Norman Painting Norman Painting Norman George Painting (23 April 1924 – 29 October 2009) was an English actor, broadcaster and writer. He played Phil Archer in the BBC Radio 4 soap opera "The Archers" from the pilot episodes aired on the BBC Midlands Home Service in summer 1950, after the series went national on the Light Programme on 1 January 1951, until his death in 2009, when he was the longest-serving member of the cast. His last episode, recorded two days before he died, was broadcast on 22 November 2009. The character lived on until Phil was "found dead" in his armchair
The Archers Green" involving trombones, cymbals and the closing bars of the signature tune - known as the "doom music" to some fan groups. However, this tradition has been dropped more recently, such as the death of Nigel Pargetter when the normal closing music was played despite the gravity of the incident - to the irritation of some followers, who consider the jollity of the normal segment inappropriate in such circumstances. A brief extract from "The Dream of Gerontius" was played following the death of Phil Archer. When John Archer died no music was played. There was a nod to "The Archers"