Patricia Greene has tragically died at 94. The actress was best known for her role as the matriarch of the Archer Family in the BBC's hit radio soap opera, The Archers. After being cast as Jill Archer in 1957, Patricia became Britain's longest-running soap star, holding the role until her death. Her death was confirmed at the end of the BBC's Today programme, which announced the sad news, stating: "Patricia Greene, who played Jill Archer in The Archers since 1956, has died."

Despite her record-breaking career accomplishment, Patricia had previously revealed that it was not reflected in her wages. During a shock interview with The Times, the actress revealed she earned only £16,000 for the role in 2017. However, she was matter-of-fact about the relatively small sum, telling the publication: "That’s what we get. We don’t talk money much, we talk content." She was taken aback upon learning the full salaries of some of the broadcaster's highest-paid stars, sparking concern about a huge gender pay gap.

In the 2025 interview, Patricia discovered that Chris Evans was paid over £2million annually while working at the BBC and gasped: "It’s obscene. You don’t earn that kind of money sitting at a microphone, do you? You can’t, it’s just ridiculous."

While she wasn't concerned about pocketing more cash, the star admitted that it would be nice to see some of that sum going towards The Archers' budget.

She explained: "It always makes me laugh that we can only now have six characters per episode because of money, sometimes five, sometimes seven [according to the BBC, the quota is actually 39 voices per week].

"And [sometimes] we have to do [sound effects] that we would have gone and got off a gramophone record or tape but now we have to do it ourselves, it’s ridiculous."

When Patricia joined the cast of BBC Radio 4 in 1957, it was already well established and attracting up to nine million listeners; as a result, the Jill star was not convinced she would ever land a permanent role.

She recalled: "Because I only had one line, I had a drink at lunchtime. The line was, 'Doesn’t she look lovely?' but it came out 'Dubbent debook bubbly?' So they kept me there for an hour, repeating it. Since then, I’ve never had a drink and then worked."

Patricia's dedication to her craft earned her the loving nickname "the nation's grandmother" from loyal listeners who continued to tune in to the 13-minute episodes.

At the time of her death, the BBC star was living in an assisted living facility, which she moved into in August 2023, but continued to record for the programme.

The Archers editor Jeremy Howe led tributes as he told Digital Spy: "Paddy was utterly singular, a fabulous and raucously funny raconteur. Like the best actors when on mic you were never quite sure how she would play a scene, but you knew she would play it brilliantly."

He added: "Her portrayal of Jill was formidable, but also wonderfully warm, loving and enormous fun. It was an incredible privilege to work with her."