Jeffrey Archer saying that his words had been "taken out of context". Archer resigned as deputy chairman in October 1986 due to a scandal caused by an article in "The News of the World", which led on the story "Tory boss Archer pays vice-girl" and claimed Archer had paid Monica Coghlan, a prostitute, £2,000 through an intermediary at Victoria Station to go abroad. Shortly after "The News of the World" story broke, rival tabloid the "Daily Star" ran a story alleging Archer had paid for sex with Coghlan, something "The News of the World" had been careful to avoid stating directly. Archer
Jeffrey Archer Strauss and Sam Neill. The following year, Granada TV screened a 10-part adaptation of another Archer bestseller, "First Among Equals", which told the story of four men and their quest to become Prime Minister. In the U.S. edition of the novel, the character of Andrew Fraser was eliminated, reducing the number of protagonists to three. As well as novels and short stories, Archer has also written three stage plays. The first, "Beyond Reasonable Doubt", opened in 1987 and ran at the Queen's Theatre in London's West End for over a year. However, Archer's next play, "Exclusive", was not well received