The West Wing's final episode was broadcast last weekend in the US, ending an era of political escapism, writes Oliver Burkeman

Corridors that once echoed to the sound of White House staffers walking and talking very fast fell silent last weekend as the final episode of The West Wing was broadcast in the United States, bringing seven years of political escapism to a close.

The parallel presidency of Josiah Bartlet hooked American Democrats - and many Europeans - with its bizarre fantasy world in which the head of state was hyper-literate, absorbed in the details of policy, and surrounded by idealists. At its height, 17 million people in the US turned on each week for the series' machine-gun dialogue and inspirational storylines. But the US's changing political climate and the departure of star writer Aaron Sorkin both contributed to the show's demise.

The final episode showed the inauguration of Bartlet's successor, for whom the election is still a close-run contest between the moderate Republican, Arnold Vinick (played by Alan Alda), and Texas Democrat Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits).

Former stars of the show, including Rob Lowe, had returned for the closing series, joining Martin Sheen as Bartlet, and Alison Janney's immensely popular character, press-secretary-turned-chief- of-staff CJ Cregg, though last-minute plot changes were introduced after John Spencer, who played former chief of staff and vice-presidential candidate Leo McGarry, died late last year.

Sorkin wrote early episodes in cocaine-fuelled bursts locked in a hotel room - often leaving actors being paid to stand around waiting for his scripts - before entering rehab in 2001 and leaving the series in 2003. Describing his schedule at the time, he said: "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I freak out, 'cos I haven't thought of what next week's show is. Thursday, I start yelling at people because I haven't thought of what next week's show is. Friday, I go, 'Oh my God, there's going to be half an hour of dead air' . . . and then it finally gets done."

But Vanity Fair writer Michael Wolff said Sorkin's successors had forgotten that the show was as much about office life as the intricacies of politics.

"It was a Democratic show, about Democrats, written literally by people who had come from the Clinton administration, and I think it fell victim to the small-bore interests of liberal people," said Wolff.

The first three years of the show had been "nostalgia for the Clinton administration", he added, "and the last three years have been nostalgia for the nostalgic show about the Clinton administration".

The series first aired in the closing months of Clinton's time in office and the president liked it so much he invited Sorkin to the White House.

But Janney has said she has "a feeling President Bush has never seen The West Wing, and Richard Schiff, who played communications director Toby Ziegler, said Bush showed little interest when the cast met his staff.

"The president was walking with his wife and his dog on the lawn and didn't come over to say hi," he told the Washington Post.

The final series of The West Wing continues this evening on RTÉ1. There are five more episodes including tonight's