The Archers soon acquired a devoted national following, so much so that when the scriptwriters staged the death of one of its principal characters, Grace Archer, in a stable fire, the nation went into a collective state of shock. Since then, times have changed in the fictional rural community of Ambridge, and yet the central focus has remained on how everyday life is lived in rural England.

Despite the passing years, The Archers still lays claim to one unbroken element of continuity to its earliest days in the form of Norman Painting, who has played the part of Phil Archer for more than half a century.