Darlings, fetch the Battenberg and tune your wireless — because something utterly delightful is crackling through the airwaves in Cirencester, and it’s not just the static on BBC Radio 4.
That’s right — The Barn Theatre, that plucky powerhouse tucked away in the Cotswolds, is getting ready to go full Haywire. And no, not because someone’s reversed a tractor into the dressing room (again). We’re talking about the world premiere of Haywire – A Not-So-Everyday Story of How The Archers Was Born — a brand-new play by Tim Stimpson that promises laughter, nostalgia, and a jolly good tug at the heartstrings.
Now if, like me, you grew up with The Archers playing in the background while someone ironed a teatowel and boiled something questionable on the hob, then you’ll know this is national treasure territory. And darling — it’s not just being celebrated, it’s being dramatized. Yes, really. A play about The Archers. In a theatre called The Barn. You couldn’t write it. (But thank heavens Tim Stimpson did.)
With a cracking creative team lined up, including the returning Joseph O’Malley at the helm, and BBC approval stamped across the front like a Royal Mail postmark, this promises to be a love letter to the longest-running drama in the world, with plenty of backstage mischief and microphone mayhem along the way.
Casting’s still under wraps (though I have it on good authority there may be some delicious surprises), but get those wellies polished — we’re all heading to Cirencester this September for a theatrical trip to the countryside like no other.
In a cold British December in 1950, producer Godfrey Baseley assembled a group of actors in a studio above a used car showroom in Birmingham, to record the first ever episode of The Archers. Now, 75 years later, the ‘everyday story of country folk’ remains a proud staple of British pop culture and a fixture at the top of the BBC’s download charts.
Haywire is a fond and funny celebration of one of British media’s most enduring creations, paired with a deep affection for the craft of radio.
It is a love letter to The Archers and the minds that created it – an exclusive invitation to experience the tears and laughter, the triumphs and calamities, that can happen both in front of and behind the mic.
The Archers writer Tim Stimpson said, “It’s been a long-standing ambition of mine to tell the extraordinary story of how a small team of writers, actors and producers recording above a used car showroom in the centre of post-war Birmingham created what is now the world’s longest running soap – sorry, ‘continuing drama’. the Barn is certainly more salubrious than the BBC studios were back then, but I feel the spirit of creativity and ambition is very much the same. I couldn’t be more delighted to be working with them. Plus, how could a play about The Archers be performed anywhere other than a theatre called the Barn?!”
The Archers Editor Jeremy Howe said, “Last Christmas The Archers writer Tim Stimpson and I went tentatively to the Barn Theatre to pitch Haywire, a comedy that is a love song to the early years of Britain’s best loved drama on Radio 4, The Archers, a show which will be seventy-five years young in January 2026. They bit off our hands to commission it. I am delighted for The Archers to be working in partnership with the Barn Theatre, one of the most dynamic and welcoming theatres in the land, and I cannot wait to be sitting in the front row on the opening night of Tim Stimpson’s Haywire.”
Barn Theatre’s CEO and Artistic Director Iwan Lewis and Executive Director and Producer Liam McMullan said, “I’m incredibly excited for the Barn to premiere Haywire as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of The Archers. As a lifelong listener, it’s thrilling to finally see with our eyes what we’ve listened to for decades. We’re hugely grateful to the BBC for trusting us with one of their most prized assets, and to Tim Stimpson and Jeremy Howe for their belief in the Barn. We’re also thrilled to be back in the rehearsal room with long-time Barn Director Joseph O’Malley, who brings humour and heart and to everything he does.”
The Barn Theatre is an award-winning producing-house in the heart of the Cotswolds, on a mission to inspire communities and champion the power of storytelling.
And if you hear a faint “dum-di-dum-di-dum-di-dum,” echoing across the stalls? Don’t be alarmed. That’s just the spirit of Godfrey Baseley, smiling down from the great studio in the sky.
🧺 Tartan blanket? ✔
📻 Pocket radio? ✔
🎟️ Tickets? You’d better get moving, darling. This one’s going to sell faster than a flapjack at a village fête.
With rural love and gossipy glee,
Grace x
LISTINGS
TITLE: Haywire – A Not So Everyday Story Of How The Archers Was Born
DATES: Monday 1 September – Saturday 11 October
PRESS NIGHT: Thursday 4 September
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Monday to Saturday @ 7.30pm, Thursday & Saturday @ 2:30pm
VENUE: Barn Theatre, 3 Beeches Road, Cirencester, GL7 1BN
BOX OFFICE: 01285 648 255 (M-F 10am-10pm, Sa 1pm-10pm)
WEBSITE: http://barntheatre.org.uk/
AGE GUIDANCE: 13+
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