Actor June Spencer, who delighted listeners to The Archers – including royalty – for decades with her role as strong-minded Peggy Woolley, has died at the age of 105.
She was the last surviving member of the original cast of the BBC Radio 4 serial.
Her many fans over the years included Queen Camilla, who in 2021 invited her to Clarence House to mark the show’s 70th anniversary, calling her a “true national treasure who has been part of my life, and millions of others, for as long as I can remember”.
Spencer first appeared in The Archers’ pilot episode in 1950, and on air, her storylines saw her character deal with the fallout from alcoholism, gambling and bereavement.
A few years after the show’s launch in 1951, Spencer took a break to focus on her young family, and Thelma Rogers replaced her in the role. She returned in 1961 and remained in the role until her retirement in 2022.
Peggy was often viewed as a traditionalist, a conservative character in the long-running drama, which charts the ups and downs of life in the fictional village of Ambridge.
Peggy’s first husband, Jack Archer, was a gambler and an alcoholic, and her second, Jack Woolley, played by Arnold Peters, suffered from dementia, which led to her being involved in a moving storyline long before the condition became a national talking point.
Spencer’s family shared a statement revealing that the actor had died peacefully in her sleep on Friday (8 November).
“Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years,” the statement read.
Spencer, whose TV credits included Doctors, was praised by her former co-star Graham Seed when she announced her retirement, aged 103, in August 2022. He hailed her “remarkable strength and resilience”.
In a storyline that resonated with real life, Peggy’s second husband, Jack, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2001 – one year after the death of Spencer’s husband of 59 years, Roger Brocksom, from the disease. Spencer and Brocksom had two adopted children: a son, David, who died of alcoholism in 2015, and a daughter, Ros.
Spencer, who had cared for Brocksom since 1992, said during a 2010 appearance on Desert Island Discs: “To start [work on that storyline] so soon after Roger’s death was hard. It gave me wonderful opportunities as an actress, of course, but it was difficult.”
She said that the scriptwriters had offered her the chance to change elements that “didn’t feel right”, but Spencer rejected this suggestion as she found that the scenes were “written beautifully”.
For her services to broadcasting and charity, Spencer was awarded an OBE in 1991 and a CBE in 2017.
She was given an honorary degree by the University of Nottingham as a Doctor of Letters in 2012, and two years later she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2014 BBC Audio Drama Awards.
Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya led the tributes to Spencer, calling her “a longstanding presence and companion for Radio 4 listeners during her exceptional run on The Archers”.
He continued: “Many have grown up with June as Peggy, and listened as she journeyed through life’s many chapters, with all of its ups and downs. In her later years, her portrayal of a devoted wife caring for a husband with dementia, including their very moving final goodbye, was deeply poignant and powerful radio.
“We send all our love and condolences to June’s family and the many people whose lives she touched.”
Jeremy Howe, who has been editor of The Archers since 2018, said that working with Spencer had been “one of the great privileges of my time at the BBC”, adding: “June Spencer wasn’t just a brilliant Peggy Woolley, the ultimate matriarch of Ambridge, but a brilliant actress.
“I only ever worked with her in radio, but her technique, her precision, her delivery were flawless. One of the cast once remarked that in all her time in the show, he had only ever heard her fluff her lines the once.
“She was an actress who revelled in her craft, someone who could score a bullseye with a gently insulting cough as if it were a bon mot from Oscar Wilde.
“She was also a great company member – funny, sharp, warm, never gossipy, but with wonderful stories of the early days of radio drama; self-deprecating and a great companion.”
