The Archers Ysanne Churchman, who played Grace, sent them a congratulatory card signed "Grace Archer". In 1996, William Smethurst recounted a conversation with Baseley in which he reveals his real motivation for killing off Grace Archer: Churchman was encouraging the other actors to join a trade union. The actor Norman Painting played Phil Archer continuously from the first trial series in 1950 until his death on 29 October 2009. His last "Archers" performance was recorded just two days before his death, and was broadcast on 22 November. He is cited in "Guinness World Records" as the longest-serving actor in a single soap
Home Front (BBC radio series) Home Front (BBC radio series) Home Front is a British radio drama, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 4 August 2014 and 11 November 2018. Based on historical events exactly one hundred years before the date of broadcast, "Home Front" tells the story of World War I from the perspective of those managing life in wartime Britain. It is part of the BBC's World War I centenary season, with its final episode broadcast on the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. Each twelve-minute episode tells a fictional story set against a background of historical truth with at least one historical ‘fact