It wasn’t just an unexpected storm that hit The Archers in recent episodes, when the River Am burst its banks, residents were evacuated from homes and farmers battled to save livestock.

The BBC was inundated by complaints from viewers, who took exception to the background rain noise and the live, rolling news updates and real-time blogging which accompanied the week-long storyline.

For some, the high drama was just too much. One listener said: “I thought the acting sounded good last night but the storyline was too stressful. Bring back the Jam and Jerusalem.”

The controversial episodes were written by our very own Tim Stimpson, WGGB member and Deputy Chair. He bravely decided to step out from behind the storm clouds to chair a special event on the flood storyline for the Writers’ Guild West Midlands branch (which took place on March 25 2015 at BBC West Midlands in Birmingham).

Joining him were Archers editor Sean O’Connor, agricultural editor Graham Harvey and Pip Archer herself, Daisy Badger.

Above photo showing a view from Hanbury Church, Worcestershire, the fictional setting of Ambridge in The Archers (Photo: Shutterstock/David Hughes)