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 Russell Brand Show (radio show) with an Oasis song in Lock's Elvis Presley voice. The show was transferred to BBC Radio 2, the UK's most popular radio station, from Saturday 18 November 2006 in the 9pm11pm timeslot. The Radio 2 controller at the time, Lesley Douglas, who was also the controller of 6Music, said "Russell established himself as a genuine radio talent on 6 Music and has done a brilliant job there. Radio 2 gives him a fresh challenge, and a new audience. He proved a hit with Radio 2 listeners when he stood in for Mark Radcliffe earlier this year". In October 2006, BBC