Neil Carter is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap
opera, The Archers. The character was introduced in February 1973 by
producer Tony Shryane and has gone from a naïve teenager to a pillar
of the local community. He has remained on the show for 46 years,
making Hewlett one of the longest-serving soap opera actors in the
world.Neil is the husband of Susan Carter, and father to Emma Grundy
and Christopher Carter. He is also the grandfather of George and Keira
Grundy. He has been involved in many storylines, mainly centred around
his job as a pig farmer and his family, including being elected to the
parish council and the imprisonment of his wife Susan in 1993 for
harbouring her criminal brother, Clive.Hewlett says the character has
many "laudable qualities which make him a decent person to know" while
the official Archers website describes him as "down-to-earth" and
"unpretentious".Brian Hewlett was starring in a stage performance in
1966 with Bob Arnold, who played Tom Forrest on The Archers. Bob made
a casting suggestion years later to the show's producer, Tony Shryane,
about enlisting Brian for the role. Shryane told Hewlett after his
first recording that "we might write Neil in for a few episodes".
"Neil came in as a teenager, an apprentice at Brookfield Farm,"
Hewlett says. "I was older but I was playing the role of teenagers in
radio at the time. Tony said I could pick any Midlands accent I liked,
so it really was open." Hewlett remembers the character being
"nervous" about being around animals, and how Neil made some "ghastly
errors" on his first day on the job.
opera, The Archers. The character was introduced in February 1973 by
producer Tony Shryane and has gone from a naïve teenager to a pillar
of the local community. He has remained on the show for 46 years,
making Hewlett one of the longest-serving soap opera actors in the
world.Neil is the husband of Susan Carter, and father to Emma Grundy
and Christopher Carter. He is also the grandfather of George and Keira
Grundy. He has been involved in many storylines, mainly centred around
his job as a pig farmer and his family, including being elected to the
parish council and the imprisonment of his wife Susan in 1993 for
harbouring her criminal brother, Clive.Hewlett says the character has
many "laudable qualities which make him a decent person to know" while
the official Archers website describes him as "down-to-earth" and
"unpretentious".Brian Hewlett was starring in a stage performance in
1966 with Bob Arnold, who played Tom Forrest on The Archers. Bob made
a casting suggestion years later to the show's producer, Tony Shryane,
about enlisting Brian for the role. Shryane told Hewlett after his
first recording that "we might write Neil in for a few episodes".
"Neil came in as a teenager, an apprentice at Brookfield Farm,"
Hewlett says. "I was older but I was playing the role of teenagers in
radio at the time. Tony said I could pick any Midlands accent I liked,
so it really was open." Hewlett remembers the character being
"nervous" about being around animals, and how Neil made some "ghastly
errors" on his first day on the job.
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