The Archers: Final original cast member to retire from radio show after more than 70 years

June Spencer, the last original cast member of BBC Radio 4 programme The Archers, is retiring from the show at age 103.

The voice actor has played matriarch Peggy Woolley (formerly Archer) since 1951, when the show debuted.

She has already recorded her final episodes for the much-loved drama. According to The Telegraph, her final episode was broadcast on 31 July.

Spencer told the paper her exit has been a long time coming. “I’ve been trying to retire for at least a year,” she revealed.

“They didn’t want to lose her character. Every time I tried to stop they gave me more episodes.”

Peggy was often viewed as a traditionalist and was a conservative character in the long-running drama charting the ups and downs of life in fictional Ambridge.

Among Peggy’s many fans is the Duchess of Cornwall, who last year invited Spencer and her co-stars to Clarence House for a reception marking the show’s 70th anniversary.

In a statement published in The Telegraph, Camilla called Peggy “a true national treasure who has been part of my life, and millions of others, for as long as I can remember”.

Although Peggy has not yet been written out of the show, Spencer has her own ideas on how best to manage her character’s exit.

She said: “The simplest thing is if [Peggy has] a fall or something and goes into The Laurels [the fictional care home in Ambridge].

“She can languish for years there.”