Government needs to be on the money with forthcoming budget

WATCHED the first episode of The West Wing, for the first time in years, the other night. I’d forgotten how good it was: a dense, fast-paced political drama, packed with dialogue and incident. You knew you were watching something good.

But it burst into greatness when Martin Sheen appeared. He played President Jed Bartlett. But I’d forgotten he was originally intended to be an incidental character. The show was to be about the staff, and the happenings in the backroom of the White House.

So, Bartlett didn’t feature in the first episode until about ten minutes from the end.