大象传媒

Ben Norris joins the Brookfield family as Ben Archer. His first episode sees him and best friend , joy riding in the Home Farm four by four on shoot land.

Totally over the moon. I had such a lovely time at the audition - everyone on the team made me feel so welcome, including Tim who came in to read scenes with me as my dad David - so to be invited to join that team myself is incredibly exciting. The Archers is such an institution, it really is a huge honour, not just to be part of the show but to be an actual Archer too!

Ben Norris

2. Archers credentials?

My mum is a huge Archers fan, so it was always on in the kitchen when I was growing up. Like most people, I think I could sing the theme tune long before I knew what it was the theme tune for. I always thought of it as my mum's programme, but found myself getting engrossed if I happened to be near the radio while it was on, and manufacturing reasons to stay in the kitchen until the episode finished because I was secretly hooked. After I left home I must admit I didn't keep up with it for a few years, but the recent Rob and Helen storyline that hit the news really grabbed my attention again, and it was fantastic hearing so many people talking about the Archers (and having even bigger conversations as a result). My mum and her partner are still avid listeners (as are most of their friends and my other relatives!), so they've all been getting terribly excited about me joining the cast...speculating about what the storylines are going to be, etc. Of course I'm going to tell them nothing!

As well as working with such a lovely group of people, I think the thing I'm most looking forward to is really immersing myself in the world of The Archers, in the comings-and-goings of Ambridge, and properly learning about farming and agriculture (quite appropriate, given the idea behind The Archers' original conception!). I'm from Nottingham, and have only lived in cities for my entire life (Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff and now London), so my knowledge and appreciation of the countryside has hitherto only been as a visitor, an outsider, and so very limited. I can't wait to learn more about it, and really roll my sleeves up (hopefully literally).

I'll need to dig out my wellies, which I genuinely don't think I've seen since Glastonbury 2009! The early mornings will be a bit of a shock I'm sure, but I'll get used to it. I actually love waking up early and rising with the sun, provided I got to bed early enough...