1. Princess Margaret appeared as herself in 1984 to highlight the children's charity the NSPCC, of which she was president.

2. The writers have to produce a week’s worth of scripts each in just 14 days.

3. Episodes are recorded every four weeks; 24 are recorded in six days.

4. None of the actors, even those playing major characters, are employed to work on the series full-time.

5. The Office star Lucy Davis, who played receptionist Dawn, was the voice of Hayley in The Archers for several years. Lucy's dad is the comedian Jasper Carrott.

6. In May 2006, Archers' fans broke BBC records - 756,730 tuned in to the show via the internet.

7. The BBC World Service launched an Afghan soap opera in 1994 called New Home, New Life, based on The Archers. It now has 35 million listeners.

8. Radio actress Josefina Ray, mother of Archers’ writer Nawal Gadalla, provided the voices for Willie, Mrs Scrubbit and the baby in The Woodentops.

9. Charles Collingwood, who plays Brian Aldridge, is the real-life partner of Judy Bennett, who plays Shula.

10. Other celebrity guests on the show have included the actor Richard Todd and musician and broadcaster Humphrey Lyttelton