Simon on death in The Archers: 'Most Ambridge residents knew nothing of the Nic Grundy storyline'
In 1974, during the fourth series of Upstairs, Downstairs there was much debate about whether I, as Captain James, would survive the Great War. My friend Robert Powell, who’d recently been killed off in Doomwatch, recommended death at the end of a series, so there could be no doubt you were available for other work. No surprises then when his performance as Jesus of Nazareth ended in crucifixion (apparently he spent longer on the cross than Christ himself). Spoiler alert: poor James survived the trenches but I negotiated a suicide for him in the final series – sob.
The producers of a soap hold your life in their hands, but sometimes an actor dies in real life, and his alter ego will have to follow suit. In Ambridge, as in life, we were all grief-stricken at the real, and later fictional, death of Caroline Sterling, played by the wonderful Sara Coward, last year.
Statistically the most hazardous job in the UK is not as you’d expect, being in the bomb disposal business or Formula One – it’s being a fictional character in a soap, where death is three times more likely to be violent than in reality. A character in EastEnders is twice as likely to die as one in Corrie. (Move north, guys.) Life expectancy in Ambridge is good by comparison – although accidental deaths account for 27 per cent of all Archers mortality – seven times the national average.
Statisticians also revealed that survival rates for cancer patients are better in real life than they are in Ambridge, and heart attacks are much rarer. The message is obvious: steer clear of Ambridge – just stay in the real world and live longer.
Soap producers play God with the lives of the cast, their meetings are highly secretive and the actors are kept in ignorance of their character’s fate – so we wait for the arrival of every script with fearful anxiety. I’m told, though, that if you are due for the chop, the script department usually tip you the wink. The nature of the death though is up for discussion – charities of all kinds know the value of having their cause reflected in an Archers storyline.
The UK Sepsis Trust says there are 44,000 deaths annually from sepsis, 14,000 of them preventable – so let’s hope that Nic Grundy’s shocking death last month will raise awareness of the dangers, and the actor herself (Becky Wright) will live a long and happy life outside Borsetshire.
When major events loom in Ambridge there are frantic calls between the actors – the airwaves buzz with gossip, but also alarm
Soap writers know that death is good for ratings. Ours certainly gave Nic a heart-rending deathbed scene, and no doubt the editors promised her that ‘You’ll be very welcome at the Christmas party once you’re dead, darling.’
When major events loom in Ambridge there are frantic telephone calls between the actors involved – the airwaves buzz with gossip and speculation, but also alarm – we are reminded that our alter egos are mere mortals. We want to know if the character is leaving of his own accord. Did they go or were they pushed? There but for the grace of The Editor, could go any one of us.
Most Ambridge residents knew nothing of the storyline that was going to take Nic from us and from her fictional young family. The atmosphere in the studio as they recorded her last moments was heartbreaking. Tears flowed all round. The scene was wonderfully played.
I imagine Becky Wright must have been wrung out by her final scene as Nic, but she is a top-rate actor and has an excellent career ahead of her. If my suicide as James Bellamy 40 years ago is anything to go by, she will be feeling quite discombobulated for a while.
I hope she takes comfort from the outpouring of grief at her departure. I greatly appreciated it in Upstairs, Downstairs – it’s a heartwarming, if unusual, greeting to be hailed across the street, ‘Good to see you alive, Simon.’
Simon’s adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles runs for another week at The Mill at Sonning Theatre
