Kathy Perks leaves Ambridge: Hedli Niklaus looks back on almost four decades in The Archers
After almost 40 years in Ambridge, Kathy Perks bids farewell to Borsetshire and Hedli Niklaus looks back at her character's time in The Archers.
Kathy was Hedli's third role in The Archers when she began playing her in 1983. Hedli had already appeared as a milk recorder called Libby Jones and a German au pair called Eva Lenz. But it was Kathy that brought her to the centre of village life, running The Bull for a time with her then husband Sid Perks. Meanwhile, off-air, Hedli brought together a community of Archers fans by founding and running the Archers Addicts fan club.
What's it been like playing the role of Kathy again?
I thoroughly enjoyed returning to studio to see my friends and colleagues once more. To be honest I’ve always felt that the actors in The Archers slip on their characters like coats as they walk into the studio. And that’s just what happened to me!
How did you find working in The Archers studio with Covid-safe protocols in place?
Oh my goodness – completely weird! Gone were the good old days when we clustered round a microphone, interacting in as near normal a way as in real life. Instead, I was ushered to my place with the other actors for the scene, each one facing the centre of the studio with our own mic. There was a music stand in front of me to hold my script. No subtle entrances or exits, no glancing at each other. An isolated experience that works miraculously on air as we do sound as if we’re in the same space talking to each other.
Tell us about Kathy, when did she first arrive in Ambridge and what sort of role has she played in the village?
Kathy arrived in Ambridge in 1983 as a dark curly haired domestic science teacher – I know the colour of her hair as fans always mentioned it! Radio picture working over-time! She taught Lucy Perks, daughter of landlord of The Bull, Sid Perks, and married him.
She managed to have an affair with local policeman, Dave Barry to the amazement of many teachers who wrote in to ask how she found the time. Sid discovered the affair and threw her out of The Bull, they reconciled, at the age of 42 she had a baby, Jamie (a pillow with a face drawn on it and a spot effects assistant sucking his fingers for the sound of suckling!) There could be nothing like that now! Then Sid had an affair, they divorced and Kenton Archer became Kathy’s new love interest.
Poor Kathy then got raped in the Village Hall by Owen King, a person she had befriended, which was utterly traumatic. Kathy is a good egg I think. She’s reliable and gets on with things. Her friendship with Pat Archer (Patricia Gallimore) was one of her storyline threads, mirrored by our personal friendship off-air which made those scenes very easy to play.
What would you choose as your highlights of being in The Archers?
When you are in The Archers you are very aware of being part of an institution and it is the gateway to all sorts of experiences:
• Working with characters from the Golden Age – Dan and Doris Archer, Jethro Larkin, Nelson Gabriel, Walter Gabriel, Tom Forrest, Martha Woodford, Marjorie Antrobus.
• Writing The Book of The Archers with Patricia Greene (Jill Archer) and Charles Collingwood (Brian Aldridge).
• Running the fan club, Archers Addicts for 23 years, meeting the fans of the show and hearing their stories
• All the amazing Archers Addicts cruises!
• Hearing that the rape storyline had helped victims of rape who can’t talk about the experience, and felt that the story gave them a voice.
We're hearing Kathy again after a few years of her not featuring in storylines, what do you think she's been up to away from our prying ears?
I thought she was either in a cupboard or up a tree with Jamie (her tree surgeon son). Or learning to be a lap dancer. Kathy had a wild side that was never fully investigated.
Helen's abusive husband Rob Titchener was last known to be in Minneapolis. Could Kathy stop off there while on her US trip and let us know what he's up to?
Certainly not! She loathes him, wouldn’t go near him and thinks he’s best forgotten and out of everyone’s lives!
What do you hope for Kathy as she enters retirement?
I think she meets up with Oliver by chance on a cruise, they fall lyrically in love, she is spoiled to death and radiantly happy.
