A BBC spokesperson said: "In line with the latest guidelines from the WHO and Public Health England, we are reducing our broadcasts of The Archers to five per week, in order to help people to maintain a positive mental attitude during these trying times.
“Until the end of April, the show will also replace any speech by Helen or Pip with the sound of chainsaws cutting down thousand-year-old trees, which our test audiences said was ‘much more pleasant’.”
In other news, production of EastEnders and Coronation Street will not be affected, since most of the parts are already played by autoclave-safe robots.