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
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series) now digitally remastered, was also included with "The Return of the King" set, with a demo of John Le Mesurier singing "Bilbo's Last Song" included as a bonus track. The 13-episode series was also rerun on Radio 4 in 2002. The series has not been heard on the digital BBC archive station BBC Radio 4 Extra, despite frequent requests, reportedly because of copyright issues. The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series) In 1981 BBC Radio 4 produced a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" in 26 half-hour stereo installments. The novel had previously been