The character was introduced in February 1973 by producer Tony Shryane[1] and has gone from a naïve teenager to a pillar of the local community.

He has been involved in many storylines, mainly centred around his job as a pig farmer and his family, including being elected to the parish council and the imprisonment of his wife Susan in 1993 for harbouring her criminal brother, Clive.

Hewlett says the character has many "laudable qualities which make him a decent person to know" while the official Archers website describes him as "down-to-earth" and "unpretentious".

[1] Brian Hewlett was starring in a stage performance in 1966 with Bob Arnold, who played Tom Forrest on The Archers.

Bob made a casting suggestion years later to the show's producer, Tony Shryane, about enlisting Brian for the role.

"[2] Hewlett remembers the character being "nervous" about being around animals, and how Neil made some "ghastly errors" on his first day on the job.

In one broadcast, Neil "ploughed up a field of wheat thinking it was grass" and left the farm gate open.

[5] During this time, Neil was a food rep and while Susan was in prison, he felt the temptation of a lonely farmer's wife.