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
Paul Mayhew-Archer Paul Mayhew-Archer Paul Mayhew-Archer (born 6 January 1953) is a British writer, producer and script editor for the BBC. Before becoming a script writer for the BBC, Mayhew-Archer worked in radio as a producer of comedy programmes including "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue", and before that as an English teacher. His most notable works are "The Vicar of Dibley" (main co-writer with Richard Curtis, the series' creator) and "My Hero" (main co-writer with creator Paul Mendelson), although he has also script-edited "Old Harry's Game" (which he also produces), "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps", "Grownups", "Home