Jeffrey Archer's 'First Among Equals' part 1, with Shane Whaley (#14)

Political Fictions: political drama on screen and on the page · Aug 20, 2026 · 1h 8m

Cory and Mark are joined by Shane Whaley of the Spybrary podcast this week. Shane has picked for us to watch First Among Equals, a prime time ITV political drama from the 1980s. As its episodes total up to 494 minutes, this time we're dipping into the first episode only. Take a listen to see if we - and you - want to watch the rest of the series. The series is based on the book by Jeffrey Archer, once a highly praised and successful novelist whose books were festooned with quotes praising his literary abilities. With the advantage of hindsight, however, we ask if Jeffrey Archer's work is best…