Dan to die

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 13

Dan to die

The 8.8. C. is preparing for the biggest radio soap opera shock of the year — the death of Dan Archer. The grand old man of Ambridge, star of the world’s oldest soap opera, “The Archers,” is to be written out of the series for good, according to a report in the “Star” newspaper. Quoting top-level 8.8. C. sources, the “Star” says the 89-year-old retired farmer will be killed off in Britain about Easter. He is currently played by Frank Middlemass, aged 65, the fourth radio actor to take the part. “The Archers” began in

1950 and still has an audience of four million listeners in Britain and millions more abroad. Programme officials are expecting a howl of outrage when old Dan is declared dead, similar to the outcries which followed the deaths of Polly Perkins, wife of Sid, landlord of the Bull, and Doris, Dan’s wife, who died here in 1980. The “Star” says the 8.8. C. has yet to decide how to kill Dan, but it is expected to be of a heart attack after overexerting himself, perhaps helping to deal with an emergency at Brookfield Farm.