60 years today at 7.15pm on 22nd September 1955 commercial
television was launched in the UK.
However in turned out to be a bit of a damp squibb because at 7.00pm on 22nd September 1955 millions of people were in fact gathered around the radio, tuned into the BBC Home Service, in a state of shock having just learnt the fate of Grace Archer, who had run into the burning stables at Grey Gables to rescue her precious horse Midnight, hotly pursued by her husband Phil.
Here are the closing lines:
For 60 years, the actress at the heart of The Archers’ most dramatic storyline has kept her counsel.
Ysanne Churchman played Grace Archer, whose death in a stable fire on September 22 1955 so shocked the nation that the BBC switchboard was jammed for 48 hours and the corporation had to put out a statement pleading with listeners to stop sending in wreaths.
Asked afterwards why her character had been killed off,
Churchman would only answer: “Dead girls tell no tales.”
Now she has broken her silence to reveal that she was
written out as punishment by the show’s creator, Godfrey Baseley known a "God" by the cast, for demanding
a pay rise in line with her male colleagues.
“So that was how it happened and how I, or rather Grace,
came to die: victimisation because I had been to Equity to get my fees put
right,” said Churchman, now 90.
“For me, for The Archers, for so many listeners even today,
the sensation of Grace’s death, the claims and counter-claims, the myth-making,
mean that she has never really died. A good story never does.
“The legend of Grace will live on and I must say I really
feel quite proud to have been part of it.”
Churchman was speaking after the broadcast of a Radio 4
play, "Dead Girls Tell No Tales", in which the BBC finally admitted to the reason behind Grace's exit.
Based on the recollections of the actress and other cast
members, it claimed that Baseley branded Churchman “a troublemaker” and an
“agitator” for demanding equal pay, and that he had previously banished her
character to Ireland for a year to “teach her a lesson”.
If you’ve got a spare hour, here’s "Dead Girls Tell No Tales":
So the launch of ITV was somewhat eclipsed by the BEEB and
instead of being entertained by adverts like these the country was in mourning!
Ironically, following her dismissal from the Archers Ysanne Churchman started working for ITV doing voice overs and later returning to the Archers to play five other characters over a period of 30 years.
In his mail today ITV chairman, Archie Norman, will find a postcard that reads:
“Congratulations, Grace Archer.”
Hey Ho!
