Making a drama out of crises at Holyrood

Published on Sunday 9 December 2007 01:05

IT can only become more believable. The machinations of the Scottish Parliament are set to be turned into a West Wing style TV drama by one of Scotland's top drama writers.

BBC Scotland has asked John McKay to produce a pilot episode. His previous credits include directing the new BBC Saturday evening show Robin Hood, and the drama Reichenbach Falls.

McKay has already been to the Scottish Parliament to begin his research for a show. By chance, he happened to be there as beleaguered Labour leader Wendy Alexander was being pursued by a pack of journalists over a party funding scandal.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "It's an idea in development. It's not been formally commissioned yet and it would be premature to say much more at this stage."

McKay will have a challenge on his hands if he wants to make the fictional Scottish Parliament as drama-filled as the real one.

The new Scottish Parliament building was bedeviled by scandal as costs ballooned to 10 times its original budget and a beam in the roof fell free and dangled over the heads of MSPs. First Minister Donald Dewar died just a year after taking office and his replacement, Henry McLeish, resigned after less than a year over the Officegate scandal.

His successor, Jack McConnell, admitted that he had had an affair and then the Tory leader David McLetchie had to step down over an expenses row.

Labour MSP Mike Watson was jailed after a fire-raising incident at a hotel and fellow Labour member Richard Simpson stepped down as a minister after referring to striking firefighters as "fascist b******s".

Tommy Sheridan's sensational libel win over the News of the World, which included accusations he attended swingers' parties, could provide a rich source of material.

The West Wing won a series of awards for its portrayal of the workings of the White House and also won plaudits from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and former presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.

Political parties have even used The West Wing for ideas on how to win votes in parliament. In 2006, the Conservatives inflicted a defeat on Labour by copying a trick from the show where the Democrats had won a vote by hiding in a room, convincing the Republicans that too few of them would be around to win the vote, and then turning up at the last minute to defeat their opponents.