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 change anything." Vanessa Whitburn was succeeded as editor by Sean O'Connor in September 2013. In September 2016, Huw Kennair-Jones took over as editor though O'Connor continued to oversee the Helen and Rob storyline until its conclusion.. Kennair-Jones announced in October 2017 that he was to leave the BBC to work as commissioning editor for ITV.. The short presence of two successive Archers editors in the job led to concerns that there might be a trend of radio drama editing being seen as “training ground” for higher-paid positions in TV. Alison Hindell, the BBC’s head of Audio Drama until October 2018,