What would The Archers be without the tune?

This famous signature tune tune was written twenty five years before it was chosen for the BBC's longest-running radio soap, The Archers. This is the story. The music was picked at random by the producer, whose budget would not stretch to paying a composer to write something specially.

What would the programme be without it? A couple of weeks ago I wrote an blog piece about why the Introit should be sung. The Introit music is the signature tune for the Mass, and sets the theme for the day. Unlike the Archers' tune, the music was composed with the aim of setting precisely the right mood for the theme.