The Archers is the world's longest-running radio soap opera. The British production, which has had more than 18,100 episodes, is broadcast on Radio 4, the BBC's main spoken-word channel. Originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", it is now described as "contemporary drama in a rural setting". Originally established to educate farmers and thus increase food production after World War II, The Archers rapidly became a major source of entertainment for urban as well as rural audiences, attracting nine million listeners by 1953.