BBC drama The Archers has been slammed for seemingly underplaying the government’s inheritance tax raid on farms.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer have faced fury from farmers after they announced reforms to inheritance tax in last month’s Budget.
Farmers will have to pay a 20 per cent rate on land and property they inherit worth more than £1million or more from April 2026.
It resulted in more than 10,000 farmers and high-profile supporters including Jeremy Clarkson and Lord Lloyd Webber descended on Westminster to protest against the controversial policy earlier this month.
However, the topic was only given a 30-second mention on The Archers, one of the BBC’s flagship rural shows, when it was aired on November 22.
In the episode, farmer David Archer, who is one of the show’s main characters, said: ‘There’s a lot of anger about this new inheritance tax on farms.’
His friend Leonard Berry then replied: ‘But we need those taxes to pay for things like the NHS.’
This was the only time the topic of the inheritance tax changes was approached during the episode.
The government’s inheritance tax raid was given a 30-second mention on The Archers, one of the BBC’s flagship rural shows, when it was aired on November 22
In the episode, farmer David Archer, who is one of the show’s main characters, said: ‘There’s a lot of anger about this new inheritance tax on farms’
His friend Leonard Berry then replied: ‘But we need those taxes to pay for things like the NHS’
Listeners of the show have since hit out at the show runners for not reflecting the difficulties it has brought on the farming community.
Taking to Digital Spy online forum, one listener said: ‘So the whole [massive] issue of the proposal to make inheritance tax applicable to farm land was given just these astonishingly bad three lines of dialogue.
‘It’s what all farmers in every part of the country are talking about incessantly, [including] all the farmers in my family, which is a lot.’
Another on X (formerly Twitter) added: ‘I wondered if they mentioned it. Laughable yet so predictable.’
While someone else said: ‘The BBC seems to have taken on the job of introducing State propaganda via bad *soaps*.
‘Presumably all would-be writers have to submit potential scripts to the Ministry of Creativity for approval.’
‘I do not understand how anyone maintains a) that the BBC has a right wing bias and b) that it is in anyway impartial,’ another wrote.
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance described it as ‘frankly very strange’ with the Archers having previously ‘reflected the grassroots feeling in the farming and rural community even on contentious issues’.
Speaking to the Telegraph he said: ‘Certainly there is a feeling in the rural community that is very widely held, that there isn’t any programming that represents them.
‘If even the Archers – which is a programme about farming families – can’t tackle the really challenging issues – that only reinforces people’s concerns about the BBC’s approach to the countryside.
‘These are perfectly relevant issues to explore – surely the Archers is exactly the place where that discussion should be taking place.’
A BBC spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The Archers team meticulously research every farming story with our dedicated Farming and Countryside Advisor to ensure we accurately reflect the big issues within the rural community.
‘We have plans to explore Inheritance Tax in more depth in future episodes but The Archers is a drama which is recorded many months in advance and is not able to respond to topical stories in the same way that other programmes can, such as Farming Today – where we have covered the story fully – as well as across BBC News.’
