The Archers Rich (piano) and Norman Parker (percussion). Robert Robinson once compared the tune to "the genteel abandon of a lifelong teetotaller who has suddenly taken to drink". On April Fool's Day 2004 both "The Independent" and "The Today Programme" claimed that BBC executives had commissioned composer Brian Eno to record an electronic version of "Barwick Green" as a replacement for the current theme, while comedian Billy Connolly included in his act the joke that the theme was so typically British that it should be the national anthem of the United Kingdom. In 2009, comedian Rainer Hersch conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra in
The Archers has been broadcasting the Archers-inspired soap opera "Urunana" ("Hand in Hand") since 1999. "The Archers" was also the model for the Russian radio soap opera "Dom 7, Podyezd 4" ("House 7, Entrance 4"), on which the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, once made a cameo appearance. The Japanese NHK, offers a "morning drama" ("asadora") that runs for 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday on television. This slot was established on radio in the early postwar era and moved to television in 1961. Each series lasts six months, i. e. approximately 150 episodes. All centre on a heroine, usually a