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The Voice of Joe Grundy

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BBC Radio 4 - The Voice of Joe Grundy

A tribute to Ted Kelsey - The Archers' Joe Grundy - who died earlier this year.

Felicity Finch pays tribute to Ted Kelsey - The Archers' Joe Grundy - who died earlier this year. She starred alongside him as Ruth Archer and interviewed him about his life.

Felicity Finch pays tribute to Ted Kelsey who played Joe Grundy in The Archers for over 30 years before his death earlier this year. Felicity, who often starred alongside him in her role as Ruth Archer, uses an interview she recorded with Ted before he died for the BBC’s Oral History Collection as the starting point to explore his life and work.  

Edward Kelsey was born in Hampshire in 1930 to a dressmaking mother. He attended medical school but soon realised that what he really wanted to do was act and so changed paths. He trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Speech and Drama and went on to win the prestigious Carleton Hobbs Award which gave him a six-month contract on the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company. He never lost his love of radio, both as an actor and writer, and in 1985 took over from Haydn Jones as the great Grundy patriarch Joe in The Archers, recording his poignant final scenes in April this year. 

Joe Grundy was at the heart of endless tales of mischief and misadventure, some wild, some barely legal, as well as having some of the most tragic storylines in Ambridge. All were delivered with irresistible warmth and worldly wisdom that was uniquely Joe, making him one of the programme’s best loved and most memorable characters. 

In this programme Felicity talks to Ted’s sister and daughter, Gillian Denton and Lisbet Thomson, to Trevor Harrison, who plays Joe Grundy’s son Eddie and to Philip Molloy and Barry Farrimond who play his grandsons Will and Ed.  

Edward Kelsey was also the voice of Mr Growbag in Wallace and Gromit’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Colonel K and Baron Greenback in Danger Mouse. He appeared in countless radio dramas over the years, as well as making many television appearances including Doctor Who and the Vicar of Dibley.  


Presenter and Producer: Felicity Finch

You can find out more about the BBC Oral History Collection here: https://connectedhistoriesofthebbc.org/100-voices-that-made-the-bbc/

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