The Bowmans The Bowmans "The Bowmans" is an episode of the BBC television situation comedy programme "Hancock", the final BBC series featuring Tony Hancock, first broadcast on 2 June 1961. It was written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The title is a retronym; the episodes were not originally identified separately. Hancock plays an actor in a fictional radio serial called "The Bowmans", a parody of the real BBC radio programme "The Archers". The theme tune to "The Bowmans" is a close variation by series composer Wally Stott of the real "Archers" theme tune "Barwick Green". Hancock plays Joshua Merriweather, a character
The Archers The Archers The Archers, having aired over 18,700 episodes, is the world's longest-running radio serial. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4the BBC's main spoken-word channelthis soap opera was initially billed, "an everyday story of country folk" and now, "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". Five pilot episodes were aired in 1950 and the first episode was broadcast nationally on 1 January 1951. A significant show in British popular culture, and with over five million listeners, it is Radio 4's most listened-to non-news programme, With over one million listeners via the internet, the programme holds the record for BBC Radio online