First Among Equals (TV series)
| First Among Equals | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Political drama |
| Based on | First Among Equals by Jeffrey Archer |
| Written by | Derek Marlowe |
| Directed by | Brian Mills |
| Starring |
Jeremy Child James Faulkner David Robb Tom Wilkinson |
| Theme music composer | Richard Harvey |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mervyn Watson |
| Editor(s) | John Bocking D. L. Heyes |
| Running time | 494 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Granada Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 30 September – 2 December 1986 |
First Among Equals is a ten-part serial based on Jeffrey Archer's 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 (Simon Kerslake, MP for Coventry Central and later Pucklebridge; Charles Seymour, MP for Sussex Downs; Raymond Gould, MP for Leeds North; and Andrew Fraser, MP for Edinburgh Carlton) from 1964 to 1991, with each vying to become Prime Minister. Several situations in the novel are drawn from Archer's 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 (including Winston Churchill, Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher, Douglas Hurd, Colonel Gaddafi, Gary Hart and Queen Elizabeth II), this adaptation uses different names for the real-life politicians.
The title of both the novel and the serial is a literal translation of the Latin term primus inter pares, a term used to refer to either the most senior member of a group of equals (peers) or to refer to someone who claims to be just one member of a group of equals when in reality he or she completely dominates said group. This phrase is used to describe the official constitutional status of the British Prime Minister within his Cabinet.
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