Archers to highlight Family Farm Tax following criticism by Countryside Alliance

Following criticism from the Countryside Alliance, the BBC will be highlighting the issue of the hated Family Farm Tax in their flagship rural programme, The Archers, an actor has revealed.

The BBC was condemned by rural groups, including the Alliance, at the end of last year for failing to address the inheritance tax issue facing farmers.

The Archers is the world’s longest running soap opera – having first been broadcast in 1950.

It has never shied away from political issues affecting rural communities and one leading actor has revealed that the government’s controversial inheritance tax raid on farmers is to be covered in the show too.

Actor Charles Collingwood has one of the most recognisable voices on radio after 50 years playing philandering farmer Brian Aldridge in Radio 4’s flagship rural programme.

The actor said: “It’s important we reflect what is happening and the issues that affect people. It’s wonderful that we can do that. I am very aware of the issue of inheritance tax and the story is being highlighted. I can’t give too much away, but along the line we’ve got to cover that story and I’m sure we’ll do it well."

"I have great sympathy, because it seems to me that farmers are asset rich and cash poor and so my sympathies tend towards the farming community. My guess is Brian would be horrified by the changes, but I haven’t read the scripts yet.”

This follows previous controversy after the BBC came under fire from rural campaigners for appearing to dodge the issue.

The Countryside Alliance urged the BBC to address the inheritance tax issue on the show, saying the omission so far was 'very strange indeed'.

At the time, the Alliance said: "There is a culture there – rural people do not feel represented by the BBC. Certainly, there is a feeling in the rural community that is very widely held, that there isn’t any programming that represents them."

"If even The Archers – which is a programme about farming families – can’t tackle the challenging issues, that only reinforces people’s concerns about the BBC’s approach to the countryside.”

The only reference to the issue was in a November episode, in which one character mentioned anger over the new inheritance tax, and another said that they were needed to pay for the NHS.

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, Director for External Affairs at the Countryside Alliance, commented on the development:

“The Family Farm Tax has been a hammer blow to farmers across the country. The Archers may be a fictional programme, but in real life, thousands of farming families face the loss of their livelihoods. It would have been bizarre for the BBC not to reflect this in their flagship rural programme.”

This story was first covered by the Express.