A devout Christian with a heavy involvement in the Ambridge church and its parish council, Shula has been featured in some of the show's most controversial and high-profile storylines including the death of her first husband Mark, her affair with the village doctor, and her struggles to conceive children which ultimately led to a successful IVF treatment.
The Archers official website describes Shula as being a "pillar of the church" whose "first love was horses" and has a "sometimes troubled heart".
[6] The official The Archers website said Shula had "plenty of boyfriends" upon her return, including Neil Carter and Nigel Pargetter.
In 1978, Shula was dumped by Simon Parker and fled for London, where she found work and began dating her father's former farming student, Nick Wearing.
[6] Flighty Shula finally won the acceptance of her parents when she began dating lawyer Mark Hebden (Richard Derrington).
The union was going over well until Mark took a swipe at the Borchester bench, labelling Shula's father, Phil Archer, and other magistrates as "amateurs".
Tragedy struck later in 1980 when her grandmother Doris Archer (Gwen Berryman) died peacefully in Glebe Cottage.
[8] Shula found Doris, and then made her way over to St Stephen's to tell her Aunt Christine Barford her mother had just died.
A livid Shula, angry at the thought of another woman sharing the home she'd planned to set up with Mark, began dating hippie Ben Warner.
[10] In 1994, Mark was driving home when an out-of-control driver overtook him on a bend, and as he swerved to avoid Caroline Bone's horse, slammed into a tree and was killed instantly.
[5] Shula organised with the local cricket club to commemorate his death annually with the Single Wicket Competition, with the winner awarded the Mark Hebden Trophy.
[10] Simon hit his then girlfriend Debbie Aldridge (Tamsin Greig), who Shula urged to report to the police.
But when she couldn't abandon her beloved Ambridge, Richard departed, making an enemy for Shula of his partner Usha Gupta.
Scouring gambling addiction websites for answers, Shula got Alistair back on track by being more "spontaneous" and taking walks and bike rides.
[11] But the couple would be rocked again when Alistair lost the Brookfield dairy factory contract and began gambling again, this time racking up a total debt of £100,000 – £40,000 on credit cards and £60,000 to Matt Crawford.
[11] The couple remortgaged the business to pay off the debts and Alistair started attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings.
However, it does feel a little bit as if Shula fancies the local builder, doesn't know how to handle that, gets divorced, and then, in the vacuum, discovers a passion for Jesus.
[14] Although Bennett rarely shared scenes with her husband Charles Collingwood's character Brian, they had a chance to act together during her last recording session.
[14] Editor Jeremy Howe praised the character's journey and portrayal by Judy Bennett, stating "Judy's wonderful Shula rarely raises her silken voice, and has always sounded calm and reasonable as she rampaged through the village, travelling from everybody's nightmare image of a teenager across half a century of broken hearts and marriages to becoming a pillar of the Ambridge community.
"[14] Bennett reprised the role in December 2023, as Shula returns to talk to Lilian Bellamy (Sunny Ormonde) about her plans for The Stables.