"The Archers": Death on the Am Quiz

Answer: Midnight

The BBC maintain that it was pure coincidence that a major character died in this popular radio soap opera on the very evening commercial television started in the UK. Grace and Phil Archer were dining at Grey Gables with John and Carol Tregorran on 22 September 1955, the day of Princess Ira von Furstenburg's wedding in Venice, when Grace went outside to look for a lost earring.

She came back screaming for help because the stables were on fire and John and Phil helped her lead the horses to safety.

Then Midnight, her sister-in-law Chris's horse, for some reason went back into the burning building and Grace followed. The roof collapsed and Grace was pinned under a fallen beam. She died in Phil's arms on the way to hospital.

Answer: When he was knocked down by a branch from a tree he and David Archer were trimming.

It was his uncle Bob Larkin who was killed in a tussle over a gun with the gamekeeper, Tom Forrest. Both the other accidents did happen to Jethro, but it was the one with the tree which proved fatal in 1987.

Answer: He was late for a hen party.

That evening lawyer Mark was kept late at work with a difficult case, so he was hurrying home as he had promised to wait at table for the hen party his wife Shula was hosting for her friend Caroline. As he drove through the lanes on his way back to Ambridge he was overtaken by a reckless driver on a blind bend and had to swerve to avoid a horsewoman who had been thrown from her mount as a result.

In an ironic twist, the horse woman was the bride-to-be Caroline and her engagement to the vicar, Robin Stokes was a later casualty of the accident.

Answer: Guy Pemberton

Poor Caroline, after her adulterous dalliance with Brian and her broken engagement to Robin Stakes, she finally made it to the altar on 11 September 1995, only to be widowed on 12 April 1996. To add insult to injury, against Caroline's wishes, Guy was buried next to his first wife in Suffolk.

Answer: Tom's 17th birthday

When John failed to return to the house for Tom's birthday tea, Tom and Tony set out to look for him, and Tony found his son's lifeless body beneath the overturned vintage Ferguson tractor.

Answer: Argentina

No one knows where Nelson went after he spent Christmas 1997 in Spain with Julia Pargetter and her sister Ellen. A letter was received from Madrid with instructions for winding up his business interests, and he phoned Elizabeth in April 1998 to wish her a happy birthday.

The news came in 2001 of his death in Argentina. When the death certificate was translated it said he had died of "heart failure". His funeral was held at St. Stephen's parish church in Ambridge on 6 April 2001.

Answer: Greg Turner

After his ex-wife Michelle, who had moved to France with their teenage daughters Sonja and Annette, announced that he was to have no further contact with his girls, Greg resigned from his job at Home Farm so as to be able to go to France to visit them.

However, the visit was not a success and upon his return to Ambridge, Greg's relationship with Helen Archer collapsed under the strain and she moved out of their cottage. Greg claimed to have applied for a new job, but in fact had decided he couldn't go on.

Answer: On Lakey Hill

Phil and David were led to the body by Walt, George's faithful dog. The listeners first inkling that something was amiss came when Christine, who was in Jaxx Caff taking a break from shopping with her sister-in-law Jill, had "a very odd feeling". When Phil arrived at Glebe Cottage, Chris knew straight away that his news was of George.

Answer: Julia Pargetter-Carmichael

The much loved and respected actress had just finished recording "The Archers" at the BBC's Birmingham studios, when she collapsed and died. As Alison Dowling, who played her daughter-in-law Elizabeth, said at the time: "What an exit - the remarkable actress Mary Wimbush enjoyed a cigarette, recorded a perfect scene, left "The Archers" studio with elegance and pride, and passed away quickly in her second home, the BBC."

Answer: Because the actress who played her wanted to emigrate to New Zealand.

The actress whose untimely death caused the death of her character was Mary Wimbush. The exit of Pamela Craig who played Betty for 31 years was already being plotted at the time it became necessary to kill off Julia Pargetter, but the producers decided to go ahead as originally planned, as in real life coincidences do happen. Pamela and her husband Patrick decided to emigrate to Christ church in New Zealand to be closer to their grandchildren, so just before Christmas 2005, after a warning attack earlier in the month, Betty's heart gave way.