[12] She made her debut as a singer in 1926, at the age of 19, when she appeared in a BBC broadcast from the Birmingham School of Music, where she was training.

[13] She later studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where she gained many awards, including the Westmorland Scholarship,[14] the Isabel Jay Gold Medal and the Acton Bond Diction Prize.

[11] Berryman made her acting debut in Derby Day at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London in 1932, before returning to the Midlands to run a dress shop.

She returned to performing during the Second World War, appearing in concert parties to entertain the forces stationed in the Midlands.

[26][27] Berryman authored a cookbook, Doris Archer's Farm Cookery Book (ISBN 9780392053815), which was published by Museum Press in 1958.

She was surprised by Eamonn Andrews during a specially arranged rehearsal of The Archers at the BBC Broadcasting House, which she believed was being filmed for Canadian television.

She had her personal writing paper printed with the fictional address of "Brookfield Farm, Ambridge", when, in reality, she lived in a large detached house in Wolverhampton.

[34] She had a special chair in The Archers green room because of her arthritis, which she said started when she was chased by a rhinoceros on safari in South Africa.

[44] Berryman was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1981 New Year Honours on 30 December 1980[50][51] for her services to radio drama.

She left £5,000 equally between the grandchildren of her late friend, Nancy A Marriott, £100 to "my hairdresser", Ester Horswill, and the remainder of her property mostly to relatives.