First Among Equals is a ten-part serial based on Jeffrey Archers 1984 novel First Among Equals, produced by Granada Television for the ITV network and first shown in 1986.As in the novel, the series follows the careers and personal lives of four fictional British politicians from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister. Several situations in the novel are drawn from Archers own early political career in the British House of Commons. While the novel depitcts the fictional characters interacting with actual political figures from the UK and elsewhere, this adaptation uses different names for the real-life politicians.