In 1966 Weavers Green became British television's first rural soap opera. Made by Anglia Television for the ITV network, it capitalised on the popularity of The Archers and offered an alternative to Coronation Street. Set in a Norfolk village, roughly 180 miles east of Ambridge, Weavers Green centred around the life and work of village vet Alan Armstrong (Grant Taylor). Anglia lobbied for Weavers Green to be networked across all ITV regions with two episodes a week. However its success was short lived, and amid some acrimony over scheduling the show was dropped after 25 weeks. Yet its brief run does not detract from the charms of Weavers Green. The drama of farming life was rife with issues of class and wealth, and the scripts deftly balanced these with more personal storylines. Of course, unlike The Archers, the cast and crew of Weavers Green also handled real livestock!