I'VE BEEN POPPING INTO PARLIAMENT during the first few weeks of the recess to interview applicants for a job vacancy in my Westminster office and one in the Immingham office. The response to my ad was fantastic - I received more than 400 applications for the Westminster office.

The ad I placed for the Westminster job tongue in cheek. The starry-eyed aspirants would probably prefer to work for a minister or someone in a very safe seat to establish some sort of job security. So as a backbench MP you have to put more effort into attracting applicants.

It worked - the ad even got picked up by the Guardian diary!

I wanted to demonstrate that there was a fair amount of routine admin that was essential - answering the phone, opening the post, drafting replies, keeping the diary, chasing minister to reply to letters, doing the filing and so on. Yes, there can be moments of high drama, but they are rare. It's less West Wing, more Whoops Apocalypse.

This cult satirical comedy on politics was written by One Foot in the Grave's David Renwick and ran for just six episodes in the 1980s - detailing the six weeks in the run up to World War 3 and subsequent global annihilation (prob why there was no second series). The cast included seasoned comics such as John Cleese, Geoffrey Palmer, John Barron and Peter Jones, alongside new boys Rik Mayall and Alexi Sayle. I think I am right that it was John Cleese the only British TV comedy series John Cleese did after Fawlty Towers.

In the series, the Labour Party, headed by Kevin Pork (played by Peter Jones), are down to 16 per cent in the polls and not expected to win an election (sounds familiar!) But in a shock result, Labour beat the Social Democratic Alliance Party ('Sodemall') and the Tories on a manifesto of nationalising the banks, abolishing the Daily Telegraph (hmmmm), free transport for all, higher pensions, reducing unemployment and increasing all state benefits. To pay for this, Labour abolishes Trident, reduces defence spending by 90 per cent, withdraws from the EU, gets rid of the Civil List and abolishes the Houses of Lord. The manifesto was all written on the back of a fag packet - and implemented in 20 minutes. After the first cabinet meeting, the Labouor PM reveals that he will save the world because he's really...Superman.

Soviet Premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths) is actually dead, but the Soviets simply keep wheeling out lookalikes.  In the 1980s, allegations were rife that when Soviet died, they were replaced by doubles. These days Vladmir Putin, takes off his shirt, bears his chest and leaps on a horse to send a message to Russians that he is fit, alive and very, very well. It speaks volumes to Russians. It speaks volumes to us, too, but in a very different way!

Across the pond, the right-wing, baseball cap wearing US president and his bible-carrying security advisor are less popular than the Charles Manson and the Boston Strangler. They decide to revive their fortunes with a new nuclear bomb. However, a shady terrorist cum arms dealer Lacrobat (John Cleese) gets hold of the bomb - which eventually leads to the end of the world.

Whoops Apocalypse may have been made in the 1980s, but some of the parodies are redolent now. The American president may have been a satire on Ronnie Regan, but with his Bible-carrying security advisor, it could so easily be George W Bush. And a British PM in the midst of a recession, down in the polls and not expected to win an election, who nationalises the banks and thinks he can save the world - well that's plain silly. Isn't it?

10 August 2009