The BBC attempted to upstage ITV at its launch with a dramatic death in The Archers, newly released documents have revealed.

The corporation's archives were opened for the first time today. Among the documents newly made public was a 1955 memo from the controller of the Home Service radio station about its flagship soap.

"The more I think about it, the more I believe that a death of a violent kind in The Archers, timed, if possible, to diminish interest in the opening of commercial television in London, is a good idea," wrote H Rooney Pelletier.

The plan was put into action. On the night that ITV began broadcasting Grace Archer - having just married Phil - was killed off in a house fire.

Other items from the archive, dating back to 1922 when the BBC was founded, are available through its website.