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
Colin Skipp Colin Skipp Colin Skipp (born 1939) is a British actor, best known for playing Tony Archer in the BBC radio series "The Archers" for 46 years. Skipp had played the character of Tony Archer for 46 years (1967–2013), on the date of his retirement, making him the seventh longest continuously serving radio soap actor. The role was taken over in January 2014 by the actor David Troughton. In 2004, he directed the stage play "The Sound of Julie" at the Charles Cryer Theatre, Carshalton, a dramatisation of the life of actress Julie Andrews. Skipp's daughter, Nova, was in the title