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
The Archers young girl facing challenges (usually in Japanese traditional social ways) to realize her dream. Programmes have often been used as vehicles for discussion of matters of social concern, such as the foster-child system, and to celebrate the locales around Japan where the series are set. Tony Hancock starred in the Galton and Simpson spoof "The Bowmans" in an episode of BBC Television's "Hancock's Half Hour". Ned Sherrin produced a short 1973 film called "The Cobblers of Umbridge". The cast included Joan Sims, Lance Percival, Roy Kinnear, Derek Griffiths and John Fortune. "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme" has parodied "The Archers" with