Christine Archer/Lesley Saweard ..... Georgie Fuller
John Tregorran /Basil Jones ..... Geoffrey Streatfeild
Carol Grey/Anne Cullen ..... Sally Bretton
Godfrey Baseley ..... Simon Russell Beale
Tony Shryane ..... John Hopkins
Valerie Hodgetts ..... Claudie Blakley
Geoffrey Webb ..... David Reed
Edward J Mason ..... Miles Jupp
BBC Announcer ..... Zeb Soanes
TV Interviewer ..... Paddy O'Connell
Ysanne Churchman ..... Herself

OTHER ROLES:
David Hounslow, Sam Dale, Chris Pavlo, Jessica Turner, Alex Tregear.

Director ..... Sean O'Connor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.