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
Grace Archer "Sunday Mercury" called Grace's death "One of the most controversial events in Ambridge history." Nick Collins, writing for "The Daily Telegraph", named Grace's death as one of "The Archers<nowiki>'</nowiki>" most shocking storylines In 2011, listeners voted Grace's death as their fifth most potent "Archers" memory in a poll conducted on the BBC's "Archers" website. The storyline received 9.7% of the vote. The scene is mentioned in the British comedy The Good Life series 3 episode 1. Grace Archer Grace Archer (née Fairbrother) (April 2, 1930 – September 22, 1955) is a fictional character from the BBC's long-running radio soap, "The