When Whitehall Meets ‘The West Wing’

I’ll miss The West Wing too:

If there is one place where the end of the Bartlet administration will be mourned more than in Washington, it is in Whitehall, the home of the British government. “The West Wing,” which will end its seven-year run [Sunday night], enjoys cult status among the British political class. …

The infatuation with “The West Wing” had a serious side, too. It meant that Blair’s camp was used to seeing things from the American point of view — a perspective that can make actual U.S. proposals feel more reasonable. In effect, the show acted as a distance-learning Fulbright: It helped Blairites reject the old left’s anti-Americanism while providing them with a liberal pro-American narrative.

When Whitehall Meets ‘The West Wing’.