Patricia Greene

Does being at the heart of a storyline that causes great interest in Archers listeners make you more nervous?

You don't think about the numbers when you do it. You think about where you are in that kitchen, and mostly in the kitchen. and you try to be your character as hard as you can. It's just that one's own foibles, you know, will I fluff? Will I lose my voice? Things like that that make you nervous.

When you go into an unfamiliar paper shop or pub, do people sort of start back?

Sometimes they do. I was in Waitrose some years ago. And it was a very difficult storyline between Brian Aldridge Charles Collingwood and an Irish lady he was having a love affair with. Siobhan. It was Chiobon. And it was reaching a climax. And a lady I hadn't met ever before came up to me and waved her, she grabbed my arm and she said, 'I've been invited out to drinks on Friday. May I go?' I said, yes, you may.

What have been your favourite storylines in The Archers?

I like them all. I'm really pleased about the the Titchener story because I think that this business about bullying wives and being nasty to wives. It's time it was aired, and I'm fairly glad that we're doing it. My favourite, very, very favourite story was in the olden days I wasn't allowed anywhere near the animals really. But one day a golden eagle came into the yard at Brookfield, and Giles was the first person to see it. And that was quite thrilling, 'cause I'm a bit of a bird watcher.

What made your three years at the Central School of Speech and Drama so special?

We were in the Albert Hall for starters, right at the top, and I went to London in nineteen fifty one, which was festival year, so Britain was in festival mood and trying to throw off the bleakness of post war Britain, and it was just like champagne. I laughed for a term. Everything was new. It was the most exhilarating time of my life.

How did you cope with your husband's death when your son was around fourteen?

I was really more concerned with what it would do to him, and of course he would he wouldn't say. And then you see the guilt of being old and having a child. So the guilt became worse because not only had you to bring up this child with no money, but you had to stay alive because you didn't want to make him an orphan.

Is being surrounded by other women working an important part of your life?

I just think women are wonderful. In every way. I just adore it. And uh soap operas, really. They're the only programme where there are more parts for women than men, which is amazing, isn't it, really?

How does it feel to be part of the Archers?

You don't ask yourself how it feels, you just do it. After a lot of years, it's just second nature, really, plus nerves.

What have been your favourite storylines in The Archers over the years?

I like them all. I'm really pleased about the the Titchener story, because I think that this business about bullying wives and being nasty to wives. It's time it was aired, and I'm fairly glad that we're doing it. My favourite, very, very favourite story was in the olden days I wasn't allowed anywhere near the animals really. But one day a golden eagle came into the yard at Brookfield, and Giles was the first person to see it. And that was quite thrilling, 'cause I'm a bit of a bird watcher.

How on earth did you cope with your husband's death and bringing up your son?

I was really more concerned with what it would do to him, and of course he was he wouldn't say. And then you see the guilt of being old and having a child. So the guilt became worse because not only had you to bring up this child with no money, but you had to stay alive because you didn't want to make him an orphan.

How often do you find yourself having to defend The Archers in public?

I don't ever defend it, but I do listen and everybody knows I listen and they know I take it very seriously, so that I don't think they'd ever dare criticise it to me. We actors, of course, knock it a bit sometimes in the green room, but in the nicest, gentlest way.

Have you ever seriously considered leaving The Archers?

Well, of course I couldn't now, because I couldn't do anything else. Now there was a look in your eye that showed me that you had seriously cared. You see, I did go from time to time when they gave me a bit of time off… I went when Charles was about two, three… I have a loyalty to the programme.