Phil Archer fan will." Phil Archer Philip Walter Archer is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap opera "The Archers", played by Norman Painting. He made his first appearance on 29 May 1950, the show's pilot episode. The character later became the longest serving male character in the series. His longevity gave him something of the status of a 'patriarch' in Ambridge. Norman Painting joined the cast as Phil Archer, the "handsome" son of Dan (Harry Oakes) and Doris Archer (Gwen Berryman), for the show's pilot episode broadcast on the BBC Midlands Home Service on 29 May 1950, he
The Archers change anything." Vanessa Whitburn was succeeded as editor by Sean O'Connor in September 2013. In September 2016, Huw Kennair-Jones took over as editor though O'Connor continued to oversee the Helen and Rob storyline until its conclusion.. Kennair-Jones announced in October 2017 that he was to leave the BBC to work as commissioning editor for ITV.. The short presence of two successive Archers editors in the job led to concerns that there might be a trend of radio drama editing being seen as “training ground” for higher-paid positions in TV. Alison Hindell, the BBC’s head of Audio Drama until October 2018,