The Archers Ysanne Churchman, who played Grace, sent them a congratulatory card signed "Grace Archer". In 1996, William Smethurst recounted a conversation with Baseley in which he reveals his real motivation for killing off Grace Archer: Churchman was encouraging the other actors to join a trade union. The actor Norman Painting played Phil Archer continuously from the first trial series in 1950 until his death on 29 October 2009. His last "Archers" performance was recorded just two days before his death, and was broadcast on 22 November. He is cited in "Guinness World Records" as the longest-serving actor in a single soap
Who Shot Phil? Who Shot Phil? "Who Shot Phil?" is a storyline of the BBC soap opera "EastEnders" which began on 1 March 2001 and climaxed on 5 April 2001. The storyline centres around one of "EastEnders"' longest running characters, Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden). The build up to the storyline occurs throughout 2000-2001. The character becomes darker and a more menacing side to his personality begins to surface. Phil's behaviour thus earns him a number of sworn enemies in Albert Square. These include his former girlfriend Lisa Shaw, Lisa's new boyfriend Mark Fowler, his former step-son Ian Beale, former business partner