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 Grumbleweeds Radio Show predominantly broadcast on BBC Radio 2 between 10pm and 11pm, with repeats on weekend lunchtimes. Key characters included: The Grumbleweeds Radio Show won Best Radio Show Award in the Television and Radio Industries Awards of 1983, the same year that the group were given an ITV television series. A half-hour Christmas special, "Wilf In Santaland", broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Christmas Day 1984, switched the usual quickfire sketch-based format for a traditional Christmas pantomime. The following four radio series, running from 1985 to 1988, were produced in a half-hour sitcom format, which was largely an extension of the "Family