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
In the Red (TV series) the characters of Charles Prentis, played by Stephen Fry, and Martin McCabe, played by John Bird, who also appeared in the radio adaptation of the book (BBC Two, 1995-1999), were featured in their own spin-off series "Absolute Power" (BBC Radio 4, 2000-2006/BBC Two, 2003-2005), which was also created and written by Tavener. In the Red (TV series) In the Red is a three-part BBC Two black comedy-crime drama 1998 series featuring Warren Clarke as BBC Reporter George Cragge and Alun Armstrong as Police Superintendent Frank Jefferson, investigating a series of murders of London bank managers, a small political party contesting