Phil Archer when the show began airing nationally on 1 January 1951. During his time with "The Archers", Painting wrote a best-selling book entitled "Forever Ambridge" and wrote over a thousand scripts for the show between 1966 and 1982. Painting was later inducted into the Guinness World Records for being the longest-serving actor, without a break, in a single soap opera. In later years, Painting's appearances on the show became limited due to his ill health. On 29 October 2009, two days after he had gone to the recording studio, Painting died. BBC Radio 4 controller, Mark Damazer, said "Norman Painting was
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