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 any soap in Europe outside of the United Kingdom. The highest-rated soap opera is "Thuis", which has aired on "één" since late 1995. "Thuis" is often one of the five most-watched Belgian shows and regularly garners over one million viewers (with 6.3 million Flemmings in total). During the 1990s, foreign soap operas such as "Neighbours" and "The Bold and the Beautiful" were extremely popular, the latter having achieved a cult status in Belgium and airing in the middle of the decade during prime time. Both soaps still air today, along with other foreign soaps such as "Days of Our Lives",