Watching The Diplomat (Netflix) you may find yourself wondering, would the real president and first lady of America romp merrily in a hilarious clinch in a Chequers boudoir as the fate of nations hangs in the balance? And would the vice-president and their spouse bicker snappily about each other’s shortcomings in front of the president as the worst US-UK diplomatic crisis for 200 years hits? The temptation, in our mad world, is to say: who knows? But the script certainly seems to get it right when it says the vice-president here “has the subtlety of a kidney stone”.

That a good deal of the above would never happen (Donald and Melania Trump romping merrily?) of course does nothing to stop The Diplomat from being such a smart-witted pleasure. Keri Russell, as the US ambassador Kate Wyler, and Rufus Sewell as Hal, her high-flying politico husband, deliver their marital/political sparring with more zing than any TV couple around.

For the uninitiated, this show’s labyrinth of sex and conspiracy began with Russell’s diplomat becoming ambassador to crusty old Britain — just in time for the bombing of the UK warship HMS Courageous, which leaves 41 British soldiers dead. (A spoiler ahead for those not up to date.)

The fallout of the attack has rumbled on but, by season three, the stakes are raised higher than JFK on amphetamines. Why? President Rayburn (Michael McKean) collapses and dies on the spot after Hal’s bombshell news about his flawed VP, Grace Penn (Allison Janney).

So we pick things up in full-pelt pandemonium. After all, what does happen if you’re a vice-president abroad when your boss suddenly dies? Where do you even get sworn in? As they frantically try to find a Bible — “a real one, written by Jesus!” — it’s the sort of situation that could be the premise for a satire in the vein of The Death of Stalin although, rather than approaching farce, the streak of humour here is applied deftly.

Halfway through season three an even bigger crisis wanders in, stage right. Caught bang in the centre are Kate and Hal, whose complicated marriage is about to become even more fraught after a role-reversing twist — and even their façade could crack when a handsome negotiator (Aidan Turner in clean-cut, charming mode) enters the fray.

It’s all happening and that’s before you get to the mini-West Wing reunion: Janney’s husband is played by Bradley Whitford (once Josh Lyman to her CJ) and their scenes are a particular joy, matching Kate and Hal for microdynamics teetering on the edge of political catastrophe. Debora Cahn was once a writer on The West Wing and Whitford delivers a line such as “I’m going to visit every place on the property where Winston Churchill took a shit” with a likeable cynicism.

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Indeed how many other series can indulge in a dinner-time repartee about Schrödinger and Heisenberg in front of a surly prime minister (Rory Kinnear) without missing a beat? It’s the sort of series where, at the end, you look back and realise quite how close to demented the affairs of state — and the loins — have been and how much you don’t mind. Not when it’s this savvy and fabulously entertaining.
★★★★☆
All episodes of The Diplomat are available on Netflix

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