The Archers listening figures. Partly established with the aim towards educating farmers following World War II, "The Archers" soon became a popular source of entertainment for the population at large, attracting nine million listeners by 1953. "The Archers" is set in the fictional village of Ambridge in the fictional county of Borsetshire, in England. Borsetshire is situated between, in reality, the contiguous counties of Worcestershire and Warwickshire, south of Birmingham in The Midlands. Possibly based on the village of Cutnall Green, various other villages claim to be the inspiration for Ambridge; "The Bull", Ambridge's pub, is modelled on The Old Bull in
Soap opera each of the shows with cast reshuffles or spectacular disaster storylines had proved only temporarily successful. "The Young Doctors" and "The Sullivans" continued to be popular. November 1977 saw the launch of successful soap opera/police procedural series "Cop Shop" (1977–1984) produced by Crawford Productions for Channel Seven. In early December 1977 Channel Ten debuted the Reg Grundy Organisation produced "The Restless Years" (1977–1981), a more standard soap drama focusing on several young school leavers. The Seven Network, achieving success with "Cop Shop" produced by Crawford Productions, had Crawfords produce "Skyways", a series with a similar format but set in an